Have you listened
To the stories told by the wind?
Have you flown with a breeze
Through the branches of trees
And dancing, played with the leaves?
Have you floated unmoving
Above the wide flat expanse
Thick with grasses
Or cultivated plains?
Have you died as a whisper
Upon a butterfly’s wing
Till stirred to life again
Deep within the wetness
Of a tropic forest?
Have you bounced and leaped
From wave to wave
Across the vastness of blue water,
Or skipped across dunes and sunbaked rock
Trailing bits of the earth behind you
Like a comet’s tail?
Have you been possessed:
The wind entering your every pore
Washing the molecules of your body
Flavoring every atom
Till the sound, the taste
The feel of wind is all you are?
Then in a moment’s shock,
Like a single brief earth tremor,
You are separate once more?
Yet, in the moment of abandonment,
Alone in the silence,
You remain poised as if for flight
Lighter than eider down.
Were it not for the tiniest doubt,
The merest inkling of disbelief–
…..Which surely is all that tethers
…..You to earth–
Do you not believe at such moments
That you might gently melt into the sky?
#wind
AUTHOR NOTES
GLASS RAIN—the poetry by Margaret Roxby
“FANTASY, THE MAGIC DREAM” takes the form of a villanelle. The author liked to explore different poetic patterns and challenged her poet friends and members of her local chapter of the California Federation of Chaparral Poets to do the same. The poem appears this week for the Worldwide Candle Lighting, December 10.
KALEIDOSCOPE—the poetry by Kathleen Roxby
“THE EPITHET” is included this week for World Human Rights Day, December 10. While the Kaleidoscope feature is usually an essay about the oddities of the English language, this poem also focuses on a class of words.
THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS—works by Kathleen Roxby
“WEATHERING WINTER” was inspired by one especially cold winter when the author found it difficult to leave the warmth of her bed.
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
Readers who write in response to one of the prompts listed each month in Splintered Glass, may see their work presented here on the last week of that month. Though poems are preferred, short prose work will also be considered for publication.
Guidelines for submission:
SPLINTERS FOR DECEMBER 2023
THE WIND: A REVERIE
Have you listened
To the stories told by the wind?
Have you flown with a breeze
Through the branches of trees
And dancing, played with the leaves?
Have you floated unmoving
Above the wide flat expanse
Thick with grasses
Or cultivated plains?
Have you died as a whisper
Upon a butterfly’s wing
Till stirred to life again
Deep within the wetness
Of a tropic forest?
Have you bounced and leaped
From wave to wave
Across the vastness of blue water,
Or skipped across dunes and sunbaked rock
Trailing bits of the earth behind you
Like a comet’s tail?
Have you been possessed:
The wind entering your every pore
Washing the molecules of your body
Flavoring every atom
Till the sound, the taste
The feel of wind is all you are?
Then in a moment’s shock,
Like a single brief earth tremor,
You are separate once more?
Yet, in the moment of abandonment,
Alone in the silence,
You remain poised as if for flight
Lighter than eider down.
Were it not for the tiniest doubt,
The merest inkling of disbelief–
…..Which surely is all that tethers
…..You to earth–
Do you not believe at such moments
That you might gently melt into the sky?
#wind
REGRET
We sliced the skies with roaring rocket knives
And came to dream beside these slumbrous seas
Of planets beyond, beyond the Pleiades.
We tethered time to tame our tide-race lives
And shot our ships toward black-night waves of suns
And comets. Ah! We forgot the limitations.
For now in strangered exile do we weep;
Thoughtless, pointless, nothing is our sleep;
No thundering, sudden season storms exist;
No turbulent tides mercurial moons resist;
No raging rivers plunder and thrust and slip
Down mountains of ice and bitter fire-laden frost;
No angled lightning’s angry cracking whip
Surrounds us, and Oh, oh, the uncounted cost!
We stale and spoil and rust; we sicken and yearn,
A sorrowing race, for loved lost Annapurna.
#spaceexploration, #lossofhabitat, #habitatdestruction, #displacement,
#Annapurna, #December8, #Pretendtobeatimetravelerday
DREAMS
Dreams are as the dust of stars
All we are or will ever be tomorrow
Spring from the dreams of yesteryear
Life without dreams a thing of sorrow
Improbable dreams are best of all
From them spring the finest in life
Small dreams are filling life,
Like a ball, with drums and fifes
Sounds of laughter and joyfulness
And the deep warmth of small triumphs
Dream again those moments of delight
Enrich your life and all the world
#dreams, #dreaming
AUTHOR NOTES
GLASS RAIN—the poetry by Margaret Roxby
“REGRET” was first published in 1961 by Writers Notes & Quotes. The poem was also awarded a prize by the California Federation of Chaparral Poets. It is included this week for December 8, Pretend To Be A Time Traveler Day.
REFRACTIONS—the poetry by Robert Roxby
“DREAMS” was found in the author’s journal with a note from the author “We need dreams.”
THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS—works by Kathleen Roxby
“THE WIND:A REVERIE” is another poem reflecting the poet’s special interest in the natural phenomenon of wind.
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
Readers who write in response to one of the prompts listed each month in Splintered Glass, may see their work presented here on the last week of that month. Though poems are preferred, short prose work will also be considered for publication.
Guidelines for submission:
SPLINTERS FOR DECEMBER 2023
RAINDROPS
like pebbles tumbling
raindrops hit the patio
plip, plap, splip, plop, slap
#rain