National Poetry Month glitch

Okay-internet down so I've lost 4 days of posting poems. But I have been writing them in my purple covered journal and will now share them with you. Here's hoping the internet stays steady and I can keep up. Technology is a wonderful thing, until it's not, like this weekend. It's why I love my spiral notebooks and purple pens so much.

DAY FOUR
word group: father--distant--noble--heart

MY FATHER

The hayseed farmer
      with noble heart
who kissed my cheek
      rubbed my feet--
is gone
      into the distant
Netherlands that house
      dead souls.
I cannot touch him
      but across the distant breach
      I feel his heart
beat inside of mine
      and he is still here.

DAY FIVE
word group: rough--sanded--amazement--years

AMAZED

Along the craggy shoreline
      torn by winds
      sanded by time
the ocean foams in
      a frothy veil.
Bubbles hold onto life
      the way we capture
days in a diary
      as if we could keep them.
Years from today
      when another woman
strolls this beach
       in search of a soul
in the symphony
      of a polished shell
she too will be amazed
      that one so small
can travel the same path
      as kings
       with no soul at all.

DAY SIX

word group: fisherman--line--heartbeat--mist

WILD FIRE

     The angry fisherman
casts his fine line
     into the belly of the lake
mist rises
     forgotten dreams
that refuse to be lured
     back to life
and his heartbeat quickens
     as dawn crackles
behind pines
     scorched by an errant fire
     kindled by stupidity.

DAY SEVEN

word group: mother--sleeping--faithful--arms

Inside the bowl of ivory skinned arms
a baby relaxes in soundless sleep.
Eyelids are a tissue paper screen
against the glare of moonlight.

The rocking chair rocks slowly
in rhythm to the mother's heartbeat.
In sync with gentle thoughts
her finger traces the downy cheek.

A faithful prayer of dark longing
rises in the mother's breath.
She prays into the night
for a happy life for her daughter.

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