Poetry Blog by Cynthia Buell Thomas
Portrait of the Moon
The evening was so hot I left the curtains apart
For the slightest whisper of air into the bedroom.
As I laid my head upon my pillow
I could clearly see the slender branches
Of two, huge trees on the street,
Creating from my bedside view
An almost perfect circle
Sculpted by their different leaves.
It was lovely.
The grey-blue summer sky
Looked like a portal into ...
Tuesday 15th October 2019 4:08 pm
Where Do Birds Go When They Die?
In all my years of bird watching
From field and woodland walking,
From pavement pressing,
I have never seen the body of a bird.
Never!
Where do they go – to die?
Thousands of birds?
I understand decomposition, of course!
Rapid rotting of little bodies.
But feathers, and feet?
How do they simply 'disappear'?
Is it really just a matter of scale?
And human ina...
Saturday 12th October 2019 2:25 pm
An Irish Prayer (author unknown)
May God grant you always
A sunbeam to warm you,
A moonbeam to charm you,
A sheltering angel
So nothing can harm you...
Laughter to cheer you,
Faithful friends near you,
And whenever you pray,
Heaven to hear you.
Thursday 3rd October 2019 3:06 pm
SEX SELLS
I am appalled that Advertising thinks:
SEX SELLS ANYTHING.
In the early evening
Watching some casual programme,
The face of a young woman fills the screen.
And I think: 'A pantomime mask!
But under the guck, still, a pretty girl.'
Her eyes are focussed on the camera
And therefore straight into mine.
And then -
She begins mouth movements
With her brightly ...
Monday 16th September 2019 12:31 pm
Depressive Moment
When confronted with 'heavy waters'
'Stormy seas', 'slippery slopes', 'quicksand' …...
Sheesh! I'm not adding another metaphor!
But, however you eloquently qualify it,
Consider for a moment, a mere moment
Your precise breath - in – out – in – out – in – out
And focus on some tiny part of your body
A thumbnail, a blue vein, a freckle – anything.
(Even a navel, if handy...
Monday 2nd September 2019 2:05 pm
The Written Word
I
Consider:
Energy of thought is a palpable force
And must be expressed, shared.
Pointing and patting, grunting, jumping -
Pictures!
Have limitations in interpretation.
So Language evolves - a living 'thing'
Also much limited, but better.
We honour the Ancients, those storytellers and bards
For their individual voices.
Their passion , their knowledge.
Thei...
Friday 30th August 2019 11:54 am
La petite mort
I see the fingers of wind
Caressive, seductive
Feeling through the quiet leaves
Stirring them to motion
Quivering helplessly,
Teasing them with freedom
And flight.
Death!
Aaaahhhhhh .....
'La petite mort' - 'The little death'.
One of the best captures
Of fulsome orgasm
That I have ever encountered.
'Vive La France!'
Cynthia Buell Thomas, Aug...
Sunday 25th August 2019 11:26 am
Wood Pigeon
The big pigeon settled securely
On a sturdy bough, facing East
In a ray of early sunlight
Filtering through the foliage
Bright and warm.
The bird folded into itself, serenely still.
It sat so for several minutes, unmoving.
And then the local squirrel bolted across
From a neighbouring tree
Shuddering the bird's perch!
Leaping, whirling through the boughs
Like a mad...
Saturday 24th August 2019 12:38 pm
The Poetic Pit
The poetic pit opens like a yawning maw.
The lip is flaky and the fall steep
Unstoppable and endless.
It is a fate to be well-considered
Before dancing on the edge
Enchanted by the whiff
Of ancient Earth
And Mystery.
Words are powerful!
But they can be annihilated
By an arched brow - pursed lips -
A brazen sneer - a dismissive shrug!
Practised with purpose!
...Thursday 22nd August 2019 11:43 am
To Smite!
'To smite down' is a terrifying idea.
'To destroy utterly' in ancient terms
Not just the Body with stone, iron and fire
But Desire -Intent - Ability – PRIDE
Of the person - the family - the tribe - the society.
The particular form of civilization!
The basic impulse of 'he who smites':
Deliberate dissolution
Of the mode of other people!
The resolution is captivity ...
Wednesday 21st August 2019 12:24 pm
SQUIRREL
The saucy, little squirrel
In the huge tree outside my window
Attacks each step through the great boughs
As if pursued by devils, a blur of fur.
Its precision is breathtaking.
It streaks like a russet-grey arrow
Flying along a branch
Right side up or upside down.
It stands on its hind legs, flashing its pale belly,
Stretching high for that twig with a tasty seed.
...Monday 19th August 2019 10:02 am
Peek-a-Boo Blue
'Oooooh – a curve of breast
In a blue blouse?'
'A sliding slit up the thigh
Of a tight, blue skirt?'
'A curly male chest
In a skimpy, blue vest?'
No!
No! No! No! No! No!
'A glimpse of sky
Through the bending boughs
And trembling leaves
Of summer trees
After rain
Sluicing down -
Running rivers on the road
Pounding puddles on the dri...
Thursday 15th August 2019 10:16 am
The Steepest Street In Town
Hill Street
When I was five years old and Daddy was away in war
My family - Mummy, my three sisters and me -
Lived in a small Ontario town on a short, steep incline
Angled straight down to a busy road below.
At the foot - a public school to the right -the high school to the left -
And the hospital grounds straight ahead
Down yet another sharp, weedy slope.
Cars and trucks a...
Monday 12th August 2019 5:01 pm
Social Respect
'When you speak to people',' said Mum,
'You show them the courtesy of eye contact,
Clear diction and good sense.
You do not fuss with your clothes or your hair or your nails.
You do not shuffle your feet as if anxious to escape.
Keep your fingers to yourself until a handshake upon departing -
If such is deemed appropriate.
Some folks call this behaviour 'courtesy', other...
Thursday 8th August 2019 7:54 pm
Old People
I have always admired old people
Even as a child.
Behind wrinkled skin and blue veins
Knobby knees and rheumy eyes,
Behind faltering steps and hesitant speech
I saw 'Fire'!
Not just dying embers
But hot light, crackling with energy.
I saw Attitude, fascinating and inspiring.
I said to myself: 'It takes GUTS to grow old!
And basic good health;
The right foods, ...
Wednesday 7th August 2019 4:41 pm
'She's a Prostitute'
In my first years of teaching
I shared a flat with a girlfriend.
She, too, was from a family of sisters
So a single bedroom with a double bed
Was just like 'home'.
We lived together for three years
Very harmoniously,
Each with our own circle of friends
And our respective church commitments.
Anglican hers was, with an evangelical outreach.
She was very enthusiastic, an...
Sunday 4th August 2019 8:54 pm
Alternate Sexualities
When you exit the womb and enter air
The only 'given' beyond birth is that you will die,
Whether fate be fulfilled in minutes, or years.
In our current, human history
The 'given' already exercised was:
Your 'life' required both male and female.
From the moment of conception is rejection
Hard-wired into creation
And thus - the blind thrust of re-creation: SEX!
On suc...
Sunday 28th July 2019 12:07 pm
'Brownie' Monster!
When I was seven
Chocolate was a rare treat.
We had pudding and cocoa
Once in a blue moon – 0000h -
And it made that meal – an occasion!
I had no concept of chocolates in a box,
In my mouth anyway.
I saw the bright packages in shop windows
And pictures in magazines -
All ribbons and gold and pretty shapes
As ethereal as fairies.
And that was it!
Probably a...
Thursday 25th July 2019 3:06 pm
Television Moon
‘With how sad steps, O Moon …’
Oh, author of such a line
Do you watch me these hundreds of years hence
With kind eyes?
Where are the ages between the ancients and me?
Spirits are pacing the night.
And do they walk, too, on the moon
Like jesters
Ballooning across its scarred face
In seven league boots
Mumbling folksy information
Through inverted fishbowls?
...
Saturday 13th July 2019 2:19 pm
SCHIZOPHRENIA
When I was a new, young wife
My husband attended university for four hyper years.
I was teaching in an inner-city school Monday to Friday
And earning a little extra money as a Church Soloist –
Weekends and holidays.
After three years of hard grind I became very sick.
And my doctor could not find the cause other than overwork
Which didn't quite tick all the boxes.
She was r...
Thursday 11th July 2019 5:16 pm
Less 'Me' and More 'US'
'DUTY':
From half a page of definitions
'Responsibility' is the umbrella idea:
'That which is expected of you'.
In any functioning unit of society
'Duty' is what is 'expected' of the individual
With confidence and trust
To preserve and promote the interests of the whole
On whatever scale that might apply -
Local, national or global.
Such as 'the family' – common...
Wednesday 10th July 2019 11:55 am
WEDDING RECEPTION
I had just sung at a wedding.
'O Promise Me' - such a favourite!
I had done well and enjoyed fulsome praises.
A right little prima dona.
The reception was in the church hall
And I was kindly included.
I wore a pretty new dress bought in a store!
My choice – with baby-sitting money!
I was grown-up - seventeen - full of myself.
The hall was buzzing with friendly peop...
Wednesday 3rd July 2019 10:57 am
Operation
My grandson, now thirteen, and sports adept
Had to have ingrown nails removed
From his two big toes
And the toes treated against regrowth.
Wide awake surgery -
And he was understandably nervous.
'Will you come with me, Grandma?'
'Of course, Honey.'
I would move heaven and earth for the child!
The three ladies in attendance were pleasant
And quietly interested in ...
Tuesday 25th June 2019 12:39 pm
Cutting the Grass
The groundsman in shorts and T-shirt
Lithe, tanned
Isolated behind his earphones
Pushes his noisy mower
Around the lawns of the complex
Sheering large areas under the trees
Shaving the walkways
Skirting the flower beds.
I watch from my window
And I smile.
The man is dancing!
Wheeling the machine like a partner
With precise footwork
In effortless turns a...
Monday 24th June 2019 12:01 pm
Mind in a Cage
Gazing from my window
In the tenderness of Spring
I feel like a seed in soil
Gathering vitality from the dark Earth
Pulsing upward for Sunlight.
And I know I am blessed with re-growth
My whole self open to new vistas.
And then a 'vista' surges up – unwanted.
An intrusion on the lyric moment.
But my thought has triggered it
And I must consider it.
And then, I '...
Tuesday 18th June 2019 8:03 pm
Math Test
I so remember - twelve years old -
Running home with my Math paper
99% in bold red across the top.
Racing full tilt to show my mother
How well I had done.
Teacher had been full of smiles.
I burst through the door.
'Mummy! Mummy! Look what I did!
Ninety-nine percent!'
She was at the sink peeling potatoes.
She turned, wiping her hands in her apron.
'Well! And w...
Thursday 13th June 2019 4:55 pm
I Hope There Is A Heaven For That Pretty Pink Dress
(A narrative poem, and long, very long.)
When I was thirteen, I lived in a small village
With my parents and three younger sisters
On the outskirts of a university city in Canada -
Queen's, in Kingston, at the junction of Lake Ontario
And the gorgeous, island-strewn St. Lawrence River.
In our sheltered bay the shoreline was beautiful
And the woods, the fields, the sky an...
Saturday 8th June 2019 12:35 pm
PINK
One year, in Bermuda, I was supply teaching
An Infants' Class, four and five-year-olds
Bright, eager, trusting children.
Christmas was just two weeks away.
We were having an 'Art Activity'
Tearing, cutting, biting paper to bits
To make a personal collage of 'Christmas'
On the general idea:
'How does Christmas make you FEEL - in COLOUR!'
It was a bold undertaking, and t...
Friday 24th May 2019 3:05 pm
Bossy Boots!
'Never step on a cow pat because it looks hard.
It might be just crusty with poo-soup inside.'
I warned my younger sister
As we crossed Grandpa's pasture.
She scowled, and ran ahead
Looking back with disdain.
'You think you know everything!
OH! BLAAA-AAAH!!!'
'I TOLD you!
I'm NOT laughing!'
And I really wasn't.
She expected me to clean her up.
Thursday 16th May 2019 7:12 pm
STICKS
When my grandson was four
And often in my care,
One fine spring afternoon
We went to the nearby park
For play on the swings, the bars, the whirligig -
To enjoy the warm sunshine
And our own company.
He was gungho about his tricycle
And pedalled along the pavement
At risk to life and limb
Coming to an abrupt halt at the corners,
Respectful of 'rules'
Of Nan...
Saturday 11th May 2019 2:23 pm
Playing On The River Promenade
'Never climb on the steel railing', Mummy said
Every time we went to the park.
'You might slip through.
The cement slope is steep.
The river is deep and it runs fast.'
I understood, and I obeyed.
Seven years old is savvy.
One morning Mummy was busy with babies
So my younger sister and I went to the park alone
Following the familiar streets down to the river.
'Be...
Friday 3rd May 2019 12:02 pm
Chemo Session 4
One day I shared a 'chemo session'
With a gentleman and a nurse's station.
We two patients were privileged to have beds
Facing each other across the small room.
The chap had his wife by his side as I had my husband
Both carers calm and solicitous, totally supportive.
His wife set up a small station by her chair
Holding a tray of assorted 'goodies' and drinks
Either s...
Monday 29th April 2019 3:49 pm
Last Chemo Session
'Last chemo session! Ring the bell three times!'
Said the sign on the wall beside the big, metal hub.
I had hesitated, but a smiling attendant
A gentleman, a very gentle man from front desk
Hopped it to the kitchen
And returned with two, huge, metal spoons.
He pressed them into my hand. 'Go for it!'
And I struck the silver gong three times:
BANG! BANG! BANG!
The c...
Wednesday 17th April 2019 4:27 pm
Red-winged Blackbird
The spring afternoon was lazy and warm
Full of late sunshine golden and beckoning.
Impulsively I slapped on my trainers
And took off with delight
For a stroll up the quiet road
Past the retirement home and the bulky farm
Where cows and horses grazed in succulent fields
Abutting marshlands further inland.
On my way back refreshed and relaxed
Striding comfortably
I...
Friday 22nd March 2019 4:02 pm
Attack From The Rear
From my mid-teens
If something insulted my sensibilities
Anything – in any context – any medium -
My immediate reaction
With an indignant puff was:
HOLY HOT HANNIBALEM!
Which ejaculation -
Always so satisfying flying past my teeth
My tongue relishing alliteration -
Allowed my brain to catch up with my mouth
Levelling the field
For better appreciation
Of a vi...
Saturday 16th March 2019 2:15 pm
Oratory
The spoken word, according to precise plan:
'Rhetoric'!
Is not to be trusted.
Oration is a power play, a skilled practice
Designed first to provoke and then, to persuade.
It can short circuit sense
Deliberately.
Apart from language chosen, and developed
To make best point,
The power of performance delivers to a prescribed end.
Polished oration plays our senses
...Sunday 10th March 2019 3:35 pm
The Joke
One lovely day last summer
I was stroking along my street
Well content with the sun's deep warmth
The soaring height of our shading trees
And the thick growth of hedges
Flush to the walls beside the pavement
Often spilling into my footsteps.
As I eased pace to enter my complex
Suddenly, out of the dense bushes
Leapt a growling ANIMAL -
Arms extended with curved c...
Sunday 3rd March 2019 2:52 pm
Mild February In Manchester, 2019
'What a beautiful morning!'
From my open window upon the Sunday street
Growth is stirring everywhere -
Daffodils and crocuses in the tree roots;
Tight little buds on tender twigs;
Grass curling up for first cutting.
Hmmmmm …...
And my mind flies out into spring sunshine
Like a soaring bird.
The tree is inherent in the thumping chestnut.
The scarlet maple in the saili...
Monday 25th February 2019 11:45 am
My Mother Says
He stomped into the small lounge
Deliberately
And dropped his school kit on the floor
Beside the tutoring table
With a thump.
He eyed the paper doily with its apple juice
And the silver muffin cup
Glinting with bright SKITTLES.
Without a word he sat down
Took a sip of juice and licked his lips.
He toyed with choosing the best colour
For first burst of pre-le...
Tuesday 29th January 2019 5:42 pm
Lonely Lady on a Tram Every Morning
Give me a simple smile
Upon our meeting,
That ageless, kind propriety
Of greeting.
It takes such little steps
To be a friend
If you care about the signals
That you send.
I'm not asking for a taste
Of toast and tea,
Just a meeting of the eyes -
You see me.
I will not push myself
Into your sphere.
I shall treasure the connection
We have her...
Friday 25th January 2019 12:21 pm
Ass Hill
There is a hill in Bermuda
Very high and steep
With a narrow road from top to bottom
That twists like a preying python.
'Ass Hill' they called it.
And I fully agreed:
You would be a total ass
To negotiate it if you didn't have to
At a mere creep
Praying for reliable brakes
And no traffic from the opposite direction.
I called it Ass Hill for years
Without c...
Wednesday 9th January 2019 3:42 pm
Recent Comments
Ruth O'Reilly on Portrait of the Moon (6 hours ago)
Tom on Portrait of the Moon (1 day ago)
Emilia Callahan on Portrait of the Moon (1 day ago)
Cynthia Buell Thomas on Portrait of the Moon (2 days ago)
Ruth O'Reilly on Where Do Birds Go When They Die? (4 days ago)
kJ Walker on Where Do Birds Go When They Die? (4 days ago)
M.C. Newberry on Where Do Birds Go When They Die? (4 days ago)
raypool on Where Do Birds Go When They Die? (5 days ago)
Cynthia Buell Thomas on Where Do Birds Go When They Die? (5 days ago)
Cynthia Buell Thomas on An Irish Prayer (author unknown) (12 days ago)