Photo: yahoo.com
“I dream of giving birth to a child asks, ‘Mother, what was war?'” Eve Merriam
How simple to hold,
to love,
feed,
encourage,
extend a branch towards hope,
how easy to cut the tree down
and offer striped pyjamas
and barbed wire,
gas,
to be disappeared,
stolen,
tortured,
bombed,
excluded,
walled,
how simple
that none flourish.
©Paul Vincent Cannon
Paul, pvcann.com
Filed under Economics, Free Verse, life, love, philosophy, poem, politics, quote, Therapy, war
Photo: cei.org
“The corruption of every government begins nearly always with that of principles.” Charles de Montesquieu
The devil has a clipboard,
innocuous,
amorphous,
beady-eyed,
keeping score.
The devil has regulations,
no longer shy,
brazen,
not hiding in the detail
but living out in derision
and smug bastardry,
feeding on discomfort,
worse,
enjoying the powerlessness
of the confusion of
disavowed expectations
and the endless minutiae of
plausible impossibility
carefully tucked inside
shifting goalposts,
ever making promises and
snatching the joy away
just as the sweet and tender
seek to reach and trust.
The devil has a laptop,
keeping track,
seeking entrapment,
preying along the fault-lines
of desire and hope.
The devil has a home
inside your ballot box.
The Devil means well.
©Paul Vincent Cannon
Paul, pvcann.com
Filed under Economics, Free Verse, life, philosophy, poem, politics, quote, Uncategorized
Merril at dVerse has invited us to use echo in a poem.
Photo: found on YouTube
“Life is an echo. What you send out comes back.” Zig Zigglar
I questioned the night and
the night questioned me,
as the question so the answer
faintly asked
faintly answered,
a familiar voice,
what of me,
what of night,
I sat in silence and pondered
a pondering ponder,
it was then I let go of myself
and found the answer
an echo of silence
coming back.
©Paul Vincent Cannon
Paul, pvcann.com
Filed under Free Verse, life, mindfulness, poem, quote, self-development
dVerse Poets – Prosery – Jim Harrison
Linda at dVerse has invited us to take a line from the work of Jim Harrison – “A cow is screaming across the arroyo.” taken from his poem ‘Cow.’
Photo: Pixabay.com
“Moo may represent and idea, but only the cow knows.” Mason Cooley
A cow is screaming across the arroyo as the weaners are drawn aside. The cattle-hands working the herd, the weaners easily pushed across the arroyo to the feeders like children to a lolly counter. I listened to her screaming, a gut-grief heartfelt, and though I cannot speak it, a warning was implied. Burgers or breeders, the children are consumed. And as I walked reflecting, I wondered about all the herding of life, this arroyo is not the Rubicon, but a die was no less cast.
I came to the creek-line with an angel or devil, I’m not sure, but I left the gate open and the screaming cow dove through. She spoke so clearly as we passed, “Those who lie or sup from the manger will be crucified one day.” Startled, I ran through, I’ve been wandering un-herded ever since, across that arroyo.
©Paul Vincent Cannon
Paul, pvcann.com
Filed under challenge, farming, Free Verse, life, mindfulness, nature, prose
Photo: http://www.handylore.com
“The choice for mankind (sic) lies between freedom and happiness and for the great bulk of mankind, happiness is better.” George Orwell
There’s an impatient patience,
a spirit of the age
rushing the vernal equinox
into yesterday’s tomorrow,
a backward looking future,
and elusive dream
of a perfect expectation
forever unbirthing
other than in the mind,
ever refusing the obvious,
to live in the present moment.
©Paul Vincent Cannon
Paul, pvcann.com
Filed under astronomy, dreams, Free Verse, life, mindfulness, poem, Quadrille, quote
Photo: speeddater.co.uk
“I’ve been dating since I was fifteen. I’m exhausted. Where is he?” Kristin Davis
Two-toned, big boned, large lips,
small nation ego no less, shallow,
beer gut, skinny ribs, twinkle toes,
halitosis roulette on a long credit line,
dating so many faces without result.
©Paul Vincent Cannon
Paul, pvcann.com
Filed under Five Lines, Free Verse, life, love, poem, quote, relationship, romance
dVerse Poets – Meeting the Bar – O, Apostrophe
Amaya at dVerse has invited us to consider the creative idea of the apostrophe other than its technical use, rather as its poetic function in creating a change in the poem where the object speaks or is spoken to directly.
Photo: granite outcrop, Nungarin
“No matter how sophisticated you may be, a large granite mountain cannot be denied – it speaks in silence to the very core of your being.” Ansel Adams
In the stillness was the hardness,
a resistance I knew well
of footfall on granite,
what song shall you sing me
I threw, and it rang sharp,
came back the posit,
think on this tenderfoot,
softness cannot abide without
firm boundary,
compassion lies in
strength within,
O that I might be a rock
of such an age of wisdom.
©Paul Vincent Cannon
Paul, pvcann.com
Filed under bush walking, Free Verse, life, mindfulness, nature, poem, quote
VJs Weekly Challenge – Satisfying
Photo: gettyimages.com
“There will never be complete satisfaction in this life, satisfaction is an illusion …” Amit Kalantri
What might we agree that is truly satisfying?
this definition of perpetual waiting
for the next moment or event in time,
what is satisfying is only in the moment
here now, gone tomorrow,
and, when the moment comes,
it dies before it is born,
and yet we go on seeking,
sometimes missing life
in hot pursuit of this
elusive experience.
©Paul Vincent Cannon
Paul, pvcann.com.
Filed under challenge, Free Verse, life, poem, psychology, quote, seasons, Uncategorized
Photo: charity.org
“Anticipate charity by preventing poverty.” Maimonides
What does love for others really cost,
what pain to wash their feet,
to serve and walk in other’s shoes,
and feed the hungry too,
what might that mean?
to give my coat and
be vulnerable, what then?
To forgive, no, really forgive,
how would that feel?
To live with an integrity that
values every form of life,
never seeking gain,
just imagine if we were
careless for the things
that alienate, the machine of empire,
the greed and gorge of living,
if we turned our guns to plough-shares
and plastic into roads,
just imagine what love might cost,
and go and cash the cheque.
©Paul Vincent Cannon
Paul, pvcann.com
Filed under community, Economics, environment, Free Verse, life, philosophy, poem, politics, quote
Photo: Cafe in Bunbury, a spirited Willy Wagtail – the fly-catcher who came in from the cold!
“The highest proof of the spirit is love.” Albert Schweitzer
When the prophet spoke
the wait was long and dry
till some shepherds called
though few believed their news,
I glimpse her if I’m careful
in children passing by,
birds, laughter, dragonflies,
faces on the street,
wise wind of Sophia
ancient eternal present,
heartfelt.
©Paul Vincent Cannon
Paul, pvcann.com
Filed under community, Free Verse, life, mindfulness, nature, poem, Quadrille, quote, Spirituality
Athul Raj
Ri Orientarsi, alla ricerca del nostro baricentro interiore
#Livetoread
who you follow now determines what follows you in life
A digital space feat. poetry, art, nonfiction, interviews, and reviews by marginalized creators.
Book Blogger, Author, and I talk about dogs...a lot
Explore the World of Imagination & Join the Mind Revolution!
The view from here ... Or here!
Here's To Express.. :)
Ink Travel Vintage
i just opened my diary and found an array of emotions
God's word for the world
Poems, Haiku, Paintings & Photographs
A somewhat healthy obsession with photography
living in the vibe of my emotions
Travel Guides to Destinations Around the World
Home is where our story begins.
A place in my city "that if you ever come to please check out some of these finest restaurant that my city has to offer .
work as an investment manager with a crypto currency mining firm that generates good profits weekly
I read and fall in love with fictional characters
NEUTRALIZE THE FREE RADICALS
live life in livable environment
I make the most of all that comes and the least of all that goes. - Sara Teasdale
Living Healthier and Happier Nourishing Body and Soul
Motivation as a lifestyle
Athul Raj
Ri Orientarsi, alla ricerca del nostro baricentro interiore
#Livetoread
who you follow now determines what follows you in life
A digital space feat. poetry, art, nonfiction, interviews, and reviews by marginalized creators.
Book Blogger, Author, and I talk about dogs...a lot
Explore the World of Imagination & Join the Mind Revolution!
The view from here ... Or here!
Here's To Express.. :)
Ink Travel Vintage
i just opened my diary and found an array of emotions
God's word for the world
Poems, Haiku, Paintings & Photographs
A somewhat healthy obsession with photography
living in the vibe of my emotions
Travel Guides to Destinations Around the World
Home is where our story begins.
A place in my city "that if you ever come to please check out some of these finest restaurant that my city has to offer .
work as an investment manager with a crypto currency mining firm that generates good profits weekly
I read and fall in love with fictional characters
