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COVID-19 Lunascape, a poem . . . and your next Wednesday Writing Prompt

Photograph courtesy of Johannes Plenio, Unsplash

“With hundreds of millions of people sheltering at home during the coronavirus pandemic, some dream experts believe that withdrawal from our usual environments and daily stimuli has left dreamers with a dearth of “inspiration,” forcing our subconscious minds to draw more heavily on themes from our past.” The pandemic is giving people vivid unusual dreams. Here’s why., Rebecca Rener, National Geographic

A fulgurous moon on pandemic nights
Piercing the substrates of dreamland
Doing a lindy-hop with my hippocampus

Retrieving data records and videos
The oddly stored sentences and mental
Photographs, well-played scenes

Of midnight Mass at St. Pat’s, my
Baby’s sticky kisses, a swan-dive into
The red of Valentine’s roses, the feel

Of champagne fizz-tickling my lips
Visions cavorting at length, nothing
Fear-filled or surreal, just the good old

Joys of life, resurrected to counter the
Green phlegm of a COVID-19 lunascape

© 2020, Jamie Dedes

WEDNESDAY WRITING PROMPT

I’ve been having the most interesting and engaging dreams since the lockdown started. Rather odd since for me “lifestyle” hasn’t changed that much. I wondered if I was alone in this and did some research. Not alone. Some people are having dreams that are frightening or bizarre. I wonder what your experience is. Tell us about your pandemic dream-scape in your own poem/s and …

  • please submit your poem/s by pasting them into the comments section and not by sharing a link
  • please submit poems only, no photos, illustrations, essays, stories, or other prose

PLEASE NOTE:

Poems submitted on theme in the comments section here will be published in next Tuesday’s collection. Poems submitted through email or Facebook will not be published. If you are new to The Poet by Day, Wednesday Writing Prompt, be sure to include a link to your website, blog, and/or Amazon page to be published along with your poem. Thank you!

Deadline:  Monday, May 25th by 8 pm Pacific Time. If you are unsure when that would be in your time zone, check The Time Zone Converter.

Anyone may take part Wednesday Writing Prompt, no matter the status of your career: novice, emerging or pro.  It’s about exercising the poetic muscle, showcasing your work, and getting to know other poets who might be new to you.

You are welcome – encouraged – to share your poems in a language other than English but please accompany it with a translation into English.

Jamie Dedes:

Your donation HERE helps to fund the ongoing mission of The Poet by Day in support of poets and writers, freedom of artistic expression, and human rights.

Poetry rocks the world!

FEEL THE BERN

For Peace, Sustainability, Social Justice

Maintain the movement.

“Democracy is not a spectator sport.” Bernie Sanders

Posted on

The Last Blue-green Spring, a poem

Northern elephant seal rookery on Ano Nuevo Point courtesy of Rhododendrites under CC BY-SA 4.0

“The beach is not a place to work; to read, write or to think.”  Anne Morrow Lindbergh, Gift from the Sea

I was reminded of that spring
Before the homebound life, when

A dragonfly, irredescent sapphire,
Accidentally pitched itself into the

Jaws of my ancient Pontiac, ragged
Edged and rusty and ready for the

The wrecking yard, but quickly I
Pulled off the road and popped the

Hood, out it flew, that peppered
Pod with compound eyes, unharmed

Still quite able, propelling itself on
crystal wings etched like Art Deco

It fluttered, headed one way and
I another to Año Nuevo State Park

A vast multiplication of blues and
Greens, of sky and ocean, and Oh!
Fin-footed elephant seals sunbathing

© 2020, Jamie Dedes

Jamie Dedes:

Your donation HERE helps to fund the ongoing mission of The Poet by Day in support of poets and writers, freedom of artistic expression, and human rights.

Poetry rocks the world!

FEEL THE BERN

For Peace, Sustainability, Social Justice

Maintain the movement.

“Democracy is not a spectator sport.” Bernie Sanders

“Every pair of eyes facing you has probably experienced something you could not endure.”  Lucille Clifton

Posted on

Carol, a poem

Photograph courtesy of Harry Cunningham, Unsplash

“Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art . . . it has no survival value; rather it is one of those things that give value to survival.” C.S. Lewis

Moon-glister spilled itself over
The city the night you died,
The night the fire of your life
Leapt into the heavens to, no
Doubt, make minestrone for
The angels . . .

You left the good and not so
Good, your fave armchair for
Thursday Coffee Klatch and the
Walker you found so awkward

You left us too, your neighbors
And friends, we’ll miss your wide
Smiles and throaty laughter, the
Roll of your eyes, your dry humor
Your singular irreverence . . .

© 2020, Jamie Dedes

During the night of May 12 we lost a neighbor and friend. By “we” I mean all of us here at this apartment building where I live, which is adapted for disabled elders.  Our friend’s name was Carol. She had a stroke . . . and Yes! she was droll and irreverent but also thoughtful and generous. I am largely bound to my apartment and often to my bed, but Carol would pop in for a little chin-wag and would bring me some of her fabulous minestrone. Pre-COVID-19 when we still had Thursday Coffee Klatch, Carol would stake out comfy chairs for us both and hold mine until I arrived. Since Thursday Coffee Klatch was held on my floor, I only had to travel a few feet to attend. It was doable.

The hardest thing about growing old is not aging. It’s not the proximity of one’s own death. It’s the unremitting loss of relatives, neighbors and friends. One day you wake up to find so many are gone.

Jamie Dedes:

Your donation HERE helps to fund the ongoing mission of The Poet by Day in support of poets and writers, freedom of artistic expression, and human rights.

Poetry rocks the world!

FEEL THE BERN

For Peace, Sustainability, Social Justice

Maintain the movement.

“Democracy is not a spectator sport.” Bernie Sanders

“Every pair of eyes facing you has probably experienced something you could not endure.”  Lucille Clifton

Posted on

Out of the Womb of Time, a poem . . . and your Wednesday Writing Prompt

Photograph courtesy of Graham Holtshausen, Unsplash

“Most species do their own evolving, making it up as they go along, which is the way Nature intended. And this is all very natural and organic and in tune with mysterious cycles of the cosmos, which believes that there’s nothing like millions of years of really frustrating trial and error to give a species moral fiber and, in some cases, backbone.”  Terry Pratchett, Reaper Man

out of the womb of Time they slide
peasants and kings, artisans and queens
murders, warriors, healers, peacemakers
the grandfathers and grandmothers
on whose shoulders we stand

they are with us, their spirits sensed
. . . . though unseen
their hearts are in our mouths
as they guard and guide

feet rooted in the mud of Earth
we drink the wine, eat the roots
and sing the songs we inherited
their sayings are our sayings
their voices are our voices
carried on breezes
like the music of cathedral bells
like the call of the muezzin
they chime and summon
they sum what came before

from their gnosis
whispered in the ear of silence
we learn: we are nameless but not lost
we too shall echo
shall be the shoulders
shall be the great progenitors
shall hold the Vision and the Light
along the path . . .
. . . . beckoning

Originally published in Brooklyn Memories

© 2012, Jamie Dedes

WEDNESDAY WRITING PROMPT

Where are we in the great continuum? What do we gain from those who came before? What do we give to those who will come after?  Share your speculations in your own poem/s and

  • please submit your poem/s by pasting them into the comments section and not by sharing a link
  • please submit poems only, no photos, illustrations, essays, stories, or other prose

PLEASE NOTE:

Poems submitted on theme in the comments section here will be published in next Tuesday’s collection. Poems submitted through email or Facebook will not be published. If you are new to The Poet by Day, Wednesday Writing Prompt, be sure to include a link to your website, blog, and/or Amazon page to be published along with your poem. Thank you!

Deadline:  Monday, May 18th by 8 pm Pacific Time. If you are unsure when that would be in your time zone, check The Time Zone Converter.

Anyone may take part Wednesday Writing Prompt, no matter the status of your career: novice, emerging or pro.  It’s about exercising the poetic muscle, showcasing your work, and getting to know other poets who might be new to you.

You are welcome – encouraged – to share your poems in a language other than English but please accompany it with a translation into English.

Jamie Dedes:

Your donation HERE helps to fund the ongoing mission of The Poet by Day in support of poets and writers, freedom of artistic expression, and human rights.

Poetry rocks the world!

FEEL THE BERN

For Peace, Sustainability, Social Justice

Maintain the movement.

“Democracy is not a spectator sport.” Bernie Sanders

“Every pair of eyes facing you has probably experienced something you could not endure.”  Lucille Clifton