if ever if only ~

I’m the same
as remembered
though years
pressed between
linen
stained by a rose
a moment
of something
graces me still
a photo
come loose
at the corners
where dates are penned
gray
and names are
erased
by the turning of leaves
light through the page
where once
we were something
once we were well
on our way
to the same
ever after
as easy as breathing
in an ocean
of stars
fixed on another
hello
where have you been
how is it I know
what was truth
I am still
the same

. . .

on your pillow one day ~

14 Thursday May 2015

Posted by tornadoday in perfect country song, Poetry, Rambling

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

a good country song, allowance, already, beginning, fearless, goodbye, gravel roads, home, letting go, life, love, maybe now, rambling, seasons, somewhere I don't know, time

stop talking
go on
no crying to mama
bout the absence
of plans –
a dream
growing old
hurry
don’t let the door
get in your way
of times
you discovered
one more reason
to stay
promise discerned
by the pulling apart
and notes
I left home
on your pillow
one day
clinging to chances
fortunate few –
a touch
not so hard
to resist
leave by the light
of a love
I’ll remember
words
worried cold
as the last time
we kissed

. . .

backwards into you ~

11 Monday May 2015

Posted by tornadoday in Poetry, Storytelling

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

angels, becoming, bliss, daddy, eternal, faith, family, gravel roads, happiness, home, knowing, story, strength, truth, value

was e’er a time
and I the same
though still too small
for knowing
the ways for which
I surely came
the cause for love
bestowing
a breath
within my tiny breath
hands to hold mine
still
stories you were telling
I’ve become
tears where yours
are falling
voice I hear at night
paths I wander
backwards
into you

for daddy
May 2015

remembered to sing ~

09 Saturday May 2015

Posted by tornadoday in Uncategorized

≈ 7 Comments

Tags

bliss, cherokee, faith, fearless, gravel roads, home, knowing, life. rememberance, love, truth, value

breathe
and I forever
shall keep
the song they sang
at my waking –
nestled in flannel
the old grey vine
that strung itself high
at the edge of the night
where waiting
I found
a moment secure
unafraid to begin
as darkness give way
moved by the coming
of morning’s embrace
to hold what was here
remembered
to sing

. . .

the same you loved ~

09 Saturday May 2015

Posted by tornadoday in Poetry

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

becoming, cherokee, connection, conscious consciousness, destiny, faith, fearless, grace, gravel roads, knowledge, living, love, old maps, passion, reason, spirit, truth, understanding, value, wandering

what winters
have you worn away
with rosary and cotton
beneath the fold
where all your secrets lay
of heaven come
one night to find you
standing by my gate
caught between the first to leave
and coming back
to stay

with stories
of your wanderings
beyond the reach of light
with questions of your knowing
where to go
moonlight casts a shadow
on every present tense
would show the way
you knew
to find me home

wrapped in yellow flowers
once the same you loved –
grew along the pasture
a moment
passing through –
remember how
the cedars ached
to block the view of morning
of praying eyes
before the skies
were blue

how many times
have I heard tell
of blossoms in December
beyond the reach
of reason
asleep beneath the snow
flickers bloom
a sweet perfume
of mystery and madness
secrets of all colors
awaiting you
to know

. . .

all souls ~

04 Monday May 2015

Posted by tornadoday in a time for telling, Poetry

≈ 9 Comments

Tags

becoming, breath, connection, conscious consciousness, death, faith, fearless, forgiveness, grace, gravel roads, life, love, old maps, postmark, reason, restless, resurrection, spirit, strength, value, wandering

names
by some forsaken
the fondest memories
a slight of hand
a slower fate than most
whispers sworn
to secret
reserved for us the same
reminders of another
love I knew –
will I
remain

a silent praise
along the path
for someone no one knows
hands are folded
quilts are wearing through
who of me
I wonder
will there be
when I am gone –
will one return
to speak my name
aloud

. . .

I moved back to Tennessee in 1991. Three days after the
first on the porch, I noticed something along the back fence line – an edge
amid the briar. It was a portion of cemetery marker, apparently from
the time when many civil war battles were fought nearby.

There is no name…only dates. When days are hot, it is a place of retreat,
and many poems have found word there. Yesterday morning, it seemed
the only place to be – held by one without a name, as witness to my tears.
(I shall give).

Image: 1998 somewhere between here and the place where I was born. Souls
sleep where solace grows deepest. “Ask not for whom the bell tolls….”

. . .

worn out rhyme ~

29 Wednesday Apr 2015

Posted by tornadoday in Poetry, Rambling, Storytelling

≈ 7 Comments

Tags

becoming, blessings, destiny, divine, faith, fearless, forgotten, getting on, grace, gravel roads, home, just this, letting go, living, love, postmark, provision, rambling, reaching, tears, truth, understanding, unremembered, value, want, writing, writing in the dark

told me once
but I don’t recall
names and faces
line the hall
someone I’ve forgotten
to remember
a story passed
from son to son
a daughter came
the only one
to see beyond
the circumstance
of fences

broken by this
getting on
healed by hands
tired and worn
graces said before
the lay me down
to hear again
the sacred drum
beat with wonder
I’ve become
the answer to another
sweet amen

a fate decided
while I slept
reminders of a secret kept
and choices made
was there no choice
at all
but take of life
a moment more
of passions
locked away before
somewhere I was sure
you’d never find

a future folded
nice and neat
against the sunshine
of my sheets
way back on the shelf
of memory
dreams of people
I don’t know
crowding round to let me go
kisses where
the curtains touch
the ground

tell me how it seemed to you
give me something
I can do
speak of places
one last time
to leave

dirty dishes
everywhere
worn out rhyme
but I don’t care
they warm against
the places
you were there
taking notes
and stealing time
with promises
to fit with mine
lines to cross
eternities
of one

. . .

Author’s Note: While coffee is my drink of choice, I periodically
indulge in a hot tea – white with orange. It brings me sweet slumber,
up until the time it wakes me up for a trip down the hall. But even then,
it’s not without the benefit of words. Writing in the dark.

mysteries undone ~

28 Tuesday Apr 2015

Posted by tornadoday in Poetry, Rambling

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

acceptance, bliss, divine, echoes, faith, fearless, forgiveness, gravel roads, love, postmark, sacred intimacy, sometimes, soul, souvinirs, still, truth, value

of sorrows
I’ve forgotten much
daylight
passed between
the dark of dawn
as reason fell away
a place to keep
so holy now
resolved as once
to touch
solace meant the moon
was come to stay

poetry
of wake me up
before the light is gone
leaves are falling
tears beyond
the sun
dreams
of you remind me
somewhere yet unknown
I speak of these
of mysteries
undone

nestled down
in fresh cut grass
a shimmer o’er
the pond
a whispering of wings
above the pines
echoes fill
the places
now am I again
the same I was
tho ne’er the less
divine

. . .

payment for a kiss ~

24 Friday Apr 2015

Posted by tornadoday in Poetry

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

blessings, bliss, connection, divine this, faith, gravel roads, home, life, living, love, sacred intimacy, seeing in the dark, story, value, writing

stay
that I might
give to you my story –
a page or two
as payment for a kiss
how long til
you’ve discovered
breathing born of rhyme
will beyond
these places we exist
a poem
oft repeated
just before the darkness stirs
in reverie
this wonder to reclaim
words –
where none are needed
linger yet
upon my lips –
sweetened by the memory
of your name