Write On Maui

 

 

Easy Writers
Poets from Kaunoa Senior Center,
Spreckelsville, Maui, Hawaii
Barry Sultanoff, Instructor

 

Love and Pain
Love and Pain have always
been dance partners.
They go to the dance together
and leave together.

Love does her dance first,
while Pain sits on the side,
patiently awaiting his turn.

Love dances magically,
twirling around the heartstrings
of her temporary partner.
Her grace and charm
are greeted with ecstatic joy.

Finally it is Pain's turn.
He eagerly takes to the dance floor,
but lacking Love's charm and grace,
he often steps on his partner's heart,
making the dance feel endessly long.

When the dance is over,
Love and Pain leave,
hand in hand like lovers,
preparing for their next dance.

Yonah Marks©2009

Love and Pain II

Her last dance partner was Love.
Her new dance partner is Pain.

Being well acquainted
with the dance of life,
she knew all the steps.

Still it was bittersweet
for her to do both dances
with equal style and grace.

Yonah Marks©2009

========================================================

contained by
the unspoken,
the unrevealed Void
protects as it hides

Stay with impasse
live in the unknowing
breath
into the darkness

Poets speaking the unknown-known
open the back of my eyes
reaching between here and eternity
into the perceived and potential now

no more image to uphold
(though others may project)
this is as it is, this is here
this is now

within the broken old husks of 87 years
lies the thin thread of the creative "I"
holding me in its presence
filling my emptiness

perched above the shadow of age
lies the birth of new green sprouts

Natasha Mann©2008

========================================================

Mirror Story

Avi the chick
stands entranced
by the glass,
reflecting upon
what she sees.
†
There is
one other bird
in her rectangled world
looking much like herself,
yet superbly reversed.
†
This welcoming friend
appears here
every day,
as given as cornmeal
and worms after rain.
†
Once again. the time slows
to a tick of her avian clock:
she seems
to grow faster
than minutes pass by,
†
Her tough chicken feet
hold my sigh in their claws;
my pleasure
I measure in awes
as I pause to take in
†
Her zen practice so pure:
just a gaze unafraid
and a seeing
that all is full well,
there’s another like she
†
In this world
of reflection,
no jot of dissension,
nor anything ruffled
that’s worthy of mention.
†
Each day she returns
to her bird-contemplation
and preens
this seen friend
with her loving, devoted attention.
†
Barry Sultanoff©2009

========================================================

(Following untitled poems are by Marie Dexter-90 years old)

I went down to the ocean
to enjoy its beauty,
relax and unwind
and forget all my duties.

I can just lie there
and take it all in,
the air, the breezes,
feels so good on my skin.

Oh yes, I love the ocean,
can't really express how I feel
just come home afterward,
like a new person, so unreal.

I feel clean and a bit mesmerized
by that sea so blue,
love that ocean,
yes, I do, I do!

Marie Dexter©2009

Be happy you're alive
just glad that you are here
appreciate every minute
each one is so very dear.

Life is a great gift to us
to use just as we choose
so use it very well
and you won't ever lose.

Be honest, grateful and fair
in everything you do
and always thankful
for those who have helped you.

Yes, Life is a wonderful thing
you might not miss it 'til it's gone
so be happy and glad you're alive,
and savor it 'til you're called Home.

Marie Dexter©2009

Life can be a pretty serious thing
but I think we're all glad we're in it.
and there's this rumor
it goes down better
if you have a sense of humor.

A "spoonful of sugar" helps
the medicine go down,
a little bit of humor helps keep
the world spinning 'round.

So be happy
and laugh a little too,
it's good for me, and
it's good for you.

Marie Dexter©2009

I sat at the Senior Center
bored to tears,
as I watched the people
who were way up in years.

Some played Bingo
others just sat,
a few exercised
lose some fat.

As I watched this group
I realized I too
am one of those..
now how did I get so old?

Why it was just yesterday
I was so very young,
where does the time go
as it flies by so fast?

Sure doesn't stand still
I can attest to that..
but I'm just hoping
for a few more years
with a note of enchantment,
that I'll continue to survive...
enjoy this Life and
stay so glad I'm still alive.

Marie Dexter©2009


Our professor stood on his head
in class one day
Which only proved to me,
You never know where one's brain
Might be

Marie Dexter©2009

========================================================

Ryland

Walk, run, fast, faster
Away from hands holding him back
Laugher of innocence
His eyes dare you to catch him

Fulfillment complete
What worries?
Happiness, Joy, Contentment
None scathe by life

Love runs through my veins
Curing all pain
Smile breaks through
Another dimension

My grandson

Pearl Rockett©2009

r========================================================

Armor

Armadillos, armored cars,
knights in shining armor,
armor covered hearts.

Armor protecting from peril,
armor hiding from fears,
armor saving hearts of glass.

Armor, such a useful foil,
protective until that fateful day
when someone brave arrives,
can opener firmly in tow!

carolbrock©2009200

yland©2

Reflections

Shimmering images in water,
wavering, undulating, changing.
Reflections in a golden eye,
exposing hidden truths
best left unknown.

Unfamiliar face in the mirror,
portraying too many years past.
Reflections of the mind,
scattering hither and yon,
touching joy, hope, pain.

Expressions quickly flitting
on another’s vulnerable face,
loving softness, pained betrayal,
reflecting back again and again
the awesome power of words.

Life always consisting
of myriad reflections;
good, bad, indifferent,
reminding us daily
of who and what we are.

carolbrock©2009200

========================================================

Life’s Little Measures

Wardrobe lost its class

Own a senior pass

Wear specs when you read

Fortune gone to seed

How full is your glass?

Widow’s peak, grey streak

Knees and back bones creak

Oh, what memories

Cat-naps for more zzz’s

Have you hit your peak?

Rainbows are to view

What can wait, eschew!

Walk instead of run

Sit and rest your bun

Still got more to do?

Fond baby sitter

No need for glitter

Keep your age quiet

New things to try yet

Have you tried twitter?

Brain has room to grow

Admit you don’t know

Play games on a whim

Glass - full to the brim!

Kudos, Cheers, Good Show!

Pat Whicher©2009

========================================================

The Turning of the Day

Clouds are tinged with red and gold
as morning sun awakes the earth;
Coolness lingers ‘neath the trees,
This is the birthing of the day.

Birds and chickens flap their wings,
It’s time to hunt and grub for worms;
One last message to the flock,
And off they go to greet the day.

The sun’s relentless journey
pushes morning into the noon;
Lunch is served for bird and beast,
It is the summit of the day.

Waves of heat surge through the leaves,
A hush descends upon the land,
Fish and fowl hide in the shade,
It is the silence of the day.

Wisps of clouds and puffs of white
begin to float on breezy winds;
Mother earth begins to breathe,
It is the turning of the day.

Creatures greet the shadowed cool,
And plants unclench their curly leaves;
Birds return and chatter on
about their ventures of the day.

Sunlight fades as twilight falls,
And nature rests its weary head;
Sleep may come for some, not all,
It is the night-time of the day.

Tannis Grimes©2009

JONATHAN BIRD

O Jonathan bird,
Show me your courage and grace;
Soaring o’er the waves,
What do you see as you fly?

Do you see the whales
as they glide through the ocean?
Do you hear a song
as it floats by on the wind?

Just how does it feel
to unfold your wings and fly?
Just how does it feel
to shatter the bonds of earth,
to be wild, untamed;
How does it feel to be free?

You call to your kin,
They answer your shrieks with theirs;
O Jonathan bird,
I want to be free like you.

Tannis Grimes©2009

========================================================

Indigo Surrender

I am dancing
in the womb of midnight--
I have left my senses.

Strange children attend me
in the midst of dreams.

We inhale the ethers
of our collective aloneness,
a million times…a million deep.

Small gifts we bring
to the author of divine chaos,
of divine order.

We offer ourselves.
There is nowhere else to go.

Patricia Woodbury©2009

Migrating Birds

A gander, a goose – a mighty she-bird
Her fury unfurled at every small thing.

I envy how she inhabits her rage—
all hot and white and entitled.

Wings –those muscled feather-whips
slashing the air we breathe—

The air we breathe, the air we take,
the air –
as if we could command it
to breathe us fully into the forward now,

Our featherless yearnings,
once again exposed.

Patricia Woodbury©2009