The photojournalist came back after camping
alone out there in the woods
taking pictures with her camera;
loved the nature, the trees
the lakes, and stillness of the nights;
freezing outside
but surprisingly warm in her sleep
in her tough-zipped tent

she collected the photographs
two days after;
*and there were pictures of her
sleeping various nights in her tent
with extra limbs sprawled over her

love takes a
#life, but be not
#sad for,
#pain gives
#depression respite, but more that
#death, gives life
#poetry, so that in times of trouble it's
#you I see, as a
#heart in a lighthouse for a
#poem lost at sea

genetic research moves
in twists and turns
and the latest news is:
DR DYNAMIC BOLD FINDS
GENE FOR SHYNESS

"With this latest discovery,"
Dr Bold announced
"we can eliminate shyness"

"Why has it taken Science,"
our team asked Dr Bold
"so long to discover this gene for shyness?"

"We would have found it earlier,"
said Dr Bold
*"but it was hiding behind three other genes"

1)
I was a blowfly
for weeks
in my previous birth
with metallic olive-green sheen
and wings and all


and my friends and I would fly
into the local bar
every eve
and we'd always be courteous:
"Bzzz....Is that stool taken?"

2)
Now that in this birth I'm human
I think many of us (man or woman)
can learn a thing or two
about manners from my blowfly life:
Always ask before you take a *stool

Step over boundaries
and seamless shores,
through the waves of eternity,
wanting no more.

Grandeur and stillness,
guiding our sight,
leaving us breathless,
searching for light.

Beauty surrounds,
erases the stain.
Inhale the air,
free with no vain.

Cautiously certain
and casually kind,
Seeing the world,
freeing our mind.

~

Joe wants to know
how long it takes
What inspiration
a poem it makes

It depends on my mood,
how everything goes
Sometimes it’s quick,
sometimes it’s slow

Often a thought
gets stuck in my brain
Like moon glow affection
or sunflower rain

Saturday whispers
and butter cream smiles
Lingering lovers
o’er hummingbird miles

Inspired by beauty
or love in my heart
Just give me a pen
I’m ready to start

And you’ll find me writing
not keeping the time
It takes a bit longer
if it has to rhyme

But no metered seconds
or minutes that fly
Just penning words
at least I will try

Though this time I’m counting
just for you Joe
To give you the answer
you so want to know

I looked at my watch
while right here I sat
And penned out this baby
in three minutes flat

1
Well, I've dated a few guys, sure -
you know, being Ms Hyphen
I'm sociable, like to bring people together
that sort of thing
So I dated that guy Exclamation Mark
and what the hell, he was shouting all the time!
He's just too excitable, not my type

Sure, Comma was more sedate
but a little too slow for me, you know
So I gave guys like Inverted Commas and Parenthesis
a try - but hell, they were always trying to frame me
So I like said to myself, maybe I'll try someone else
from the Mark family, and woooh! - this guy
was like questioning me all through dinner
and I was like thinking to myself:
What's with this guy? Where does he work?
At the NSA or FBI or what?
I guess you know who I'm talking about

Well, I dated all the other guys too
like Semi-Colon and then Colon
but you know, one liked to separate;
and the other was always out
with his smartphone
listing things I said

2
So I nearly gave up dating when I thought -
Hey what about Dash?
That's a dashing fellow surely
and he seems to be just like me
(except he is - as is apt for a guy - long)
but he was just like Semi-Colon -
always separating people
You got to bring people together
in this world, you know;
that's what this world needs

Yes, I dated Full Stop too
but he was always getting me to stop
and besides, he said his alias was Period -
now that freaked me out, you know
Hey, what kind of guy walks around
with a name like Period?

I'll tell you like who's the worst guy to date, OK -
that's Apostrophe:
O listen darling, was he ever so possessive!

3
Well, I'll give my dating career a break -
maybe come next year,
I might try dating 2nd of February

herein I tell the tale of how "it's" and "its" entered into a suicide pact, and how I counselled them, and saved them from certain death

1
in fair paper and screens  
where our sins mostly lie
there were born two asterik-crossed lovers:
it's and its
and though they did not die
they did marry
and they begot a child
the second it's  -
though it has a life of its own

2
But in the hands of so many
were "it's" and "its" abused,
it was no longer funny
One said: *"The dog missed it's master"
(and people wondered if the dog is the master)
and another advised: "Seize the bull by it's horns"
and while many stood distracted by the meaning
the bull ****** its horns deep into their posteriors

And so were "it's" and "its" driven to woe
that they made a suicide pact
and I was commissioned to counsel them:
"Listen, it's the age of the
you're for your
there for their
(and vice-versa)
and people are no longer who but that;
an age in which people think an apple
is something you poke at"

And thus were it's and its consoled
and in my wisdom of the ages, I continued:
"Besides you've got your baby it's (it has) to think of"

3
And so it is I saved "it's" and the "its"
for our noble English Language,
turned comic what would have been tragic -
but what matters it anyway
when people still mess up the two
just as we mess up the earth
and misuse beliefs and religion

And the forest was silent again…

Splintering shadows creep slowly
across the overgrown footpath
frantic fingers slivering in sinister shapes

Slumbering moon beams cloaked,
abaft of a stately oaken veil,
a canopied thorn and branch woven tapestry

Wallowed whispers cling to cavernous winds
pushing chinaberry stalkers deep
under the cover of moss coated roots

When suddenly…

          Underbrush fantasies flourish
          behind vine wreathed curtains,
          on fallen leaf stages of assorted colors

          Foot light fireflies trim the edges
          in panoramic illuminations,
          flickering to tickle every fancy

          Fairies perform pirouettes on tippy toes
          Glistening wings flutter, shimmering to the
          melodic sounds of hedgehog harmonies

          As bullfrog baritones and spider web sopranos,
          sing the sweetest songs in the key of autumn
          bringing smiles to all of the creatures in attendance

When suddenly…

Far away on the eastern horizon
the faintest specklings of amber appear
slipping through the densest drapes

A great horned owl yawns and blinks,
gazing eyes follow the turning head
as he surveys another day in his life

Sounds of scurrying, bristled brush
echo through now glowing limbs
signaling the end of the evening

And the forest is silent again…