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601 · May 2014
Sweetness
Ottar May 2014
the sugar is going to my head,
coursing through me
laying still impossible on my bed,
impatience easy to see,

hands tap with the beat
of a heart, wanting to meet,
feet dance under the sheet
in the restless, summer to be, heat

you are so sweet,

alone knowing this,
alone there will be no...
alone is a confession

you are not an obsession
you are not the end all and be all,
you are every waking moment
                         a positive torrent,
of sweet,
sweet, moments strung together,
until the sun sets here,
then the fear
of being alone, to make it through,
your sugar rush,
sweetness.
601 · Jan 2014
The Anger
Ottar Jan 2014
she has conversations from all sides,
                                            besides,
they happen in her head, in the brain,
                                             no strain,
                    no one to argue or have a conflict,
                            she does not have to restrict,
what she says
         that way,
problem solving and solution finding, not binding, brilliant
but without knowing it,
if you say something against it,
she may wonder did I say all that out loud,
her face will fall but that is not all, she will burn with Anger,
until she settles,
the internal battle
in her own way
she doesn't want her way,
she wants the voices to go away.
And take Aunty Anger with them.



©DWE012014
In empathy
600 · Nov 2013
Ravens
Ottar Nov 2013
Bright black
bright mind
talk like a parrot
has talent to share it
knows how to have fun
in new fallen snow
               and bright sun
roll down the ***** once
and again,
roll down the ***** steady to
standing to roll again
playfully
slowly to
roll until the bottom is
found
smart as a whip,
able to strip the dead to the bones
catch him playing once
fine
but
then
nevermore.
600 · Aug 2013
Blood
Ottar Aug 2013
the blanket of air, caught on the tree tops,
the coyote calls of victory echoed, with
repeated howls and barks, they owned
that moment this night.

Blood was spilled, stomachs filled, the pack
would hunt all night till the sunlight would
make them rest.

the blade had only one purpose in his hand
demand the cash and away he ran, not before
he made a point of piercing any resistance,
leaving piercing cries for help into the night,
lifeblood ran out of one, while
the other ran out, blood pounding
at his temples as his Converse flats
                                      pounded the ground.

Echoing
under the blanket of cold air
trapped in the tree tops,
this night.

suddenly sirens cut into the cold,
the blanketed air with red flashes
and roaring screams, as the coyotes
crossed the road near where the
knife was stuck in a heart heavy
chest, with no air cold or warm.

the coyotes were safe from harm,
the man ran and ran, no knife in
his hand, as the paramedics, worked
hard to save a life right in front of his
children and wife, the call of the blood
was too strong,
the blanket of air got colder
                              got darker
                              got covered in blood.
Ottar Apr 2015
I would like to watch you wrestle,
with your sheets so white.
I would like to watch you
wrestle. I would like to wrestle
with you, stand above
as a train trestle, noisy tracks
above your bed

pick you up and throw you, show
you my classic move on white
sheets in the dark, full moon casting
doubt that you will resist my
sleeper hold, afraid that
I might leave forgetting, my mask
and championship belt with notches,
for you to remember me; bye, bye,
but then in your delirium
you insult my mum and
I return to the fray, tangling
you in the sheets and warming
all the pillows coldest sides
as I do my
spinning
whirling dervish move
at the head of your bed, I strip
the bed of all its dressing,
so if and when I go you will
have to make it on your own
you are standing there breathing heavy
as I turn to gloat away you simply fall
upon the naked bed breathless

I take one last leap into the air
your eyes open wide and we connect
in that moment, I know you know
I am about to land a hammer elbow &
painfully direct.
Thankyou and apologies to Margaret Atwood, and all my sleep deprived friends, Sorry to my fellow Canadians and fellow Margaret Atwood fans
Variation on the Word Sleep

I would like to watch you sleeping.
I would like to watch you,
sleeping. I would like to sleep
with you, to enter
your sleep as its smooth dark wave
slides over my head

and walk with you through that lucent
wavering forest of bluegreen leaves
with its watery sun and three moons
towards the cave where you must descend,
towards your worst fear

I would like to give you the silver
branch, the small white flower, the one
word that will protect you
from the grief at the center
of your dream, from the grief
at the center. I would like to follow
you up the long stairway
again & become
the boat that would row you back
carefully, a flame
in two cupped hands
to where your body lies
beside me, and you enter
it as easily as breathing in

I would like to be the air
that inhabits you for a moment
only. I would like to be that unnoticed
and that necessary
599 · Oct 2013
maybe I missed 'the mark'
Ottar Oct 2013
how to write poetry?
And rea(d), And rea(d),
Observe beauty,
write the life you see,
with honest integrity,
Vulnerability with
the woe in me,
out in the open,
Typing,
Writing,
Sketching,
Etching,
Carving NOT,
a niche,
Every word
written here,
is a piece of me,
the letters and words and sounds
are not tattoos,
but decorated, ornamented me,
piercings
and truth be told,
Let me know if
I am on the Button.

Veneer with oils and salt saline,
surface warming to a sheen,
Sun also rises too break the
morning,
fabric shapes change
like billows stoking a fire,
until the fuel is spent,
the grip seems to not let go,
to join the day,
stay euphoria stay,
slowly fading away,
Sun still rising into a cloudless sky,
parting,
is to greet the day,
richer for the moments of play.

©DWE102013
or did I miss the mark
Ottar Jan 2014
walk one foot in front of the other,
not your normal gait,
the sobriety test pace,
just to see the looks on peoples faces,
at shoulder height,
put your hands out to the side,
make sure the cyclists ride
in their lane with the traffic, not where we who, walk the walkway
touch your nose with alternating fingers,
touch the sky with hands raised,
pull the invisible bell cord,
                      you know the ding-dinger,
now stop perfectly still close your eyes and listen and smell,
is your life richer
are you more at peace,
what did you make
creatively
that the Maker marked your place in destiny
throwing words down on a page,
just hurts some words
throwing life down on a page
bring life to those words,
are your ready to live up to what you write,
or maybe you are writing a new life,
as a form of therapy, be honest, what is inside,
that kicks your pride, across a busy bullied road,
of people who act like road rage is a right
whether or not they are in a car,
oh
wait
you don't have to stand still
anymore,
sorry I left you
back there,
it is dark now,
hear me call, come this way
you won't fall
but hurry and don't be late,
that parcel of words close to your
heart needs to be shared,
I won't dare you,
that is not what those so close to the edge do.
But here is my hand if and when...



©DWE012014
one sheep two sheep three sheep four sheep,
white sheep black sheep red sheep blue sheep
squirrel
597 · Mar 2015
Famly Ties, the Zip kind...
Ottar Mar 2015
Aches get real old
                         Sold a bill of goods,
five and dime, cold
                          Rolled coins into a tube, into a fist,
A flurry of flesh dolled,
                            A toll on burning bridges that LOVE built,
My revealing stainless pole dance
                Upon the vocal shoals, that cut me off from feeling real,
Ended up a blackened coal sheep
               Of the family role model (let that creep into)
                         Your soul

   My
Heart
Was
Washed
Away
By
Some
One
Else's
Tears
Nope not what you are thinking...
Ottar Mar 2014
seeing for the first time, any colour
other than metal or white,
eyes wide with suspicion,
smelling for the
first time, any scent other than
a chemical cleaning product,
noses a quiver, wet then dry then wet again,
waiting
to move, uncertain, unsteady legs
then
touch...
touching for the first time, the ground
with blades of grass, pointed and poke
between the pads, calloused pads,
wobbly steps and attempts to run
with stumbles upon the green grass of freedom,
under a blue sky of hope, no shadows  
from the stainless metal cages, and a stark scientific
horrific place of pokes and needles and loneliness  
a Lab, no a Labratory
but we are Beagles, and OUT to prove it.
I am sure science does some good,
I am sure science is advanced enough to
not have to do tests on living subjects,
C'mon it is science, right? Brilliant minds and all, do better!
596 · Mar 2015
Learning Curve
Ottar Mar 2015
Run a hand along the arc and wooden edge and a splinter
leaves the grain
sharp, is the pain
marked by a drop of blood.

Pedalling fast two feet, two circular wheels
no hands, straight faced delivery,
no guts, no glory,  youth and temerity,
gravel bits where rubber meets the road.

Trembling hand, no two, follow softly,
the rolling of the satin surface, accepting,
pressing for more, hands directing hands
where to press in to the curve, yearning
becomes burning, so much to this learning
                                                        ­     curves.
Ottar Mar 2014
walking goes better with one foot in front of the other,
left, right, left, right or right, left, right, left it is about
the cadence after all.

breathing goes better by blowing out to make room,
bad air out, fresh air in, bad air out, fresh air in, bad air out
it is about sequence and consequence, do you believe?

living takes your breath away at times,
walking is not always possible when you are on your knees,
gripped by disease, missing limbs but still embrace life,
frozen in a catatonic state not wanting to move for fear
for fear, for fear grips mens prostate, and
takes women's rooted relationships away
glean what life means from the women, men
when you have a job and no place to live,
when you have friends and they have a couch to give,
for a week or two, and the lessons you have learned
from the life you have lived, that has broken you
busted you in two, your ideals don't match up with success,
what a truism of altruism, give it all away and you will get,
patience now it has not happened yet...and you wonder if it
ever will.

Stay away from bureaucracy, become an entrepeneur,
gain a skill that will always put food on the table,
run with your ideas when you are able, and remember
there is no finish line, you just run the race.
For Peter, my son
594 · Jul 2013
Okay...?
Ottar Jul 2013
When I close my eyes,
                                      what do I see,
from the darkness comes your face, and
trees reaching out reaching up, then
the last words I read in some Book somewhere,
the weight
of
them takes me to my knees,
where I find you waiting,
in the coolness, and all this time I have
acted and thought I was alone.

Does my life have to empty out and lay on the
ground for me to realize how precious, i t  i s
how fast it goes by, how little time we are given...
eyes heavy am I falling down to the ground
then to dreaming.

A young child on a swing,
sees a bird with a broken wing,
runs to get a shoe box, some grassy bedding,
calling for his mother, while crying,

please be okay, please okay, please

he cups his hands carefully carrying
the bird, pecking, into the box now nesting,
quietly he walks while his hands are bleeding,
calling for his mother while crying,

it will be okay, it will be okay

Up the stairs,
puts the box
down with care,
opening the door,
entering with his
treasure, quietly
sleeping,
but he can't find his mother
anywhere,
suddenly the box gets heavier,
as a
cat jumps
on, the box
in his hands
strikes him strange
as they don't own
a cat...
imagine that.

mom make it okay,
mom make the cat go away,
mom why didn't you stay...
mom?


©DWE072013
593 · Feb 2015
Rainbows and Happy Places
Ottar Feb 2015
Colours.
The Arc is a contrast to
the stark, overcast sky.

There are,
two end and there
are two sides.

Meeting
means to
collide.

Box
emptied of vacation
memories, blossoms
of plastic, frozen faces.

Broad smiles, hid the
lies behind the lines
and teeth, bits of sand,
those once were hot,
Between the ugly toes,
grains now discarded,
But no more enjoyed, the
mind is blind to the litter.
                  what was toyed, with
blackmailed emotional *** of gold.

The Colour
has drained away,
rummaging in this, in the dark
is too damaging, with gritty fingers,
on delicate nerve tissue, softly,
please, mind the
Grey matter.
591 · May 2014
Stylin'
Ottar May 2014
The dog, she sleeps,
the fish, he keeps
                           me within reach of the fishbowl,
three pellets twice a day and the Beta does not have
to lay a beating down, on my weary and worn crown,
of hair requiring a cut real soon, I'd do it my self but
then I'd look like a baboon, so don't ape me on
                                                  or it might spawn,
ill advised humour, from my son's, an Aveda
professional hair stylist, point of view,
"don't go out in public like that" and "tell them it wasn't me"
and "stop using a fishbowl to cut your hair for free"
Joe the Beta is fine, no fish or hair stylist were harmed in the making of this, as well no benefit was derived for mentioning, either Joe or my son the hairstylist.
591 · Mar 2014
give and take and give...
Ottar Mar 2014
solo
so low,
some do,
well, ...alone.
Not for sake alone,
go to the meaning of life.
take what you earn and share,
take what you own and wear,
there is no time to spare,
give freely as you have received,
give freely and do not deceive,
blame is not a game,
to be played with so much passion,
                                as to fashion,
fingers pointing in all directions,
away from the center, get some back bone,

of all the nerve...
if life is a maze,
spending it, amazed or amazing?
how to say it with OUT using the words,
the beginning of life is...,
the meaning of life is...,
the gloaming of life...,
through and through,
are connected one strand,
A.N.D-D.N.A,
through and through,
one nerve felt by
everyone under the sun,
so to the past,
so to the present,
so will the future,
need ...
I am not about to give away the meaning of life,
you can take or give your best guess, no spoilers,
hints have been dropped, don't step too close,
you may glow in the dark, there is a state of...
that we are all part of, okay I have said too much,
made it to easy...pieces
Ottar Nov 2013
It was black, just black
          before the attack
                                  by everything I feared
                                   my lips in the mirror
trembled and quivered
as snakes found their
                                  way into my mind,
                                   out my ears and into
my home, the spiders
climbed on the outside
                                 of my frame, no need to
                                   bite or spin a web,
I had woven my own trap,
  my floor became ladders
                                         and I was thirty three
                                         feet above anything real,
there was no one to watch
     but alone I saw all eyes
                                        were turned on me,
                                         I started to cry and drown
in my tears but then the
worst happened and I frowned
                                                   as I was comforted by a clown
                                                   who put his hand on my shoulder
             and said "don't worry, you'll be a year
older next time, there will be much more to fear."
Like Clowns...
Okay so this is too late for the East Coast
588 · Apr 2013
Deprivation
Ottar Apr 2013
Sleep I come, wait for me to drift.
Let me drift and gently land as far
away from my insane day, the gift
of escape.

Sleep I need to escape I plead; no, not
to fall again and startle awake, crying out
and draw the unwanted immersion, caught  
in the net of  the bete noire.

Softly, sweetly sleep we are falling off the edge
and waving to the conscious world,  off the ledge
as my eyelids flutter, while right, awake, and wrong
all stutter behind my eyes.

I can still feel the beast and name it Insomnia,
pulling at my nerves, stimulating tension where,
it is not welcome, pull me deeper sleep, let us
find that soft lit pit.

I desire so...to drift.

No not the dark cave with the bright lights of
the beast Insomnia, not again or again, the fall that I
awake from just before I in a landing where sleep awaits,
and have mercy,
of the early 3:47 am, sitting straight up in bed,
as I though I had heard a noise.

Please quiet my mind and let me drift...

"It is 5:19 in the morning... on Wednesday the 24th of April and
here is your traffic update....
"
588 · Apr 2015
On Crossing
Ottar Apr 2015
if one day,

I am away,

worry not.

if in two or

three days,

there are

no words,

no write,

I am all right.

if a week

becomes

two and s t r e t c h e s

the ache…

to a month

or two in

you.

I have gone

across

the Rainbow Bridge,

to the Other side,

with no regrets

save not knowing

you, as one of this

Warriors conquests.
Pens or swords
blood or words
claims to shame
likeable fame
read and read
write and write
can you hear
your heart pounding
in your chest
to get out of
the lax-a-daisy
you have become,
get fierce,
in word
and deed,
sheath your
pen in some
one else's skin
and let the ink
stain behind.
Ottar Jul 2013
You have a dream, we all have dreams, dreams are needed not just wanted,
career changes, leaving for the good, what to do, thoughts of what if leave me haunted,
new directions a fresh start recharge the batteries and jump start the heart,
old dream dashed, no where to turn, no where to go, have I the heart to restart.

April Fools day, stepping out and up into the clouds of rain and night falling,
no room in the shelter,
hollow spot for our tent,
all the rain you know where it went,
next night the tornado train went
up the valley, questions were we supposed to go, on, what was our calling?

Sights to see, did we find something to refresh our minds,
nice people, amazing landscapes, (tunnels of rhododendrons)
did we leave anything behind, (except wishes for complete success)
and did we gain beyond the pain of heavy packs, and the daily hiking grind,
but we did not go all the way North to Maine but we did go beyond,
the empty path of the rest of that Long Trail remains forever out of reach,
until we hold hands, remembering,
knowing that it may be considered incomplete,
together, no regrets, no need to repeat.


©DWE072013
Left the military 1989, hiked the first 131 miles (212km) of the Appalachian Trail.
DWE, TLE and 2 year old ADE
587 · Jul 2013
Layers
Ottar Jul 2013
it starts with one
sometimes,
no it does not stop, unfinished,
then another is
added,
that is now two, colours or media
background
three takes some time and becomes four then
five has some texture
or a hint of glint, ummmm, six
or is it the other
way around,
finally the focal
point
is placed, the same process, not just for show,
but the mystery
my friends,
lies in the layers,
(and in my prayers,)
for the artist,
life is a test,
if you miss it,
okay,
or interpret it
off and away,
she will stand
             under.
masks
help
her seem
normal
to the
madding
crowd,
layers she has
but is there
how many, try to count
till you can
find who
she is, so
meek and so
mild,
created creative
one of and not
the only, God's
child.
I know you will dream,
I pray they are sweet,
falling and landing
on feathers down soft,
no shadows a chasing,
no regrets on waking,
the moment is yours for the taking,
need a hand?
587 · Mar 2015
Rain Running (Ottava Rima)
Ottar Mar 2015
Clouds close off the sky as droplets fall from high
Traffic doesn't slow down as my foot falls pound
Wind lifts dried dead leaves, trees wave goodbye
Timing is right as raindrops stop before the ground
Roadway is still wet, spots cover my "four eyes"  
No pain in the knees easy pace arms move up and down
Sadness has caught me, running even at my shoulder
Sweating from the exertion the warmth is turning colder
ab
ab
ab
cc
587 · Sep 2013
With sprinkles...please
Ottar Sep 2013
Roll with the punches,... but what if they come in bunches?
Pack up your troubles in your old kit bag,... and smile, smile, smile?
When life throws you a curve ball,... hit it out of the park?
When life gets tough the tough,... get going?

Oh I have all of that, can I have some sprinkles on top, please?
586 · Oct 2014
A celebration
Ottar Oct 2014
nay, have I the resources nor regrets,
to drop tears, since we have never met,
my rutted dial,
into the foul winds have faced.

many hours my fingers have paced,
                                  upon the keys, when
should I be found upon my knees,
my eyes may as well be dim,
chances of meeting you, slim,
oh but for wonders of tech, and oddities,
have I not caught a social media disease,
if I have want to be anywhere but here,
it is with thee there.

whether coasts west or east or overseas,
York the New and Land of Port,
or some isle somewhere with a dialect so rich,
eight by eight so to speak,
or near the heart of the where I live,
or land on some place in Village Central
you all see right through me, my riddles,
my rhymes, my prose sometimes,

is off the cuff with no shirt sleeves,
tis a rant that is not to rave about,
playing child's games,
some say shame shame,
in this adult world that fills me with Awe
and Wonder, tortured by questions to
which may not have any answer.

yet I celebrate,
each waking hour,
each breath in and especially out,
and when rest takes me low,
my dour moods, make it easy to pout,
yet.

Yet,
I will celebrate,
with music, though sounding like
tin cans and strings, with a few pebbles
thrown in,  I will not sing,
I will celebrate,
with movement but not dance,
for the two flat feet, that slap
like flippers make quite a flap,
I will not dance,
I will celebrate,
with no instrument,
my fingers and my ears, bent and deaf,
are tuned to different spheres,
that are both flat, fingers
lifted too many cold bridge parts,
while the ears heard too many
explosions, and rifle reports, bang, bang
So what do I celebrate...?

Each waking day,
and the dark of night,
every day of work,
until I take my leave,
each sight, eyes see,
about which to write,
not old but older,
a hardy fool and more bolder,
willing to waste money, no contest,
just foolish fortitude,
yet let the celebration begin,
there is no code for when
you get old, for I see myself as young,
another year comes close to closing,
another day births my hope,
my apprenticeship,
may time pass slow,
so I may learn quick,
so celebrate with me one day next
week, don't write me off yet, for
I have no stories in print.
Chuckle softly, smile broadly, we all get older.  This was supposed to be in 55 words or 55 lines or more...
586 · Nov 2013
IT, is not
Ottar Nov 2013
It is not your face we need but your heart
shaped words, it is not that you write of love,
but you write with it.

It is not that we only are satisfied with seeing
only your hand in the quietude of, and still,
for a moment, it is not
we only think you have one, but two and
the other is holding the camera, so still.

It is not that poetry is done easily, it is that scrapping of
the dross from the surface, let's us glimpse what is beneath,
it is not pure,
it may be molten,
it is not sure,
it is far from frozen.

Oh that dross isn't a loss it is the ugly, happy, sad, crazy, lazy, beautiful,
maddening, inspiring, the list is endless, no need to defend this, this dross never
goes away from the impure state, but leaves an essence in the write.

In time, it is not
for us to judge,
but with a friendly nudge,
and a hand shake,
so that that face unseen
is close enough to greet,
and that smile to be seen
how sweet,
IT, is.



©DWE112013

Recognize I pulled with respect and honest praise of your writes.  Hey N   L        , for you one let's meet, I'll buy the coffee, you provide the city, sooner than later as my boots are wearing out.  I just have a few details to work out...

made a change...
586 · Aug 2015
The "Entric" Collection
Ottar Aug 2015
the night is quiet,
a blanket dark and heavy,
muffling all sonic sound rings,
almost a surreal peace that brings,
don't even know what a heart is
supposed to sound like, heaving
sighs, tears make no sounds as
they spill from the corner not
the center of closed eyes.

ego-centric

drop the pebble, dare ya
drop the stone, splash ya
drop the boulder, douse ya
they all find the bottom
for a sure footing
              not putting
out more than they displace,
nothing human about their ways,
they don't even know what is drowning.


concentric

a flame
hues hunger
to change, to look
more fierce as fuel
force an unleashed force
nature's Berserker, a wildfire,
the wind prophesized over
the conflagration, for-
getting itself and got
involved, until the
fire makes its' own
melded, melting
resistance in the
the way as the
sum feeds upon
itself, yet the
fire is,
sure

eccentric
Wander through this burning desire to write, nothing light or fluffy here.
584 · Jan 2013
Life Preserves
Ottar Jan 2013
I stand because I cannot sit by.
I cannot stand to watch what I look at.
I watch and cannot see what is really there.
See?
I stare at my fantasy without reality.  Events unfold and stories told, through
characters merely imagined, to keep that part of me from wintering through everyday
of my life, like a single dried-up and curled-in leaf still attached to a nearly empty tree.
Feel?
That cold creeping closer and in as age frosts my rough-hewn surface, an exterior not
even my mother could love, anymore, anymore.  The veins and arteries act as they have
been treated, neglected and broken down, they leak and it is more than, just slightly salty water,
drip, drip...drip.
Hear?
Am I listening to life around me, those voices are more than noises and sounds, they are filled with
words, which echo and rebound that taste of meanings that I must really take care to understand.  It is
not all about me, as I am not talking about the voices, the all-important voices, in my head.
Taste? Smell?
Oh Comfort, to find comfort from with-in rather than with-out, when none other will, fill that palate we all share and the air we all share, that I  breathe.  My blindness has a cure, my insensitivity can be repaired, and my hearing could pass any test, but I must get past the stench of my selfish failures and the textured memories of the stale-dated repast.
This is about the lethargy.  It may seem harsh to some.
583 · Apr 2015
Early Early Morn
Ottar Apr 2015
I stir in the soft glow, in the room, and traffic is a slight ocean's wave, in sound,

I put my hand upon my chest, this ceiling isn't mine, the fixture here is round?

When I roll over, you are there, face hidden by your hair,

Pillow grasped with hands still bunched, have a hunch

We loved last night under, the moonlight, cloud light , no light

If I remember anything, ... umm I must get dressed and take my things

I must leave without saying goodbye, or get the stare from sleepy eyes,

That could **** even me, with the air thick with thrill, from the eve before,

No, I must leave sleep and you, to walk the dog who is scratching at the door,

for sure before I leave, this early early morn.
Aubade - I am a morning person...5:19 A.M  I am awakened
583 · Sep 2013
Two Storms ( two Haiku)
Ottar Sep 2013
Thunderous rain and,
bright jagged shafts of lighted
energy draining.

Shakes uncontrolled,
dog pants walks hears  internal
rebellion not play.


©DWE092013
Summers End (maybe not quite yet)

This day that September washed August and July down the drain, distant
now those warm days of cloudless skies, let me find another, with a sextant.
Ottar Aug 2013
The lazy river, large,
filled with
water that carried my
memories of youth, and
a friend of my past,
both downstream,
flowing away, flowing
finding the easiest way,
to go to the lowest point,
so much liquid,
so many years,
some failures,
some fears,
Childhood, has those
but now,
       now what do I have?

What does anyone have?
Use your talents,
Use your gifts,
Before time is dead,
walked on like a too
traveled path, warm or cold
to where you
find your past.

Lest the swollen
river, calls and you
listen, leaving you
only to believe that
what you look for
is downstream.

Use your talents,
Use your gifts,
Be swift for
night falls into the
river,
it may catch you
as it drops by.
Dragging down
the future, in the
present tension,
until at last
you only can
live searching
for the past.

Unable to
tell the stories,
or enjoy the glories,
of the gifts you shared
of the talents you carved
into my memories,
of the time we spent
under the canvas of night
dotted white with God's Artistry,
until that day,
when my phone rang,
and they said you were gone,
                        you were gone,
And i touched the cold with my
my hand, my lips and my warm tears
knowing you had already gone
and did fly away,
                               oh glory.


©DWE082013
saw my dad with Alzheimers/Dementia
maybe this is really two poems...
582 · Oct 2013
On Borrowing
Ottar Oct 2013
oh fall is here all the real flowers begin to disappear,
I know what I will do, if it is okay with you,
I will find some fake greenery
borrow a live
stem or two, or three or four
or what the heck a whole bunch more
all real one's from my neighbours garden patch,
and then I will mix and match and call
it mine, put it on display, no one will know
what could they say,
and I will sing under my breath,
"it is a free world after all,
and my imagination is so small"
but I sure know how to borrow!


©DWE102013
tools next, working up to the golf set and by spring the car. LOL  - just kidding
Poetry is wordflowers
For RA
Ottar Apr 2015
echoes
land                                 moving
           somewhere
tied                                  to
              ­                                     morning mist.

morning,
                         she's
string


             that
  

                    nothing
is          two
                   bottles

of linen

               But, whiskey-----
From Stephen Leacock The MarineExcursion of the Knights of Pythias
Posted this too on my Instagram @elverum51  #elverum51
Ottar Apr 2015
bad pair of parents these two always dressed for funerals,

wings feathered with death and flight construct a nest with cunning,

safe from predators in the branches high of a safe evergreen,

each year for four years, two crows hatches one egg, alive


share the work, feed the one, day and night, work the pair, with hope,


Caa-crows, caa-crows, caa-caa, goes the crow, baby crow has passed,

not first flight aloft with air and sky beneath the young wings,

yet from life, to Earth who claims, the prize, before four black eyes,

‘Tis the same every Spring these two, evermore a funeral
some people don't like crows,  some crows are not good parents, some people would like these two, as they are not adding to the population of
crows.
581 · Oct 2013
Rust Stains
Ottar Oct 2013
sign that says stop
intersect forebode,
to wait until clear,
the air,
the fear,
the sky,
eyes, of those tears,
but what if becomes
cannot stop,
throwing pieces
off like they don't
belong and won't
stick around long
enough to be
reattached to rusted
vestige that used to
be human,
now rust stains
down the face,
empty carcass
after the fracas,
of living like there
was no tomorrow,
came
true.


©DWE102013
580 · Oct 2014
After and Before
Ottar Oct 2014
After each sunrise to sunset,
is a blink of a bright eye,

Before each moonrise to moonset
is a blink of a night eye,

each night that, there is no moon
                 to rise
                  or set
darkness buries deep, in dark hearts,
never has a day come without the sun,
                to rise
                 or set,
which would be, the darkest, darkness yet.

Do you
feel fear, rise
or do you know
about glory's light,
where is your hope, set
                                     yes, Glory's Light!
577 · Nov 2013
S. K. - A Poem of Gratitude
Ottar Nov 2013
you know who I mean,
words so powerful words so lean,
                                            strung together
                                  with a keen, clean lines of spoken verse.
what is the worse that could happen, bordering on the perverse,
that I could decide, with selfish pride to
end this ride and do no more poetry, 'cuz
I can't do it like that, that I did not have a childhood
set of memories that
taught me values, that I can remember,
see?,
that
way I have an excuse instead of saying EXCUSE ME,
and then not have the dignity to say to him in all humility,
thank you for what you do, for it makes me know I can
write poetry to, to right the ships
so lives will float on the surface, as words to raise the anchors then
and only then sail with the winds of hope,
and the right amount of ballast from the sands of time.
Thank you for doing it different and
teaching me I can do it different too.
Who is S K, you ask...
Ottar Nov 2013
Colour is not the point,
like beams of light that
                     do anoint
the hour which I lay flat
and wait for rest, or at
which point in the dark
                                      do I wrest it from a faerie light
or must I wrestle with
a bottle, pills to cause my ills to slip away and let the
pillow absorb my day, my worries, my strain,
where the engine,
has no off switch,
this engine sits on
top of me not purring
not whirring but
running rough shod
through me, I will not
admit to being sleepless, for by the time I write this,
you will all be in the land,
that I am jealous of, see?

Oh colour?
Which pill will I take,
I have different shades
for different days, and Hades,
waits for me as well, for one
of these times I may take too
many, but I am sparse would
not want to be left without any,
so those gates stay shuttered
as I wrap up and shudder,
through another night
where the next days, and days
dawn and I fawn over
my appearance, eyes with
circles dark, pale image stark
in a mirror, to the point, the clown
smiles back at me and asks
to be happy or not to be sad?,
I need sleep so pass a whole bowlful,
of sleep that all of you have too much of,
                              and push and shove
me
with
your
bed time stories,
nursery rhymes,
and lullabies,
in poetry and I will read what I need
                         to let go and let sleep
steep me overnight, when I will wake
                 up and pour into another day,
the literary love you have shown this poets way.
NL, this ones for you.

Also see Sep 8 2013 something I did on Insomniacs etc
576 · Apr 2014
Enthusi...asm
Ottar Apr 2014
The chasm
from one side
to another,

and the cosmic gap,
of Who in the heavens,
it is filled with...

not with a new position,
not backing the underdog to
the final of the Final Four,

not at the first sign of life,
inside, your girlfriend, wife, or lover,

enthusiasm...

filled with God.

Go with God, and be filled, to over flowing...
even a cracked cup or vessel, like you or me
even more than accuracy of Bessel, to measure space,

God knows you, with enthusiasm,
                             no chasm,
can separate...you...from His love,
                 look up to find His face.
En Theos
576 · Mar 2015
tradition (cinquan)
Ottar Mar 2015
father
to the sons in
short a legacy of
stubborn racism disavowed left
behind
My father was a racist, and one night at the dinner table, he would not relent, I was in grade 11 and my brother was in grade 8, had had enough
he went on a racist tangent, as he had before and my brother and I left the table and said we would not eat at the dinner table until it stopped.  We took our plates to the living room.  From that night on for many nights my dad seldom spoke of anything, but sadly in the long run, he did not change, we did return to the table and have conversations that became acceptable.
575 · Sep 2013
Love Play Time
Ottar Sep 2013
Do you wake up each day, with your eyes open, then be thankful,
not that you can see, but that there is another day for you.
Then another and another day ... A life, whether alone, so alone,
or shared with sisters and brothers, grab it with both hands.
Grab it so you have its attention saying, not "look at me,"
but exclaiming "that everyday is a new and exciting adventure."

Mind there is pain,
That even bones weary of,
Even in love,
That will not fade,
In time, please,
Resist being jaded,
There is release,
Not in the mundane,
We all need, once a day,
Some  in  play,
All  in  time,
Even  in  love,
A shimmering,
Tear-stained smile.

Not in sadness, but in laughter,
that is harder than the trials in this life,
Not coerced or forced, natural and
naked with a contagious pitch, striving.
Not only for a moment, but for all Time,
real Play, as for the core there is Love.
Peace of mind,
Encourage the heart,
Hold the hand, of someone who needs comfort,
Find the wind to find the storm,
And stare into the eye...


©DWE092013
574 · Mar 2013
On Waking
Ottar Mar 2013
The heaviness of my head, my eye-lids too, push me to nap,
The heaviness of my heart, drives my mind to do a recap
The heaviness of my heart, catches me daily in a rusted trap.

I put my head down on a pillow soft, needing peace and quiet,
My eyes close, I get none or less, I say "ringmaster stop the 3 ring riot!"
My eyes close, I get none or less, but heart pumps and pounds in private.

I do not have a positive thought, as everyday is, a battle fought.
Captured, imprisoned by my choice,  wheezing, throat tied in a knot
Captured, imprisoned by my choice, so this body; my cell, my lot?

Find some good, something right, don't be lukewarm in this fight,
For fresh air, for fresh thoughts, 'tis better to run away, choose flight?
For fresh air, for fresh thoughts, for my life - hit erase and then rewrite...

The pool of sweat I lie in, soaks my pillow and my hair,
Oh when will the day come that I will not choose to care,
About the wrong stuff, about going against the grain, beware...

Waking,
But wait, it was all a dream, life is fine, nightmarish nap leave me be.  
Eyes open once again.
574 · Jul 2015
The Grey Age
Ottar Jul 2015
the dog she frolics like a lamb,
open mouth
smile ear to ear,
the dry grass pokes her pads,
her nose scents the air,

she chases me, there is joy,
in both our hearts,

grey blur glides by
my legs, without looking back,
her years have not slowed
her down, her ears pulled
back with her speed,

she chases me, fierce heart,
fire brand spirit sprinting,

she runs circles, does laps

she tucks her haunches under
and she silently thunders
by lightening fast,
pure joy despite her chaotic past,

oh in my dreams, she will live
forever, and despite what
some say spiritually,
the will in me says she will
wait for me on the far side
of the Rainbow Bridge

and we then run, her nose
leads the way, to play
and a day, to discover
freely
eternity.
My dog today. Old but not too old, yet.
573 · Feb 2015
Walking Jay
Ottar Feb 2015
Feet* and paired Wings,
Today that is what, so brings
US
To this, where cha-ching,
The rights to which cling,
LIKE
Static, we gave our mothers,
When Sisters and Brothers,
BIG
Like houses fell with furry on
Us, with sibling rivalry, luvin'
LARGE
Hands saying stop, pointing
To the crosswalk, anointing
SAFE
Places to cross the roadway,
Rather than be a walking jay,
TICK-
Ed and ticketed, by some loud
Constable, unstable and proud,
THAT
with you now, a notch on his belt,
Quota made for the month, melts
YOUR
Resolve to have a good day, red
Cheeks on display, like those dead
MEMORIES,
Of how your Brother or Sister always
Won the battle of wills, and turn away,
SHUNNING
Your existence to even compete,
Participation failure so complete,
BECAUSE
They were younger, too true,
And bigger, better than you.
...Walking Jay
Look both ways in life before crossing anyone.
571 · Oct 2015
Falling...then Landing
Ottar Oct 2015
It is not the stripping
of what the day wore

It is not, that no one
thing can be done, if
one sleeps more

it is the mind
won't shut down
and startles awake

a physical earthquake which
shocks the shuttered eyes open
and a mouth gasping for air to
pay off the lungs or the heart

will beat loudly all parties close at hand as the
head explodes, once...
and again.
Something from my IG @elverum51
Ottar Sep 2013
Continue...

The sky broken up by steel lines, are they still there?
The peace shattered and shattered and shattered, and
                                                                   no glass falls.
            Tears, droplets red, as well as, instead.

Take away the senses leaves a dry taste in the mouth.
The weak are the insensitive, and numb and seen it all
                                                                                 before.

       Robocop gets beat up by the Transformers.

No not the ones attached to the poles attached to those wires,
but the ones attached to arms and legs and make arms and
                                                                                  the mouth,
                                           MOVE!

While soft shoe, dancing across the house floor without looking down,
          so if there is a trip and stumble don't let your face grow a frown,
                                                                                                   permanent
                     not like a one act clown embezzling emotions.


From the crowd.
For the future.
Stitch the hole, with a suture
twenty hundred pounds of laundry,
washed twelve loads of  linens in the
wash-house, now all is quiet as a mouse,
all are stained
all are pained
all too many
down the drain
when will we ever
learn
when will we ever
learn

I know it is not a solution, but lets start giving everyone a gun
and stop making bullets
I did not write this to dishonor anyone who has had a loved one die after being shot in a random act of violence, I wrote this as I am disgusted at the political currency founded and minted in innocent deaths
571 · Sep 2013
In Pursuit (10w) X 2
Ottar Sep 2013
Stalking flies like they
were treasured prizes, was the feline.

Following the perp without being overt,
          weaving fleeing, rookie eyes.


©DWE092013
Had these sitting around dusted them off, maybe could have let them age...
570 · Mar 2015
float
Ottar Mar 2015
body of water
liquid corpse
enclose a copse
of undersea
trees...

some standstill to
blend in, some wave
in a tai chi motion
some see weeds
some seaweed,

like fabric it wraps
taking shapes
by dressing
in designer
clothes,
ideas that float
enclosed
to the top
but not out of popularity
but all the
waves from
the deep,
that lift
the body
in the body
of water to float,
           to surface.
Some read this before it floated comp!etely to the surface...hit save poem prematurely...blush
568 · Sep 2013
Day of Travail
Ottar Sep 2013
wanting for to write a simple rhyme
with rhythms that, dance and move
me like butterflies and honey bees
work, the stamen and pollen pistil
until wings be still as, the night air,
day of travail has gone bye bye.
567 · Mar 2013
Flood of 69
Ottar Mar 2013
The Trail Creek,
could not hold
the flow of
a million million
drops of rain.

The bank let loose and a Gulch became a river,
basements of homes and stores became indoor pools but
not one resident was close to foolish enough to go in and swim.

The streets became
a river of
a muddy coffee
coloured toxic feared
enemy, that had
no weakness but
time.

An apartment building fell as the Columbia River swelled,
eroded and took the ransom till it flowed down stream and
was rumoured to have crashed into a transom of the old bridge.

So many memories swept away down stream, many more, could
not resist to power of the water to remove and ruin, words and images,
by force, and in time, dirt and sediment remained everywhere, after the flood.

Tears replaced rain,
in time water,
all of it,
was drained away,
peoples lives strained.

To a ten
year old boy
this was big!
And as the
Columbia was growing
larger each day
parks disappeared as
the danger neared
I sang, "rain,
rain, go away
we have had
enough, there is
no where to play.


The flood of
nineteen sixty-nine,
was a vivid a
disaster you will,
ever find, but still
the City survives.
1948 and 2012 and (maybe 2013) floods have also occurred, even though they redid the creek and culverts and reinforced it all.   There may be other years with floods but these ones stand out in my
memory
567 · Feb 2015
back by popular demand...
Ottar Feb 2015
It is not like a feeding frenzy,
In the bay boy, by the dock with youbread
by the loaf.

Just add seagulls
and a boat.

It is not like a gang fight, between
The Crows and The Gull,
at a MacDonald's entrance,
with some discarded
contra-
band,
in a Marked and torn paper bag.

Three are always
clad in black and
one dressed in grey..... or white.

It is not like any of that,
It is like standing in a silent room,
There is no clapping, nor thunderous Boom,
of approval, a the speed of sound, and of light,
the white is blinding, the emptiness binding,
on all sides.  Suffocate my self-esteem from miles and miles away,
if Social Media Therapy, is all I got
something has to change, that isn't LIKE me.
See my poem in this poem SMT (Social Media Therapy)
564 · Apr 2016
Table Talk
Ottar Apr 2016
When our family still dined in one sitting, together,
"dollars to donuts" subject of school came up, as did weather,

and then back to the topic of school and those
homework assignments, but saying "Bob Elliot "grows

like  ****"" got mom and dad talking about clothes
and shopping south of the border woes

in Spokane, though my dad worked at Hudson Bay
and my mom toiled at Woolworth's, earned her pay,

they wanted "bang for buck" and would not allow
"good money go after bad *******" here and now

with the Canadian dollar almost at par,
and gas was cheaper for our old car,

"South of the 49th" just then,

the phone would ring and one of our friends would ask
if we could go out and play until dark, mom would take us to task

and say as we went out the door, with a slam "best be inside
"before the cows came home"" we were already three strides

from the door though (we didn't live on a farm
and only animal was our pet was a dog, Goldie,) what was the harm

as the sun was staying up later
the homework would be done once daylight was long faded,

and we would get to our beds "as snug as bug in a rug"
the importance of breaking bread together with limited interruptions and intentional communications only with those immediately seated around the TABLE is "fighting a losing battle," I am one to TALK
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