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May 2022 · 118
To my PenPal
Emmie van Duren May 2022
Now why am I not living in the You Essay so we could get together and have coffee, say,
and really dig down deep in order to discuss the reason we are living in this universe?

Instead I'm left bereft on this side of the world - a harder place to live, now that my love lies cold.
My arms are empty, it's too hard to start anew - unless, of course, I find another heart that's true.

So in your search for meaning, if you come across the great Creator who designed this universe,
please ask Him to remember me and send someone to keep me company 'til this earthly life is done.

For in the end, as we each close our eyes in death and walk into eternity with final breath,
we'll find the only memory that's left to prove we lived at all, was held in someone else's love.

Their thoughts of us live on, their telling of our tale will guard our triumphs, not the places where we fail.
2017
Feb 2022 · 174
Ode to the Prawn Cracker
Emmie van Duren Feb 2022
Oh, wondrous ******* made of prawn
you make my sense reel
My knees grow weak, my tongue hangs out
your seafood touch to feel.

How longingly my taste buds crave
your prawny, crispy cling
See how they seek most anxiously
the taste that makes them sing.

Not quite of lobster, not quite crab
elusive is your flavour
The crunch that locks onto my tongue
then melts, is one to savor.

All locked in light deliciousness,
your taste just makes me *****
and tho' I can't describe it well
it's definitely prawny.

Let's play a game with good, hot oil
I'll pour some on your back
You must be male, I see you grow -
expanding with a  'crack'!

Come to me now - I crave your touch
You need to be in me
my longing is a raging fire
I love you utterly.
© Emmie van Duren-Cranney-King 2022
Sep 2019 · 182
Manna
Emmie van Duren Sep 2019
At what stage does a poem become a short story? How many words can I squander or squash to fit a category?  
I think I know how to tell the difference between prose and doggerel but the rhythms change as pictures in my mind morph into another kind and thumb their nose at boundaries and realign themselves to squeeze just one more nuance in the theme - a poet's heavenly hell.

© 2017
Sep 2019 · 356
Popcorn & horror movies
Emmie van Duren Sep 2019
It's dark outside now,  darling - tread carefully as you go.
That pallid crescent in the sky will soon be gone and so
make haste. Don't linger in the shadows.....

Jan 2019 © Emmie van Duren
Nov 2018 · 352
Melbourne Cup musing
Emmie van Duren Nov 2018
The Race That Stops A Nation is an exaggeration promoters love to trumpet out - but it’s imagination. ©
May 2017 · 374
Water
Emmie van Duren May 2017
Rumbling and grumbling, with colours a’scumbling,
clouds carry rain over expectant land.
Stopping and dropping, tall mountains a’topping,
they empty their bounty from God’s mighty Hand.
Roaring and soaring with rich foam outpouring
there thunders the waterfall over its ledge.
Swishing and splashing with sun sparkles flashing,
the ocean deposits its lacy white edge
Murmuring, mumbling, smooth rocks a’tumbling
carries the river its flood tide away.
Gabbling, babbling, bubbles a’burbling
hurries the brook down its liquid highway.

Gushing or trickling with nostrils a-prickling,
we let out our sorrow in tears of release.
Wearing those guises, earth’s water surprises,
by vanquishing dryness and offering ease.
© Emmie van Duren  13 May 2017
Apr 2017 · 4.6k
Last walk of the day
Emmie van Duren Apr 2017
It's dark outside except for the pale glow of a fingernail moon sailing through the starry sea of night.
The wind has tucked itself to sleep with the birds, weary of bustling about and playing with my hair.
The whippet snuffles his way along the rabbit trails, delighted with this late night walk, white tail wagging in the air.
I wander down by the edge of the swamp, grass all soft and dewy 'neath my feet and spy the pallid uoow reflected upside down,
between the reeds along the creek.  
The constant, shrilling chorus of frogs and crickets drills my ears yet I find it strangely soothing -  a well known voice across the years.

I turn to walk back, whistling the dog and notice in the low fields,  the usual ethereal  fog begin to form.  
I look up at the dark shape of the house and see light from my
kitchen window painting squares upon the lawn.
Amphibean bodies seek the brightness, bellies pressed against the glass and if you warm them with your finger on the other side, they move.  
My man and I  bet kisses on whose frog would move the most -  one of those silly games you play when you're in love.
As I close the door behind me, grabbing logs to feed the fire, the dog flops down upon the hearthrug letting warmth dry swampy mire.
I make cocoa in my blue mug then pull down the kitchen blind - cutting off the froggy light source - abruptly silencing the choir.
© Emmie van Duren  25th April 2017
Apr 2017 · 789
DELIGHT
Emmie van Duren Apr 2017
Oooh...a poem for me?!  I'm breathless as I savor every line
for it's clear a kindred spirit has composed that lovely rhyme.
It is overt
It is obvious
Your words come straight from a heart that has known the warmth of true love
and the pang of Cupid's dart.
© Emmie van Duren 4th June 2014
Apr 2017 · 655
Recognition
Emmie van Duren Apr 2017
Sunlight flares across the glass as her face stares out, eyes wreathed in wrinkles and slitted slightly, thin mouth drawn down in pain or bitterness or maybe disappointment.
Blue sky reflects in the faded pupils and silvery hair whispers like fairy floss above the pink scalp.  Pale blotchy skin creases and pleats itself over the bone structure.
She lifts a veined, liver spotted hand, knotty with arthritis, to her lips.
I study the outline of her face, looking for the young girl with long, glossy brown hair I remember. She of the thrown back throat, ready laugh and warm smile.
The passionate one - forgiving quickly because she loved much and was loved in return.
She's survived her husband by many lonely years.  
Ah, wait! - there's the dimple hidden in the folded skin.  
Time stands still as we search each other's eyes, looking for a connection until I notice a tear sliding down along her nose.
I turn away from the mirror.
© Emmie van Duren 21st April 2017
Apr 2017 · 575
Hot summer nights
Emmie van Duren Apr 2017
Chittering, flittering, spiky legs skittering,  black crickets sneak underneath the back door -
Skidding on lino and diving for cover as broom bristles sweep them across the smooth floor.
Hiding in crevices, antennae waving, they creep out when I’m dozing off in my chair -
launch at my night light, their whis'pry wings whirring, to tangle their crooked black feet in my hair.
© Emmie van Duren  17th April 2017
Apr 2017 · 637
Skype
Emmie van Duren Apr 2017
She’d known all along of course...but buried the knowledge under the star bursts of hope that bloomed whenever he smiled at her.  (God, how she loved that crease curving from his nose to the corner of his mouth –  a small detail burned forever in her heart’s picture of him.)
Spikes of unease at being so besotted and vulnerable were soothed away as his southern drawl wooed her soul but it was just a matter of time. The axe fall of final rejection cut deep.
                                    We crave acceptance,
                                    Seeking truth behind the eyes.
                                    Rejection wounds us
© Emmie van Duren 7th April 2017    
Nov 2015 · 439
Shower aftermath
Emmie van Duren Nov 2015
Like fairy drum rolls
rain drips from eave to bucket
widening rust holes
© Emmie van Duren Nov 2015
Nov 2015 · 666
Minute Minuet
Emmie van Duren Nov 2015
Stuttering, puttering, bright wings a'fluttering,
filmy fragility feeding at flowers;
dancing and chancing its luck at romancing,
the butterfly lives out its hours.
© Emmie van Duren Nov 2015
Nov 2015 · 446
*The show*
Emmie van Duren Nov 2015
Under sultry summer heaven, lightning unzips her leaden sky
to the thunderous applause of leering, jostling clouds.
Fat tears fall slowly then hastily, weeping away the dust of drought.
© Emmie van Duren Nov 2015
Oct 2015 · 574
sleep stealer
Emmie van Duren Oct 2015
Oh, whispering whine
of my evening tormentor,
on my blood you dine.
Your song of high pitch
heralds your vampire habit  
and leaves spots which itch;
Red, lumpy unwantedness
peeps out from my summer dress.
© Emmie van Duren Oct 2015
Oct 2015 · 475
metamorphosis
Emmie van Duren Oct 2015
Underneath a leaf,
curled away from scorching sun
the caterpillars sleep.
© Emmie van Duren-King 24 Oct 2016
Oct 2015 · 442
Fall
Emmie van Duren Oct 2015
The ash weeps red leaves.
Mournfully they spiral down
and the bare branch grieves.
© Emmie van Duren-King Oct 2015
Oct 2015 · 437
In my garden
Emmie van Duren Oct 2015
White blossom breezes
herald crisp apple harvest;
mem'ry that pleases.
Heavy pollen bearers sing
hums of summer on the wind.
© Emmie van Duren-King Oct 2015

— The End —