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This darkened - smoke filled room
Seems like a silly place for people to gather
In such a smelly sardine fashion.
The band on stage finishing up its last number
Of their best set of copy cat blues.
The neon bar sign flashes as if a short
While the bartender bellows out “Last Call.”

One fellow sitting at a table in front of me
Seems to find his nerve.
I suppose enough Jack Black was all that was needed
To make his first move.
A few words pass and then
He leads his new found princess
To the dance floor.
Many leaving, many preparing to leave
As these two begin to dance.

They move perfectly together
Without any sound
Except for the drummer who ends
The beat with a final clamber of sound.
The guitar man leans his weapon against the wall
While the keyboard player turns off his magic.

But the two just keep on dancing.

The bar tender begins swabbing the decks
While an old gray haired man
Sweeps the floors in front of him
Turning the chairs up as he goes.
Sweeping away the memories of this night -
The old man stops to pick up a lost yellow rose
Someone dropped carelessly on the floor.
The old man takes the rose over to the couple dancing
Taping the young man on the shoulder he asks,
“Did ya drop this?”
The fellow, still moving to the imaginary beat responds,
“No sir, but I think she did.”
Taking the rose, holding it in one hand, she doesn’t miss a beat,
Still dancing with her newfound partner.
Walking by my table the old man nods at me
While saying, “It’s time to go.”
Getting up I place my chair on the table
Still watching the couple dancing.
My ears still ringing from the sounds
Of the band as I finish off my water.
And I wonder,
I wonder if I was a drinking man,
One like the one on the dance floor
Tightly absorbed in the moment,
With his new found lady friend

Could that ever be me?

Maybe,
Maybe if I hadn’t dropped the rose….
 Aug 2020 Heike Borgard
Colm
A heavy night
Caves in my chest
Collapses me like underground sound

And in falling this
Echo feels no duress
But a resounding weight profound compounds

Like crushed earth I am
In the morning noise
The carved words and pictures in the cave,
left by honored ancients bold and brave;
Speak of gods with powers from the sky,
placing glints of admiration in faithful eyes.

Abandoned in cryptic missives on the wall,
these sketches demonstrate the rise and fall;
Of civilizations long past throughout the years,
while portraying their daily hopes and fears.

People weren't really much different then,
from today's authors using a pencil or pen;
With lives which depict work, stress, and play,
through what artists' souls seek to convey.

Finding lost messages that teach us to grow,
from helpless children to those who know;
That ancestral stories stand firm and tall,
from clever carvings left upon these walls.
We’ve been caught in a dream
More like a nightmare where no end can be seen
Waiting impatiently, searching for the light that seems so far away
Praying to see that day
Emotions swirl out of control
The weight of the world slipping through our fingertips
Trying the grasp a sense of normality while compiling to the rules
Stay at home
Wear a mask
Social distance
6 feet apart
Quarantine
No friends
No family
No gatherings
No life
But yet let’s spin this just a little bit....

Families that are “ normally” so wrapped up in sports, activities, work etc
Are now eating dinner at a reasonable time ( at home)
Spending this time with their children
Going on walks through nature
Having “ campfires” in their backyards
Baking and cooking together
Catching up on life ( together)
It may not seem normal for this day and age but for me growing up this is what is was like everyday
Family dinners
Playing outside
Spending precious time together
Learning about one another
As much as this is a scary and an unknowing time
Find the positive through darkness making light in these uncertain times....
Feeling lost
Loss for words
Doing your best
Yet it’s never enough
Trying your hardest
Getting picked on
That’s it
I’m done
A moment alone
Gathering my thoughts
Feet in the sand
Ocean waves crashing
Dolphins jumping in the distance
Sun rising
Wind blowing ever so slightly
In the midst of my own dreams
As I close my eyes and drift to my happy place....
As I walk a meandering path
Through woodlands thoughts running through my mind.
This is my time,  to reflect, think, smile even laugh.
Halfway to home, down a small trail; I spy a circle of stones.
They appear to be hidden beneath a pile of leaves, under a big oak tree.
And I begin to wonder is this where a family of fairies live.

By day, you may not see them whilst you are walking.
The fairies keep themselves hidden from sight and you would not hear them talking.
But when the sun goes in and the moon comes out; myth has it the fairies play by the pale moon light.

I waited patiently until light turned to darkness.
I was rewarded as I witnessed the most spectacular show;
hidden from view, the fairies did not know.
Three fairies in total, all in sparkly fairy dresses;
their hair fell down their backs in long, tumbling tresses.
The fairies had glorious wings, painted the brightest of colours.
I heard them say their names were Darling, Petunia and Honour.
The eldest one I heard call Darling she had a beautiful voice; you should have heard her sing.
The fairy called Petunia was the pale faced beauty of Exetonia.
Finally, Honour appeared a tomboy with short hair and plenty of dirt on her.

All three of them were very tiny as one would expect.
Can you imagine if I told you they were no bigger than a *******?
I watched as they sat in a circle, legs crossed, whispering and giggling.
Then suddenly they clapped their heels,  flapped their wings, and took off to the skies.
The three fairies flew so high, suddenly to my eye they looked like three dragonflies.
They glided and swooped, they dived and hovered.
They flew under branches and over treetops.
They raced each other, 1,2,3 go.
Petunia I think was the youngest and she was quite slow.
The fairies continued flying until the moon went in and the sun came out.
Then they flew down to the ground and went back to their home.
Under the leaves, in a circle of stone.

Now when I am out walking.
And a dragonfly flutters by.
I wonder if this is really Darling, Petunia  or Honour.
I wonder if the fairies, knew that I had spied upon their manor.

The next time a dragonfly passes you by just give a little wave and say hi – you never know it may be one of the fairies or indeed all three.
On a walk in Woodlands  I saw a fairy garden and it got me thinking.
Hope you enjoy.
Beneath a gentle morning breeze,
splashes of purple play,
at the feet of trees,
Lilacs, in a forest of grey

delicate and sublime,
a purple ocean, a violet sea,
with the scent of lavander,
their aroma captivates me
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