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870 · Mar 2017
Advice for Daughter
Jim Davis Mar 2017
Shoot for the stars
The ones
You cannot see
They are out there
Faith is the proof
Of the unseen

Don't fret over
Silly perfection
God always lets weeds
amongst his roses
More attractive to
Bees, birds,
And butterflies

Worry not
for morrow's arrival
And watch your
Load of baggage
Traveling lightly
As I have told
Your brother

Love all you do
Take love too
For it will
Guide you
Straight outta
Any kinda hell

©  2017 Jim Davis
844 · May 2017
All Clear
Jim Davis May 2017
Symbolism, metaphor, similitude
whatever for
Why not just come
right out and say it?
Well,
it's
been said before!

©  2017 Jim Davis
839 · Jun 2017
Love Part
Jim Davis Jun 2017
A soul has
many parts
Some parts
Don't give
A ****
But the
love part
Wants it
To be you

©  2017 Jim Davis
Everyone needs a primary school poem or two to keep one honest!  Likely will not make it onto a Hallmark card!
816 · Aug 2019
Fireflies in the Dark (10w)
Jim Davis Aug 2019
Much like dancing fireflies
Thoughts of you light my dark

©  2019 Jim Davis
Jim Davis Apr 2017
She fell
I caught her hand
While she was
on the way down
Helping her to rise
From a hurting fall
Our eyes locked
Hers inquiring
Are you in love
Mine answering
How could
you tell

©  2017 Jim Davis
For HP theme today #npmluck
787 · Jun 2017
Untitled
Jim Davis Jun 2017
As the meadowlark
Singing after fresh spring rain
Poets need the same

©  2017 Jim Davis
768 · Mar 2017
Advice for Son
Jim Davis Mar 2017
Keep your moonbeams
On the top shelf
Within reach
But high

Hold fast to
The spider's strand
It will lead you
From it's lair

You cannot take your  
Things with you
Thus it pays
To always travel light

Cling to those
Who love you
They will guide you
Through the night

©  2017 Jim Davis
Changed third set of verses up a bit, I like this better!  Apologies to those who read the first version.
762 · Aug 2019
Faded Love (10w)
Jim Davis Aug 2019
Crushed love leaves a fading scent
Much like crushed roses

©  2019 Jim Davis
Such is the sweet aroma of sorrow!
760 · Jun 2017
Bull Rider in Shade
Jim Davis Jun 2017
His horseshoe on the tree near
had slipped a nail again
Turning upside down
Spilling the little luck within

He thought about fixing it
But didn't want to rise in might
To get the ladder and hammer
And nail, to set things right

He had quit riding, late last year
Although he could, he had been
Stepped on across the back,
Hurt a little, and didn't want it again

Now, he would sit and rest
Wait patient, for the days to fade
Loving the moment of thought
Resting on the bench, in shade

©  2017 Jim Davis
I knew a neurosurgeon who rode bulls in college.  Talk about juxtaposition!  In my opinion, anyone riding bulls may need brain surgery!
757 · Apr 2017
A Circle's Essence (1w)
Jim Davis Apr 2017
Pi

©  2017 Jim Davis
Shortest poem I'll likely ever write, unless I do one about Me or I!
741 · May 2017
Wind's Breath
Jim Davis May 2017
Tomorrow's winds will arise
Perhaps half a world's length
Away from me standing still
Circling across blue black seas
Presence shown in frothy waves

Falling on near sandy rock shores
Then once ashore blowing hard
Through my body's soul to fill
Bringing thoughts and whispers
Of memories never lost to time

Filling the moment's deep breath
With aromas from exotic realms
Actually bringing your breath
Left behind while still together
Breathing the same space alive

In past times spent with you
In our world of far off travels
Having gone together to
South, East, West, and North
And most points in between

Knowing after you are gone
No matter from whichever
Direction the winds to blow
I'll still breathe your life's breath
In the blowing warm winds

Or you can do the same as I
If I am first to early leave
Thus, though no longer able
To lay face to face in dreams
You will still take my breath away

©  2017 Jim Davis
741 · May 2017
Mint Julep Haiku
Jim Davis May 2017
resting upon porch
swallows sipping pond's still glass
She brings mint juleps
738 · Jun 2017
Flow
Jim Davis Jun 2017
Is love like
flipping a coin
Or water-flowing
Or electrons going
Only one direction
Possible at a time

©  2017 Jim Davis
737 · Mar 2017
Untitled
Jim Davis Mar 2017
Under spring blossom
Wonder is there life still left
For loved living

©  2017 Jim Davis
Another haiku please
731 · Mar 2017
Loved Ones Gone
Jim Davis Mar 2017
Quick lives painted,
By the yellows, reds, and blues.
Colorful lives they were,
Intensely hued in shades.
Kaleidoscope lives.

Chromatic colors of this world,
Not the next.  Although,
Flashes of heaven seen,
Built on moments,
Of crazy subdued!

Essences of bright colors
brought to bear,
For love, against hate.
A spark among mediocrities,
Starting blazes to change worlds.

Splashes of color,
In a darkening sky.
Fireworks streaking to explode,
Falling, extinguished,
Lacking flame for going on.

With their absence,
A vista left more dreary,
Yet carried to the next world,
A sparkle of color heaven gained,
Giving God a smile.

© 2016 Jim Davis
Later in life now, **** near sixty, remembering all those, who have left here, earlier than I.
730 · Mar 2017
The Poētria
Jim Davis Mar 2017
Clever is she
Sculpting and molding
her time in reality
Twisting a few words
Into a smile or a tear

Dreaming a better place
Without cracked
hearts and minds
Aside from hers
Almost cleaved

Word follows word
moment follows moment
In time or rhyme
Often a jumble
At times sublime

Continually striving
For that poem of
One last word

© 2017 Jim Davis
Poetess poetry poet words time life death
728 · Sep 2019
Texas
Jim Davis Sep 2019
Hot summer ending
In late evening listening
To loud Patsy Cline

©  2019 Jim Davis
Finally in the low 90’s here, smidgen of rain!  SOCKS Spell it out and you’re talking Spanish!
725 · May 2017
Black Geese Haiku
Jim Davis May 2017
Watching paired black geese
Flying in cold winter winds
Each as me, one love
Is monogamy the only way?  I have another amusing poem about polygamy on the way!
690 · Aug 2019
Live to Love
Jim Davis Aug 2019
I’ll turn past six decades tomorrow
I’ll not live to love much longer
Coulda said the same
a decade of years ago
or on the day of my birth
I’ll not live to love much longer
Who really knows what
decades of years or
another tomorrow brings
I’ll not live to love much longer
Perhaps someday I’ll say
I’ll turn past nine decades tomorrow
that’ll be the day I’ll say
I’ll not live to love much longer

©  2019 Jim Davis
Love... really... is all there is!  If you don’t get it, give it... while you can!
688 · Apr 2017
Punch Line Haiku
Jim Davis Apr 2017
"A super mighty"
Threatened as "preemptive strike"
From North Korea

©  2017 Jim Davis
Sorry, couldn't resist!  Let's hope for peace!
678 · Mar 2017
Curveball Haiku
Jim Davis Mar 2017
Traveling in hard rain
Caution sign flash, curve ahead
Metamorphosis

©  2017 Jim Davis
Life throws fastballs and curveballs!
674 · May 2019
Chuck on Yoda (5w)
Jim Davis May 2019
The Force?
I’m with you!
Love Chuck Norris facts... and Yoda!
673 · Apr 2017
Place of Dreams
Jim Davis Apr 2017
I've seen tulip fields, daffodils and
mountain meadow's spring blaze
Of bloom
Still, I looked for a place to dream

I've floated the wow, in sea life filled,
surreal turquoise lagoon's sparkling
Drifting waters
Still, I looked for a place to dream

I've dined with Mickey, at his home
but too late for a quick visit with his
Given grace
Still, I looked for a place to dream

I've laid still with friends, from a long ago
through both through and in
Thick and lean
Still, I looked for a place to dream

I've heard the oh so quiet winds blow
into one ear, and inside, out into the
Other inside
Still, I looked for a place to dream

I've crawled into sticky lairs of trouble
more times than I can again sort of
Totally remember
Still, I looked for a place to dream

I've jumped into the frypan much
too friggin hot for a figure of speech and
Of mind
Still, I looked for a place to dream

I've gone into, over, through and
on top of, all the way in, then out and
Down under
Still, I looked for a place to dream

I've slipped the earth's surly bonds
more than one time, possibly a one
Hundred thrice
Still, I looked for a place to dream

I've watched stars and planets pass
me on by in parched, black filled
Desert skies
Still, I looked for a place to dream

I've traveled the whole world around
not once, but close to once, or at
Least twice
Still, I looked for a place to dream

Funny, I finally found the only place
that I need to dream right there in
My mirror
Staring at me from my mind within

©  2017 Jim Davis
Submitted for HP theme today (24 April) "dreams" #npmdream
663 · Mar 2017
Revilation
Jim Davis Mar 2017
Heard on the
News today
A lady saying
Our forefathers
Were not citzens
She is right
They were subjects
Under tyranny
And that is why
We are citzens
Although now
Of a revile nation

© 2017   Jim Davis
"All we want are the facts, ma'am"   Joe Friday.
619 · May 2017
May Flower Haiku
Jim Davis May 2017
As May's flowers rise
Nothing seems more sad aside
A love's find of hate

©  2017 Jim Davis
618 · Apr 2019
Dogs & Cats (10w)
Jim Davis Apr 2019
Dogs forever will love you
Cats barely will tolerate you

One might ask when dating... before getting serious in things... Are you a dog or a cat person?  

©  2019 Jim Davis
606 · Apr 2017
Blood Born Love
Jim Davis Apr 2017
Could anyone, ever, ever, imagine
While struggling in moments of
Life, in this dark hardening world
Any greater tragedy to know of
In a life lived, yet always nearly lost
Than a soul's abandonment of love

Boyfriend, girlfriend, flirts, flings
Lovers, mistress, wife, husband, all
Can suffer (without seeing an end)
In the unwanted loss of a dear love
But such love, is always found love
Always a chance, of another to find

Really, such is such a little big thing
Laid alongside a meant destruction
With a loved one's hate of only kin
Care of same given blood, all gone
A sadly lost, gifted blessing, of love
Not unlike the gift of a God's love

Is it even possible, a mother loving
Not, a sweet daughter or brave son
Or a jealous sister's hatred of sister
Or a son's coming to rage, in
Twisted hate of a living father
Whose life's burden came crushing

Or like the very first two brothers
Cain, with Satan's new seed of hate
Sprouting a considered cause to ****
Or in Euripides' play, Medea's
Wrath filled hate of Jason leads to
****** felicide of her own spawn

Naturally, death comes for any one
Destiny's fate, followed a sin by two
But all loss of a blood born love
Of which there is only ever one
Arises from a most unnatural mind
Or possibly, unforgiven sin of one!  

©  2017 Jim Davis
Only a coincidence or vibes, hitting on Hello Poetry's theme "Unconventional Love" for the 4th day of National poetry month!  #npmlove

From Wikipedia
"On average, according to FBI statistics, 450 children are murdered by their parents each year in the United States .[4]"

"In the United States, homicide is in the top five causes of deaths of children, and in the top three causes of death in children aged between 1 and 4 years old.[7] A direct correlation has been identified between child abuse rates and child homicide rates. Research suggests children who are murdered by their parent(s) were physically abused  victims prior to death. This is often seen as an indicator of domestic violence.[8]"
598 · Apr 2017
Saturn Haiku
Jim Davis Apr 2017
"Cassini spacecraft has survived an un-precedented trip between Saturn and its rings, and has amazing pictures to show for it."

I've done that before
Although, I didn't get to
Take any pictures

©  2017 Jim Davis
http://ewao.com/2017/04/28/cassini-beams-back-the-closest-ever-images-of-saturn/
592 · May 2019
Lighten Up (5w)
Jim Davis May 2019
Light never fades to black
Lighten up a little
591 · Apr 2017
What does the Raven say
Jim Davis Apr 2017
You well know
You left once before
Returning with a
Tapping knock
Upon heart's door

Plaintively pleading
Can I enter once more
To press into your soul
Promising a true
Forevermore

Of only us as one
And none other
A one to forever remember
One of the blissful sublime
Not a love to wither and die

Shunning wise counsel
Reluctantly I granted
An entry through
Love's window to my soul
Yet all again a lie

In my agony of sorrow
Of a love lost forever
Having found my Athena
I sip deeply from my glass
Nepenthe warm and sweet

From behind heart's door
Whilst barely breathing
Teeth clenching
Rage seething
Quietly whispering
Nevermore, Nevermore


©  2017 Jim Davis

Could not resist a steal from Poe! For anyone concerned, this comes from an old personal thing.  

From Wikipedia on Edgar Allen Poe's poem, "The Raven":
... "Christopher F. S. Maligec suggests the poem is a type of elegiacparaclausithyron, an ancient Greek and Roman poetic form consisting of the lament of an excluded, locked-out lover at the sealed door of his beloved.[14]"

Paraclausithyron (Ancient Greek: παρακλαυσίθυρον) is a motif in Greekand especially Augustan love elegy, as well as in troubadour poetry.
The details of the Greek etymology are uncertain, but it is generally accepted to mean "lament beside a door", from παρακλαίω, "lament beside", and θύρα, "door".[1] A paraklausithyron typically places a lover outside his mistress's door, desiring entry. In Greek poetry, the situation is connected to the komos, the revels of young people outdoors following intoxication at a symposium. Callimachus uses the situation to reflect on self-control, passion, and free will when the obstacle of the door is removed.[2]

From greekgodsandgoddesses website
Athena
* Athena was the Goddess of War, the female counterpart of ARES.
* She was the daughter of Zeus; no mother bore her. She sprang from Zeus’s head, full-grown and clothed in armor.
.......
* In later poetry, Athena embodied wisdom and rational thought.


From Dictionary website
Nepenthe
* a drug or drink, or the plant yielding it, mentioned by ancient writers as having the power to bring forgetfulness of sorrow or trouble.
* anything inducing a pleasurable sensation of forgetfulness, esp. of sorrow or trouble.
584 · Dec 2019
Marriage (10w)
Jim Davis Dec 2019
Most beautiful...
at the vows...
then again...
at 50 years!
I’m at 33 years... 17 years to go!  There is a joke - Joe is crying in the corner at his 50 yr wedding anniversary... his best friend asks... “Joe why you crying? This is a beautiful day!” Joe says...” “Her Dad said I either had to marry her or go to jail for 50 years... I’m crying cause I coulda been a free man today!”
583 · Apr 2017
Untitled
Jim Davis Apr 2017
Fine spring beauty day
Seeking the agarita
Berries all must grab

©  2017 Jim Davis
From the web site wildedibletexas
"When agarita berries are ripe, they can be plucked from the bush and eaten raw though the tender-fingered should beware."

Actually, I had seen red berries in an agarita bush, I started plucking them, and ate a handful quickly as I have done in past years.  I was thinking to myself, these don't taste like I remember.  Then I discovered there was another plant growing amongst the agarita.   After a quick search on the web, I found out Nandina berries, while toxic to birds and other, are considered non-toxic to man.  

"The berries of the nandina plant contain hydrocyanic acid and are poisonous. They are toxic to cats, dogs and other grazing animals, and they can cause animals to experience seizures, comas, respiratory failure and death. They are considered nontoxic to humans but may cause stomach pain if ingested."

Thankfully, I lived! Moral: the stupid,  in addition to the tender-fingered, should also beware!
570 · May 2017
Argue with Me
Jim Davis May 2017
Ya know
I think I'll
Just shut up
All that I say
Since always
So seems
Sharp retort
Unexpected
Always heads
Directly my way
May be safer
Not to give
All my opinion
As it seems
Of no matter
Perhaps I'll argue
Only with myself
Like those on the
Top floor
Psyche ward
Seem to do
They've got it
Figured out
Eventually I'll
Figure it
Out too
At least to me
I can be
Quite nice

©  2017 Jim Davis
553 · Apr 2017
Butterfly Feel
Jim Davis Apr 2017
... it's very hard to absolutely tell
      so much beauty lies therein,
   when,
... a drifting butterfly
alights upon one's
      opened hand
           again,
... if not for all the
beautiful colors,
   arising in the mind within

... life really cannot get weighed
although we always do at first
   when,
... a soul entering through an
      opened womb
alights upon a tiny life unborn
however even
            then,
... it's very hard to absolutely tell
      so much beauty lies therein

... sometimes sweet love itself
is all a loss
and then we pine, cry and groan
wishing a time again,
   when,
... love adrift in the air returns to    
alight upon a shattered heart
      opened to hardly believing
          again,
... if not for all the
beautiful colors,
   arising in the mind within

... for the loss of a living loved which eventually
comes to almost all and one
we are oh so glad
   then,
... for any drifting love of friend or kin
to alight upon one's own
      opened yet broke
heart and soul to live, still
          again,
... it's very hard to absolutely tell
      so much beauty lies therein

... of course before the end of life
upon these rough stumbly shores
If arrival not much too late
all have hope for
   when,
... salvation alights upon an
      opened poor soul
with at first only a wee bit of true
belief of him,  until eternity's
         then,
... if not for all the
beautiful colors,
   arising in the mind within

... eventually breath like all love except
God's love leaves everyone
In the known earthly end
   when,
... a searching death
alights upon as cause of one's  
      opened grave
         even then,
... it's very hard to absolutely tell
      how much beauty lies therein

... Remember too,
a butterfly, a life, a love, a soul
if caught
and grasped too
tight around, this
        then,
... shatters fragile wings,
taking away all and any hope of
soaring flight, of a
a life, a love or a soul,
as a rising butterfly
      opened to the winds,
        when,
... it's very hard to absolutely tell
      so much beauty lies therein
... without all the
beautiful colors,
   arising in the mind within

©  2017 Jim Davis
My first attempt at a villanelle poem, thus 22 lines instead of only 19!
553 · Jul 2019
One Way Love (10w)
Jim Davis Jul 2019
If one not in love,
are both out of love?

©  2019 Jim Davis
551 · Aug 2019
Big Spread
Jim Davis Aug 2019
I’ve got my acreage
I’ve got my kids
I’ve got my wife
I’ve got my life
**** well
Best leave me alone

©  2019 Jim Davis

You know in Texas
you never ask a man
the size of his spread!  
Downright rude, I guess!
544 · Mar 2017
Ripples
Jim Davis Mar 2017
Another life question
How far do my ripples go
Throwing rocks
Into life's pond
Why do I keep throwing rocks
When I could be skipping stones
Liking the word "ripples" after using it in my previous attempt at another haiku.   Wanting to work on a poem about the "butterfly effect".  This is all I have for now!
544 · Apr 2017
Do Re
Jim Davis Apr 2017
Do you want to do mi?

©  2017 Jim Davis
Submission 6 words #npmmicro
533 · May 2017
Grazing
Jim Davis May 2017
Grazing the edges of deep shadows
Pushing away the darkness unseen
Hoping any little light, to guide one
Through any coming Hell, between
Now and journey's arrival to then

©  2017 Jim Davis
Prompted by a deer grazing along edge of a tree's dark shadow!

Favorite quote - "If you're going through hell, keep going." Winston Churchill
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/w/winstonchu103788.html
531 · Mar 2017
Untitled
Jim Davis Mar 2017
Watching winter's pond
Notice all the ripples gone
I see death again

©  2017 Jim Davis
A play on the word, icy of course the Winter, here is almost done
525 · Oct 2021
In/Out
Jim Davis Oct 2021
Falling in
A wondrous thing
Tied in a knot
Unforeseen occurs
In time’s passing
A strand breaks…
Then another…
The twist
comes undone
The knot slips
Held by nothing
Except gossamer thread
A miserable thing
Falling out

©  2021 Jim Davis
522 · May 2017
TeeBeeEye PeeTeeEssDee
Jim Davis May 2017
Sand in my toes
Can't get it out
Five tours
Does that to you

Sand in my mouth
Can't get it out
Five tours
Does that to you

Sand in my nose
Can't get it out
Five tours
Does that to you

Sand in my ears
Can't get it out
Five tours
Does that to you

Sand in my eyes
Can't get it out
Five tours
Does that to you

Sand in my brain
Can't get it out
Five tours
Does that to you

Five tours
Out
With a bang
Does that to you

©  2017 Jim Davis.
Prompted by a friend who did five tours!  Even one tour is sometimes enough!
502 · Apr 2017
TO LIVE
Jim Davis Apr 2017
To Live
Open your heart
Let love all in
In the lost heart
Victory is love at the
End

©  2017 Jim Davis
Is it cheating to steal one's own poem just posted for today's HP theme #npmacrostic
499 · Mar 2017
Untitled
Jim Davis Mar 2017
Dark, well I know
Still, a spring tide's shining moon
Guides my way to you
From web
Spring tide
"a tide just after a new or full moon, when there is the greatest difference between high and low water."
492 · Dec 2017
Leaf2 Haiku
Jim Davis Dec 2017
In the chilled noon sun
Facing spread of leaves in thought
Wait for last to fall

©  2017 Jim Davis
492 · Nov 2019
Behold (5w)
Jim Davis Nov 2019
**** is in the eyes

©  2019 Jim Davis
If beauty is in the eyes of the beholder... where is ****?
488 · Dec 2020
Advice (10w)
Jim Davis Dec 2020
Take a little hint
Today... live
Tomorrow... love
Yesterday... fuggitaboutit

©  2020 Jim Davis
Pretty much the same for most of 2020
488 · Aug 2019
A Fine Line (10w)
Jim Davis Aug 2019
With words...
my heaven within your eyes...
became my hell

©  2019 Jim Davis
484 · Dec 2019
Hidden (10w)
Jim Davis Dec 2019
Careful...
beauty is sometimes ugly...
dancing at a masquerade  ball!
Ya never know... till ya know!  So the beauty within any person... is always a nice discovery! So... I’ll argue against the world and say... beauty... is more than skin deep! And a truly ugly person... sometimes wears a mask of beauty!  Be careful... what one looks for in a person or a mate!
482 · Nov 2017
Where
Jim Davis Nov 2017
If someone should ask
Where to take his ashes
Do so to the lands of his birth
Spread into sandstone waters
Where his mother and father lie
Do so on a cold windy day
Let those in view feel the bite
And celebrate they are alive
To see this glorious day
His ashes blown by the winds
His spirit rising in the sky

©  2017 Jim Davis
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