Michael S Simpson

Michael S Simpson Mar 2011

Death walked in.
He said to her,
"Be still."
And she is.
So still.

Last night I witnessed my mother's death--

Michael S Simpson Mar 2011

Kate Little's "Most used words" woven into a poem.
The words:
love remember life heart soul day cinquain kiss beautiful night
sweet man angel dream silver tears spirit words pain does gentle
hard true hope

The poem:

My vanished love,
do you not remember
the life we planned?
A vision our hearts and souls
wove together, day by day,
letters sealed with our own
cincquain kiss.

My now distant love,
how beautiful was the night
from the circle of your arms--
sweet 'tis still,
in my "man from an angel"
dream.

The lonely moon
makes a silver necklace
of my tears,
while the night winds,
once bearers of
your love's whispers,
breathe spirit words
into my shattered heart.

This careless pain you gave,
does gentle, yes,
does gentle
in time, into
a hard, true, hope.

From Kate Little's "most used words" list.
Blame for the ensuing poem is all mine.
All rights reserved by the author.

Michael S Simpson Mar 2011

I Would

I would drink those tears
though they were an ocean
I would clear your clouded sky
with a faithful friend's devotion
I would hug and hold you close
while you weep with deep emotion
I would drink those tears

for Kate
All rights reserved by the author

Michael S Simpson Mar 2011

Pebbles' Pebbles

love
just life know
feel time
heart need
like soul look
don't eyes?
little man away
face joy
hold

From Pebbles' most used words list-- all I added was the "?".

Michael S Simpson Feb 2011

My Faithful Disappointment

We are not friends.
I try to
avoid her.
But when
she corners me,
and forces me to
look
in her
sad, mirroring
eyes,
always
she shows me
what
I really want;
who
I really am.
Sometimes,
like it
or not,
I need her.

In my Pantheon of Archetypes, Disappointment would hold out a mirror.
With thanks to Lila Thanh for the insight.
All rights reserved by the author.

Michael S Simpson Feb 2011

The Way Wings Should - by Rumi

What will
our children do in the morning?
Will they wake with their hearts wanting to fly,
the way wings
should?

Will they have dreamed the needed flights and gathered
the strength from the planets that all men and women need
to balance the wonderful charms of
the earth

so that her power and beauty does not make us forget our own?

I know all about the ways of the heart-- how it wants to be alive.

Love so needs to love
that it will endure almost anything, even abuse,
just to flicker for a moment. But the sky's mouth is kind,
its song will never hurt you, for I
sing those words.

What will our children do in the morning
if they do not see us
fly?

This poem was written by Rumi, a Sufi mystic. This translation is from
"Love Poems from God," edited by Daniel Ladinsky, a Penguin Compass book. I hope God doesn't sue me!

Michael S Simpson Feb 2011

I Keep Winter - a haiku suite

i keep winter out
of my heart, remembering
your cherry bud kiss.

spring is coming soon--
manzanita buds aglow,
like little pink hearts.

climbing Mt. Fuji,
i saw only my two feet.
coming down-- the world!

the old Buddhist monk:
gentle as a flower, yet
stronger than thunder.