Along the banks of Lake Shelbyville
That’s what I think of when it’s your birthday
A camp fire burning on a cool April night
We two drinking hot mauled cider
Or better yet “Hornsby’s Draft Cider”
Talking and laughing
Making up parodies
Parodies of Zeppelin and Floyd songs
Listening to the nightingales and the crickets
And watching fire light
That almost appears to be living
Watching slow rolling clouds, and feeling the whispering wind
Rolling in and out and over and under
The engaging light of the moon and stars
And maybe some of our friends were there
And maybe it was only us
Brother and sister
Best friends forever
Retelling stories of our past
Creating memories for our future
Waxing religion and philosophy
Such philistines, think my parents
And your parents don’t get it
And yes we have separate parents
And yes we have the same parents
(Adoption is a funny thing you see)
You are my funny BIG, BIG, BIG brother
Santa Claus, Sasquatch, Cave Man, and Viking
And I am your little crazy sister
Flower Child and Sacagawea
And it is your birthday
And I love you always
        Love, Sarah Jane Gillian Tiffany Michelle Whispering Wind Grider Minks Summers Jonathan George Washington Francis Fleming Greenlee Whiter Liston Hall
Aka Awesome Pagan Goddess

I am not of this world
Said she
The world of mediocrity
I am not part
Of this trivial life
This life of work
And endless strife
I do not want this inner struggle
I’ve been drowning in this abysmal puddle
The puddle appears shallow and harmless
You are not the one
Confronting its acrimoniousness
You are not haunted by its bitter taste
Being pulled down into its grotesque waste
You’ve no idea how arduous it can be
Poor, penniless, hopeless
Like me
Sarah Hall Minks copyright 4/28/12

I’d Love to go to France
And sail upon the Sine
I’d love to go to Germany
And Sail upon the Rhine
I’d love to see the castles
Of England and of Spain
To see the royal Princess Kate
And her lovely husband William,
Oh, to have Prince Charming as a mate
And then the rain that stays mainly in the plane
Having traveled there in luxury by lavish gilded train
I’d love to see the mountains
In Switzerland and Austria
And see the vast rice fields
In Countries like Korea
And drink frothy bubbling ale
From a tavern near a windmill in the Netherlands
And climb a tiny mountainous hill
In enchanting charming Whales
I’d love to see the canals
In a Gondola in Venice
Or maybe go to China to watch some table tennis
I’d love to see the pyramids
Of Egypt and Peru
And see the Ancient Monoliths
On Easter Island too
And feel the spirits of Celtic and Norse Gods rise inside of me
At magical stunning Stonehenge
While far off in the distance Scottish Bagpipers play for free
But Alas, Alas sadness ensues
These things I’ll never see
Poverty always haunts me
And I won’t win the lottery
I’ll never see the breathtaking things
That others take for granted
Though they will always be here
Part of this amazing planet
I’ll have to take in what I can
And not hope for what cannot be
I’ll have to imagine all these things
In my own special way
and see all I can see
Watching shows like, “Rick Steve’s Europe”
Scheduled to air, everyday
On PBS TV

Sarah Hall Minks Copyright 4/28/12

Come Summer

Snow blankets the roof tops and tree limbs
The sun shines
But does not warm the earth
I have had enough of winter
I am waiting for the Mississippi River
Or an Illinois camp ground pond
I’m waiting to tie my hook on the line
And sit in the gleaming warmth
Of Summer Sundays
I want to feel my lungs fill with the clean air
And live in the open sky
I want to hike a million rods down the river
I will pitch a tent
And let Shawn light a fire
I will swim naked in the dark
And make love in the water
I’ll eat crispy juicy cheeseburgers that Shawn cooks
Over that fire he built
And we will drink hot mauled cider
Maybe with a little ***
I will listen to Shawn’s stories
And catch a mess o fish
And we will eat those too
And we’ll stare at the stars
And listen to a quiet radio
And when it gets cooler
We’ll get inside our nice warm sleeping bags
And sleep
And dream

I issued a challenge to my newly formed group,  It went basically as follow.  Choose a poem that you read but did not write and use the words from the word list at the bottom to make a new poem the words can be changed for instance winter can become wintery and swim can become swam You can make one up to and submit it if you want my group is for every poet and every kind of poetry.  Here is mine.  

Why, Thank you
by Elise Cluster

Words
Used in this poem
stone   instead   free   left   grey   wisdom   redeyed   tears   filled   forgotten   tongued   thank   heart   blue   old  


Getting ****** and redeyed
Feeling the wisdom of the old days
And of old people
Laughter comes freely
I have forgotten so many things
I filled up another one hitter
And lit it up
Filling the air with blue grey smoke
I tongued the hitter to feel the heat
I don’t have the energy for tears
My heart thanks the grower
For peace and quiet
And the ease of reflection
I breathe in inspiration
This is great

Oh yeah sure uh huh
God said this and God said that
And then who ever God said this
Or that to
They just did whatever he said to do
And things happened
On the will of God
****** pregnancies, floods that go on for forty days and nights
With animals going on a great big arch two by two
(“Ding, Noah, Zwoopah, Zwoopah, Zwoopah”) *
Blind men seeing,
Even without Lasik
Loaves and fishes
Water into wine, I wish
And God said this
And God said that
Come on
And I’m the Queen of Sheba
Oh wait no…wrong class of mythology
Wilt Thou forgive my heresy

It is time for bed
It’s still not food stamp day
Jay left today
I haven’t had time to reflect
Oo there is no coffee left
Sad…sad sad…sigh
I’ll make some tea
I thought I saw snow
But no again no
Sigh
New Years Eve gone by again
I can not tie all this together
Peace and quiet fills the house again
The anxiety of all that was is gone
New anxiety starts
Ringing in the New Year *****