Resplendent rose, luminous green,
Lucid paradisaical palette,
The jewel delivers
It's dyed, distinctive sheen
Graciously, unassumingly

Casting a pink and emerald crewel
Coalescing into traces,
Cuisine for sunbeams
Brushing nature's easel --
Bedecking the constellation lighting on earth,

Realizing among tureens:
Scalloped edge profusions offering
The spoonbill waif
Sweet adrenaline,
Fueling it's sojourn in the atmosphere.

Bird of prey, humming minstrel,
Airy, iridescent meddler
Between red blooms,
Distant gem's sparkle
Gracing redolent, languid afternoons

Cloaked in shimmering velveteen,
Beating velocious wings, remaining still.

“You’re beautiful,” he says,
his voice a gin-soaked amalgamation of every
listlessly aging boss,
lonely husband in the shoe department,
loveless 3a.m.-hard-cocked stranger.

“Why don’t you smile?”

I widened my eyes
in an attempt to appear likable,
yet felt my mouth
straightening,
my upper lip sealing
the bottom like
a Tupperware lid.

I willed them to curl
upwards, unassumingly;
I wanted to smile the way
women seem to smile
while masking
ill-fitting intentions.

My mouth remained
firmly rooted,
obstinate railroad tracks running
the shortest distance
between the two plotted points of
left cheek and right cheek.

Behind these pretty lips lay
two rows of crooked teeth,
a cigarette-stained skyline
against the starless horizon of
tongue and epithelial tissue, ugly
and wholly my own.

To smile
would be a betrayal
of my own trust,
and if any man
were worth that
it certainly wasn’t
this one.

Each day dawning would
gift me new eyes of wonder,
right from my childhood
a  friend, from this lone and lonely tree,
I'd fervently hope for something different,
rushing  to the window,
I view that  elegance
as the first auspicious thing
to gaze at, as the custom suggests.

After the morning light creates a pool
above the verdant hills at the east,
yet again a regular ritual,
the tree is my magical yard stick
by which I measure myself,
a mysterious pact between us
existed, deep in mind, I had felt
only we know between us
even if the breeze says, that aloud often.

In her presence every thing becomes clear.

As I watch the tree, as usual
after the repetitions of long
years of rain, shine and mist in between,
what I saw that moment was different:
On every branch seeking light,
bristled flowery wonders
songbirds, absent till the day before
in droves sat all over the crown,
in unison singing her paeans sonorously,
purple rays of morning sun
adorned each leaf, in colorful embrace.

Wasn't it the moment I was yearning for?
I stood filled with it's effulgence,crown to root
the connection in an instance, becomes clear,
there is no secrets left unsaid between  us any more--
In a flash , a golden window opens in inner chamber
I feel free from, the bindings of all mundane desires
as one rows the boat, the miseries of Samsara,
the treacherous rapids, are left behind for ever.

Isn't it enlightenment, at the moment
seeking me unassumingly through my open windows?

Im not one of those people
The ones that yell on the cliff
And wave their arms all about
Not one who demands your attention
Claiming it as my own
Im one of those people who stands
Quietly and unassumingly
Next to you
And whispers “hi I am here
Im thinking of you
Maybe you could think of me?”
Im one of those ones
Waiting to be noticed
For someone to see
The me who takes a bit of searching
To find
Who would love you forever
And be totally devoted
If you so much as asked me to
But instead I stand
Unassumingly
Over there
Hoping you remember
But unsurprised that you don’t
After all
I not standing on a cliff
Shouting out your name

Harrowed by this most singular form, we are a
Coalescence of two

Pedals in cathedral stained glass windows
In glorious form
And resting on tables
Placed seemingly, unassumingly
Placed in insurmountable space
Seen by seers and filled by philosophers,
Nonetheless echoing through cavernous halls

Patterned textures of a Parisian tablecloth in my hand
While my other holds yours in its softness
Recusing sonneteers’ burdens,
Varied recollections of a ringing sound
Excusing intelligent ponderings,
Echoes of faltering and exaltation

With a kiss, we speak soundly
Amplifying what we’ve heard all our lives,
But its crimson is of our origination
To be heard once by us and hence,
Echoed to be heard throughout

They are always laid on their backs,
hands folded delicately, almost
as if in bedtime prayer,
over their still bosoms -

as was custom to call it
then in that undefined
historical time in which all
sleeping princesses forever dream.

I am reminded of them now
as you lie there, my drowsy prince
in a comforter castle. You
who lie there so unassumingly,

your quivering lips impetus enough
to embolden anyone, knight or otherwise,
to scale the stony towers of
your blanketed confinement.

But as i watch you i find
that i am no princess, and
far from the gallant savior
your fairy tales promised.

I have no sword with which
to save you, and no beast
to save you from beyond
the snoring dog at your feet.

There's no poisoned spool or fruit
to trap you, no wicked witch's scheme,
just a heavy head and a warm
pillow beneath it,

And how foolish i look now,
worn pajamas replacing the
silver armor i should have on.

so sleep my dear prince,
and dream of the hero you want
me to be, and i'll stand guard

by the door, trying my best
to keep the dust bunnies and
dragons at bay.

I am like the wind - always around unassumingly but never noticed by your naked eye.

Until one day, when spring heats up, you long for me, the gust of wind, your wind of life.

A late evening time at Starbucks is pleasure undefined
I was expecting a lady tired at 9
But she looked perfect and absolutely fine
Whipped up her sweater and wore it inside out
Pretty and gorgeous she looked anyway, without any doubt
A very pretty young lady you see
She offered her hand to me in greeting and I accepted it gladly
Her hand was soft and smooth like silk and gripped mine firmly
In my large paw her little hand was almost like that of a child
In silence we continued to shake hands and I just smiled
She then turned away and bade me follow her saunter
I followed her exotic heady fragrance to the coffee counter
Silently she glimpsed the menu mounted on the wall
A latte with cream and do make it small
Even wearing flat footwear I marveled at her daintiness
Only reaching the dizzy height of five foot three more or less
The straight smooth hair cascaded onto her shoulders softly
A fitted silk blouse complemented her waif-ish frame perfectly  
I know not of her covered  waists and the hips
Then the shapely feet perched up in a cushioned stool
The overall effect was stunning and I was smitten I will confess
Then light illuminated her form through silken dress
The sudden transparency left nothing at all to the imagination
Seemingly completely oblivious to the effect she had achieved
On the red-blooded man in her wake she’d never have believed




And then she paused with a vacant look and looked at me
And the illumination in her eyes lit  her entire body
The vent of her dress caught in the seat
The glimpse of her footwear confirmed the intent I had
A she elegantly slipped into a comfortable position
And gestured towards me to take my place
She is not coy neither is she proud she is upright and confident
Her hypnotic voice was crystal clear yet soft
I was mesmerised enveloped into her intoxicating looks
She opened her bag and gently took out her laptop
Like a precious work of art she had paid for at Sothebys
Every stroke on the keys was like a brush stroke of an artist
As her well kept hair cascade to her shoulders like a drizzle
The light above made her skin sparkle along with her strands
Golden droplets like a stream caressing her neck gently
I was transfixed and my thoughts ceased momentarily
Then it started like a wind blowing in the land of fantasy.


The light flickered unassumingly her strands of golden hair glistened
A small streak like a golden rain tumbled and caressed her nape gently
And rested on her soft shoulders diffidently
The hues of colours made me question the rainbows dedication
Her eyes were captivating and pieced through me like cupids arrow
And her nose the seemed to constantly sense goodness as it tingled
Her mouth extended stretching her lips signifying the enormity of her heart
Her words come forth from her moist lips and decorated my heart
On brief occasions she let he lips do a waltz in her mouth
I glimpsed at her smooth arms a few shades of same colour
Those delicate fingers those nails were like **** for a drug addict
Few rings clung on to her fingers and I envied them
Jewels adorn ordinary mortals she had none - the radiant jewel herself
Her keys dropped to the floor and she bent to pick it
Her blouse gaped revealing her breast a wee bit
A milky white flesh in crimson blaze and I avert the gaze
It was time to leave but my emotional storage tanks were full to the brim
I held her cheeks for a second and then she was gone
Her dazzling beauty turned on the stage lights and I was blinded
My language centres seemed to have gone on an vacation
There were no words to leave my mouth
I held tight to her fragrance that lifted me up in the air
Behold i could fly.

Sometimes everything clicks –
Just a glimpse and I know it’ll be gone.

In the midst of the chaos and confusion,
the sun set on the “almosts”
and led to this golden dawn.

There you were,
unassumingly + perfectly placed in my world;
waiting for me.

I don’t remember how it started, or how exactly I was led to you,
But you make sense.
In the middle of it all –
Fire alarms, crowds of people,
You found me.  
There are only flashes of everything else --  
Brown eyes, your shirt, the color green, drunken conversations about Parks and Rec,
a piece of gum, the way you looked back at me when you got in the car…
a sureness that I’d see you again.

Here we are in this golden hour.
I know this epiphany won’t last forever --
I'll hold it close while it does.

You overwhelm me with this feeling
that everything is falling into place.
Even if it’s all gone by sunset,
I’m glad it all led to you --
right now.

(a.g.)

My body pressed down by stacks of dictionaries and thesauruses
And people desperate to iron out my creases before they need to use me,
I lay flat against the map of the town, my cheek brushing a tree’s branches.
The paper town is pretty to perfection, all done down in diffused pastels
It’s long and tall, but it has zero broadness to its name-
A perfect match for me in those days leading up to a stint in rehab
But SHHHHH!! We’re aren’t allowed to talk about rehab.
The river that flows unassumingly through town traces a line across my thighs,
Covering up with its blue murk the lil red scratches that paint my skin
But SHHHHH!! We’re aren’t allowed to talk about those problems either.
The paper town is quiet and quaint on the face,
Which is good given there’s not much else to see here.
The infinities wasted here linger below like the taste of peanut butter
But anyone could see from a glance the lives frozen in one serene moment
What they can’t see, the part that’s hidden under the soil, the second layer of paper
Is that the moment is surely fading into a photograph
And slowly, slowly, slowly… the paper town is home only to pathetic paper people.
Picture perfect. Perfect picture.
I can feel my heart disintegrating with each passing day I can’t give it any meaning
And I can feel my blood boiling with each day the powers that be control me and I don’t know why
I can’t find any rhyme or reason that works for me, I can’t find a meaning to be me, or being this
I’m made of paper, blowing in the wind wherever it wants to take me
I’m a powerless slip of paper with a painted on smile fading in the brilliant sunlight I’m driving into.
I fade. I’m not even a fresh paper anymore.
But I feel doomed to be a paper forever. So I fade.

The motion of the never ending cold waters makes me sick, sometimes
It bobs up and down and by now it’s hard to tell when I’m breathing and when I’m not
The weight of the deep waters presses on my chest when my head’s above water
The air stings my throat and eyes and the remnants of the water surrounding me reside in my lungs
It’s so much easier to let go
To let the ever present waves consume me as I sink down further
To swim in shadows below and drown unassumingly
To me and everyone around me

See me not look at me
I am much more than skin and flesh
Inside lies beauty and love with secrets
Complicated with imperfections, delicacy and completeness
Vulnerable and fearless but surrounded by weakness
Idealistic and passionate slightly detailed with bleakness
See me not look at me!
I am much more than curves
Unassumingly gracious more than just sinews and nerves
Weathered and worn from troublesome times
Ignore all the wrinkles, creases and lines
See me not look at me!
I am just more than human
Masquerading the lies because I am a woman

© 5/5/2018 written by Elizabeth P. Reynolds

I encountered the simplest of experiences
of a saint and sinner, a muse and its pen
perfectly existing for only about a minute
and then vanished.

All while she simply existed
Unassumingly giggling through small talk

And the reason why I scrambled to write on a crumpled napkin is

to tell you that for that minute or so
I was dumbfounded
by a moment of grace
or was it madness
that has not stirred within me for years

Wonderful

How fortunate you came along
for something I yearned but could never find

Already noticeably marked
increase in daylight
yours truly courtesy affected
qua heliotropic phenomenon
finds me noggin gently being tugged
upward and westward ** toward sun
after dark mine talking head
rests downward and eastward.

Soon very indistinct
environmental intimations
regarding onomatopoeic
ubiquitous murmurings,
whereby old man winter
ever so faintly
relinquishes, loosens, forsakes...
Judas Priest iron maiden grip
upon emergent biosphere
suddenly awakened when
Mother Earth generates

invisible signals transmitted
across world wide web
analogous to conductor
standing on podium
with baton in her/his hand
orchestra playing on cue
perhaps choice selection
Rite of Spring
work by Russian composer Igor Stravinsky
or Flight of the Bumblebee
written by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov.

Soon dormant species will exhibit rebirth
out their linkedin hibernation
flora and fauna tentatively
begin to issue forth out their slumbers
shoots poke thru across terra firma
insync with twittering tweeting creatures
hint viz verdant and/or fecund potential
ready to burst forth and proliferate
instinctively trumpeting joie de vivre.

Sensational show stopping, eye catching
breathtaking... parade of sights and sounds
await buzzfeeding eyes and ears
about six weeks hence,
within mine home box office
here at Highland Manor apartments
quite affordable rent
allows, enables and provides
radiant quiescence, preponderant observance,
nonresistant magnificence, jubilant innocence,
exuberant deliverance,
concurrent buoyant abundance.

Accordingly and allegedly other than
meteorologists plenti schooled
ascertaining onset of temperate air
more particularly otter den non humans
unassumingly (ferreted out), who bear
the tidings, when that season

of rebirth dawns with crystal clear
blue skies, and terrain where deer
and antelope eagerly play without despair
purportedly realized, reassured, recounted...drear
re: days vamoosed foretold by
Punxsutawney Phil on Groundhog Day

February second - requires one
with acute hearing to ****, and ear
turnips tickling the nose nostrils
delicate hairs (instagram ideal outlook) subtly,
markedly, lively..., yet gently flair
soon harkening shrieks

of delightful analogous funfair
no stranger to Renaissance Faire
of pitch perfect gamesomeness
will seem as... otherworldly pleasant
ah heaven sent giftware,
where all creatures great and small

sing psalms, upon arrival when hardware
trappings of winter shucked witnessing
unrolled welcome Scottish mat so hare
and tortoise can race,
cuz vernal equinox, sports a linkedin
improvisational, ebulliently

educational, cerebral, audiological...
twittering melange I will hear,
and grateful no defect doth impair
ability to revel silence, slake, soak...
insatiable thirst even prodding junketeer,
panhandler, vendor...
the last named,
perhaps selling kitchenware
knicknacks, keepsakes...
to hippies (think yours truly)
with long wavy hair
interwoven with Kahila
Garden Lily, Laurel, Maidenhair...
profusion of sensual delight
brings Mother Earth near,
the body, mind, and soul

espying frolicsome **** sapiens
donned with minimal outerwear
infusing all living things
common native plants and animals
in conjunction with resident outlier
particularly those pining
to answer call of the wild overdare
ring and bee zee lee court'n prepare

ring to beget young as
singular requisite quintessential profiteer
fluttering, instagramming emoji,
sans shutterfly puppeteer
as audience visually already reddit
regarding acting entire scenes,

viz Biblical Genesis answering prayer
particularly if gnostic, heterodox, queer...,
finally relieved, sans polar vortex
albeit somewhat rare
atmospheric phenomena, how ideal
if said rabid Jack Frost

would sink icy bite - part
and parcel green gang
at much more favorably time reappear
during oppressive heat spell during
sweltering triple digits temperature
summer re: time of year.

On your roj  Birthday ... Roj  Khorshed,  Mah Farokh Farvandin

Happy happy happy happiest birthday, to our Mom little.

Just the other day,  you were our own,  very little girl;

Sitting on our lap, playing hide-and-seek, smug, cutely curled

Slowly but certainly,  gradually, yet surely, upon your shoulders little;

Took up you, responsibilities truly big, of looking after us too.

During these days of  covid,  Phil n you our responsibilities beautifully shoulder;

Try you,  our lil Mom, to  remove every obstacle that comes our way, every boulder.

Thank you Lil  Mom, for this task herculean,  along with responsibilities other

Very sweetly n unassumingly shouldered them, you did; our cute loving Mother.

May Ahura bless you now n alwayssssss with His blessings choicest.

We  sincerely Him Thaaaaaank, for granting us, bestowing upon us this gift  best.

He granted you to us as our daughter, along with another important form;

Love you most dearly our darling Shez, our dearest daughter, *** now, our Mom.

With all our blessings, best wishes, alwayssssss.

Mom, Dad, Phil, Fre n Zoi