A castle

A silly poem about living in a house made of rocks.


Living in a castle
Is really quite a hassle
The rough stone floors are freaking hard to sweep

The tapestries get dusty
The rugs are kinda musty
The air in there is bound to make you weep

The towers can be pretty
But living in them shitty
The stairs going up can really wear you down

All that space is cold
And prone to gather mold
And echoes come from every freaking sound

The food is quite ample
But they pay a guy to sample
A poisoned princess would make a lot less noise

The furniture hurts my back
The bed feels like a rack
I question why I practiced all this poise

The staff in here is snooty
Just trying to do their duty
But they haven’t heard a single word I’ve said

I’d give them all the boot
I think it’s all quite moot
The status isn’t worth the overhead

And though it can be iffy
I’d sell it in a jiffy
And head out on the moor to fret and roam

Find a pleasant maid
With a rundown shack that’s paid
And enjoy the life a peasant would call home

No, this is not a Six-Word Memoir, but a celebration of my awesomely talented friend, Melanie Green, who just published another collection of her gorgeous poetry.

Through daily life challenges that might feel like a battle for many of us, Melanie has somehow found an overflowing of peace, cheerfulness and a sense of gentleness that she generously shares with everyone around her. Her poems are a lovely contemplative journey, a respite from the stress of the world, an invitation to enjoy the peace waiting for you beneath the surface.

In A Long, Wide Stretch of Calm, Melanie Green establishes herself as an astute observer and reverent appreciator of worlds within and without. With the ease/ of non-striving (“Revelatory”), she explores the momentarily unshackled/ now (“An Unconfined Astronomy”) of birds, flowers, trees, lakes, galaxies, and a human body that can overdo into illness/ and fatigue (“Blessing for Self-Kindness”).

Haiku-like in their intensity of language, Zen-like in their meditative quality, these lyrical poems invite us to pause, catch our breaths, and marvel at a poet who invites us to Feel/ the psalm/ of lingering/ calm/ in afternoon’s/ echo of light (“The Luster of Silence”).

—Carolyn Martin, author of The Way a Woman Knows
and A Penchant for Masquerades

I heartily invite and recommend her poetry to everyone. If you enjoy it enough to want more, I invite you to get in touch or comment here, for there may just be copies of her previously published books available.

Get your copy here at the Poetry Box.

(A Six-Word Memoir and a poem of six-word lines).

Every year the bunnies come out.
Not the cute and fluffy ones.
I mean Easter–we’re talking chocolate.
Not that chocolate isn’t there regardless.
But Easter, it’s okay to binge!
Eating a whole basketful is legal,
If not encouraged, especially for kids.
I am a kid at heart.
And dark chocolate is my reward.
But the darker bunnies are rare,
Diligence is needed to find them.
But I have seen them before.
I know they are out there.
I’ll find my dark chocolate bunny.
And nibble its ear right off.
()()
(~.~)
c(“)(“)

Every year a poem appears to hint of my love for winter
… or lack thereof.

This year’s goes something like this…

Pilot flame lit, shivering
I loathe the click and hiss
of the metal box in the corner
for it calls farewell to summer

Fall days grow dimmer, shorter
skirts lengthen to pants
coats cover soft shoulders
ankles disappear into boots

Smiles and skin flee inward
huddle indoors for the winter
Only smokers left outside,
cussing, indifferent to the chill

Summer sprouted love, grew
then withered in autumn shadow
died in winter ice, leaving
no seed to greet the spring

The season of intimacy wanes
while others carefully cultivate
their love, I too wander indoors
to escape the chill, alone

Except for my kittens, who purr
happy for the warmth of my lap
and their love of that metal box that
clicks and hisses in the corner

Despite how much hope and love you have for the people in your life, sometimes you just need a little closure, even from family.

Silence

Your time is up
A window of opportunity
Closes
Your silence begets

Silence
Five years I gave you
To decide
Am I human … or not

Patiently I watched you all
Dig your holes of hypocrisy
So deep
You can’t climb out

Traded sharp words
Knives in my back
Now you fear bleeding to death
To remove them

In family love is unconditional
Until you have to explain
Me to your friends
Sharing blood is not done in

Silence
Five years waiting for you
To make an effort to
Understand

Life continues on
One day you’ll wake to find
You wasted it being
Uncomfortable

With love to my mom, who has been quietly wonderful, but all too far away. Hugs!! ^.^