A Series of Short Poems

 

Sometimes short and very short poems rule the day. At times they are actually written that way and at other times you write something much, much longer but it doesn't really work out so you are left with something that has a couple of good lines in it. And that's okay.
A Couplet

When the circle breaks 

Fast money is not on you

So It Is

So it is

So it will always be

Unless you see

A need 

For change

Water Moves On

To those who know 

There is no doubt

Where the water flows 

There is an out

Slipping through cracks

Moving where it wants

Abusing, 

Absolving,  

Cleansing, 

Before it moves on

Disinterested 

In what has occurred

Finding new sources 

For its merriment

 And

Ultimate pleasure 

Regurgitation

Regurgitation is fine

For birds

But in life 

It shows a lack of creativity

Making one despise

The power of public praise

Pretty Much

Conspiratorial, 

Envious,  

Arbitrary,  

Jealous,  

Petty, 

Boring, 

That pretty much says it all

A Simple Spore

Once 
She sat
But she 
Sits no more
Violently felled
By 
A  
Simple  
Spore

Copyright 2023

by Bill Ferguson

All Rights Reserved

 

A World Full Of Sounds

Words

More words 

And even more words

Poured forth

Issuing summons

Creating a path

As we wandered by the lakeshore

Listening to the waves 

And the leaves on the trees 

Ushering in a new day

You in your heals

On a slippery slope

Dodging the rain with every step

All in search of easing the mind

 For once someone was listening

In tune with the moment

Seeing equality 

In a world full of sounds

Copyright 2023

by Bill Ferguson

All Rights Reserved

 

Inspiration 

There are things i hear

There are things i see

There are things

That I feel that I need

These things inspire me

Won’t you come and

Spend some time with me

Art galleries and

Variety shows

Rock formations

Found down at the shore

These things inspire me 

Won’t you come and

Spend some time with me

Campfire sing along

Moonlit nights until dawn

Wind whispering across the sand

The first time I held your hand

These things inspire me

Won’t you come and

Spend some time with me

Copyright 2023

by Bill Ferguson

All Rights Reserved

 

The Doors Of Perception 

On a journey

Together 

On a path

Something happening

Powerful

A connection 

 Silence

Terror

Joy

A full range of human emotions

A meeting of the minds

Accepting the disparate

Accepting the outsider 

As one

Seeing more than anyone else 

Had seen before

Jazz and blues and flamenco 

And words written to explore

You can’t burn out if you’re not on fire

Copyright 2023

by Bill Ferguson

All Rights Reserved

 

A Winter’s Day

I saw a mouse in the woodpile

Well aware of the morning frost

Setting fodder aside for those days

When going outside would be a loss

The fence hums in the gusting wind

Sending shivers down my spine

Reminding me to not be alone

When the storms arrives with its full mind

A cricket chirps by the fireplace

It makes me wonder what they eat

How long can he survive in a house

Will he live without the growing heat

Copyright 2023

by Bill Ferguson

All Rights Reserved

 

Celestial Journey 

She floats along the path

Heading for the cool autumn water

Hair flowing like shooting stars

On their celestial journey

She pauses and waits 

For her furry companion

Where she contemplates

Being out in the cold moonlight

Barefoot she continues

As the icy morning dew envelopes

Her steps, 

She feels no pain

Shedding her clothes, 

She steps into the depths

In the morning I walk to the shore

I sit and wait for the midday sun 

Illuminating a path

And reason with my heart why absence 

Makes the heart grow fonder 

Copyright 2023

by Bill Ferguson

All Rights Reserved

Another Lifetime I Never Knew

 Recently I was informed that someone I knew quite well at one time in my life, was felled by an obscure type of cancer. Over time we drifted apart and our friendship was over with. Upon hearing of her death I had time to reflect back on our time together and I wrote this. 

 

Another Lifetime I Never Knew 

The wind whispers soft and low

Beating branches keeping time

While the sound of the whip poor will

Offers comfort to my mind

The day is heavy amidst the clouds

The cornfield sways and rattles its leaves

And in a corner of my mind

I picture you lying there fast asleep

I am told in time a heart does mend

Maybe after a few winters come and go

There are words I could have said

There are decisions I will never know

So now I walk through the fields

Through the woods and past the stream

To the lake where waves do grow

Beating me about my knees 

And in the morning I will have

A one sided conversation once again

Hoping to find answers I never knew

As I spend another lifetime with you

Copyright 2023

by Bill Ferguson

All Rights Reserved

What?

 

Sometimes experimentation is a good way to stay creative. I started out with a couple of w words and from there it grew to something more and took this form. 

What?

Watching waifs wonder when

Wishing women wistfully whittle

Wicked ones whisk wildly

Without worrying wedding wrath

Wireless wiretaps working witness

Windswept wasteland without weed whacking

Whistling wildfires wrangle woodpiles

When working writers weaken

Copyright 2023

by Bill Ferguson

All Rights Reserved

An Electric Performance and The Show Always Goes On

 Near Millbrook Ontario there is an outdoor theatre called 4th Line Theater. It exists on a farm and has since 1992.They put on original performances that reflect the history of the region.  These performance developed scripts are based on local stories. It really is an eclectic setting where the stage is the ground between barn and the drive shed with the bleachers facing one of the barns. There are entrances and exits from many, many different directions. Sometimes they will cross the field. Other times it will be on the second story of the barn. It really keeps you on your toes as a theater goer. And sometimes, when thunderstorms threaten they continue until the rain prevents them from being heard. 

Here are two poems about the same event.  It’s funny how different they are, yet the same as they describe the same event..

An Electric Performance

Opening night and the play had started

Outside, natural setting, 

Air fresh and blowing

Lightning strikes in the distance

While thunder rumbled on and on

Droning over the dialogue

Yet not muting

The vocal ruminations

That were delivered with eloquence

The winds whip trees 

And calm just as quickly

Accenting the plot rather deliciously

Adding punctuation to the turmoil

And then the rain came

Gently falling 

While the actors carried on 

Giving electric performances

Not disturbed by nature’s tantrum

 

Near the end the skies opened fully

Drenching all who still sat

Gripped with rapture at the depth

Of the acting

Until lightening cracked right over head

Sending all for cover

And finally ending a brilliant performance

Short of the true ending

In truth the evening was truly special

Copyright 2023

by Bill Ferguson

All Rights Reserved

The Show Always Goes On 

An opening night performance is special

It is a treat for watching eyes

Tonight the audience hopes the play goes on

Under threatening skies

The warning passes lightly

As the storm clouds fill the air

Somehow it doesn’t seem real

Somehow it doesn’t seem fair

So many people sitting in the rain

Watching the wind blow the trees away 

Arguing for it to go on

Arguing for it to be postponed

Still the actors stay within their roles

Voices growing louder to be heard

The clouds billow and bluster

Filling up with water and spitting it out

At first a gentle mist, then avenging downpour

Thunder provides it’s curious applause 

Lightning makes us remember

That nature has all its own laws

In the end it almost ended

But also the storm did not allow it to be so

Copyright 2023

by Bill Ferguson

All Rights Reserved