Day 14--National Poetry Month---Couplets--What of Maria Tallchief?--Free Verse Poem--Dust

I'm putting this one out here because I woke up with Maria in my head (one of my ballet idols when I was young and on toe) and she wouldn't leave. These are couplets, so if you want to know more about couplets, go here. Time to get your toe shoes on and rosin up!

WHAT OF MARIA TALLCHIEF?

Osage girl with blood on your toes

Powdery rosin tickles your nose

Sewing on ribbons and whispering things

You limber up in the dusky wings 

And then like a raven your body takes flight

You glide 'cross the stage like a barrow wight

Grace like a swan with your form full of splendor

Pirouetting and leaping; you are no pretender

The music marries you to the light and the air

As you fill it with motion seemingly without care

You've managed to catch the great Ballanchine's eye

As your partner balances you high in the sky

Just as your dance steps have captured the floor

You're winning his heart and he's ready for more.

Career like a torch, you have painted the sky

Little Osage girl who has managed to fly

Everyone hears about Anna Pavlova

Whose Dying Swan hit the stage like a nova

But what do they say of Maria Tallchief?

Who captured the stage like a talented thief

Oklahoma's young daughter so graceful in flight

Your sparkling grand jetes light up the night. 

© 2019 by H. Linn Murphy

If you'd like to know more about the amazing Maria Tallchief, here's your link. 

And here's a free verse I wrote last year.

DUST

She stands at the mirror

Gazing at a creature of dust,

Broken, desiccated, wilted, cracked

Waiting to blow away in the next stiff breeze.

Painted in patina of shattered dreams.

Who is this denizen of the deep desert silences?

Who is this ..........................Demi-being with a 

Depth-scraped..........................................Hole for a

Heart? ..........................................What keeps

Her ...............................................Afloat in a 

...................................................Storm? How

............................................Will she know

........................................When it's time

................................... To go? And 

.....................................Who can 

..........................Answer for

..........................This thing

....................In the mirror?

.................Not I, say 

................They all.

..................She has dug 

..................This hole

.................Herself.

...................Her head

..................Is full of

..................Cobwebs.

.................We have

..................No need

................Of her

.................Nonsense.

................She

................Is wrong

...............About it

...............All.

© 2018 by H. Linn Murphy

When it's Darkest--Couplet

This is another couplet I cranked out for the day.

Sometimes the joy is gone from life

Relationships have turned to strife

Discouragement has caught you fast
In mental quicksand mixed to last

Understanding leaves your side
And friends and lovers won't abide

Quitting seems a tempting thought

When all endeavors turn to rot

But often when things look too dark

That's when to reach and hit the mark

Then is the time to say your prayers

Let God take your burdens and cares

For Christ has already paid the debt

For sins that aren't committed yet

And for mistakes, bad thoughts, and ills

Christ, our Saviour, paid the bills

So when you're tempted to give in

Remember you have but to begin

Turn your failures into gold

Make that first step. Yes! Be bold.

Then lift your foot. Begin another

Soon you'll find you're following Brother.

Remember that when there is light

It banishes the darkest night.

© 2016 by H. Linn Murphy

Lucky Thirteen (and it's Tagalong 14)

Lucky Thirteen (and me! Don't forget me--14)

One 3--Sorrow
She took off her sadness
Like a worn, faded sweater
Folding it neatly
And gently packed it away,
In a dark, quiet place
For another day.   

Regretfully
There would be 
Other times.
It was always there,
Hidden away,
Lurking,
But ever-present.

She tried desperately
To get rid of it--
That moth-eaten sadness
But she couldn't
Understand 
How to un-make it.

  For the sadness was a gift
From a friend.

He'd look for it on her,
Not realizing
He was the author, 
The giver,
And the binder
Of her darkness.

And the quencher of 
Her light.

Someday
She would 
Take the sadness  
And its bringer
And hurl it away from her  

Smash it to shards
On the sharp edge of
Her anger.

  But that would never be
The end.
   For shards cut.    

       
Or maybe
When she finally understood,
In her extremity
She'd take out
That frayed, worn sorrow,
Gently unfold
And re-make it
Into something happier.
For only then
Would she be
       Free.          

    

           

Fourteen!

Evil Clown

There once was a clown

Who came to town

He turned the circus upside down

He told the freaks

They had eight weeks

To turn themselves into business geeks

He made the monkey

Wear something chunky

And do strange things on the back of a donkey

He changed the rules

He hid the tools

The big top fell down and they felt like fools

The swingers on the big trapeze

Kept falling off and skinning knees

They finally ganged up, tossed the clown in the trees

The clown came again

He was such a pain

From beating him blind, they had to refrain

The clown gave a grin

Said, "You let me win.

You silly fools keep letting me in."

Then the circus got wise

Said, "No compromise."

And they poked him in the googly eyes.

They tossed him out

And with a shout

They sent him away via roustabout

So to this day

The people say

No clowns in their circus are allowed to stay.