The Man Who Planted Plastic Flowers

I'm just back from a looooooong weekend at WOMAD - sun, world music, wonderful food, and company; the compensation for coming back to reality is seeing my poem 'The Man Who Planted Plastic Flowers' published in issue 4 of Alyss Literary Magazines poetry section.

What a lovely treat!

https://alysslit.com/2016/07/31/the-man-who-planted-plastic-flowers/

Un... Un-Real, or Unreality?

The strange malady has struck…

summed up by comparisons

of day and night.

In dreams

we are anything

                       strange creatures wandering

                                      where the mind wishes

                                                   achieving diverse ambitions;

By day something -

ourselves perhaps -

stymies, confines, quashes.

I do not call it 'reality'.

It is the un-reality,

a learned ‘other’ existence

fallibility bent

to extraneous

expectations

overriding determinations to put

oneself

first.

Is it conformity, a need

to be

 ‘good’, a frailty

of mind

that seeks negation

in an effort to be a false ideal,

self-sacrificial? 

Perhaps it's merely a dilatory nature…….

Heart Boxes

Heart Boxes

If hearts

were empty boxes

would you fit them

into a drawer

and close it?

If they were

scattered on tables

would you mistake them

for detritus, tut, shake your head,

throw them in the bin instead?

Would you wonder

if they might come in useful,

stack them on a shelf to gather dust

like everything else there?

Would you see them as

receptacles for precious things

you’ll never part with,

remember them when sea glass

or pebbles need a home

and fill them with your love?

Black-Out Poem 2

Source:
The Way of Poetry,
Index, p.247

Black-Out Poetry

source: Evening Song, John Fletcher, The Way of Poetry

Tulips Are Not From Amsterdam. ;-)

A big ‘thank You’ to Reuben at I Am Not A Silent Poet for publishing my poem ‘Broken Tulips’ about the massacre at Ataturk Airport.

I didn’t know that people were unaware that tulips are the national flower of Turkey – most think they come from Holland. They were in fact highly prized firstly as a symbol of luxury and then developed other connotations, including religious ones. I dedicate the poem to the people of Turkey and especially the Shefik family.

https://iamnotasilentpoet.wordpress.com/2016/06/30/broken-tulips-by-karen-barton/

Visi Poetry