if the moon could write
what secrets it could expose
it shines in silence
©Susie Clevenger 2011
Height of Haiku Challenge
September- 30 haikus in 30 days
Prompt day 1: write
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
First Day
summer fades to fall
yellow bus on city streets
school is now open
first day brings jitters
excitement mixed with worry
will old friends be there
wooden desks in rows
assigned seats bring discomfort
who are these strangers
books, paper, pencils
thoughts must now turn to learning
minds need to focus
teachers give homework
students grumble in their seats
final bell ringing
Long day now over
Bikes, busses, footsteps lead home
Tired smiles greet parents
© Susie Clevenger 2011
Photograph: Photobucket
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Poetry & Prose Magazine
I was honored to be included in the September 2011 issue of Poetry & Prose Magazine. The issue has a music theme. My poems Blue's Baptism and Guitar Man were the editor's choices for the issue.
The Prayer in Your Kiss
I heard the prayer
in your kiss.
It’s petition
resting upon
my lips.
“Please may
she love me.”
Can’t you feel
my heartbeat’s
erratic beating
drumming against
your chest?
See the glow
on my skin;
the stars dancing
in my eyes?
Let this kiss
release you
from your doubt.
I will break the silence
of your uncertainty,
and speak the words
you wish to hear.
I love you.
©Susie Clevenger 2011
Photograph: Celebrity Corner
Poetry Picnic Wk2 Prompt:: The Kiss
Monday, August 29, 2011
Red Umbrella Rain
His beautiful day
turned bleak.
The rain washed
the sun from the sky.
A diamond ring
still closeted in
a velvet box
hides in a handled bag.
The red umbrella
taunts his romantic heart.
A candlelight proposal
rejected by his love.
Crimson raindrops
hide falling tears,
dejection reflecting
in stoned puddles.
The walk home longer
with a broken heart.
Questions follow him
In the dark.
©Susie Clevenger 2011
Magpie Tales Prompt # 80
Photograph: Christopher Shay
Sunday, August 28, 2011
River of Gold~Haiku
a river of gold
ripples with the blowing wind
wheat waits for harvest
©Susie Clevenger2011
Photograph: Market Wallpapers
Saturday, August 27, 2011
Sea
Surge pushes toward shore
Eyes watch the angry water
All pray for storm’s end
©Susie Clevenger 2011
Photograph: photos.al.com
Acrostic only poetry prompt: Sea
Acrostic only poetry prompt: Sea
Friday, August 26, 2011
Fairy Wishes
Fairies roam
among wishes
seeking the
ones they wish
to bequeath
with their magic wands.
Sleeping souls fill
their dreams with hopes
tomorrow will
find their desires granted.
© Susie Clevenger 2011
Breathe My Love~(Haiku Height's Prompt #58 Breathe)
sweetheart you can breathe
inhale the promise I give
my love will not leave
our heartbeats will dance
among eternity’s stars
heaven our dance floor
quiet your distress
I speak a forever vow
my lips won’t recant
©Susie Clevenger 2011
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Sensational Haiku Wednesday~Prompt~Weary
faces forgotten
she lives in her yesterdays
weary family
©Susie Clevenger 2011
This is a picture of my mother. She had Alzheimer's and I lost her November 7, 2007
ABC Wednesday~Letter "F"
firefly allurement
fantasy carried on wings
fairytale nightlight
©Susie Clevenger 2011
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Innocent Prayer~Senryu
innocent prayer
a child’s simple petition
faith waits for answer
©Susie Clevenger 2011
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Water Travelers in Eternal Swim
Ghosts lie on the bottom of the sea,
water travelers in eternal swim.
Fear echoes in the deep.
Magnificent timbers felled
by Mother Nature’s wind
now barnacled skeletons.
A commander’s belief he could
have command over the gale
plunged his vessel into the sea.
A crew of dead sailors wanders the drink
searching for their captain
who left them in the coffin of his shipwreck..
©Susie Clevenger 2011
Written from prompt # 281 Shipwreck
Sunday Scribblings
Female Obsession
Magnificent face,
penciled eyes,
drawn for attraction.
Swashbuckler’s swagger
fills the digital screen.
Sighs, smiles,
quickened heartbeat
dance their way
along the emotions.
Pirate visions
feed female obsession.
Collections of movies,
photographs, magazines
gathered to feed compulsion.
Daydreams of sailing ship lust
fill the minds of the besotted.
Fantasy’s wish to spend
even one moment
with Captain Jack Sparrow.
©Susie Clevenger 2011
OSI Prompt: Obsession
OSI Prompt: Obsession
Monday, August 22, 2011
Sin's Introduction~Haiku
red fruit temptation
adam’s rib took the first bite
sin’s introduction
©Susie Clevenger 2011
Mirror's Truth
Her daydreams caught
In glamour’s trap.
An airbrushed facade
smiles from magazines
drugging her
with misconception.
Plastic surgeon
on speed dial,
frantic call made
to morph her into
the latest icon.
Truth in the mirror
speaks to her.
She has her mother’s eyes,
her father’s nose,
her grandmother’s smile.
A genetic love letter
to recall them
now that they are gone.
She wraps her heart
around her memories and
with a smile she realizes
it is time to say goodbye
to trying to become
a plastic version of someone else.
©Susie Clevenger 2011
Carry on Tuesday
Home~Haiku
morning coffee steams
a caffeinated greeting
welcoming me home
©Susie Clevenger 2011
Sunday, August 21, 2011
Nostalgia~Haiku
sunday morning drive
smiles glowing in black and white
captured nostalgia
©Susie Clevenger 2011
http://magpietales.blogspot.com/
http://magpietales.blogspot.com/
Manic Ballet
Fetters of the past
hold me with
their dark teeth
biting into the joy
of my present.
I seek escape
In avoidance.
A manic ballet
danced in toe shoes
tied with repressions ribbons.
I wish to take a grand jeté
forward into tomorrow
where I am healed.
How does one obtain freedom
from years living in quicksand?
©Susie Clevenger 2011
Prompt #280 forward
Lollipop Escape
Lollipop escape.
Sunday refinement
inhibits with its starch.
Fairytales beckon
with sugared imagination.
©Susie Clevenger 2011
Saturday, August 20, 2011
Haiku...Moving Lullaby
moving lullaby
turning wheels sing on concrete
traveler’s cradle
©Susie Clevenger 2011
Prompt: Lullaby
Symphony in Silence
A symphony
waited in silence
to send its notes
to deaf ears.
The beauty
of a composition
written by the hand
of one who gifted
the world with music
he would never hear.
©Susie Clevenger 2011
OSI prompt Silence
Open Link Monday at Real Toads
Friday, August 19, 2011
Haiku My Heart~Jasmine
jasmine chorus line
blooms dance in spring’s recital
sunshine audience
©Susie Clevenger 2011
Photograph Susie Clevenger
http://corazon.typepad.com/recuerda_mi_corazon/
http://corazon.typepad.com/recuerda_mi_corazon/
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Yellow Brush Strokes
Armed with paint and brush
I waged war against the gloom
staring at me from white walls.
Feeling like I was wrapped
in a stucco straight jacket
I painted escape with yellow brush strokes.
©Susie Clevenger 2011
Whisper~ senryu
a breathy whisper
ears alert to hear gossip
lies now have their wings
© Susie Clevenger 2011
Inspired by Haiku Heights prompt # 56 Whisper
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
The August Moon Betrayed
If this is love,
please take
it from me.
My innocence
surrendered
to only
hear your
goodbye song.
I was a child
yesterday
looking
for my prince,
today I feel
ancient.
Why did
The August
moon betray me?
Under its spell
I believed your
words of love.
Leave me
as you say you must.
Take summer
with you.
My heart
no longer warm
now feels
the frost of winter.
©Susie Clevenger 2011
Handling Curves
Hands slow down as they enter curves,
pacing their intentions.
A roadmap drawn by fingers
anticipating their destination.
©Susie Clevenger 2011
ABC Wednesday~Letter "D"
dread the wind that blows
drying heat across the fields
drought’s climatic curse
©Susie Clevenger 2011
Monday, August 8, 2011
Friendship-Haiku
dark clouds dissipate
with friendship’s blue sky solace
comfort in sharing
©Susie Clevenger 2011
Haiku Heights Friendship prompt
http://haiku-heights.blogspot.com/
http://haiku-heights.blogspot.com/
Spring’s waterway-Haiku
waterway of Spring
azaleas adorn its banks
rebirth’s expression
©Susie Clevenger 2011
Photograph Susie Clevenger
Sunday, August 7, 2011
Life Has An Expiration Date
Life has an expiration date.
We should live life fully
to die remembered.
Remember me as the laughter
that broke the silence of sorrow,
a day never so dark I could not find light.
Gather my poetry to hear my voice.
Let it speak the words of a heart
that transformed the alphabet into verse.
I know not the day I will leave,
to dwell on my demise too gothic.
I shall live as only I know how
to plant the seeds of memories.
©Susie Clevenger 2011
Poetry prompt: If I should die,
think only this of me..
Saturday, August 6, 2011
Tomorrow Today's Salvation
Now views tomorrow
as its salvation of today.
“This too will end,”
a mantra spoken
from tired lips,
gives the strength
to close weary eyes
and sleep the sleep of hope.
©Susie Clevenger 2011
carry-on-tuesday’s prompt “tomorrow is another day”
Haiku---Arched Serenity
arched serenity
tiled garden sanctuary
invites reflection
©Susie Clevenger
Photograph Susie Clevenger
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Life Recycled
Life recycled
in scrap metal windmills.
We blow our wind
of glorious yesterdays in
rusty reminiscing,
squeaking on the listener’s ear.
© Susie Clevenger 2011
Photo prompt courtesy of Tess Kincaid, Magpie Tales #76
Plundering Thoughts
Plundering thoughts
tear through my confidence
with their pirates of doubt.
I, the captain of my dreams,
fear leaving the port of security.
© Copyright Susie Clevenger 2011
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Poetry Survived
A sunlit Tuesday
was almost my last.
Another’s distraction
left me encased
in crushed metal and glass.
White light beckoned,
but red light revived.
My mind forever altered,
but poetry survived.
©Susie Clevenger 2011
Monday, August 1, 2011
The Old Piano
The old piano
with its keys
the patina of rust
smiles with broken teeth.
The classical instrument
that stood on a concert stage,
now diminished to rubbish,
sits in an alley,
a prop for drug deals.
Crack pipes and used needles
clutter its insides.
Once the pride of a musician
in polished grandeur,
it waits for its hearse, a garbage truck.
The beauty of the music
that once came from its strings
haunts the midnight shadows.
A heroin addict lies in
a euphoric stupor
wondering why
he is hearing Beethoven.
© Copyright Susie Clevenger 2011
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