tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-91723627159817295082024-03-13T03:51:20.710+02:00SkywritingFlying SoloKerry O'Connorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00720862912375945249noreply@blogger.comBlogger230125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9172362715981729508.post-72428949525438153922020-06-21T15:52:00.000+02:002020-06-21T15:52:02.580+02:00A Note from the Poet<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: blue; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace; font-size: large;">Excuse me while I kiss the sky....</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: blue; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace; font-size: medium;"><i>Jimi Hendrix</i></span><br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KxZMcyUyGb0/Xu9kCHUIROI/AAAAAAAAAYo/F9TF-ES8DP4IzuSs-ptNWA4QRtK-fcoMACLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/3e4265841000bb1955a061156d061c07%2B%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="653" data-original-width="570" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KxZMcyUyGb0/Xu9kCHUIROI/AAAAAAAAAYo/F9TF-ES8DP4IzuSs-ptNWA4QRtK-fcoMACLcBGAsYHQ/s400/3e4265841000bb1955a061156d061c07%2B%25281%2529.jpg" width="348" /></a></div>
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<br />
Dear friends and fellow poets<br />
Thank you for visiting my Skywriting Blog, which has been my creative space for several years.<br />
At present, I am closing the door to this part of the sky, until such time as I have need of it again.<br />
<br />
For my work in progress, please visit <a href="https://www.instagram.com/skyloverpoetry/">@skyloverpoetry</a> ~<br />
To read my Collected Works, please visit <a href="https://kerryoconnorpoems.blogspot.com/">Skylover Poetry</a> ~<br />
To contact me, please email me at theimaginarygarden@gmail.com<br />
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Kerry O'Connorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08963325944091034585noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9172362715981729508.post-16473945088984045852020-06-01T12:07:00.001+02:002020-06-01T12:27:39.421+02:00Ceremony in Peaceful Protest<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KlmEyhOVIQo/XtTSg5_lRXI/AAAAAAAAL2M/yzo0dfwzBuUH0U7O0IOod2DnMygXQDPaQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/_112574110_39a0d43c-48f5-4c19-b563-e549556c6754.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="438" data-original-width="660" height="265" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KlmEyhOVIQo/XtTSg5_lRXI/AAAAAAAAL2M/yzo0dfwzBuUH0U7O0IOod2DnMygXQDPaQCLcBGAsYHQ/s400/_112574110_39a0d43c-48f5-4c19-b563-e549556c6754.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-52869504">BBC.com</a> (Source)<br />
Fair Use<br />
Protesters kneel to pray in Lafayette Square, Washington DC<br />
31 May 2020</td></tr>
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<br />
Come, let us kneel<br />
in the burning streets.<br />
Let us raise our hands to pray<br />
to all that is above the smoke and flame<br />
and all that is below the dust<br />
and stepping stones of civilization.<br />
Come, let us bid farewell<br />
to the golden corpse of our idolatry<br />
and bow our heads before<br />
the rough rows of newly dead<br />
that they may speak<br />
in the poignant illustration<br />
of each fresh grave.<br />
<br />
<br />
I am writing in solidarity with all protest actions around the world against police brutality in the time of a world health crisis, where loss of life and livelihood has been both indiscriminate and extreme. Now is the time to stand together as citizens of the world against violence and bloodshed.<br />
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<br />
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<br />
Every Word Counts!<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9V13HBx-LO8/XtTTG2gmRrI/AAAAAAAAL2U/rxoxl1fEgE4tM09VI9vkYKI8btFTuJMKACLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Screenshot_2020-06-01-11-09-10-1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="540" data-original-width="540" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9V13HBx-LO8/XtTTG2gmRrI/AAAAAAAAL2U/rxoxl1fEgE4tM09VI9vkYKI8btFTuJMKACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Screenshot_2020-06-01-11-09-10-1.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.instagram.com/skyloverpoetry/">@skyloverpoetry</a></td></tr>
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<br />
This is an open invitation to poets to use 3 or more words from my Skylover Wordlist in an original poem. If you would like me to read and comment, please paste the link to your page in the comments below.<br />
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<br />Kerry O'Connorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00720862912375945249noreply@blogger.com31tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9172362715981729508.post-18096204175366463792020-05-16T10:42:00.000+02:002020-05-16T10:43:15.485+02:00TartarusHow fragile is this hand<br />
as it gentles the ferocious coils<br />
which abide below the halfway mark<br />
of belly, making discords of dogma,<br />
and soothes the grinning sibilance<br />
as the ravenous maw bites through<br />
this tenuous grip on new realities.<br />
<br />
Oh Mercy! The poison is luscious as lotus!<br />
Desire welcomes the monstrous tongue<br />
in the throat beyond question<br />
of what will become of these bones<br />
once the leviathan has picked them clean.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Inspired by the artwork, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CANfTcKhh4L/">Thieves Blend</a> by the artist, Eli Evangelidis a.k.a. <a href="https://www.instagram.com/eliedwardart/">@eliedwardart</a>Kerry O'Connorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08963325944091034585noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9172362715981729508.post-75167907103956876452020-05-16T10:35:00.002+02:002020-05-16T10:42:50.971+02:00UtopiaHow beatific the ghostly face<br />
as it turns from grim reality<br />
of painful flesh beneath taut skin<br />
unaware that heart is caged<br />
and lungs are slaves<br />
while bones remain as shackles<br />
to the absurdity of decomposition.<br />
<br />
Oh God! Time strikes like a meteor!<br />
Life always ends too soon<br />
to disregard the searing blaze<br />
and ascend beyond the embers<br />
of immolation until consciousness<br />
becomes one with oblivion.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Written in collaboration with the artist, Cemal Eker a.k.a. <a href="https://www.instagram.com/abreathinutopia/">@abreathinutopia</a>, inspired by the illustration entitled <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/B_k0HHLBdr0/">Ayesha</a>.<br />
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<br />Kerry O'Connorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08963325944091034585noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9172362715981729508.post-18775627448651926462020-05-08T10:59:00.000+02:002020-05-08T10:59:05.605+02:00Flower MoonYour waxen mask<br />
of magnolia petals<br />
perfumes nocturnal hours<br />
with aqua light<br />
as the landscape<br />
softens at your touch ~<br />
You keep aloof<br />
the implacable secrets<br />
of your alchemy<br />
but it stirs the sleepers<br />
in their beds<br />
who grieve anew<br />
the paradox of spring ~<br />
And dawn does not dissolve<br />
the stinging poison<br />
tail-end of the dream.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Written in 55 moonlit words using the <a href="https://kerryoconnorsother.blogspot.com/2020/05/a-skylover-wordlist-may.html">Skylover Wordlist ~ May</a><br />
<br />Kerry O'Connorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08963325944091034585noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9172362715981729508.post-69417703775379512972020-05-06T12:00:00.000+02:002020-05-06T12:00:42.951+02:00When searching for your truth, remember<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-83Qrj6WADgQ/XrKJMhSzdwI/AAAAAAAAAXk/knsng8EZ5vAFrxMMZ3vYNdmjIS9qRKlZACLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Entanglement%2Blabel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1093" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-83Qrj6WADgQ/XrKJMhSzdwI/AAAAAAAAAXk/knsng8EZ5vAFrxMMZ3vYNdmjIS9qRKlZACLcBGAsYHQ/s640/Entanglement%2Blabel.jpg" width="436" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Designer <a href="https://www.instagram.com/eliedwardart/">@eliedwardart</a><br />Painter <a href="https://www.instagram.com/skyloverpoetry/">@skyloverpoetry</a><br />Copyright is Reserved</td></tr>
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<br />
<br />
<b>When searching for your truth, remember</b><br />
<br />
you are an ocean.<br />
An ocean is deeper than anyone knows.<br />
Light penetrates the surface<br />
then things get darker.<br />
Your skin is holding back the tide.<br />
Your smile barricades<br />
a gulf of unseen currents.<br />
Only your eyes<br />
reveal the true colours of your sea.<br />
You are a creature.<br />
One of mind and matter,<br />
head, heart and limbs<br />
all intertwining.<br />
This creature lives in your ocean<br />
and makes love to life.<br />
You hold truth in your hands.<br />
Your choice is to rise or drown.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
I have written this Ekphrasis poem as accompaniment to the art collaboration between Eli Edward Evangelidis and me, entitled<i> Entanglement</i>.<br />
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<br />Kerry O'Connorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08963325944091034585noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9172362715981729508.post-51673448031208829272020-05-01T12:05:00.000+02:002020-05-01T12:11:18.494+02:00A Skylover Wordlist ~ May<h3>
May Day!</h3>
<br />
<h3>
Beltane!</h3>
<br />
<h3>
Worker's Day!</h3>
<br />
Call it what you will, this is a day to celebrate life, rejuvenation, the old gods, our beloved ghosts, holy day. With that acknowledged, and the marathon of April poetry behind us, I am offering my monthly wordlist for anyone who is looking for verbal inspiration for poetry.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QNHqS9m5wKw/XqvzEX4mv1I/AAAAAAAAAXQ/oq-R-c6ooK4_SjX2DBRvFrG3uSD7VZ7ywCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20200501_081032_788.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="538" data-original-width="538" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QNHqS9m5wKw/XqvzEX4mv1I/AAAAAAAAAXQ/oq-R-c6ooK4_SjX2DBRvFrG3uSD7VZ7ywCLcBGAsYHQ/s400/IMG_20200501_081032_788.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.instagram.com/skyloverpoetry/">@skyloverpoetry</a><br />
#skyloverwordlist</td></tr>
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<br />
<br />
The prompt is open from 1 - 14 May here on my blog (4 - 14 May on IG).<br />
Select three or more words and use them in a poetic interpretation of your choice. Derivatives of words may be used and you may link up as many poems as you write in the comments below. If you are sharing on IG, please tag @skyloverpoetry and use #skyloverwordlist so I can read and comment on your post.<br />
<br />
<br />Kerry O'Connorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08963325944091034585noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9172362715981729508.post-9299113890452693542020-04-30T08:30:00.000+02:002020-04-30T08:30:02.365+02:00Entrances//Deaths ~ Deaths<h3>
In the April of Covid 19<br />Day 30</h3>
<b><i>“And all your deeds and words, each truth, each lie, die in unjudging love.”</i></b><br />
<b><i>Dylan Thomas</i></b><br />
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: center;">
Deaths</h3>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Words</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
I have sought to </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
convey pass only as shadows,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Beloved, across your sleeping face</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
in patterns of fern, feather, constellations</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
of life’s common comorbidities, griefs, graves:</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
history of these last weeks penned in poetic obituaries</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
carved on tombstones while angels keep company</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
with princes of the underworld, salting tears.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
The last thing I will say before death </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
or dawn claims both our lives:</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Mercy is an act of </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Love.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<a href="https://kerryoconnorsother.blogspot.com/2020/03/a-skylover-wordlist-3030.html">Skylover Wordlist</a>: Deaths</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Play It Again Toads: <a href="%330.https://withrealtoads.blogspot.com/2015/04/bang-whimper-hiss.html">Bang, Whimper, Hiss</a></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
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<div style="text-align: left;">
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Kerry O'Connorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08963325944091034585noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9172362715981729508.post-70031313457352212892020-04-29T08:30:00.000+02:002020-04-29T08:30:01.918+02:00Entrances//Deaths ~ Match<h3>
In the April of Covid 19<br />Day 29</h3>
<b><i>“There crouched bare in the shrine of his blazing breast I shall awaken”</i></b><br />
<b><i>Dylan Thomas</i></b><br />
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: center;">
Match</h3>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
This</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
is almost</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
the end, we said as</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
we made love amid the lilacs</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
and stones: let us own these delicate</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
injuries, these dark prophecies of ourselves</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
and sacrifice life upon the pyre of lesser nobilities </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
than the passion we ignited in the kiln of cosmic</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
self-creation: we are owed this bare hour’s</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
finality of mutual conflagration.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Let us be the ones</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
to strike the</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
match.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<a href="https://kerryoconnorsother.blogspot.com/2020/03/a-skylover-wordlist-3030.html">Skylover Wordlist</a>: Match</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Play It Again Toads: <a href="%329.https://withrealtoads.blogspot.com/2018/04/fireblossom-friday-this-is-almost-end.html">This is (Almost) the End</a></div>
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Kerry O'Connorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08963325944091034585noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9172362715981729508.post-1277211067869808952020-04-28T12:40:00.000+02:002020-04-28T12:40:08.248+02:00Entrances//Deaths ~ Mockingbird<h3>
In the April of Covid 19<br />Day 28</h3>
<b><i>“… and then (sang) another in which she said her heart was like a bird’s nest ...”</i></b><br />
<b><i>Dylan Thomas</i></b><br />
<br />
<h3>
Mockingbird</h3>
<br />
Woven bed of milkweed.<br />
Lambswool and lichen. Braids of grass.<br />
My heart-nest where mockingbird<br />
composed her song of skyloving weather.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span><br />
<br />
And the bird pecked feathers<br />
from her breastbone. Gave up flight for<br />
brooding in the hollow chamber.<br />
A voice of numberless notes unseeded.<br />
<br />
Now the nest lies abandoned<br />
in this cage of my ribs. And I search<br />
the forgotten summertime<br />
of singing trees in hope of wings return.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="https://kerryoconnorsother.blogspot.com/2020/03/a-skylover-wordlist-3030.html">Skylover Wordlist</a>: Numberless<br />
Play It Again Toads: <a href="%328.https://withrealtoads.blogspot.com/2013/04/a-birthday-in-april-harper-lee.html">Harper Lee</a><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>"Mockingbirds don’t do one thing except make music for us to enjoy. They don’t eat up people’s gardens, don’t nest in corn cribs, they don’t do one thing but sing their hearts out for us.”</i><br />
<i>Harper Lee</i>Kerry O'Connorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08963325944091034585noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9172362715981729508.post-10389537942597709962020-04-27T08:30:00.000+02:002020-04-27T11:15:41.527+02:00Entrances//Deaths ~ Transfiguration<h3>
In the April of Covid 19<br />Day 27</h3>
<b><i>“A she bird sleeping brittle by her lover’s wings that folded tomorrow’s flight”</i></b><br />
<b><i>Dylan Thomas</i></b><br />
<br />
<h3>
Transfiguration</h3>
We never strove to mingle with saints<br />
but knew the joyous grief<br />
of submerging our soulless limbs<br />
in sultry waves of conscious<br />
will to drown in the infusion<br />
of our sacred selves<br />
as fearless lips imbibed<br />
the shattered corpses<br />
of those whom we had once been<br />
before the flood cast us wet<br />
and shaken upon the shore<br />
awake in this new country<br />
of the blessed damned beatified by<br />
the transfiguration of our intimacies.<br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="https://kerryoconnorsother.blogspot.com/2020/03/a-skylover-wordlist-3030.html">Skylover Wordlist</a>: Intimacies<br />
Play It Again Toads: <a href="https://www.blogger.com/27.https://withrealtoads.blogspot.com/2016/04/the-way-of-tea.html">The Way of Tea</a> by way only of diction.<br />
<br />
<br />Kerry O'Connorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08963325944091034585noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9172362715981729508.post-3192656554504452142020-04-26T11:33:00.001+02:002020-04-26T12:53:57.469+02:00Entrances//Deaths ~ Zodiac<h3>
In the April of Covid 19<br />Day 26</h3>
<b><i>“For the country of death is the heart’s size and the stars of the lost the shape of eyes.”</i></b><br />
<b><i>Dylan Thomas</i></b><br />
<br />
<h3>
Zodiac</h3>
<br />
I am learning the language of stars<br />
<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>beyond voice-pointing,<br />
and my signing hands, which grasp<br />
but fail to thread the song<br />
when the needle is blind that pricks<br />
the skin of being we call night.<br />
<br />
I am reflecting the light of ancients<br />
<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>myself a point of refraction<br />
with less of a meaning than a means<br />
<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>to radiate the text of elements<br />
through the flesh they made of me<br />
<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>my zodiacal bone and sun.<br />
<br />
I am trusting the dissolve of darkness<br />
<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>the depth of preconception<br />
and loosening the lullaby of my tongue<br />
<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>in mute exchange of eyes<br />
and fingertips, that smooth erasure<br />
<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>of lines between constellations.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="https://kerryoconnorsother.blogspot.com/2020/03/a-skylover-wordlist-3030.html">Skylover Wordlist</a>: Zodiac<br />
Play It Again Toads: <a href="https://www.blogger.com/26.https://withrealtoads.blogspot.com/2019/04/reboot-rewind-recycle-rebirth-poems-in.html">Reboot, Rewind, Recycle</a><br />
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<br />Kerry O'Connorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08963325944091034585noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9172362715981729508.post-18988774821495982812020-04-25T12:21:00.002+02:002020-04-25T12:21:35.019+02:00Entrances//Deaths ~ Asylum<h3>
In the April of Covid 19<br />Day 25</h3>
<b><i>“Silence, silence to do, when earth grew loud, in lairs and asylums”</i></b><br />
<b><i>Dylan Thomas</i></b><br />
<br />
<h3>
Asylum</h3>
<br />
What becomes<br />
of the mad woman<br />
in her garden?<br />
Driven beyond sorrow<br />
of her fallow bed of weeds<br />
and dandelions<br />
to the cloister<br />
of barren rockeries, <br />
she digs deep<br />
in furrows<br />
of scars for words<br />
that once bloomed<br />
in abundance<br />
now swept away<br />
with autumn leaves and<br />
heaped on the bonfire<br />
of her silent asylum.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="https://kerryoconnorsother.blogspot.com/2020/03/a-skylover-wordlist-3030.html">Skylover Wordlist</a>: Rockery<br />
Play It Again Toads: <a href="https://withrealtoads.blogspot.com/2014/04/artistic-interpretations-with-margaret.html">Willard Asylum</a><br />
<a href="http://versiscape-lifesentences.blogspot.com/2020/04/flash-friday-fiction-55-special-april.html">Flash Friday 55</a>: Hosted by Hedgewitch.<br />
<br />
<br />Kerry O'Connorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08963325944091034585noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9172362715981729508.post-80289412316263854662020-04-24T13:24:00.000+02:002020-04-30T12:28:06.226+02:00Entrances//Deaths ~ Burial Sight<h3>
In the April of Covid 19<br />Day 24</h3>
<b><i>“Lie watching yellow until the golden weather breaks, O my heart's blood…”</i></b><br />
<b><i>Dylan Thomas</i></b><br />
<br />
<br />
<h3>
Burial Sight</h3>
<br />
Let me choose<br />
the season of my passing<br />
on this golden day<br />
that I may line my narrow grave<br />
with the fallen prayers<br />
of the plane tree,<br />
kiss to my lips ripened apricot<br />
blessings of honeycomb.<br />
Let yellow be the wings of Autumn skies.<br />
I will go to ground with eyes open<br />
so my heart forgets to grieve<br />
the bitter tang of this<br />
dying lemon sun.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="https://kerryoconnorsother.blogspot.com/2020/03/a-skylover-wordlist-3030.html">Skylover Wordlist</a>: Narrow<br />
Play It Again Toads: <a href="https://www.blogger.com/24.https://withrealtoads.blogspot.com/2019/04/wordy-wednesday-with-wild-woman-natural.html">Natural Wonders</a><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Kerry O'Connorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08963325944091034585noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9172362715981729508.post-52028045250706886592020-04-23T08:30:00.000+02:002020-04-23T08:30:02.643+02:00Entrances//Deaths ~ Question<h3>
In the April of Covid 19<br />Day 23</h3>
<b><i>“Time shall unfold what plaited cunning hides…”</i></b><br />
<b><i>Inspired by the words of William Shakespeare on the anniversary of his birth//death</i></b><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3TEhocfvILY/XqAhB5YT5PI/AAAAAAAAAXA/4wMb9XU438cAL69HRuTlihZALbLgxj6ZQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/wildwood-tarot-balance.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1067" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3TEhocfvILY/XqAhB5YT5PI/AAAAAAAAAXA/4wMb9XU438cAL69HRuTlihZALbLgxj6ZQCLcBGAsYHQ/s400/wildwood-tarot-balance.jpg" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Wild Wood Tarot<br />
Balance<br />
<a href="https://partingthemists.com/2018/08/03/card-of-the-day-balance/">Image Source with Reading</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: center;">
Question</h3>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
To be or not</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
to begin if beginning</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
means to forgive the living</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
and the dead, the sunfoil moon</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
and the sun itself for rising,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
to beg the bird </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
for birdsong and time</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
when it unfolds</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
what plaited cunning hides</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
in its dark inheritances,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
to wake or not </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
to shatter eyesight with sight</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
of terror twisting grief</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
every question unresolved</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
of this mortal dream?</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<a href="https://kerryoconnorsother.blogspot.com/2020/03/a-skylover-wordlist-3030.html">Skylover Wordlist</a>: Cunning</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Play It Again Toads: <a href="https://www.blogger.com/23.https://withrealtoads.blogspot.com/2016/04/kerry-says-lets-tip-our-hats-to-bard.html">The Bard</a></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
Inspired by The Wild Wood Tarot by Mark Ryan and John Matthews, with art by Will Worthington.
Kerry O'Connorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08963325944091034585noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9172362715981729508.post-43136853977455773512020-04-22T11:35:00.000+02:002020-04-22T11:53:13.795+02:00Entrances//Deaths ~ Seed<h3>
In the April of Covid 19<br />Day 22</h3>
<b><i>“Fair seed-time had my soul, and I grew up</i></b><br />
<b><i>Foster'd alike by beauty and by fear”</i></b><br />
<b><i>William Wordsworth</i></b><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sUZhOXcSx1E/XqAN_U6R9nI/AAAAAAAAAW0/wzBTxKQzznIWvu_-9PSgwBz0ABSyj09egCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/wildwood-tarot-sun-of-life.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="639" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sUZhOXcSx1E/XqAN_U6R9nI/AAAAAAAAAW0/wzBTxKQzznIWvu_-9PSgwBz0ABSyj09egCLcBGAsYHQ/s400/wildwood-tarot-sun-of-life.jpg" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Wild Wood Tarot<br />
The Sun of Life<br />
<a href="http://in%20the%20april%20of%20covid%2019%20day%2022%20%E2%80%9Cfair%20seed-time%20had%20my%20soul%2C%20and%20i%20grew%20up%20foster%27d%20alike%20by%20beauty%20and%20by%20fear%E2%80%9D%20william%20wordsworth%20%20seed%20%20when%20as%20a%20child%20i%20discovered%20%20my%20little%20claypot%20heart%20rich%20with%20barren%20soil%20i%20burrowed%20a%20finger%20deep%20within%20and%20planted%20a%20secret%20seed%20left%20to%20grow%20%20through%20the%20lonely%20years%20and%20flower%20unseen%20with%20an%20ache%20beneath%20my%20breastbone%20a%20pain%20to%20be%20buried%20as%20compost%20to%20the%20rootbound%20%20trust%20i%20had%20paced%20in%20my%20life%20that%20i%20would%20one%20day%20see%20the%20sun./">Image Source with Reading</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: center;">
Seed</h3>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
When as a child</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
I discovered </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
my little claypot heart</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
rich with barren soil</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
I burrowed a finger deep within</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
and planted a secret seed</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
left to grow</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
through the lonely years</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
and flower unseen</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
with an ache</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
beneath my breastbone</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
a pain to be buried</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
as compost</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
to the rootbound </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
trust I had placed in my life</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
that one day I would</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
see the sun.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<a href="https://kerryoconnorsother.blogspot.com/2020/03/a-skylover-wordlist-3030.html">Skylover Wordlist</a>: Seed</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Play It Again Toads: <a href="https://withrealtoads.blogspot.com/2018/04/poets-of-april.html">Poets of April</a> (William Wordsworth)</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Inspired by The Wild Wood Tarot by Mark Ryan and John Matthews, with art by Will Worthington.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
Kerry O'Connorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08963325944091034585noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9172362715981729508.post-77736397274833369712020-04-21T10:59:00.000+02:002020-04-21T12:29:59.696+02:00Entrances//Deaths ~ Parable<h3>
In the April of Covid 19<br />Day 21</h3>
<b><i>“And the birds of the winged tree flying my name”</i></b><br />
<b><i>Dylan Thomas</i></b><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-e2Tx3PEPCkk/Xp60c8ai0OI/AAAAAAAAAWk/qP4t5ipuceAm8Ko-_X4qwzE-3IMSHWkhQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/wildwoodtheworldtree.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="716" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-e2Tx3PEPCkk/Xp60c8ai0OI/AAAAAAAAAWk/qP4t5ipuceAm8Ko-_X4qwzE-3IMSHWkhQCLcBGAsYHQ/s400/wildwoodtheworldtree.jpg" width="297" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The World Tree<br />
The Wild Wood Tarot<br />
Fair Use</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: center;">
Parable</h3>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
This side of the grave</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
and endless wandering</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
I come at last to the place</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
where I shall lay</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
my cheek upon the chest</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
of the one tree press an ear</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
to the heartbeat</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
of an unfolding tale</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
and surrender my name</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
to the roots</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
of the world that I may become</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
the parable of four seasons</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
leaf fall and bud</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
rotten and growing beyond</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
the living maze</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
and firesong guardian</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
soul of the ancestors.</div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="https://kerryoconnorsother.blogspot.com/2020/03/a-skylover-wordlist-3030.html">Skylover Wordlist</a>: Parables<br />
Play It Again Toads: <a href="https://withrealtoads.blogspot.com/2019/04/poems-in-april-tree-mythology.html">Tree Mythology</a><br />
Inspired by <a href="http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/cards/wildwood/">The Wildwood Tarot</a> by Mark Ryan & John Matthews, art by Will Worthington.Kerry O'Connorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08963325944091034585noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9172362715981729508.post-58500365991471617552020-04-20T08:30:00.000+02:002020-04-20T13:50:31.886+02:00Entrances//Deaths ~ Orison<h3>
In the April of Covid 19<br />Day 20</h3>
<b><i>“Friend by enemy I call you out.”</i></b><br />
<b><i>Dylan Thomas </i></b><br />
<br />
<h3>
Orison</h3>
<br />
The salt<br />
of this curse<br />
coarse and white<br />
upon my tongue<br />
must speak<br />
its truth to heaven<br />
as I chain<br />
the scattered stars<br />
and bind them<br />
in their oblivious acres<br />
to my will.<br />
Friend I call you<br />
by name<br />
that you may feel<br />
blessed to be cursed<br />
by my orison.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="https://kerryoconnorsother.blogspot.com/2020/03/a-skylover-wordlist-3030.html">Skylover Wordlist</a>: Salt<br />
Play It Again Toads: <a href="https://www.blogger.com/20.https://withrealtoads.blogspot.com/2016/04/when-good-wishes-go-bad.html">When good wishes go bad</a>Kerry O'Connorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08963325944091034585noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9172362715981729508.post-3722200954055604402020-04-19T08:30:00.000+02:002020-04-19T08:30:01.581+02:00Entrances//Deaths ~ Pity<h3>
In the April of Covid 19<br />Day 19</h3>
<b><i>“And for the woman in shades saint carved and sensual among the scudding dead and gone”</i></b><br />
<b><i>Dylan Thomas</i></b><br />
<br />
<h3>
Pity</h3>
<br />
The crouching angel<br />
beside my grave<br />
feeds despair<br />
into the empty mouths<br />
of spring<br />
beckons<br />
while frost sharpens<br />
its blades along the throat<br />
of crocus<br />
whose wound bleeds<br />
blue and saffron<br />
down the dark edge<br />
of wistful dawn.<br />
Pity on the living<br />
who forget death comes<br />
with the lightening.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="https://kerryoconnorsother.blogspot.com/2020/03/a-skylover-wordlist-3030.html">Skylover Wordlist</a>: Beckon<br />
Play It Again Toads: <a href="https://www.blogger.com/19.https://withrealtoads.blogspot.com/2018/04/get-listed-poems-in-april-edition.html">Get Listed in April!</a><br />
<br />
<br />Kerry O'Connorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08963325944091034585noreply@blogger.com21tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9172362715981729508.post-45152539677083935232020-04-18T09:59:00.000+02:002020-04-18T12:06:45.867+02:00Entrances//Deaths ~ Fourth Station<h3>
In the April of Covid 19<br />Day 18</h3>
<b><i>“Forgotten mornings where he walked with his mother through the parables of sunlight”</i></b><br />
<b><i>Dylan Thomas</i></b><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<h3>
Fourth Station</h3>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
It was my thirty eighth year</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
After winter when you passed into the swallow </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Hallowed and star pointing dusk</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
And I knew</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
No matter how long the journey into night</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
I would never awaken again to your</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Easy laughter, your easy tears</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Your hand</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
I held close with a daughter’s hand.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Here, again, is the sun of April, showery</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Swallows spinning </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Woollen clouds of your birthday away</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
And myself to set</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Paint upon the canvas of another year’s turning. </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
The fourth station of our paths crossed</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Mother and child</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Always ends in farewell</div>
<br />
<br />
<i>After, <b>Fern Hill</b> by Dylan Thomas</i><br />
<i>On the anniversary of my mother's birthday.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<a href="https://kerryoconnorsother.blogspot.com/2020/03/a-skylover-wordlist-3030.html">Skylover Wordlist</a>: Stations<br />
Play It Again Toads: <a href="https://withrealtoads.blogspot.com/2013/04/encouragement.html">Encouragement</a><br />
<br />
Reference: The Fourth Station of the Cross is significant at Easter as the moment Jesus of Nazareth met his mother on his path to execution.<br />
I do not practice religion, but my mother was born on Easter Sunday, so I have used this motif.<br />
Kerry O'Connorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08963325944091034585noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9172362715981729508.post-58320751663893886442020-04-17T11:36:00.001+02:002020-04-17T11:52:36.380+02:00Entrances//Deaths ~ Safe Harbour<h3>
In the April of Covid 19<br />Day 17</h3>
<b><i>“Listen and look where she sails the goose plucked sea”</i></b><br />
<b><i>Dylan Thomas</i></b><br />
<br />
<h3>
Safe Harbour</h3>
<br />
<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The white caps, the whale surge,<br />
the gull-pecked clouds, the topgallant masts of joy,<br />
high water mark, the depths of drowning grief,<br />
forgotten coastlines of summers past. I fall<br />
<br />
<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>through the open hatch’s wild<br />
splash of blue, through haze of sweet seagrass<br />
and dive into all my yesterday’s forgotten rue.<br />
With open eyes, despite the brine, I swim to you.<br />
<br />
<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>My safe harbour, still waters<br />
tempest-shredded sky, crepuscular rays, tide wall,<br />
foam-laced breaker on rain-spotted sand. Beloved.<br />
You are my anchor. I am sailing home to you.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="https://kerryoconnorsother.blogspot.com/2020/03/a-skylover-wordlist-3030.html">Skylover Wordlist</a>: Harbour<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
For those who wish to participate in the Skylover Wordlist Challenge, please leave your links in the comment section belowKerry O'Connorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08963325944091034585noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9172362715981729508.post-2275540111442836232020-04-16T14:04:00.000+02:002020-04-16T14:26:41.346+02:00Entrances//Deaths ~ Conversation<h3>
In the April of Covid 19<br />Day 16</h3>
<b><i>“he who taught their lips to sing weeps like the risen sun”</i></b><br />
<b><i>Dylan Thomas</i></b><br />
<br />
<h3>
Conversation</h3>
<br />
In the remains of conversation<br />
we kneel amid shards. Our fingertips are pebbles.<br />
Our tongues taste the grit. The toll of centuries. We<br />
fumble in the fragments but only the weeping wind<br />
<br />
<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>remembers the words of our song.<br />
Aphrodite’s breasts rise like white loaves from the ashes.<br />
Her shattered face with soulless eyes. Carved lips unsoft,<br />
too late for whispered breath of love to breach the divide.<br />
<br />
<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>We petition the cloudless sky<br />
for drops of autumn rain to fall upon our upturned<br />
mouths. To slake our thirst for speech. But only dry<br />
rattle of leaves. Only the bitter tang of truth. Stifled.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="https://kerryoconnorsother.blogspot.com/2020/03/a-skylover-wordlist-3030.html">Skylover Wordlist</a>: Conversation<br />
Play It Again Toads: <a href="https://www.blogger.com/16.https://withrealtoads.blogspot.com/2016/04/in-remains-of-this-month-april.html">Remains</a><br />
<br />
<br />Kerry O'Connorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00720862912375945249noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9172362715981729508.post-39852772407526646012020-04-15T14:03:00.000+02:002020-04-15T14:03:08.874+02:00Entrances//Deaths ~ Folly<h3>
In the April of Covid 19<br />Day 15</h3>
<b><i>“And we have come to know all places ways mazes passages quarters graves of the endless fall”</i></b><br />
<b><i>Dylan Thomas</i></b><br />
<h3>
<br />Folly</h3>
<br />
I own my folly. This construct of heart<br />
and latticework of broken arrows:<br />
bee-brimming honeysuckle athwart<br />
the splintered kisses and thrusting iris<br />
<br />
barricade cannot disguise the ruinous<br />
neglect, the rotten staves and fallen arch<br />
of my breastbone, the concave pool of rain’s<br />
cold tears, where grief has grown to ache.<br />
<br />
Unluckily, such folly is beyond repair,<br />
this monument to woeful pride,<br />
and hope of Spring cannot empower<br />
the lovelorn roots of my desire.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="https://kerryoconnorsother.blogspot.com/2020/03/a-skylover-wordlist-3030.html">Skylover Wordlist</a>: Unluckily<br />
Play It Again Toads: <a href="https://withrealtoads.blogspot.com/2015/04/history-is-twistery-folly.html">Folly</a><br />
<br />
<br />Kerry O'Connorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08963325944091034585noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9172362715981729508.post-38074040301422963122020-04-14T13:38:00.000+02:002020-04-14T13:38:28.283+02:00Entrances//Deaths ~ Invisible<h3>
In the April of Covid 19<br />Day 14</h3>
<b><i>“Time and places grip her breast bone, she is breaking with seasons and clouds”</i></b><br />
<b><i>Dylan Thomas</i></b><br />
<br />
<h3>
Invisible</h3>
<br />
I am invisible. A strange pause. A flint<br />
before the strike. I am a fragment of ether<br />
sensual, formed as woman, flesh-flaunt<br />
of binary star nipples, nova, matter other<br />
<br />
than thighs and belly, white as milky way.<br />
I am a life held in suspension. A part missing<br />
from your sense of whole. I am the why<br />
of your sleepless night, the message<br />
<br />
you seek to decipher in the half-faced moon<br />
at your window. I am hidden. Always here.<br />
Your skin thirsts for my stroke, throat moans,<br />
hands grope in darkness for light of my hair.<br />
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<a href="https://kerryoconnorsother.blogspot.com/2020/03/a-skylover-wordlist-3030.html">Skylover Wordlist</a>: Strike (Stroke)<br />
Play It Again Toads: <a href="https://withrealtoads.blogspot.com/2017/04/invisible.html">Invisible</a><br />
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For those who wish to participate in the Skylover Wordlist Challenge, please leave your links in the comment section belowKerry O'Connorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08963325944091034585noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9172362715981729508.post-42635706403655298812020-04-13T08:30:00.000+02:002020-04-13T08:30:00.277+02:00Entrances//Deaths ~ Dreams<h3>
In the April of Covid 19<br />Day 13</h3>
<b><i>“When only the moon rages and the lovers lie abed with all their griefs in their arms”</i></b><br />
<b><i>Dylan Thomas</i></b><br />
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<h3>
Dreams</h3>
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Let me lie here encased<br />
in the amber of your darkest dreams<br />
no corpse but that you should feel the warmth<br />
of my breasts beneath your sleeping palm<br />
and taste again my kiss<br />
unwrapped from ice.<br />
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Let us be of one mind, sleeper and dream<br />
and deny death at any price.<br />
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<a href="https://kerryoconnorsother.blogspot.com/2020/03/a-skylover-wordlist-3030.html">Skylover Wordlist</a>: Lie<br />
Play It Again Toads: <a href="https://www.blogger.com/13.https://withrealtoads.blogspot.com/2018/04/april-13-13-is-poetry.html">13 is Poetry</a><br />
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/13.https://withrealtoads.blogspot.com/2018/04/april-13-13-is-poetry.html">L'Arora Form</a><br />
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For those who wish to participate in the Skylover Wordlist Challenge, please leave your links in the comment section belowKerry O'Connorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08963325944091034585noreply@blogger.com19