My Last Poem for National Poetry Month

I moved into this Senior apartment complex 8 years ago in June. Brand new building. This poem talks about those of us who were the first to move in and how over the years our numbers have dwindled
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The Class of 2015
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Silence reigned in the halls.
Rooms empty and bare.
Blank were the walls.
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A lottery each had won.
So carrying our past with us
We arrived, one by one.
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New stories started.
New lives created.
Then over the years we parted.
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A cancer here, another there,
Infirmity caught up to some.
Slowly dispersing us like air.
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We originals hold on.
In our memories remain
Those of 2015 who are gone.

National Poetry Month poem of the week

He Speaks To Me
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He speaks to me
Not in a burning bush
Or a loud voice in the night.
But definitely not in a whisper!
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His message arrives
In the most unusual of forms,
In the most out of the way places,
In the ordinary and the extraordinary.
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He communicates slyly
Picking the vehicle appropriate
To what I need to discover.
Never shocking but gently jolting my attention.
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From quotes in magazines,
To toys tossed into the gutter,
Or lost objects retrieved in a relocated space,
He uses them to drag me out of my complacency.
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So if you ask “Does God talk to us?”
I will answer “not as in the Bible”.
But perchance a posting on Facebook or a dime in the driveway
Will tell me He’s listening to the questions I’ve asked.

National Poetry Month continues

Easter is over but National Poetry Month continues. Here is my poem about the resurrection of Jesus Christ:
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Hark! A Sonrise
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Through desert and famine,
Through days without rain
Through death and destruction
A path of great pain.
He walked without crying
He walked for our sins
In light then in darkness
Until all became dim.
He took on the crimes
Our cross he did bear
We just turned our heads
We just didn’t care.
He knew we’d betray him
He knew he would die
And in a cold tomb
His body would lie.
But he was the Messiah
This world he would save.
As the Son of the Father
Rose from his earthly grave.

It’s National Poetry Month!

April is National Poetry Month! It was first introduced in 1996 by the Academy of American Poets as a way to increase awareness and appreciation of poetry in the United States.
My theme for this year is “Let poetry lift your soul” and I’ll be posting one of my poems each week throughout the month.
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Banging Time
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The trees have turned green
The flowers are in full bloom
It’s sunny and warm
A turtle’s fancy has turned to…
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The box turtle bangs in his box
No way to escape the plastic walls.
He looks up, with wild eyes, begging,
“Please let me out of here”.
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“It’s Spring and I need to find
That girl turtle waiting for me
In the flower bed outside.
Why do you keep me a prisoner?”
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I sigh and walk away
There is no girl turtle in sight.
I go and wash off Dodo
The fake one will have to do.