The Salt Witch

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TIDAL POOLS WITH REFLECTED LIGHT

Sennett, Tomas, Photographer (NARA record: 8464470)

Environmental Protection Agency. (12/02/1970 - )

I am a child of brine and sea water,

a witch born

in the tidal push.

A soft foam gathers at my head,

the crust of salt flaking off the moonskin

of night’s dreaming—

the meeting of sun and moon at tide’s edge

pushing closer

in their wayward time.

Perched upon each wave,

pushing inward,

     a bit of women’s salt,

pulling away each current,

     a bit of man’s silt.

The watch,

a fraction of heat

to move the salt home.

copyright/all rights reserved Audrey Howitt 2013

posted for dverse poets openlinknight-week-96/

Death's Arabesque

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Cecum

Anatomist90

balancing

     waves upon wrinkled eyes

crinkled into sticks


she watches

     the sun

     dance upon the beaming sky

in its movement

toward

     each little death

          toward the in between time

eyes

brown and desiccated

watch the dance unfold

in graceful

     arabesque

          arms pointed toward dusk




copyright/all rights reserved Audrey Howitt 2013

Posted for dVerse

The Smaller Me

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 Sand, welcher von Wasser überspült wird, Brandung, Strand.

Metoc

i looked today for the smaller me
the one that is more difficult to see

the one i lose most often

she sat on a small rift of sand
a displacement of water beneath her

neither she nor i felt the sand shift


copyright/all rights reserved Audrey Howitt 2013

Posted for Poets United

An Untitled Moment

 

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 Abhilash A K

a common grass yellow butterfly, photographed from College of Veterinary and Animal sciences campus, Mannuthy. These are medium sized common butterflies seen all over India

In the capricious visits of butterflies

I find a solace

Born of the moment

A tenderness formed

Out of the continuation

Of life’s tiniest moments

A gentleness

As each flits

To land upon one

And then

Another

An eyeful of color

Alive in the moment

As we all are

Though I often

Forget

As color dissipates

Upon the palette of worry

A crimson point

In time’s march

copyright/all rights reserved Audrey Howitt 2013

posted for dversepoets

A Bit of Sorrow

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Jeno Csuk

Hanging Out Laundry

In the public domain in the U.S.

a bit of sorrow

hung out on the line to dry

conversant with the language of the wind

both fleeting

their conversation

though muted

fills the current

with the colors of leaves

dazzled by the sun’s long kiss

i would listen

if I understood

the wind’s refrain

but I know the sorrow

it was I who pinned it there

copyright/all rights reserved Audrey Howitt 2013

posted for Real Toads

Papa's Gift

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The Poem of the Soul

Louis Janmot

1814-1892

In the Public Domain in the United States

He sat often in a chair

Eyes closed

Conducting

Wagner’s Parsifal was a favorite

Pouring out of Grundig speakers

Face enrapt

Soul traveling elsewhere I suspect

On Tuesday evenings

After his lodge meetings

We often discussed soul

And aura

And astral projection

I was 12 I think

When he first read my aura

And I knew that other 12 year-old’s fathers

Weren’t doing this with their daughters

And so now

For the gift given so many years ago

I thank you

Again and again

While

With eyes closed

I sit and listen to Barber’s Adagio for Strings

And feel my soul loosen a bit

To seek you out

To touch you again

And remember

copyright/all right reserved Audrey Howitt 2013

Posted for Poets United Pantry #144

Dreams of Youth

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Dante Rossetti

The Day Dream

In the Public Domain in the United States, Australia and the EU

Your dreams cascade in ripples

Of orange and yellow

(your favorite garden flowers have told me so)

And buoy the darkened images

Found dissonant in time’s map

And held within a ring of light

(golden perhaps)

You walk

Unfettered

Among the brisk rise and fall

Of petalled moments

While in your dreams

Your breath is sweeter

(the mint of toothpaste obliterated)

And the delights of tongue and lips

Held

A pleasure cupped

In this crone’s hands

A gift

As youth swings by us

For a moment

copyright/all rights reserved Audrey Howitt 2013

posted for Poets United Poetry Pantry #143