Life With Horace

poetry & essays

Category Archives: poetry


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early moments

am I welcome here,
where imagination soars
in arcs so wholly random,
long and winding streamers,
wafting into ether pillows,
a mind so newly woken,
my place of endless magic?

wanting some assurance,
I stop rambling once again
waiting, silent, hopeful
hearing peace and reason,
always present if I listen,
answer aye, so lovingly,
wholehearted in assent

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my morning daydreaming, as I like to think of it, is something that I cherish, as it was the only time, until recently, that I could release my mind to wander where it wanted. I wrote this poem using the ‘beau present’ form, requiring all words in the poem to begin with a letter contained in a name, any name. William Shakespeare popped into my head, so I went with him.


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leavings

joy has come and gone
felt intensely in the moment
welcomed, for whatever
time it gives us, as if
there is no choice
but to grant its freedom

the will creates
by dint of effort
and intense intent,
but the transcendents
touch us only when
we open to their message
and are resigned
to their release

is there surety of return
in our acceptance?
the way to joy or happiness
wearing smooth or easy?
perhaps our souls
become elastic, porous,
bending in the wind
of our emotions,
ready to receive.

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poem © 2014 KH Rantilla. all rights reserved.


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the sixth

bright eyes and loving spirit
found again, oh so stubborn
in her quest for peace
despite life’s quakes

we see her unafraid,
bold both in laughter
and in loving touch,
this gift of light

our admiration swells
the more for knowing
what she gladly paid as dues
in searching for the truth

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poem © 2014 KH Rantilla. all rights reserved.


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Joy Renewed

we are ready, we think,
for tomorrow, making music
shared among ourselves,
for strangers, and those
who populate our lives.

we have but to erase
details, orts left of grander
chores, now simple ticks.
as we began, rich notes
brought tears of joy
burst out of souls and eyes.

but tied to knowledge,
certainty arrived as well,
so flat in effect that
to be on stage
seemed almost afterthought.

tonight will tick away,
and tomorrow we will gather,
drinking swiftly, deeply from
Cecilia’s well, knowing
blessed energy will flow
in us with the first downbeat.

poem copyright 2014 KH Rantilla. all rights reserved.


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in flux

great movement has begun once more
with snow’s retreat into the ground
and sun’s advance up to its peak

we look out into woods or over lawns
and see a constant ebb and flow
of birds now grounded, searching food

the leavened earth is pushing up
its sleepy winter denizens in search of warmth
to meet bright eyes and hungry beaks

our feathered corps is swelling once again,
as winter stalwarts joined by brighter guests
begin to dance the minuet of spring

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poem © 2014 KH Rantilla. all rights reserved.


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finding the spot

he lies in sun,
his still young bones
craving warmth and comfort

she seeks the cold,
lies out in snow
or the most drafty space

yet they will lie together
drawn by instinct, and
the certainty of place in touch.

note: inspired by seeing Horrie seek his sun spot in the kitchen, and Aggie in its coolest place.
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poem and photograph © 2014 KH Rantilla. all rights reserved.


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anticipation

despite the two-step
back and forth
of sun and snow,
there is new growth
emerging from
the silver painted trees
that greeted me
this morning

the promised gifts
of warmth and green
are on approach,
not yet in sight
though moving closer,
not quite frigate bird
in endless motion,
they are more subtle
in descent

spring’s silent feet
are passing by
the slowing pace of winter
in its wanton marathon,
not in a sprint,
but sidling steps
that lull the beast,
so grass will grow
for us to dance upon
and sing the notes
of rising life again

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will she won’t she? mother nature, that is.


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The child within

She calls me now where once she hid frozen,
afraid of dark paned windows,
conjured menace staring blankly in.

I first returned to grasp at shards of understanding
and found instead a small hand needing mine,
we stood together, unafraid.

There was a magma shift, the hard and inky dark
shape-changed by love’s reagent into brightness,
the bond of trust rewarding us with grace.

 


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Imagining dragonflies

Walking under mid-March flying clouds,
snow still layered tightly on this wetland road,
there are soft murmurs, water running under ice,
the flow from unseen melt is fleeing winter.
A half-warm sun and gusting wind of early spring
cannot erase the memory of heat and fecund life,
riches here to be regained at nature’s pace, not mine.
The dogs and I tramp to the dam and back,
and dream of summer pleasures looming large,
imagining the dragonflies.

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On yesterday’s wetland walk my mind kept overlaying summer on what I was seeing.