Blue Skies

 "Noticing the days hurrying by"

(With thanks to Irving Berlin... and the 4 musketeers)

I want a new life, a new house, a new world,
a new dream, a new existence.

I want a puppy, electronics and mechanical things that actually work,
and a reality that doesn’t need repair.

I want friends that answer when I call.

I want to smile and to laugh.

I want pain I can live with instead of abiding by its rules.

I want a vacation from worry, a holiday from stress,
free time without demands.

I want a new mattress and comfortable pillows.

I want fresh air, time to rove and nowhere to be.

I want authors and musicians I love to never die,
at least not until after I have.

I want concerts and museums, theatres and galleries.

I want sight-seeing in cities and walking on seashores.

I want health and happiness, and love and joy;

I want “blue skies and palomino ponies”.

Ronda R. Scott-Marak

© 11 April 2017

Easy like Sunday Morning

(With thanks to Lionel Ritchie)

Water soft on my skin, 
warmth soaking into my bones, 
the faint scent of rosemary and eucalyptus: 
silence except for my breathing 
measured and deep, 
eyes shut against the ambient light.

I sink into my mind's world, 
moving pictures behind closed lids, 
and the whisper of sandalwood.

Ronda R. Scott-Marak

©9 April 2017

Insult to Injury

 “Anger destroys your soul”

(With thanks to Marvin Gaye)

You expect an apology;
what are you waiting for…
go about your day, live your life,
what makes you imagine anyone will admit they were wrong?

You believe there was injustice;
maybe there was…
so what if people were harmed,
just who do you think will take responsibility for the damage?

Your feelings were hurt;
was it their fault or yours…
who won the argument doesn’t really matter,
do you know who is winning the war?

Ronda R. Scott-Marak

© 30 March 2017

Ephraim

 "and I can see the fire on the water"

(With thanks to Chris de Burgh)

Sun glitters brightly

like prisms of broken glass 

on rippled water

Shadows dance and dip

amongst the bobbing colours; 

strangely shaped reflections

Upon the surface

mirrored trees and grasses dance

across the harbour

Masts on horizon

slowly glide beyond eyesight

tinted sails in sun

  

Ronda R. Scott-Marak

© 23 March 2017

Rites of Passage

"It's alright to pass away"

(with thanks to Irving Berlin but especially to Nathan Jacob Goldstein)

I dreamt of my grandfather in his Masonic apron;
presumably upon the morning of his funeral.

There was rain on his glasses,
or maybe it was only tears in my eyes.

He peered out through the bow windows onto the avenue as if searching;
maybe it was tomorrow that he was searching for in vain.

He warned me that they wouldn’t let me go
that the elders deemed me too young.

He and I knew better but the choice was never ours.

He held me to him tightly;
you are allowed to cry, but not to mourn
because you will be always here in the circle of my arms.

He was right, they wouldn’t let me no matter my mother’s and my pleas;
but he’s visited me since both in waking and in dreams.

I am always encircled in his afterglow.

Ronda R. Scott-Marak

© 21 March 2017

Strata

Layered clothes

Layered looks

Layered hair

Layered fringe

Layered colour

Layered paint

Layered lives

Layered joys

Layered eons

Layered rocks

Layered stains

Layered times

RS-M

2 March 2017

Laissez les Bon Temps Rouler Sur

“It’s Just Another Day”

(With thanks to Sir  James Paul McCartney)

Duck, tuck and roll…
roll with the punches;
roll the dice and let them fly.

Or just roll your eyes
and let your shoulders shrug for all the good it does to try.

See the rolling fields…
of gated communities,
not a working stiff anywhere in sight;
then, in the moment roll down those grassy hillsides
tumbling, laughing… free.

Roll down the windows…
feel the breeze on your face.
Enjoy yourself this once;
today you’re allowed to howl at the wind.
Turn on the radio and dance in your seat.

Now roll up to the doorway…
there are all your friends and your family;
see all the people
arms outstretched and smiling.

You know you’ve arrived ‘cause they’ve rolled out the red carpet.

Roll a cig’… roll a joint…
lift the piano’s lid,
trill out a drum roll,
or twist the tuning pegs of your guitar.

You’re home now… hail, hail rock and roll.

Ronda R. Scott-Marak

©28 February 2017