April Odds & Ends

too many dreams and
so little time to follow
any to its end

if they don’t bathe in sunlight
daffodils will never bloom

lying on the sand
looking up at Ocean’s mirror
the rain dropping through
brief remnants of the daylight and
their echoes—the stars and the moons

TV noise …
I saw it before
Star Trek reruns eternally

Poems in addition to the ones assigned to April days. Still looking through text files for poems I may have missed along the way.

Liz

Wide Awake | NaPoWriMo Day 30

Copyright 2016, Elizabeth Bennefeld, photographer. All rights reserved.

sunny afternoon
no rabbits in the garden
nobody to chase

both our people are asleep
what’s to do with time that’s free?

Note: My husband requested a poem to go with his favorite photo of our dogs, The Scampers. The photo was taken in the spring of 2016, when they were four months old.

Trees and Rivers | NaPoWriMo Day 29

moss and scattered grass
trees stretch to reach forever
anchored in the ground
seeds drop into mountain streams
traveling to lands unknown

Starting Over | NaPoWriMo Day 28

new plants grow
from ancient seed
feelings aren’t forever

back to the roots
I never knew
growing up again

Just in Time | #NaPoWriMo Day 26

Goldilocks time
the second between dusk and night
when the stars come on

Rain on the Flowers | #NaPoWriMo Day 25

camera in hand
soon after the day begins…
tulips and raindrops
Copyright © 2021-04-25, by Elizabeth Bennefeld.

Looking West at Evening | #NaPoWriMo Day 24

waiting for the geese to fly overhead
dreams of going home
© Elizabeth Bennefeld, April 2021.

As night falls | #NaPoWriMo Day 23

time grows short
shadows stretch to night
wee mice play
Liz Bennefeld,
Copyright 2021-04-25

April to May – NaPoWriMo Day 22

“A Path to Summer”

At the edge of winter
Promises of spring flowers and
Rising temperatures with sunshine,
Ice hangs from the eaves and
Lies in wait, nearly invisible
————-still, that
Makes the daily walk to the mailbox
An exciting dance of life or death
Yet a welcome break in the routine

Photo by Izzy Park on Unsplash

Transformed – NaPoWriMo Day 21

Truth
Reappears
As the days and hours flow
Night and daylight blend
Sunlight bows to moonlight
Flowers bloom in my imagination
Only to transform themselves
Rest for a time again
Melding reality with impossibilities
All has become new and beautiful
Tied together by love
I rejoice with this new world
Once a barren, endless plain
Now filled with possibilities

Image by Bessi from Pixabay

Sound Barriers – NaPoWriMo Day 20

sometimes life becomes
a bit too full of people
walls, motion, wind, light

hours feel like mere minutes
words turn into jumbled noise

Photo by CHUTTERSNAP on Unsplash

Tempted – NaPoWriMo Day 19

clear skies and sunshine
beckon those indoors to come
and play in the grass
meanwhile in growing shadows
water drops appear and freeze

May Day – NaPoWriMo Day 18

rain in the morning
snowfall starts at afternoon
sunshine at evening
water for the thirsty plants
next comes warmth for May Day blooms

Winter Storm Day – NaPoWriMo Day 17

rain, snow, and bluster
promise of a quiet day…
warm and cozy bed
surrounded by my pillows
piles of books and lots of tea

Image by kristamonique from Pixabay

Day’s Beginning – NaPoWriMo Day 16

morning’s aroma
the first sip of breakfast tea
a toast to the sun

Childhood Memories – NaPoWriMo Day 15

the sounds of childhood
uplifting music filled our home
Mom and Dad singing
of their desire, joy, and love…
their duet became a choir

Frozen Dew – NaPoWriMo Day 14

bunnies and sunshine
a mix-up of the seasons
winter in the spring
snow blankets on the tulips
frozen dewdrops on new grass

Sounds Surround Me – NaPoWriMo Day 13

distant sounds echo
police car sirens fleeing…
snowflakes come to rest

my puppy snores and resettles
birds sing their morning psalms

Image by myungho lee from Pixabay

Time and not again – NaPoWriMo Day 12

This (new) poem came about as I thought about a poem that I wrote for an online Halloween Poetry Reading in 2007: “At Allantide”.

the passage of time
days too short
haunted nights too long

moonrise light
shadows come and go
bending trees

waiting for footsteps
never heard
last chapter…The End

Before the snow – NaPoWriMo Day 11

After a dry, breezy week and weekend with yard work and new leaves on the bushes, Monday finds us damp and misty, with light rain and snow from late this afternoon through Tuesday night. Welcome moisture after the dry grass and carrying water in a cup to pour around the emerging wildflower plants.

new leaves garbed in green
unfold into warm sunlight
despite rising winds

tomorrow night’s soon enough
to doze under falling snow

Heart’s ease

apothecary roses
gift beauty to my eyes
and quiet to my soul
Copyright © Lizl Bennefeld, 2021-04-10.

Image by Suzanne Catty from Pixabay

Laughter – NaPoWriMo Day 9

reveling in sunlight
flowers lift up their faces
the Earth laughs

Photo by Norikio Yamamoto on Unsplash

Still Looking – NaPoWriMo Day 8

drip
drop
raindrops
spattering
on my windowpane
I still watch for the rainbow sky

Wednesday Thoughts – NaPoWriMo Day 7

“Serenity”

Stillness
Echoes loudly
Rousing the night
Eagerness and
Nostalgia come
In memories …
The passing of the
Years

flowers among
green grass and new snow
a fresh start

“Easter Basket”

alien eggs
waiting for their hatching…
decades to go

pollen and butterfly eggs
new generations
promises of
forever

open faces
looking toward the sun,
the flowers and me

green grass and tulip flowers
spiderwebs in morning’s dew
migrating birds
lovely day

Change or No? NaPoWriMo Day 6

branches left unpruned
the bushes at the fence line
soon tangle and die

matters not resolved may end
with no path out of the maze

Sanctuary – NaPoWriMo Day 5

autumn leaf on winter snow accompanying two lune — solitary leaf

one leaf on the snow
left behind
by December winds

sunlight on the leaf
makes a nest
shelter from the storm

Transformation – NaPoWriMo Day 4

nature is the greatest magician — Nature’s Magic

nature transfigured
the familiar wears a mask
streets and highways gone
seek paths to the beginning
restart the world…try again

Photo by Peter Oslanec on Unsplash

Rainbow Dreams

dry dirt…crumbling leaves
— dreaming of raindrops
dust dims the morning sunlight
— their patter on the water
no clouds in the sky
— rainbow memories

Image by David Mark from Pixabay

Fish, tonight

quivering of float and handline…
fish, tonight

murmur of the stream
the crackling fire

Photo by Adrian Infernus on UnsplashD

Ancestors

forests and meadows
places where my ancestors
and their reindeer roamed
flat prairie and dry rivers
can’t compete with mountain streams
Copyright © 2021-04-01, by Liz Bennefeld.

Photo by M on Unsplash

End of April’s Na/GloPoWriMo poems

I have written two of the last three poems for NaPoWriMo 2019. Laid low by an infected wound, and just now feeling up to writing, again, three or four days into a seven-day script for antibiotics. I hope to add the third poem to this page sometime before the end of Friday.

as I slept, the sun
appeared and warmed the ground
I woke to tulips

Prompt from Na/GloPoWriMo, Day 29: Write a minimalist poem.

rocks steam haze
clouds obscure the sun
no starlight

too wet, sleeping on the ground
but all the trees have melted

Brewer’s prompt for Day 20: Write a dark poem.

Quiet Spaces

The Written Word at Home

NaPoWriMo