Wind, rain, trees
Bending to earth
No sun, but not hiding
Like fire sign me
No, just giving the
Other three elements
Their stage
And on cue,
Sky cracked and you
Entered my world finally
While my lost warrior
Wandering aimlessly
Through my mind
Found herself
And fear disappeared
I stood in the flood
And to you said
Enter stage left
And you did…
<><><><><>
© 2022 Clarissa Simmens (ViataMaja)
IMAGE: After the Storm
Dreamed I was dancing
On winding paths paved with stars
Uncertain about
Your persistent mystery
Tangling mind with emotions…
<><><><><>
© 2022 Clarissa Simmens (ViataMaja)
IMAGE: Starpath
Writing poetry, for me
Is like recording in a diary
But often, real art
Is done accidentally
On New Year’s Day
Under a tree
Roomie
Plucked a yellow
Flowery weed
And handed it to me
With a flourish
Wanted a picture
Of the brightness
So fumbled with the
Phone camera
And Bandit
That 5-pound genie
Sitting on my knee
Turned to gaze into my eyes
And I snapped a piece of art…
<><><><><>
© 2022 Clarissa Simmens (ViataMaja)
IMAGE: Bandit & flowers
The Wheel of the Year
Is a minute away
From Midnight
As the last Solar event
Is swept out today
The Wheel of Time
Suadarshan Chakra
Is about to repeat
The same cycle
But can we make it
Uniquely our own?
The Wheel of Life
Echoes the 7 chakras
And we try to balance
Protection, Emotion
Power, Health
Communication, Intuition
Blending the Spiritual
With the Physical and Mental
For all-important harmony
The Wheel of Fortune
Turns and burns
Tilts and slides
Like carnival rides
Settling on what will be
At least, temporarily
The Ouroboros
Serpent swallowing its tail
As it encircles and veils
The daily movements of life
Symbols of Geometria Sacra
Disguised as trees and berns
Seas and ferns
Are there but rarely noticed
Daily, we walk through the Circle
Of Campbell’s Hero’s Journey
We wear pendants without thinking
That the chain around our neck
Is a Circle of Protection
Whether religious, spiritual
Or the latch-key to our home
We may be part of a drumming circle
We may play a circle tambourine
We may lay down cards in a circle
But whatever we do
From birth to death
The movement is a circle
And so, as a new year begins
I wish to all of you
The no beginning, no end
The absolute unity
Of friendship
Of love
Of walking in circles
Protected and healthy
Happy and aware
Celebrating our lives
With care
For ourselves, always
And for those of us living
In the circle called Earth…
<><><><><>
© 2021 Clarissa Simmens
IMAGE: Wheels & Circles
I want to tell you about the Sun
The Sun and Crows
Most people think Crows
Are dark and scary
Crows can be scary
But they love the morning Sun
They hunt and feed
Terrorize the little birds
In the morning Sun
Swooping in
Making the Sky black
With outstretched wings
Wings that look magnified
When staring into the Sun
Springsteen said,
Well his mama said,
Never look into the Sun
But I saw no fun
Not that day
Cawing, couldn’t hear Roomie
Shouting at me
Shouting at them
But the Dogs were scared
Went into the house
And me,
Tried to talk to those
Sunshine Crows
Last time Crows did this
Attacked the little
Cardinals, Chickadees, Doves
Roomie had a heart attack that night
Real one
Calling-EMTs-type
Stents and 4 in the morning worrying
So now thinking
Love the Sun
Love the Crows
But what goes?
What presaging do they do
On Christmas Eve day?
Remembering,
A few years ago
Woodpecker in my hair
Favorite aunt died
Always something
When the birds get
Alfred Hitchcockian
The Sun in a bright blue Sky
The Sun made them crazy
The Sun should be blameless
But I’m better off in hazy
Hazy days, grays the world
That touch of gray
Like the Grateful Dead say
Is so necessary
So, Sun
Yes, you’re the one
But I’m blinded
Confused
Sun playing with me?
Maybe
But stay tuned
For the meaning of Crows
Who want to decompose
My boring but peaceful life
Beware the Sun
Leading me like a compass rose
Saner
For me
To ignore the Crows
And stay in the safe shadows…
<><><><><>
© 2021 Clarissa Simmens (ViataMaja)
IMAGE: Morning Crows
Living in Philly
My night sky
Was the ceiling of
The Fels Planetarium
In the Benjamin Franklin Institute
Slouched in the gray theater seats
Neck comfortably straight
While head tipped upward
I’d get chills when the room darkened
And we school kids would stop talking
And the stars would begin to greet us
Like actors slowly wondering
If the audience would adore them
And when we’d applaud
Because the show was FINALLY beginning
The stars, planets, meteors, comets, moons
And all those performers
Playing their celestial roles
Hidden to city children
Living in cement jungles
With streetlights every 500 feet
All those performers
Would put their hearts into
Brightening the night sky
(although still sunny outside)
And my heart would race
As I drifted in space
Not listening to the lecturer
Because no one could top the stories
I told myself
About the constellations
Talking to me via vibrations
For all those years
I never saw the sky
Time tempestuously passed
And I found myself sitting
With my very young sons
Also stretched and bruised
On the concrete of childhood
Their excitement matched mine
As the room darkened
And then I knew
There must be very few
In this world
Who didn’t long to stride across
The canvas of our universe…
(c) 2018 Clarissa Simmens (ViataMaja)
IMAGE: Fels Planetarium, Ben Franklin Institute (Rittenhouse Astronomical Society) and My Ukulele and Stars
REPOST OF MY FIRST LOVE AFFAIR WITH THE NIGHT SKY IN HONOR OF THE SOLSTICE (HAPPY WINTER SOLSTICE TO THE NORTHERN HEMISPHERE AND HAPPY SUMMER SOLSTICE TO THE SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE)
*scroll down for a Janis Joplin YouTube video
<><><><><>
Wondering how I will know
As I roll the dough
For Solstice cookies
Shaped like the Sun
In the light of the night’s
Cold Moon
Pouring white grape juice
Into plastic champagne flutes
Stirring Shirataki noodles
Mixed with mayo and
Black pepper, wondering
If we’ll dine together
Wondering if you’ll come
Bright silk flowers
Laced between the strings
Of my battered baritone
Ukulele
Me strumming and singing
So carefree
“Here comes the Sun”
By the Fab Four
Switching to the Doors’
“Waiting for the Sun”
Finally, Janis Joplin’s
“Flower in the Sun”
All this fun
Under the aegis of the
Misnamed Cold Moon
No cold in Florida this night
No cold in my heart
Even though I’m apart
From you
Just another night of déjà vu
But it’s merely the angle of view
Skewed by the Moon
Peering into my window
While it enjoys the glow
Of the Sun…
<><><><><>
© 2021 Clarissa Simmens (ViataMaja)
IMAGE: Baritone ukulele on a moonlit night
https://youtu.be/natCa2asaq4’ “Flower in the Sun” Janis Joplin
My newest is finally available in paperback, but if you follow me, you’ve probably read all the poems 🙂
Uh, oh, Amazon is still using the old cover from the Kindle edition, but the poems and images are the same.
Wishing you all a healthy and happy holiday season!
AIR/MIND
Need to light the Sage
Walk the wood floors
Smudging corners
Smoke circling an American drabarni
For safety
Singing a song of sanity
Because sadness
Should be gone
Sorrowful trespassers
Will be prosecuted
She tells her looping mind
Life’s okay
Health brings strength,
Therefore happiness
Especially when the
Scent of Sage
Spicing the air
Prevails…
WATER/EMOTION
Scent of ginger and turmeric
Heavy on the air
Drabarni using all her herbs
Next, laying down the cards
Sending the young sisters
To the Vrezitorka
Witch in the Hole
Desperate to save the
Lovely young woman in bed
Herbalist knowing she’d soon be dead
Fragile soul floating toward
The river running under the window
Sun prism-ing into a rainbow
Life in what is now Moldova
1935 no penicillin
Watching young men and women
As the disease
Prevails…
EARTH/SECURITY
On the edge of a cloud
The watcher in dreams
Alchemist with the
Power of Science
Regally hidden
She wakes
With the secret recipe
Blood Root, Plantain
Contained
In a mixture of beeswax
A green goop
Scooped and blooped
Onto the rebellious cells
Multiplying on skin
Coming from within
Zinc chloride
Mineral from the dirt
Lasering a portal into the root
Bringing pain
But then relief
As the offense
Disappears into the clouds
To be zapped by lightning
Because most times
Nature
Prevails…
FIRE/SPIRIT
Red Cayenne
Capsicum annum
Magical ingredient,
Capsaicin, connects as a
Hemostatic blood-stopper
Picked from the aging
Drabarni’s garden
Added to the pot
Of bubbling beans
Meaty protein
Grainy corn
Boiling, Burning
Eventually making its way
Through blood and organs
A food more divine
Than the nectar of the gods
Because human knowledge
Prevails…
<><><><><>
© 2021 Clarissa Simmens (ViataMaja)
IMAGE: Capsicum annum from my garden
Happy Thanksgiving Day
This is important for me to say
Social Media is our folk hotel
Visiting daily, we share and retell
Showing pictures of our dog and cat
And our granddaughter the acrobat
Yummy recipes make me hungry
Love the chance to sign petitions about the bumblebee
Wonderful to hear about your son
Life is tough but they still have fun
What amazing writing and crafts so handy
Thanks for accepting our modus operandi
We huddle together when tragedy does come
It visits us all and we succumb
But having loving thoughts sent our way
Soothes us like a spiritual bouquet
So keep on posting and let me know
How life is, just say hello
Know I think of you although I don’t say
You’re always in my mind on any day
Love & Fun & Happiness to you and your Crew…
(c) 2018 Clarissa Simmens (ViataMaja)
IMAGE: Tom…
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