1 scrambled egg
1 small tortilla
Snowed under
Ground black pepper
Nuke 2 minutes
Cayenne pepper to blush the
Van Gogh yellows
Bowlful of black coffee
What a morning it’ll be
Especially
While communing with Orion
At 5 in the dark
All that’s missing is a cigarette
25 years since we parted
But wild dill showers
In morning dew
Spread scent to rival
Nicotine
And I am content…
(c) 2018 Clarissa Simmens (ViataMaja)
IMAGE: low-cal breakfast at 5 a.m.
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
Southern Cross–Crux–once again visible in my Florida backyard! Wanted to write a new poem but my old one says it best:
(scroll down for YouTube video)
Ancient museum piece
Finding its way
From saline, sunken galleon
To pristine, icy backdrop
Of the sky’s exhibit
Southern Cross
Crux!
Visible in the Northern Hemisphere
And all I can hear
Is Stephen Stills’ voice
Hitting those high notes
Thinking about how many times
I, too, have fallen
No thought of crucifixion
Redemption
Religion
Although a brief vision
Of the tarot’s Hanged Man
Sacrifice
Flashes through my exploding mind
Crux!
On April 8 at one in the morning
Florida, Hawaii and Texas
Are given the gift
From the Southern Hemisphere
Of their circumpolar Crux
Always above the horizon
The Earth poised just right
Stars gracing my life in the night…
© 2016 Clarissa Simmens (ViataMaja), Miniature Worlds Sublime
YouTube video Southern Cross, Crosby, Stills & Nash
https://youtu.be/iuLBhxZUkmU
REPOST UPON SEEING THE SOUTHERN CROSS AT MIDNIGHT 3-15-17
(scroll down for YouTube video)
Ancient museum piece
Finding its way
From saline, sunken galleon
To pristine, icy backdrop
Of the sky’s exhibit
Southern Cross
Crux!
Visible in the Northern Hemisphere
And all I can hear
Is Stephen Stills’ voice
Hitting those high notes
Thinking about how many times
I, too, have fallen
No thought of crucifixion
Redemption
Religion
Although a brief vision
Of the tarot’s Hanged Man
Sacrifice
Flashes through my exploding mind
Crux!
On April 8 at one in the morning
Florida, Hawaii and Texas
Are given the gift
From the Southern Hemisphere
Of their circumpolar Crux
Always above the horizon
The Earth poised just right
Stars gracing my life in the night
© 2016 Clarissa Simmens (ViataMaja) Miniature Worlds Sublime
YouTube video Southern Cross, Crosby, Stills & Nash https://youtu.be/iuLBhxZUkmU
IMAGE: Crux, Pinterest (not one internet image is as majestic as the real thing)
Tonight
Appearing in the
Northern Hemisphere
Canis Major
Greater Dog
Known as Sirius
The brightest star
Named for the Egyptian god Osiris
Ruler of life, death, fertility and plant rebirth
Also visible is
Canis Minor
Lesser Dog
Known as Procyon
Both stars
Halfway between Orion
And Earth
So wanting to be with
Us aching humans
Helplessly watching our dogs
Over the years
Trek to the skies
As we bid goodbye
It is not such a huge leap of imagination
To think that our best friends
Have come to reassure us
Sniffing, smiling
As only their species can do
A joyously unique
Modus vivendi
Telling us yes,
We are happy in a new life
As we light the way
For those who are
Lost
Lonely
Herding them back
Before they go astray
So let us remember our dogs
Today…
© 2016 Clarissa Simmens (ViataMaja)
Image: Earth Sky
Took an old poem and wrote a song for my new (yeah, tacky) concert ukulele. Chord feedback/suggestions definitely welcome!
(Am)Five planets and a full Hunger (C)Moon
(C)Merely a meaningless magical (Am)rune
(G)Dangling above my sorrowful (C)head
(C)Making me wish I was (G)dead
(G)Dawn breaks in a Bluesy (C)sky
(C)Here I am, trying not to (G)cry
(F)Same as a Weeping Willow, rooted (C)below
(C)Heart cold and lost like an icy (F)floe
(G)Unlike the Moon, I do not hunger for (C)food
(C)Need a way out of my (G)solitude
(G)How might I cope with your (C)desertion?
(C)Why would I want to continue your (G)coercion?
(Am)Five planets and a full Hunger (C)Moon
(C)Merely a meaningless magical (Am)rune
(G)Retrograde planets add to your harsh (C)words
(C)Mercury and Jupiter whirling (G)backwards
(G)Venus, Saturn and also (C)Mars
(C)Add strife to the male-female (G)spars
(F)Love has become something (C)ephemeral
(C)Creating an atmosphere stifling and (F)sterile
(G)Like a nocturnal mammal I scurry (C)around
(C)Shivering on the muddy (G)ground
(G)Not sure what to do (C)anymore
(C)Bright Antares and Spica I (G)ignore
(Am)Five planets and a Full Hunger (C)Moon
(C)Merely a meaningless magical (Am)rune
(Am)Merely a meaningless magical (C) rune
© 2016 Clarissa Simmens (ViataMaja) both lyrics and chords
IMAGE: My new concert ukulele
(scroll down for YouTube video)
Ancient museum piece
Finding its way
From saline, sunken galleon
To pristine, icy backdrop
Of the sky’s exhibit
Southern Cross
Crux!
Visible in the Northern Hemisphere
And all I can hear
Is Stephen Stills’ voice
Hitting those high notes
Thinking about how many times
I, too, have fallen
No thought of crucifixion
Redemption
Religion
Although a brief vision
Of the tarot’s Hanged Man
Sacrifice
Flashes through my exploding mind
Crux!
On April 8 at one in the morning
Florida, Hawaii and Texas
Are given the gift
From the Southern Hemisphere
Of their circumpolar Crux
Always above the horizon
The Earth poised just right
Stars gracing my life in the night
© 2016 Clarissa Simmens (ViataMaja)
YouTube video Southern Cross, Crosby, Stills & Nash
IMAGE: Crux, Pinterest (not one internet image is as beautiful as the real thing)
One pink, lavender and turquoise evening
Thought I heard a voice calling my name
Stared through the setting sun, neck cricked
And suddenly the sky was indigo, red and purple
My name still floating through the colors
At full dark I shook my head, hard
As celestial shapes gravitated toward
A chain and dangled like the finest charm bracelet
Sun, Moon, Planets, Comets, Meteors, Constellations
Jingling as if wrapped around a slender wrist
Then flung through space, now a black velvet jewelry box
Classically soft and rich
Spreading across the sky
Watching the bracelet reform
Into a shape that could only be
(If I followed the dots with a sky pencil)
The man meant for me
And as if a gentle inhalation
Breathed me up, up, up
I felt my human form float
Touching the once upon a time bracelet form
Feeling him become more substantial
As the celestial charms solidified into
The man meant for me
Embracing, we floated down
Like the finest feathers
Woven together
And that is how we first met
© 2015 Clarissa Simmens (ViataMaja)
