DREAM-FISHING

Fishing poles in hand
on those endless summer afternoons
we spent down by the river
watching and waiting
(so patient we were back then)
for the big one to strike
(for we knew it eventually would).
Just summertime kids,
freckle-faced and tan
with nothing more special to do
than go fishing and make big plans
on those lazy summer afternoons
when the only most important thing
that we ever had to think about
was just how big those fish would be
when they grabbed hold of our lines
and almost pulled us in.

And at the end of the day,
as the sun began to set
on our fishing and our fun,
we would gather up our gear
and our "catch and head home,
knowing that the river held
many more fish
than we could ever catch
and there would still be some left
for us freckle-faced summer kids
when we'd go down to the river again,
fishing for our dreams
and making even bigger plans
along with some fishing
we did along the way.

(c) barbara kausteklis 6-11-11

Written for Drips of Ink
"Sunday Inspiration/Fishing."

http://www.myspace.com/drips_of_ink/blog/543234406

Thanks always for your visits and comments.

~barb~

Tags: BarbaraK Poetry Drips

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As I look back on some three years or so of writing, I can't help but notice how many times the theme of time has come up in various writing challenges and how many words I've written about it, as fascinated as I am with the whole concept of time and the way it sometimes seems to pass by so very quickly and sometimes (though not as often at all) creeps by so very slowly.

So I was thrilled to see time as a CPC Collab theme this week with the following "required" line. Needless to say, I had a lot of fun going back through my own pieces and borrowing some favorite lines of my own and creating a new piece with the always-wonderful Collab lines posted in this weekly challenge that I would never miss . . . .

******************




BEYOND TIME

BY BARBARA

A CHERYL'S PALS' COLLAB


Tick-Tock, unwind the clock!
Turn back those hands
so gripping my heart.
Racing around the clock as they do,
round and round,
when will they stop,
the hands of that clock?
Trying to keep up with their pace
I'm simply losing my mind
as they simply leave me
forever behind
and wishing I could
slow them down
those hands of time.

Slow it down,
I plead again,
the time has simply gotten
so very much out of hand
as yesterday's todays
fall into the abyss
of memories lost
as I try reaching back for them.

I try so very hard to ignore
the loud ticking of that clock
and the hands as they move
around and around
and around,
the precious hours
slipping by until
suddenly
and without
any warning at all,
the time that seemed endless
is forever lost and gone.

While I can't
help but notice
another year
has slipped by,
I resolve today
to grab as much
of what's left
before it gets
too far away
and leaves me
fretting about it
once again.

I'll take some of that time
that's so fragile and fleeting
to smile,
to hum a tune,
to say a little prayer,
to smell a flower,
to look at the sky,
for natural beauty
is what there is to see.
And ignoring the hands
of that clock that distress me so,
I remind myself once again
that there's no need to worry,
for the passage of time
is all in my mind
as living beyond its boundaries,
tomorrow is another day.

(c) barbara kausteklis 6-11-11

Thanks to Fellow Time Seekers:
Lady "Cheryl" Death, Falling Feather,
Angel Love, Rebel, Diane, Dori,
and Me, Barbara.

Link to today's Collabs and Saturday Share:

http://www.friendburst.com/blog/42760/saturday-share/

The lines I used, in addition to my own:

TICK-TOCK, UNWIND THE CLOCK -- LCD (required)

beyond the boundaries of time I roam (falling feather)
Tomorrow is just another day (Angel Love)
No need to worry anyway (Rebel)
Round and round when will it stop (Diane)
the natural beauty is what I saw (Dori)
Trying to keep up with the pace and losing my mind (Michelle K)
The passage of time is all in the mind (marthamagenta)

*******************




Link to all the lines submitted this week:

http://www.friendburst.com/blog/41789/line/

*****************

These Collabs are always such fun to try
and my Saturday wouldn't be the same
without trying at least one of them.

Thanks always for your visits and comments
and wishing everyone a most wonderful weekend.

~barb~

Tags: BarbaraK Poetry CPC

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Because it's almost summer
and because the "forms"
are always such a challenge for me,
a bit of CPC "Friday Fling Fun"

. . . .





PICNIC FUN FOR EVERYONE
(A Kyrielle)

There's almost nothing better than
getting together once again
with friends and fam'ly picnic style,
a time that's sure to bring a smile.

Come rain or shine, we'll have such fun,
something to do for ev'ryone.
So we're planning to stay awhile,
a time that's sure to bring a smile.

We'll play ball and swim in the lake,
I wonder what Aunt Tess will bake.
And after lunch we'll run a mile,
a time that's sure to bring a smile.

As friends and family congregate
we'll be sure to circle the date
because we've known it for a while,
a time that's sure to bring a smile.

(c) barbara kausteklis 6-10-11

Written for CPC "Friday Fling/Picnic Poetry -Kyrielle."

http://www.friendburst.com/blog/42603/friday-fling-writes-picnic-kyrielles-not-kyrielle-sonnets/

The kyrielle format
(quoting from the "Friday Fling):

A Kyrielle is a French form of rhyming poetry written in quatrains (a stanza consisting of 4 lines), and each quatrain contains a repeating line or phrase as a refrain (usually appearing as the last line of each stanza). Each line within the poem consists of only eight syllables. There is no limit to the amount of stanzas a Kyrielle may have, but three is considered the accepted minimum. Some popular rhyming schemes for a Kyrielle are: aabB, ccbB, ddbB, with B being the repeated line, or abaB, cbcB, dbdB.

Mixing up the rhyme scheme is possible for an unusual pattern of: axaZ, bxbZ, cxcZ, dxdZ, etc.
with Z being the repeated line.

The rhyme pattern is completely up to the poet.

*************
So as form-challenged as I tend to be,
and, besides, the letters/stanzas look
too much like algebra to me,
I went with aabB, ccbB, ddbB, eebB
with B being the repeating line.

Four lines per stanza and eight syllables per line.

Such fun . . . .

Thanks always for your smiles and your visits and your comments.

~barb~

Tags: BarbaraK Poetry CPC

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RADIO-FLYER DREAMING

Radio-Flyer dreams
were what we had,
children and dreamers
on those long summer days,
playing together as we did
from early morning
till so very late at night,
scheming and dreaming
and making big plans
for our Radio Flyers
and castles of sand.

Fast friends with big dreams
on those lazy summer afternoons,
one idea leading to the next
as day after day
our dreams and our schemes
evolved and grew so,
no limit to what we imagined
we could do on those long summer days
of Radio Flyers and sidewalk skates,
as wheeling and sailing
from one day to the next,
our dreams just got bigger
and better until, alas,
our summertime ended
and we packed our things away,
and headed back to school
in the usual way
and dreaming of our Radio Flyers
and sidewalk skates,
knowing that summertime dreams
don't ever end
and are never far away.

(c) barbara kausteklis 6-10-11

Written for "Drips of Ink/
Blast From the Past - Wagons."

http://www.myspace.com/drips_of_ink/blog/543217473

Thanks always for your visits
and precious comments on this piece
and previous ones posted.

Tags: BarbaraK Poetry Drips

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ARE WE THERE YET?

Scanning these photos,

one by one,

vacations remembered,

such a lot of fun,

those spur-of-the-moment 

short vacations,

the trips that we took

piling into an overstuffed car,

so many times on a whim.

So near yet so far

for just a few days

or just overnight ,

to the mountains,

the deserts,

the ocean 

and everywhere in between.

It doesn't take much sometimes

to get the cobwebs out;

just a short-term change of scene

so often is exactly just what I need

to begin to feel like myself again.

And as I scan these photos now

and remember all the drives we took,

sometimes the very best ones 

were the ones we didn't plan,

just pointing the car 

in any direction,

north or south

or east or west --

as long as we had a map

to tell us where we were

when we got there

eventually.

Some of these photos

are faded now,

but the memories remain,

some really funny ones

and sweet ones,

treasures I'll never forget

of those trips in the car

and that question 

from the back seat 

so often heard --

ARE WE THERE YET?

And my answer today 

would be the same as it was --

"Not quite yet,

but we're getting there . . . ."

on this grand adventure

wherever we happen to be.

(c) barbara kausteklis 6-10-11  

Written for Legacy Writers II "Byways (Part 2)/Road Trip Byways."

Byways With Barbara K (Part 2)

Thanks always for your comments on this piece and the previous ones posted.  

~barb~

Tags: BarbaraK Poetry Photography Byways

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GOLDEN

Caressing the strings
of her golden harp,
each fragile note,
held so very close
as floating gently
in their delicate dance
across the strings,
the delicate notes
finding their way
to the most fragile
and hidden places
within my heart
and my soul
as I'm carried away.
And within the spaces
found within my heart,
the deepest places,
the fissures and gaps,
the remnants of sadness
remaining within,
these notes that find
those hidden places
that need a special touch,
the notes are sweet balm
to the depths of my heart,
caressing and soothing
what they have found
buried for so long
and so deep within.
And with the delicate melody
plucked upon her golden harp,
I find peace once again
as it comforts deep within.

(c) barbara kausteklis 6-9-11

Written for "Drips of Ink"
"Thursday Photo of Lost & Found."

http://www.myspace.com/drips_of_ink/blog/543202331

Thanks always for all visits and comments
and wishing All a most peaceful day and evening ahead.

Tags: BarbaraK Poetry Drips

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RESOLUTE

Weathered and stark,
her rough and worn timbers
standing alone,
yet not lonely,
fragile,
even frail,
yet resolute and strong,
and standing upright still,
undaunted by winter winds
and summer's hard times
swirling about,
threatening her foundations.
But she never gives in,
paying them little mind
under the hot noonday sun.



And as I stop here for a while
and listen for them,
the voices muted now,
long thought forgotten,
within her timbered walls,
whispered voices as if
yesterday as she stands
in eloquent silence,
her walls speaking softly now
to those who hear them
and listen well.

(c) barbara kausteklis 6-7-11

Written for Drips of Ink/Great Outdoors - Barns.

http://www.myspace.com/drips_of_ink/blog/543180698


Thanks always for your visits and comments on this piece and previous pieces posted.

Tags: BarbaraK Poetry Photography Drips

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BLESSED

Each morning as I awaken
I'm reminded once again
of all the blessings that I have
that each day come my way;
and how it is,
whether large or small,
they're precious blessings,
one and all.

The simplest of gifts,
the ones money can't buy,
the smiles that we share
as we pass by on the street;
the kind words you say,
so encouraging to me,
and blessings that I'm thankful for
as I go on about my day.

There's so much I take for granted,
the food upon the table,
the roof over my head,
my health,
my friends,
my family,
all sweet blessings to me.

So from the moment I wake up
to the birds that sing
and the flowers that bloom,
I consider my many blessings
and what they mean to me.
And holding each of them
close to my heart,
I'm thankful for this day ahead
and all the blessings within.

(c) barbara kausteklis 6-6-11

Written for CPC "Magic Monday/The Magic of Blessings."

http://www.friendburst.com/blog/41520/magic-blessings-w-jt-mary/

Thanks always for your visits and comments
on this piece and the previous ones.

~barb~

Tags: BarbaraK Poetry CPC

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Tags: BarbaraK Poetry Drips Sharonlee

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