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"Short Form Poetry"


Chapter 1
Gravity

By michaelcahill


 
 
Gravity


falling off the moon
crashing down
earthbound dreams trap me




 


Chapter 2
haiku (red giant's sunset)

By michaelcahill



haiku (red giant's sunset)
                                             by michael cahill


red giant's sunset
drops of water sizzle as
earth evaporates


 

Author Notes


In about 5 to 6 billion years, the Sun will have depleted the hydrogen fuel in its core and will begin to expand. At its largest, its surface (photosphere) will approximately reach the current orbit of the Earth. It will then lose its atmosphere completely; its outer layers forming a planetary nebula and the core a white dwarf. The evolution of the Sun into and through the red-giant phase has been extensively modelled, but it remains unclear whether the Earth will be engulfed by the Sun or will continue in orbit. The uncertainty arises in part because as the Sun burns hydrogen, it loses mass causing the Earth (and all planets) to orbit farther away. There are also significant uncertainties in calculating the orbits of the planets over the next 5 â?? 6½ billion years, so the fate of the Earth is not well understood. At its brightest, the red-giant Sun will be several thousand times more luminous than today but its surface will be at about half the temperature. In its Red Giant phase, the Sun will be so bright that any water on Earth will boil away into space, leaving our planet unable to support life.



Chapter 3
haiku (colorless summer)

By michaelcahill



haiku (colorless summer)
                                                             by michael cahill



colorless summer
nature's course foreshadowed
in earth's mirrored moon



 

Author Notes The future of earth... to be a mirrored, lifeless image of the moon? Perhaps not present tense, but maybe it is if that is the course we are on that cannot be altered.


Chapter 4
Majestic Redwoods

By michaelcahill



Majestic Redwoods
 


Man's mentality:
protecting nature's wonders-
driving cars thru them





 

Author Notes You don't really have to be a "tree hugger" to realize how foolish we are when it comes to our treatment of the resources available to us. What sense does their destruction make?


Chapter 5
The Cost of Closed Eyes

By michaelcahill



 The Cost of Closed Eyes

 
                                                                                                                             
(Original)


HEARTS
loving
breakable
 
innocents smiling
predators- beguiling
uncaring eyes turn away
 
"some are flesh and blood, some cold clay"
 
                                                                       
 

                                                                                                                               
(bookend) 


SOULS
damaged
crushed-  betrayed
 
plaintiff cries- dismayed
shrill mocking laughs invade 
failed quest- sought good intention
 
"closed eyes opening to redemption" 



 

Author Notes Original posting: "HEARTS" April 15th, 2014. Clarity pyramid.


Chapter 6
A Simple Awakening

By michaelcahill



A Simple Awakening
                                                                       by michael cahill
 




Embracing hatred will no longer stand
for love has come to live within our hearts
With charity and hope we walk our land
Embracing hatred will no longer stand
We're brothers and we're sisters hand in hand
We turn our back to fear and it departs
Embracing hatred will no longer stand
for love has come to live within our hearts



 

Author Notes Triolet in iambic pentameter.


Chapter 7
haiku (dying whale draws crowd)

By michaelcahill


haiku (dying whale draws crowd)


dying whale draws crowd
while brine shrimp grow in numbers
nature stays balanced




 


Chapter 8
This Soul Eternal

By michaelcahill


This Soul Eternal
 



an infinite flight
my curious nature sees
possibilities

 
 
          caught
             inside this strange shell
                      I dwell, for a spell.

                            tribulations task me… most interesting
                            challenges aplenty (four and twenty as it were)

                                                        to run like the wind
                                                        to trip and fall… defeated
                                                                                   to rise
                                                                                       triumphant

                     again to fall
                                       to rise
                                                   to rise
                                not to rise
                      to wait
         to fear

ah… growth
               
                   I see
                               
                           free
 
captured a moment
grateful flight- more glorious
this soul eternal



 


Chapter 9
Haiku (Spring Warming Resumes)

By michaelcahill

Haiku (Spring Warming Resumes)
 



spring warming resumes
sun-scorched coastlines seek relief
cooling waters rise




 

Author Notes As glaciers break off and melt into the ocean, my overriding feeling upon Spring's arrival is fear.


Chapter 10
Forest

By michaelcahill

F O R E S T



 
treetops sway sifting
debris from swirling sour air

cleansing breezes sought
rotting wood strewn through desert
forest mirage provides shade

Author Notes Forests choking for clean air. Imagine a desert where the rainforest is now. That is what we are doing to the planet.


Chapter 11
Senryu (Child's Paper Boat Sinks)

By michaelcahill

 


Senyru (Child's Paper Boat Sinks)
 

child's paper boat sinks
man decorates coral reef
dinosaur remnants



 
 

Author Notes The Exxon Valdez is but one example of mankind's contribution to the ecology of planet earth. Children at play.


Chapter 12
This Time

By michaelcahill



This Time



I know that your eyes will hypnotize
my empty heart won't turn away
I'll stay here with you tonight
 
I know men told you lies
I'm not them I swear
 
we can trust love
look inside
find me
there
*


 

Author Notes This lost all meaning when it rhymed perfectly. So, I went with a combination of proximate, near and perfect rhymes instead. Try reading it out loud. I think it still flows as well. Or.....


Chapter 13
Haiku (Autumn Reverie)

By michaelcahill

 

Haiku (Autumn Reverie)


Autumn reverie
colors drip-- leaves float on sighs
remembering spring


 


Chapter 14
Winter Smiles

By michaelcahill


Winter Smiles
 

skating gracefully
on inviting frozen lake

thin ice-- winter smiles


 

Author Notes Ever the trickster. Either a vicious onslaught or sometimes a little crack in the ice, Winter is always up to no good.


Chapter 15
My Mad Dash

By michaelcahill




My Mad Dash
by michael cahill
 



this breath    the first    wide eyed    I inhale
stumbling    forward    I'm practicing
soon running    panting    frantic
Zoom!    passing everyone
I fall    rising dazed
unsteady walk
sudden gasp
my mad
dash
*

Author Notes Nonet- didn't enter.


Chapter 16
Eternity's Length

By michaelcahill

Eternity's Length
                                   by michael cahill




once unrequited

lonely hearts find love at last-
soul's door never locked






 

Author Notes Too many people put time or age limits on love. Love can hit with the same intensity that it did in youth at any age. You could be missing out on decades of thrills by failing to believe that it can't happen or that it can't happen again.


Chapter 17
Eternity

By michaelcahill



Eternity
 


Mankind speaks of time

our souls do not recognize

such foolish limits



 

Author Notes Time is mankind's invention. It serves to restrict us and limit our horizons and thinking. Ultimately it lowers our expectations when they should be limitless.


Chapter 18
Hearts

By michaelcahill



HEARTS
loving
breakable
 
innocents smiling
predators- beguiling
uncaring eyes turn away
 
"some are flesh and blood, some cold clay"


 

Author Notes How can anyone sit by and watch an innocent be abused? Is there truly a beating heart within one's chest that will not step forward?


Chapter 19
haiku (toxic colors)

By michaelcahill



 

toxic colors
glow as blurred sun ignites horizon

                       stinging eyes close



 


Chapter 20
haiku (craving the hunt)

By michaelcahill



craving the hunt
man drools in all his glory

                   nature's murderer




 


Chapter 21
haiku (ice cripples)

By michaelcahill


ice cripples
everything--breaths freeze
crocus winks

 


Chapter 22
Class of '70

By michaelcahill


 
sweet innocence--
first loves share trembling kiss

frozen in time

nervous reunion for two
sweet innocence shivers--then warms




 

Author Notes

It isn't a requirement to follow the 5-7-5-7-7 syllable count.
Mine is 4-6-4-7-8. Total=29 syllables.

I happen to like a pretty picture and a nice display. If you find it objectionable, feel free to pass it by. :))



Chapter 23
Eagle to Penguin: You Can't Fly

By michaelcahill


Eagle to Penguins: "You Can't Fly"
 


Image result for penguins

Penguins to Eagle:
"You observe from a distance.

                   WE participate!"




 


Chapter 24
haiku (butterfly gently ripples)

By michaelcahill



 

butterfly gently ripples moon's liquid surface








 

Author Notes

haiku may be written in four, three, two and even one line



Chapter 25
senryu (the many-the one)

By michaelcahill



the many—the one
turn the page, yesterday's news

                       my son … killed in war



 


Chapter 26
haiku (apple pie on sill)

By michaelcahill




apple pie on sill sends scent through frosted branches



 

 


Chapter 27
Finding Freedom

By michaelcahill

 

Finding Freedom
 




to find true freedom--
fly a kite
end by        
releasing


 
 


Chapter 28
Cheeks, turn, turn ...

By michaelcahill

Author Note:TURN THE OTHER CHEEK--AND THEN?





ISIS
needs beheading

                 …. bruised cheeks





 

Author Notes

Not promoted except for first two reviews. I dont expect reviews, so don't worry. :)) I just want to enter the contest.



Chapter 29
senryu (man's mob synergy)

By michaelcahill

 


senryu (man’s mob synergy)
 
 
Image result for riot images
 

man’s mob synergy
the blindest common madness

             
                  or … an orchestra

 
 
orchestra photo: orchestra Orchestra2.gif
 


 


Chapter 30
The Donald's Foreign Policy

By michaelcahill

 

The Donald’s Foreign Policy

Image result for president trump meme
 
 
Trump elected? ... I’m
leaving to Canada, eh!
 
               (Yes, I’ll leave my guns)



 
Image result for canada flag image

 


 


Chapter 31
haiku (autumn leaf)

By michaelcahill

autumn leaf
falls on warm greenhouse
a have not


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