Autumn brilliance fades
Behind misty fog
Precursor of dreams
Conceived out of time
Dying to be born
***
© Elouise Renich Fraser, 30 November 2016
Response to WP Daily Prompt: Faded
Photo by Ayten Kranat, found at photofredericton.com
In the spice bazaar
temptations aromatic
waft through air
heavy with longing
I reach out my hand
***
© Elouise Renich Fraser, 21 November 2016
Photo credit: DAFraser, January 2012 at a spice bazaar in Aswan, Egypt
Response to WordPress Daily Prompt: Aromatic
Ostentatious Leaders
preen before Desperate Adoring Citizens
clothing each other in superlatives
one flimsy piece at a time.
Has it become impolitic to tell the truth?
Or is it fear?
© Elouise Renich Fraser, 19 November 2016
Response to WordPress Daily Prompt: Ostentatious
Lassitude
percolates
pore by pore
disarms
body spirit
induces
slumber
of denial
***
I know this feeling. The desire to escape into dreamland–literally and figuratively. I thought I’d tamed this beast. I have my short list of things to do today. They’re small, I admit it. Yet they’re forward-looking and constructive. Not in the world’s eyes, but for me personally.
Still, I find myself fighting it again. Putting things off until later. Pretending my days aren’t numbered, or that my contributions don’t matter. Allowing this way of thinking to seep into every pore of my body and spirit. . . . . . . . . .a life-numbing, bitter, death-dealing brew.
This is my wake-up call.
© Elouise Renich Fraser, 17 November 2016
Response to WordPress Daily Prompt: Percolate
Nation of strangers
Forced choices
No winners
In this cacophony
Of bitter loss
And gleeful victory
Strangers to ourselves
In a never-never land
Indivisibly standing
Beneath competing flags
Disunited yet One
In Strangerhood
I thought I knew you
Until I didn’t
You my neighbor
My sister my brother
My one-time ally
Whose words now chill my heart
Niceness covered a multitude
Of pain and betrayal buried
In fear-filled hearts
Smiles helped us get by
Until we couldn’t any longer
Forced choices
Dare I go public
With fear and grief
Or do I smile and make nice
Nod when I hear
Everything will work out for the best
No matter what the cost
How do I retain integrity
Honor my neighbors
My womanhood
My patriotism
My Christian conscience
My personal and public dignity
I don’t want to be a Stranger
Or find you’ve become a Stranger
Dare I begin now
By looking you in the eye
How do you feel today?
Tell me about it — or not.
© Elouise Renich Fraser, 11 November 2016
Response to WordPress Daily Prompt: Or
We’ve lost our way –
Or never found it
Bitter bargains struck
Trust betrayed
Loyalties unexamined
Bodies scorned
Contempt exalted
Rage rewarded
Fear ignited
Self promoted
Spoils of a winning war
Good Shepherd, have mercy on us all.
Amen
***
© Elouise Renich Fraser, 9 November 2016
Cold
Tired
Watching first-class people
Get first-class service
In rows
Directly in front of me
Listening
To weary discontent
In my heart Read the rest of this entry »
My heart
Beats poetry
Words fail
When music stops
I die inside
Does God sing for me?
***
© Elouise Renich Fraser, 1 November 2016
Photo credit: DAFraser, July 2016, Rhine River
Cormorant taking off in early morning light
I hate the word ‘banned’
My father was the King of Bans
My life as a child was ruled by Bans
My father’s list of Thou shalt Nots
conveniently fenced me in
and robbed evil of its hate-filled power
Wrong!
A thousand times wrong!
The wrong on the tip of my tongue
The wrong in the imaginations of my heart
The wrong in my never-delivered tirades
The wrong my father, and then I did to my body and soul
Haunts me seven decades later
I’m a Queen
though not by succession
I sometimes proclaim myself Queen
Crown myself and decide for myself
What I will and will not do or say
In the secret places of my mind and heart
from which I banned my father
I hereby proclaim myself Queen for a Day
And designate my personal bans for this day–
The 103rd anniversary of my deceased father’s birth
I hereby ban
self-neglect of my female body and soul
that minimizes its need to be respected and cared for
as a gift entrusted to me by God
I hereby ban
All assumptions about my father
Including whether he would or would not
accept my forgiveness
Finally, I hereby ban
Any shred of fear or self-righteousness
That keeps me from opening my heart
to God’s overwhelming love and acceptance of me.
© Elouise Renich Fraser, 26 October 2016
Photo of my father, maternal grandfather, mother and me, 1943/44
WordPress Daily Prompt: Banned
Telling the Truth 