A Woman Alone

she in a flowered chair slightly rocking

under trees knitted tightly quietly sighing

veiled in flowers breeze

streaks of new sun 

green shades slanting

she waves to me

flashing an inside 

out smile

my pleading wave back

touching 

everything 

she hopes

to be

JPPestana

Woman Alone

1.29.2022

 April Dance of Who

as if detached from tiny bits 

of discarded cloud

white butterflies fly by me blankly

surprised I don't know the why

and dandelions yellow golden fields 

millions of seeds gone in a puff

confused I don't know the where

and dandelions again tribal 

dancing happily leaning 

in a stray gusty breeze 

when does this begin 

when does it end

I don't know the how

of this April dance

of even happiness

of the who

and or what

I am am

not

JPPestana

April Dance of Who

4.24.2022

 

 

 

 

 

Enigmatica

a crashing sky falls from itself

falls into the arms of 

an undoubting cliff 

weightless they crumble as one 

float onto a beckoning sea 

dissolving in a puzzle 

of stormy 

blue

enigma

Enigmatica

JPPestana

4.20. 2022

 

Particles of Space

from time to time

on those nights when space stares back

crowding deeply within me

I argue with starlight about us

about nothing in particular

precisely what matters least

we stray into our uncharted brokenness

the real meaning of she

in the galaxies

suspicious of my own secrets

I hide them from her

disguise them to be an old dog

performing new tricks

we go round and round

but the clutter of words smothers

a conversation choking in

the dust of

too many

vowels

 

 

JPPestana

Particles of Space

4.18.20222

 

What Passes For Eternity

you who know you 

are alone in your own thoughts should

know again

I was with you all along

when blossoms rained down

turning a clouded earth to cherry

when we in tears that never dried 

hugged our sorrows until their begging surrender

when we sipped our thirst away from cupped hands

kissed in the dancing pool

of a lost spring 

and you splashed at me crazily

shouting out what pain remained

watching it drain away in 

the last rays of a sun 

struggling alone 

in its own un-

knowing 

contemplations

What Passes For Eternity

JPPestana

3.14.2022

The Mimic and the Murmur

 

low murmur 

a world turned

to scream 

begs for mercies

raises an empty cup

is the light

forever locked away

the poorest of 

all memories 

almost forgotten

a prisoner held alone 

dungeoned in some 

distant land

nameless place

spectators line the streets

here is the dull applause 

here is the roar 

of cloaked despair

in this this 

spewing mist

blackbirds battle 

for the last seed

of life

no one notices

mockingbirds playful in

an untilled  fertile field mimic 

the sound of tanks 

crushing flesh

bone and

prayer

JPPestana

Of Mimic and Murmur

4.10.2022

 

Quilt  

tattered sheets

of cloud wetly slap

wring out their devotions

deliver a soaking 

wrenching rain

made over her days

her years boxed

and stored

she begins stitch

by stitch

chicory coffee bubbles

groans in her cabin kitchen

how she sees

in this dim dim light

is her mystery

nimble fingers 

sterling thimble

tiny needles

fine fine thread

hum a spiritual from

back in time

cotton dresses

blouses once worn

in Georgia summers

sing their piney hymns

repeat the shouted praises

her air is thick in hallelujah

now scraps faded 

cut to squares 

measured

stacked 

with care 

patternless 

they take shape in the 

comfort of a child's eyes

warmth of fabric thrown softly so

over the shoulders

of grateful 

others

JPPestana

Quilt

3.9.2022

 

 

Without

this persistent bark

in shifting hills

scorch of burnt air

stains a landscape of

grayed rock

and old hearts

scorned

invades this

rhymeless

reasonless

place

a sun

of sorts

unrecognizable

broken too long ago

to matter is gravel

and dust

swirls

in a cloud

of doubt

without

JPPestana

Without

3.28.2022