Wednesday, June 29, 2016

MY DANCIN' SHOES (#23 - a poem about shoes)


I never knew 
What the years would do
To my shoes
Hidden, stored away
Melancholy memories repressed
I had all but given in
To ever wearing them again
But then...
A second chance
A brand new song
To dance to
But time had been a bit unfair
To my old shoes
And now it's clear
I'm gonna' need a new pair.



Caren E. Salas





Photo: Poshmark


Saturday, June 25, 2016

A Star for Her (#22 prompt: Star_____)




Fallen star
To hold in her hand
Midnight blue
Shining bright
A pendant of Star Sapphire
To hang on her neck.


Caren E. Salas






The prompt was a fill in the blank with "Star..." I didn't want to go with the first thought of Star Power or Star Light, but something a little different..:)

Photo: wanelo.com

Friday, June 24, 2016

Wednesday, June 22, 2016

MY FRIEND... (#20 Prompt: what goes unsaid)




What I should have said
Doesn't realy matter now
What I could have said
Nothing I can do about

Can only keep missing you.



Caren E. Salas



Tuesday, June 21, 2016

THE "COOL" KIDS (#19 Cool or Uncool)

The cool kids tease and call her names
Trip her walking down the hall
Knock over books, pull her hair
Laugh at her should she fall.

The cool kids talk behind her back
Spreading rumors around the school
I think these kids really need to learn
A better definition of  "cool".


Caren E. Salas




Photo: Huffington Post - Getty Images.

Saturday, June 18, 2016

MY OFFICE (#18 an "office" poem)



I stare out at the ocean
Waves crashing, seagulls crying
Hot sand in between my toes
Cool breezes hitting my face
I turn back to my writing:
A tough day at the office.


Caren E. Salas

Thursday, June 16, 2016

Wednesday, June 15, 2016

KABUKI (#16 prompt: in or about a food establishment)



A cup of green tea
Pickled ginger, wasabi
Holding my chopsticks
Waiting for my miso soup
And one California Roll.



Caren E. Salas





Ah...heaven on a plate. My friend introduced me to Kabuki Restaurant, the funny thing is she doesn't like sushi! I only like a bit of the raw stuff, but I love me some California Rolls! So this is a love poem. A Tanka (syllabic form). And hey, try out Kabuki.
Photo and restaurant:
http://www.kabukirestaurants.com/food/

Tuesday, June 14, 2016

PARTY OF THE CENTURY (#15 Pick 4 or more)

It was a lavish affair
Only the brightest and best
Were invited, and there
Was no room for the rest

The blacklist was as long
As the earth is flat
And the size of the throng
Showed the truth in that.

But if you could wrestle,
If you could sing,
Had a big shiny vessel,
Or a small gaudy ring,

A flat piece of paper,
A nice golden tooth,
An ant-eating tapir,
Or an wild untold truth,

Then maybe they'd make
An exception for you
But of course they would take
A donation or two.

For this fancy event
Lasted only one night
Until your money was spent
And the morning was bright.


Caren E. Salas


Prompt: Use 4 or more of the following words: flat, ring, lavish, vessel, tooth, paper, blacklist gaudy.
These poems always come out a little funky, but I just had fun with it, and tried
to use all the words.





Monday, June 13, 2016

NO TAPPING OUT (#14 prompt:"Time Out")






They each like to argue about what it's about;
But I'm still confused, still filled with doubt.
I just want to cover my ears up and shout,
"I need a time out! I need a time out!"

Who knows what the truth is, it all seems absurd.
I've tuned it all out. I can't hear a word.
I stare out the window and see a small bird,
As it lets out a turd, It let out a turd!

It seems not to matter who's wrong or who's right.
It's who's still alive at the end of the fight.
There's no tapping out in this race tonight;
We can only sit tight, we can only sit tight.

Caren E. Salas

Sunday, June 12, 2016

LAST ONE (#13 Prompt: "Last ____")

I stand, agonizing.
Staring at the almost empty
Pink cardboard box
Of crumbs and sugary shrapnel
And one,
One last doughnut.
I look around the room.
Is it being saved for someone?
Did everybody get one?
Maybe I should just take half.
I mean, really, I don't really need it.
On the other hand,
It's not something I have everyday...
Oh, what the heck!
I should just grab it before--

Hi! 
Oh no, go ahead!
I mean, really, I don't really need it.
It's just a doughnut...
The last one. 
(I smile)
Go ahead.
(I try not to cry)


Caren E. Salas



Photo: mine
Donut: Varsity Donuts of Manhattan, Kansas  https://www.facebook.com/varsitydonuts/

Saturday, June 11, 2016

Friday, June 10, 2016

SOMETHING WRONG (#11 a "defensive poem")

There's something very wrong here
Something not quite right
When a bullied child in self defense
Is rebuked for "joining" the fight;

When a victim's life is opened wide
And instead of comforted, shamed,
Insulted atop the injury
Belittled, mocked and blamed.

How do we alter hundreds of years
Of Survival of the Cruel?
It's time to change some attitudes.
It's time to break some rules.

Apparently it's easy to say
"Toughen up, you'll be fine"
Rather than taking action,
To eliminate the crime.

There's something very wrong here;
Something so absurd.
But being a girl myself, it seems
I likely won't be heard.


Caren E. Salas




Photo: http://bullyingpreventionnow.com/bullying-assemblies/high-school-bullying-assemblies/
Also, check this out! http://www.pennlive.com/news/2016/06/high_school_valedictorian_skip.html

Thursday, June 9, 2016

ANTICIPATION (#10 - Pick an emotion)

Waiting and wondering
Nervous excitement
A happy panic
Mixed with somber confusion
Neurotic obsession
And willing delusion
A constant addiction
To imminent perceptions
Of future occasions
Filled with great trepidations
Yet euphoric optimism
Knowing and certain
Believing,,,hoping....

Waiting and wondering.


Caren E. Salas

Tuesday, June 7, 2016

THE PLAYHOUSE (#9 - "Hideout)

It was the coolest place in heaven or earth
We were seven or eight
Just a couple of girls
Our faces smudged with jelly and dirt
And the playhouse
Was our own little world
On the ceiling was a map and a chart of Morse code
There was a potter's wheel
For making clay bowls
Just enough space for imaginations to roam
Sleeping bags and blankets
For when it got cold
It was the coolest place in heaven or earth
And for a couple of girls
Our own little world.


Caren E. Salas



Okay, we are a little more than 7 or 8 here....but this is my partner in crime, 
and yes, we are still friends.

Monday, June 6, 2016

SQUIGGLES (#8 be inspired by a doodle)



A line
A wiggle
Just thoughtless squiggles

Like inside of my mind
A jumble
unrefined
In different directions
It's all
For my own protection.

If no one can figure me out, then
I don't have to show
Who I really am.

Caren E. Salas

URBAN AIR (#7 "Urban ---")


You really don't know
Until you go someplace else
And you realize
You can breathe, I mean really 
Inhale deeply, exhale...breathe.


Caren E. Salas







Photo: http://www.umich.edu/~elements/5e/web_mod/la_basin/index.htm

Sunday, June 5, 2016

ROOTS (#6 an Ekphrastic poem)




Grounded
Stable, stong
Doing, feeling, striving
Roots, home, prison, restraint
Reaching, fearing, disparing
Imprisoned, tortured
Bound.

Caren E. Salas




Painting:  "Roots" by Frida Kahlo

Friday, June 3, 2016

Eyes Closed

The petals drop one by one
My opening night bouquet
Fading into every day
Mere hours remain of this dream
And I don't want to wake up
Eyes closed, let me sleep some more.


Caren E. Salas

IN BETWEEN (#4 Distance)



Distance can be measured
Not in miles, 
But by smiles and tears;
Not on a street map, 
But through years: the days and nights
And the difference
In between.

A warm embrace remembered,
Makes separation abate,
But the cold chill of a friendship lost
Reaches right into the heart:
A reminder 
Of a much greater divide
.

You haven't moved, or traveled 
To parts unknown and yet 
The distance
In between us
...has grown.


Caren E. Salas

Thursday, June 2, 2016

Not That I'm Counting #3 - "Three ___ ____"

Three long months I have to wait
Until my next vacation
All right, about one hundred
Days more or less, give or take,
Thirteen hours, and six minutes.
But it's not like I'm counting....

Caren E. Salas




Wednesday, June 1, 2016

Fade to Black - #2 He said/she said





Good night
Is all she said
Turned off the light
And went to bed.

I love you
He whispered back
Closed his eyes
Fade to black.


Caren E Salas