HOW MANY

I feel like we have just begun,
To count up all the costs
And how many times
We'll have to say,
"I'm sorry for your loss,"

Caren E. Salas

STRANGE

Lately I've been feeling strange

As though I should say good-bye

Like I should tell my story

Before it's too late to try.

And I should show as much love

As my heart has strength to give,

And I should spend each moment

Remembering moments lived.

I see so much that's ending

Like innocence, love and peace

Yet things like fear and hatred

Continue to be released.

Lately I've been feeling strange,

Like I'm running out of time;

Things to see, people to meet,

Mountains I want to climb.

Things are coming to an end

Don't know how, or even when

Just a feeling that I have

That I won't be back again.

It's eating me up inside

Gnawing at me day and night,

And nobody will miss me

When I'm gone and out of sight.

Caren E. Salas

NATURE'S GIFT

Gazing out the dirty window
Recent rain streaking down
Making stripes of semi-clean view
I saw a rainbow in the distance
I couldn't take my eyes off it:
This band of color in a gray,
Post storm sky, shouting out,
Announcing better days ahead.
Glancing around me, I realized
No one else had noticed.
Focusing on their own lives
And troubles, they had missed it.
Nature had loaned us this gift,
For a brief moment in time,
As the bus just rumbled on.


Caren E. Salas

AprPAD Day 23 Prompt: Social______

SOCIAL AWKWARDNESS 

I often feel like 

An outsider looking in,

Not allowed to talk.

I'm not supposed to be there; 

Maybe I should just go home.

Caren E. Salas

AprPAD Day 22 Prompt: quirk

THE COST

It was just a twitch, a quirk,  

A stutter once in a while

He wasn't really worried.

He figured it was the cost,

Of falling madly in love

With someone so wonderful

Caren E. Salas

AprPAD Day 21 prompt: love/anti-love

BY HEART

There's no love like family
It's unique, crazy, sometimes
Difficult,but always true.
Not just your blood family
But those you've adopted too
Family chosen by heart.


Caren E.Salas

AprPAD Day 20 Prompt: Isolation

ISOLATION

In isolation

My mind begins to wander

Imagining worst

Case scenarios, dire ends

Even dying by myself.

In isolation

All I can think of is you

Being far away

Even though you're not that far

You're not where I can hold you.

In isolation

I hear the echos of life

Growing feint each day 

As time steals special moments

Which will never be returned.

Caren E, Salas

AprPAD Day 19 Prompt: Use these 6 words: Embrace, bump, resolve, lonely, fixture, howl

CREATURE OF THE NIGHT

He woke up in a cold sweat
Startled by the light fixture
Mistaking it for the moon
The full moon he so dreaded
Life is lonely when you are
One who goes bump in the night.

How he longed for her embrace
But their love could never be
With resolve, he vowed to leave
Else fill her life with peril
Broken-hearted, packed his bags
And with a howl, departed.


Caren E. Salas

AprPAD Day #18 prompt: Message

DEATH BY VOICE MAIL (messaged in haiku)  

Hello, I'm not here
If you want leave a message
But I won't call back

Hello? Are you there?
I hope you get this message
Your car is on fire

Hello, this is - no,
Wait, it's none of your business
You can hang up now

Hi, how're ya' doin'?
You just won a million bucks!
Haha just kidding

Hello? No one's here
But cameras are watching you
They're always watching

Just saying hello
But if you don't call me back
You'll be dead to me



Caren E. Salas

AprPAD Day #17 Prompt: Exotic

ANCIENT STREETS                                      


As I walked the ancient streets
A strange combination of
Auto exhaust and spices
Filled the air, Distant music
Danced through my mind and voices
Whispered unfamiliar sounds.

The sky was growing darker
As I reached the upward path
And lush green grass hid crickets:
My welcoming committee;
But as I reached the entrance
The gate was shut and locked up.

Hundreds of miles I'd traveled
For rocks and stones translated
Thousands of years in the past;
Still I was happy to be
Where goddesses had wandered
As I walked the ancient streets.


Caren E. Salas

AprPAD Day 16 Prompt: The Last ______

THE LAST TIME

The last time I saw you

Seems forever ago

The way that I miss you

You can't possibly know.

Only limited minutes

I can see your sweet faces

To hear your laughter

When we're different places.

I pray for an end

For the longing I feel

For when I can hold you

In my arms for real.

The last time I saw you

Didn't know I'd be wrong

Thinking all of this craziness

Would not last this long.

Caren E. Salas

AprPAD Day 15 Prompt: Dream

AQUA

I dream of aqua

And swimming with Lionfish

In coral filled seas

Caren E. Salas

AprPAD Day 14 Prompt: Form/Antiform

THE POEMS

The poems pick their form...or not

They rhyme or don't, a bit or a lot

The words they choose don't always make sense

Sometimes they're frivolous, sometimes intense

They have a mind of their own I say

But if I'm their slave, then lock me away!

Caren E. Salas

AprPAD Day 13 "purpose"

ON PURPOSE

It's not very hard

And the rewards are worth it

Loving on purpose

Caren E. Salas

AprPAD Day 12 “Spirit”

SOARING 

My spirit wants to soar

As far as it can go

So high until the sky turns black 

And I’m floating like a dream 

Among the stars. 

Instead I am in shackles 

And earthbound I remain 

Imprisoned by the fear 

Of an adversary 

Who was uninvited, yet busy

Subverting minds

With racism and hate

As well as physical destruction. 

This harbinger of hell

Has overstayed its welcome 

And is starting to annoy. 

My spirit wants to soar

As fast as I can fly

So quick until the sun is high

And I’m burning up 

With life within the fire 

Instead I have been banished 

Tethered by the grief 

Severed by the miles and time 

As well as risk and care 

The murderer of love

Has no passion or concern 

For my what I’m afraid will be 

My immanent demise. 

Caren E Salas 

AprPAD Day 11 "Control"

I NEED ANSWERS

I have some questions
For whoever runs this show
Who is in control
Of the lies and omissions
Delays, mistakes and red tape?

Pettiness leaves us
With no real guidance at all
We need answers now!
So stop with the name calling
While numbers are increasing.


Caren E. Salas

AprPAD Day 10 "The____who____"

THE ONES WHOM I LIVE FOR

I miss those little faces smiling
The eyes that looked at me
Laughter that always fills my soul
Small angels living free
It seems the day will never come
When I again will feel
The warm embrace of tiny arms
That I so much want for real
They're the ones who keep the flames
Inside my heart each day
And why I'll keep on waiting
And in my home I'll stay.


Caren E. Salas

AprPAD Day 9 An Ekphrastic Poem

SHE

Innocent
Naive and carefree
Until he
Fluttering
Shot an arrow through her heart
Tempting her to love.


Caren E. Salas







Painting: 'Young Girl Defending Herself Against Eros" by William-Adolphe Bouguereau
This has been my favorite painting ever since the first time I saw it many years ago at the Getty Museum (which is now the Getty Villa). It now is exhibited in the newer Getty Center. I have visited it there and look forward to when I will be able to go again.

AprPAD Day 8 The Future

TOMORROW

I've never felt so 

Confused about the future

But these days I wake

And I have no idea

What tomorrow will bring me.

Caren E. Salas

AprPAD Day 7 Lucky/Unlucky

NO LUCK

I used to say 

I don't believe in luck 

I make my own plans

Live my own life

But life was jealous

And took what was mine

Again and again

And I found

That my plans 

And my life

Were not my own

But thrown like dice

Dependent on luck

After all, turns out.

Caren E. Salas

AprPAD Day 6 "Trap"

LUNCH

Scrambling for freedom

Meek squeeks of panic and fright

Lunch time for a snake.

Caren E. Salas

AprPAD Day 5 "A Moment"

MORNING

When I wake up each morning
I remember the nightmares
And dreams for a while. Slowly
I wake, knowing what is real,
But try as I might, I can't
Make myself go back to sleep.


Caren E. Salas

AprPAD Day 4 "Wish"

WISH

I wish I could fly 

Far away from here and now 

To where there's no fear

Caren E. Salas

AprPAD Day 3 Follow ______

FOLLOW THE DOG

Follow the dog, she knows where to go down

The street and to the left then two more blocks

To the blue house with the red door and green 

Green grass. A right turn takes you all the way

Past the gated yard and the big mean dog 

Who always barks and growls as we go by

The house. Follow the dog but not that one.

She looks at me to make sure I'm still here.

Walking close behind her, she stops and sniffs

The grass, somehow she knows we're almost home.

Caren E. Salas

AprPAD Day 2 "SPACE"

HOME

From far beyond the universe

My soul, a sea of stars

I fell into a galaxy

Swirling in the dark.

And when the spin began to slow

My heart kept spiraling round

Past the planets, comets, moons

I kept on sliding down

To a big blue world, warm and free

With oceans, mountains, plains

With continents and countries

Cities, towns and bays

Until a home cried to my soul

Come to me and stay

Bring all you love and rest with me

And never go away.

Caren E. Salas



photo by William Salas

National Poetry Month Begins! Day #1 - prompt: A New World

I'm so excited that it's April! This year I'm very determined to do Robert Lee Brewer's Poem a Day Challenge. As usual I'm starting a bit behind, but I am really going to try to keep up. Here's the first prompt: "A new world".

MY NEW WORLD                                                

My new world's not a better one
I look for reasons, finding none
The things that should've, just weren't done
And it's no fun, it's just not fun.

My anger's building everyday
I wait to see what next they'll say
They talk like it's an act to play
And that's not okay. it's not okay.

My choices are to stay and cry
Or go outside and maybe die
I wish they'd tell us without lies
The reason why, the reason why.


Caren E.Salas

CHAOS

   I lie awake staring at the ceiling 

The reflections of windshields scrolling 

Across it like anxious spirits

The low rumbling sound of a city bus

Bounces back and forth on the street

Voices float up to my window

Laughter, arguments, a child crying

A policeman's whistle chirping warnings

To any tempted to wreak havoc nearby

A cacophony of automotive dissonance

Bass heavy anthems blasting in stereo

Horns honking, tires screeching, gears shifting

Then...a moment of peace...

And the rain...the rain, like a lullaby...softly hums

Until the chaos commences again.

Caren E. Salas

                                                                               

The Last Page

The last blank page of my journal seemed so
Naked inside a book filled with scribbles
And stickers, magazine pictures pasted
Next to fortunes from cookies, random quotes,
A hospital bracelet, thrift store price tag,
A magic playing card: the King of Spades,
Stolen from my magician friend, my love,
Thoughts, frustrations, secrets, memories, words,
Mistakes made, dreams yet to be realized,
But with this poem, my journal's complete.

Caren E. Salas

Photo: http://uncomfortablemoments.blogspot.com/2011/01/dear-diary.html

Blades

Pelicans gliding 

Like blades across the glassy

Surface of the sea

Caren E. Salas

ONE MORE

One more story to tell

One more kiss or embrace

One more meal we could share

One more look at your face.

One more hand holding moment

One more day in the sun

One more garden to tend

One more chore to be done.

One more mountain to climb

One more sunset to see

One more road to discover

One more evergreen tree.

One more mist trail to travel

One more waterfall drop

One more river to cross

One more bend to the top.

One more ride to enjoy

One more place to explore

One more dream of tomorrow

Filled with more, than "one more".

One more thought to remember:

That your love will endure

Surrounding me always

Until I see you once more.

Caren E. Salas

Jack R. Robinson 4/29/1930 - 12/29/2019