Pacific Sun

Hearts and scars and crashing waves;
pacific sun that warms our days.
Look ahead and trade one shade of blue for another,
walk away from lonely and make the ocean your lover.

Laughter rings out from days gone by;
throw away memories that made you cry.
Find a wet seashell and put it in your pocket;
smooth it with your fingers - it's your heart's new locket.

Drop a tear in the ocean and make it your last;
the future escapes you when you live in the past.
Ships on the horizon sail off to distant shores;
catch one if you can - make a new dream yours.

Turn your back on the continent and look out to the sea:
out beyond the breakers is where your soul can be free.
Listen to the silence before a wave crashes down;
this is your life that the ocean surrounds.

Let the water catch your tears and quiet your soul;
breathe in the sea air that makes your spirit whole.
Journeys and dreams and crashing waves;
pacific sun that warms our days.

Written for the Olympiad of the Arts and first published in 2005.

NaPoWriMo #30 Sonnet for the Future

May we always know the wonder
a child's enchanted mind reveals
as through life we toil and blunder
with progress snapping at our heels.

Let us forever stop and smell
the roses on our thorny paths;
listen to the sea in each shell
tell secrets of a world so vast.

For there's time enough to worry
about the Things we've yet to do -
don't let the lines get too blurry;
tend to the magic inside you.

Go be a mirror for the joy on every child's face,
and don't let their unconditional awe go to waste.

NaPoWriMo # 28 Ahaaa!

Thirteen years spent answering phones
and making others' burdens lighter
shuffling papers and stifling groans...
"What do you do?" I'm a writer.

Office work - administration - by day
and part-time student by every night
a working mom just paying my way,
but being a writer's what feels right.

So in between semesters and exams
Big Ideas plants little seeds of hope.
I water them with such grand plans -
sometimes too much, but they float.

No, the writing doesn't pay the bills
and I can't be certain I'm any good,
but I find my success in little thrills
doing what I never thought I could:

A few good friends and my teachers
have cheered me through the years
but there's one voice in my bleachers
that hollers louder than all my fears:

It wasn't until I heard her say it that
my future ambitions burned brighter-
the question of favourites was asked -
"My mum! She's my favourite writer!"

NaPoWriMo #27 Acrostic Beauty

Powder your face with sunshine, wear the perfume
of the sea, give your soul Mother Nature's bloom,
wear her freedom on your feet. Allow yourself to
disregard Urgency's beck and call. There is room
enough tomorrow for the tasks undone today. Assume
responsibility for a more peaceful version of you.

Your yesterday will be here too soon. Let the wonder
of Nature magnify life's perfections. So dance under
umbrellas, wink back at the moon, laugh and plunder
roses' sweetness, shout and roar back at the thunder.

Face your future with the hope found in Nature's glory
and listen to her whispers on the wind. Let your story
collect bits and pieces of the world so your inventory
expands beyond yourself and always know "memento mori".

With the hope beyond the breakers, let your ship sail
into sight. Toss your soul a raft amidst Life's gale,
towing yourself to safer seas. To live is not to fail -
have the courage to know a life outside society's veil.

Sunshine dries the tears of every storm and then plays
up our brighter moments letting beauty and warmth blaze
nearer to us. So feel the sand between your toes as rays
sparkle over the turning tide. Find your way in the maze
having faith in Mother Nature's light. Look up and gaze
into the sky as the sun makes way for a moon whose chase
never ends and be enchanted by the wonders Life displays
each day. May you powder your face with sunshine always.

NaPoWriMo #26 Nature's Medicine

Kick off your shoes, let the sand
massage your weary feet. Go stand
at the edge of the ocean. A peace
will find you there. Sign a lease
on a mental vacation home. A wave
drowns out what you couldn't save:
uninvited thoughts wreaking havoc
on your soul. Settle in a hammock
swinging beneath shady palm trees.
The ocean's gentle rhythm's seize
your spirit while little whispers
from the Pacific's depth lingers.
When the sea lives within a heart
its healing powers always impart
their magic on the loneliest soul,
making all your broken bits whole.

NaPoWriMo #24 Frailty? Thy Name Is Woman

You give your body as a nest,
a loving pod for Future's pea;
a mother's nerves know no rest.
What do you know of frailty?
Thy name is Woman.

Raising a young family alone
with a husband at war or sea,
keeping a brave face and home -
what do you know of frailty?
Thy name is Woman.

Punching in and earning pay,
attending to their every plea,
with no ceiling in your way,
what do you know of frailty?
Thy name is Woman.

Ruling countries and empires,
earning votes and liberty
fighting battles, and fires
What do you know of frailty?
Thy name is Woman.

NaPoWriMo #23 A Most Unholy Union

Dearly beloved, we are gathered here in the presence
of my brain, and before these thoughts (so endless)
and intentions, to join together these words
and this rhyme in Poetry, which is my curse
but an honorable and beautiful tradition,
and therefore is not to be a submission
entered into unadvisedly or lightly,
and not to be structured forthrightly
but woven instead with love, respect,
friendship, and honor. And so imperfect
though it is, into this world this purloined
thought and this rhyme come now to be joined.