Rhythm and Blues and a few Country Western Haikus: A Reminder Not To Buy The Lies Of Our Life

Rhythm and Blues and a few Country Western Haikus: A Reminder Not To Buy The Lies Of Our Life

Wash Over Me

I'd like to be loved

like the jazz 

playing 
on my radio

sweet and low

A soothing melody
played by a sensuous
tenor saxophone
caressing sweet
piano tones

Becoming a waterfall 
of fluid notes
High   Low
Lingering 
Languishing

I want to take
my clothes off
and lay in the 

sweet sweet river

of music
Letting it 

make love to me
pattra burnetto monroe  revised april 2012

Germination

lying dormant in the garden
are the seeds that have been sown

winter hides the flowers
deep within the ground

cloistered within the depression
lying dormant in the earth

are disembodied dreams
protected in a state of silence

numb and warm
are seeds awaiting germination

like the silent sleeping beauty
awakened by the prince

my loves awaken me
with patient little prods

beckoning me to surface

come sing to us they call

come fix me something to eat
laughter, rain, and sorrow

each calling for attention
each seed seeking its perfection

no matter what state
dormant or awakened

or lying buried in the ground
appearances can be deceiving

and love can still be found


pattra burnetto monroe

The Ocean Plays
Drums
The Beating
Of my
Heart

The Sun Dries
Wood
And Hide
Tightening
Sinew

Strengthening
The Sound
Feeling the
Beat

The People Dance
Naked
And at
Peace
by Pattra B. Monroe
1 June 2007 

The Daisy

Once you knew my name

It sat on the tip of your tongue

And when you licked it off

It fell to the ground

And became

A flower

And once again you could

Call me by name.

Lily, I love you.

Rosie, Be mine.

Petunia Divine,

Lay down beside me

My beautiful flower

Lay down beside me

And I will lie beside

You and offer promises

I can not keep

Yet desire

pattra burnetto monroe

2011

Light Years

“All the loneliness, All the loneliness,
A broken Maraca of Stars…”Bill Shively (an American Writer & Poet)


The stars have been singing to me
Lately
Yet they have not been singing the blues
Or a sad lament
Or even sappy romantic ballads 
from the past
The stars have been singing me the truth
That was once mine in childhood
A song of hope
Humbled in their radiant presence
I feel small and insignificant
Lost for a moment
I take a deep breath
And find myself
Expanding
Reaching into the vastness
I find that I am a part of this
A part of the stars
A part of this magnificent universe
And as separate as each star appears

They are all held together by the night sky
And even when dawn appears
And for a moment
The stars seem gone
I remember the Milky Way
The breast of Mother Earth
And I am nourished
By the thought that I am not alone
But just one piece of the puzzle
The mystery unfolding
One atom
One nucleus
In a vast and wondrous
Universe

Pattra Burnetto Monroe ~ October 2009

For the Love of a Fisherman

My Bathroom
Smells
Like The Ocean
Deep, Salty,
Briny Air
Even Clean
His Wet Clothes
Smell Of Fish
And Sea

My Kitchen Sink
Is Full Of Shells
With Critters
Still Intact
The Fisherman
Has Brought Them Home
For His Sweetheart
Who Loves Them Both
The Salty Seaman
And The Wild Ocean

And I Am Witness
To Their Love And Hate
Their Comings
And Their Goings
Their Separations
And Togetherness
As Turbulent
As The Ocean

This poem was inspired and is dedicated to
Michelle & Leroy, my youngest daughter and son-in- love with love 

Rhythm and Blues and a few Country Western Haikus

Rhythm and Blues and a few Country Western Haikus

Soul Songs Part II

DNA (dedicated to Andrea & Cheth Rowe)

I like it that I know you
Inside and out
And still
I get to explore you
Inside and out

Because you are willing
To change and grow
And show me around
Outside and in
And each expansion

Is a brand new you
Uncharted I get

To explore you

The new you and old you
A glorious intertwining

I like it that I know you
inside and out
Yet you are still a mystery
And I get to explore you

Each new day

And even though 

We have a history

That isn't always pretty
It helps to create a bit

Of the new you
Each letting go 
Uncovers more
of the real you

Like Michelangelo and David
The marble comes away
To reveal the true you
with feet of clay
Yet in being part of Now

I get to watch you flower
changeless yet ever changing

What a joy it is to love you 
From your head to your toes


I adore you

Inside and out
Each day a brand new horizon
An amazing landscape
A brand new you

A puzzle unfolding
Right before my eyes


And no matter how we age
Or the years that fly by
Or how the relationship changes
This wonderful journey
Between you and I

Will never get old
Because I love to know you
And Love never dies

pattra burnetto monroe 2011

Soul Songs Part I

Weeds are only wild flowers


I'm writing this because 
Sometimes I think you need to know
That although I love you 
When you are strong
I also love you when you are vulnerable


And even though sometimes it seems
I hold you in too high of esteem
And the pedestal you think 
I've placed you on
Feels shaky and made of clay
Know that I love you for all you are
Not just the parts you think I see


I love you when you are silent
Yet I love your voice
I like that you are funny too  
But even when you are serious
I still love you


I love it when you sing to me 
And let me sing along 
But even if we had no voice 
Or ears to hear
I would still love your song


pattra burnetto monroe august 2011
Photography: Reba Owens 2017