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

Pockets Full of Stones

My pockets

full of stones

gathered

from the river

remind me of you

and our many

conversations

and walks

on this beach

My pockets

full of stones

are overflowing

like the blackberry

covered bushes

or the water

by the shore

My heart bursts

with memories

of you

Waiting

to touch you

to caress you

Wanting

to harness

your light

like the summer

sun's warmth

when it it wanes

in the winter months

holding on to these

thoughts

These memories

This desire

reminds me of 

my pockets 

full of stones

which I return

to the shore

one by one

until they

are all gone

Letting them go

so they won't

weigh me

down

pbm revised December 28,2011.

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 music
Letting it make Love
To me

pattra burnetto monroe july 2011

Country Western Haiku # 62

A Resurrection

Sitting by the fire
Stirring the coals
Making it come alive
Again

Lapis Lazuli

Reach into 

Your medicine bag

And gather up the stones

Hold them in your hand

Look at them

Multicoloured gems 

Hum to you

See here

This deep blue rock 

With flecks of gold

It sings to you 

A siren's song

Pulling your thoughts

To other times

Other life's

To a dark night

Long ago 

A silent vigil 

 Upon a star

A wish

Poem I from a series titled Stones ~ Pattra Burnetto Monroe 2011

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

pbm

2011