Jeanne's poems

A Day in Paradise

Splendid dawn arrives
As the sun awakens the desert sky
With hues of golden rose and mauve
Then endless blue.

Our lone companion, a gnarled juniper
Guards the meager camp
Scattering frosted purple berries
Across our rumpled bed.

Twenty toes seek the coolness
Of powder fine, red sand,
No need to rush, we languish
As the embers of last night’s fire
Prepare our simple breakfast.

This day is ours
To delight in discoveries
And each other’s company.
We set forth along sandy bottomed streams
Deep into the belly of the canyon.

Just me and you
Accompanied by silent spirits of
Gentle Reuss, pioneer Hamlin,
Fearless Powell and Outlaw Posey.

We explore the canyon grottos
The silent, echoing caves
Always laughing, and wanting
To continue around one more corner.

Noon comes.
The sun screams down
Scolding the tortured landscape above the canyon
The horizon shimmers
Gasping for breath beneath the searing heat.

Protected by silent, towering cliffs
We laugh and play with gusto
Splashing in cool, crystal streams
And running naked across warm sandstone.

With whines and whispers
Madcap Moki spirits begin to twirl an dance.
Disguised as frenzied whirlwinds
They race merrily to embrace the horizon.

Ominous thunder clouds appear.
Like quicksilver, the wind turns to fury.
We scramble madly beneath a shallow ledge
And watch, riveted, as Eden turns to hell.

Ancient demons and deities clash.
Roaring like warring chiefs
They shriek and howl
And arch their jagged daggers through the cobalt sky.

Their rage descends
In sheets of lukewarm tears
That united in red and raging waterfalls
Shooting violently from the cliffs above.

Suddenly the fury retreats
Taking chaos to another canyon.
In it’s wake, we are cleansed – renewed,
Like the magic rainbows left behind.

Gently, the exhausted sun retires
Giving reign to a luminous moon.
In the twilight, evening primroses
Waken to share their sweet perfume.

Night wraps her arms
Lovingly around us.
Brilliant crystal stars pierce the velvet sky
And we snuggle deep into our simple bed.

In the stillness of a haunted desert
We share our love, our hopes, our dreams.
Together, we float softly into peaceful sleep,
Waiting for tomorrows dawn.

Jeanne 2/14/90


On the road again was dedicated to my friend, Nancy Scott, who like me was traveling about 130 days a year giving speeches and going crazy with stress and anxiety for ten years......this was our life back then......

On The Road Again

In the strange darkness
Of a lonely hotel room
In “anywhere” U.S.A.
My heart begins to race
Chasing m mind
Through the too familiar landscape
Of crystal clear and fuzzy dreams.

Pursued by ponding panic
And snarling demons
Carrying “to do” lists,
I crash headlong into
A maze o marble monoliths
Neatly inscribed
“Should” and “Should Not”.

Frantically,
I grasp at fluttering bits
Of tattered, well worn scripts
Written just for me
By myself and others.

I search the well-remembered lines
But find no answer
No direction
No solace.

The scenes repeat!
Allegretto!
Presto!
Like a whirling dervish
Spiraling toward the crescendo.

Then abruptly vaporized
When the chaos surrenders
To resounding shrieks
Of a computerized wake-up call.

My stumbling consciousness
Scrambles to regain control.
What?
Where?
When?
Oh yes, On the road again!!




Second sisters was written by me in "tribute" to the second wives of the rich men I so often encounter who leave their first wives who have worked so hard to put them through college, wonderfun courageoous women who have born and raised their children, then been discarded for someone 20 to 30 years younger.

Second Sisters

Sculpted
Starved
Stretched
and
Stapled
they
Shimmer
Sparkle
and
Swing
Sexy sinuous shapes into
Sleek sports sedans
Smiling smugly
and
Siently selling out
To swaggering senile seniors.


Dangerour Shoes was written as a response to my nephew David's remark when he was just about three -- he said "Aunt Jeanne" you have one your Dangerous Shoes today!!" I thought, "oh if you only knew......."

Dangerous Shoes

She arrives.
The superficial queen
Of C’s
Composed.
Conservative.
Complacent.
A romantic delusion
Clicking along
In streamlined stilettos –
Her “dangerous shoes”
A rebellious clue
To the passion
Temporarily tamed,
Bound
Gagged
And
Camouflaged
Beneath tailored silk.






Return the Magic was written by me, I can't locate the poem right now. My sister Donna wrote the response below.

Return the Magic (searching for this)



Magic Returned

I must have just missed you when you returned the wand.
I climbed up your rainbow to retrieve it myself.
You were gone so I helped myself to a spot on your cloud.
I ate the sunshine you left unfinished.
I picked up the scraps from your primrose dress
And stitched them to a wisp of your Maui wind.
I waited for hours but you didn’t come back
So I slid down your rainbow with my borrowed goods.
I don’t need the wand now; I’ve got all the magic I need.
You ad it the entire time –
You just didn’t know it.
Let’s send the want to a poor soul who has
No rainbow,
No sunshine;
No cloud;
No primrose dress;
Mo Maui wind within herself