Bone Whisperer

Winter solstice, 

short nights 

and cold in our bones,

we gather in the dell 

among the alders

to greet our newest member.

Fear wreaths her head 

as she feints left to run,

so I am called 

to calm her and explain 

the bone scrum we form. 

She doesn't know 

our ways,

the comfort 

we derive

from bone on bone,

but she brings 

the latest news,

other nights

so recently hers,

perhaps she brushed 

a loved one 

lost to us

and carries 

their faint scent.

We have orchards

of hunger

for all she has.

Posted for Mama Zen at the Garden who asked to use homophones in our poem. I used feint and faint. I also found words in another prompt and used dell, alders, wreaths, and orchards but didn't write down the source and now can't find it again. If anyone can tell me I'd be grateful. This is another in my bone poems series. 

Bone Dreams

I dreamt last night.

It answered my question

about whether the dead dream.

Must mean dreams come from bones

not brains, bones as scaffolding 

for psych and soul with the DNA of generations 

carried deep within 

bones' marrow.

But about that dream,

some ancestral reverberation 

straight from the marrow,

grandfathers galloping through,

priests stealing things from children,

a girl rising up to accuse the priest,

she took things back too, wanted to reclaim

her grandfather's treasures, 

hand-carved.

That's what you can do with bones:

stand, yell, take, hold, dream.

Inspired by Grace at dVerse Poets Pub who wrote about The Book of the Dead Man by Marvin Bell and asked us for a poem written by one dead. The link has expired but here it is posted for Mama Zen with Words Count in the Garden who wrote of the circus and requested 90 words or less about which performer you are. This is skeleton man, or dead man walking.

Safe Within Myself

Safe Within Myself

It took this particular constellation
of experiences to arrive here-
a middle child, vigilant
in my family's brand of broken, went
within like turtle, grew
radar that detected danger, safety. Erred
on the side of self- reliance. Learned
self's true safety, and another's,
by naming love, loss
and life's knocks as grace.

Written in response to Mama Zen over at Imaginary Gardens With Real Toads who asked us to describe our place of safety and make our words count in less than 53. Mine's 52.

A-Z Words Count

A boy considers doing
everything frightening girls.
He isn't just kidding,
likes mentioning names. Only,
people question rumors so
terrible.
Unless viciousness warrants
x-rays, you zoneout.

In response to the prompt yesterday from Marian at Imaginary Gardens with Real Toads to write a poem using words that start with the letters of the alphabet in order. I missed the deadline, however, so I post this for Mama Zen's words count, also at the Garden, as a poem with less than 45 words.