Morning Chores

I feel a little unfinished with my posts today, but here goes.  I have two versions of a poem, one for dVerse I in the Looking back/forward I chose the previous 'hearth, home and common speech' prompt.  The other, shorter version is for my very favorite G-man and his FF55.  I think they need a little settling and tweaking, but here's what I have so far:
(I appreciate your feedback and/or suggestions, including which version you prefer.)

#1

I enter the barn.

Smells of hay and horse,

warm and sweet,

fill me.

Barn cats wind around my legs

in timeless figure-eights,

purring their thanks.

Horses whicker

low, intimate, impatient.

Water, grain, hay;

most are gracious,

a few greedy,

as I go down the aisle.

Then I pause and live

for a moment

in this contentment.

#2

Today is bone cold;

wind snatches my breath

as I walk to the barn.

Inside, smells of hay and horse,

warm and sweet,

like summer pressed

between the pages

of a book,

fill me.

Barn cats wind around my legs

in timeless figure-eights,

purring their thanks

for the breakfast

I will provide.

The horses whicker

a low, intimate greeting,

impatient for their breakfast.

Water first,

then the grain, then hay.

Most are gracious,

but a few are greedy,

as I go down the aisle

murmuring good mornings

 and doling out sweet feed,

along with a scratch or a pat.

There are more chores

to be done,

but I pause and think

that I could live forever

in this contentment

that fills this

space.

I wish you all a very Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah or Look out for that wall! 

If that makes no sense to you just read the following cimment from Dave Barry on the PC-ness of wishing people Merry Christmas:

In the old days, it was not called the Holiday Season; the Christians called it "Christmas" and went to church; the Jews called it "Hanukka" and went to synagogue; the atheists went to parties and drank. People passing each other on the street would say "Merry Christmas!" or "Happy Hanukka!" or (to the atheists) "Look out for the wall!"  -Dave Barry

And, this Christmas and every other day I wish you PEACE.

Self-Help

   Image: A boy sits amid the ruins of a London bookshop following an air raid on October 8, 1940, reading a book titled “The History of London.” 

I once thought
I could solve any problem
if only I could find
the right
book.

Dona Nobis Pacem

Image from johnworldpeace.com

World Peace:

so much better than

a world in pieces

This post is a Blog4Peace, thanks to Kerry at IGRT for the suggestion for the open link day.  Please click on the link to check out a garden full of peace blogs.  Read and join us.  Let's all wage peace.

                 Let Heaven and Nature sing

              Peace on Earth, good will to all...

2012

This year I resolve
to write more, love more, give more
and sew seeds of peace

*image from google

Merry Christmas and:

*See Sunday Scribblings for more festiveness!

Peace - Poetry Potluck

For this prompt I tried a new (for me) poetic form, the Sedoka. It's actually two shorter poems, called katauta, each a three line a syllabic pattern of 5-7-7. The only other rule is that each three-line section should be able to stand alone. So the sedoka is two sections of three lines each with the following syllable count: 5-7-7 5-7-7
And here is my first sedoka


We are seekers all
racing, chasing after peace
but enveloped by chaos.

The peace that passeth
understanding is here, now,
if we only understand.

Merry Christmas!


I heard the bells on Christmas Day.
Their old familiar carols play.
And wild and sweet the words repeat.
Of peace on earth goodwill to men.
-Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Thank you all for reading and commenting - you're great!