Amputated Moon

Clothed in a wrap of fog

this winter night

time is reduced — no future plans

no past remembrances

Just now

My footsteps placed within

a simple space of clarity

a pilgrim-journey along a path

narrow as a labyrinth

Just here

Forward slowly in a hush

accompanied by heartbeats

Only my breath moving in and out

caught in the mist’s net

Just here — this night

Just now

Pamela Olson

An offering for One Single Impression’s

prompt of “fleeting”

Women in Black for Justice

let us gather on a corner

dressed in blackness

oh women in silence

we are draped in stillness

deep and full

our message in our hands

our share of war to bear

women in black

our vigil lies before us

no war in our names

Pamela Olson, 9/23/08

Poem for the prompt

‘women in silence’

at Poefusion

Women in Black for Justice

wilmack's maple tree

angular light bends

down the canyon sides

washing greenness from

maple and alder leaves

phytochrome measures

shorter days—longer nights

auxins and gibberellins wane

as senescence sets in

lovely anthocyanins

and blazing carotenoids

pigments cycling with

leafy periodicity

Pamela Olson

Dedicated to my botany

professor at Univ. of Wash.

For the prompt:  Autumn

at One Single Impression

Photo courtesy of

wilmack at Flickr

there is a moment

when the crescent of the sun

falls below the horizon

and the earth gives back the light

as a luminous gift of thanks

to the sky

the earth becomes bathed

in sable and shadowy grays

deeper darkness dwells

beneath the bushes and trees

the earth flattens

into two dimensions

and the sky—the receiver of light

lies above the darkness

brilliant in teals and purples

hardened into a shellac of light

enfolding the colors of the earth

into arms outstretched in prayer

Pamela Olson, 9/20/08

Starscraper by Rick Mobbs

night has set sail

in her dark waters

her joy is the moon

her tears are the stars

she speaks in your dreams

wake now

come to my shore

my boat is empty

there is no balance

I wait for you at the dock

Pamela Olson, 9/17/08

In response to Starscraper

by Rick Mobbs

at Mine Enemy Grows Older

never mind the silent fields

stillness in the grass

wind will sigh when it travels

sending seeds aloft

for now the quiet field remains

locked in shells of gold

hanging soft upon the blades

bells of grass silently toll

Pamela Olson, 9/14/08

For One Single Impression’s prompt of

“Seeds”

Line from Poem #2

The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson

edited by Thomas H. Johnson

Parting the Red Sea

water rises through the reeds

sodden leather

muddy feet

laded with slavery’s burdens

exhausted from escape

we wait on the edge

death in front of us

destruction behind us

the clatter of chariot and spear

compete with the thrum of waves

he pauses at the sea’s edge

tries to convince us to follow

follow!  can we walk on water

there is no place to go

but still he raises his hand

the same muscles and bones

as mine— both dark in the fading light

the acrid salt air burns our throats

still he urges forward into the watery wilderness

we pray— then step forward

Pamela Olson, 9/14/08

Written for the prompt

at Worship and The Arts

PCUSA

Cosmic shifts in matter

Mrelia's Glass I

through eons of timelessness

super-heating, super-cooling

super-colliders mocking creation

slices of light far-flung

into the curves of space

straight-arrowed waves

following their nature

separate yet one

until they reach the atmosphere

shattering, stuttering

indigo, red, yellow

all the colors seen and unseen

prismatic fractures

of light

Pamela Olson, 9/12/08

For Poefusion’s Tuesday Title

“Beautiful Fractures”

Photo courtesy of Mrelia’s Glass 1

Beauty

from the curved shoulder of night

slips a shawl of stars

see it pool at her feet

glistening in the universal stillness

as she reaches down

long slender arm outstretched

there is a chill in her darkness

a draft from some far-away

open door or window

see— she gathers the shawl

lifting it up

and rests it back on her shoulders

Pamela Olson, 9/8/08

The Monday Mural prompt

from Poefusion is

“Beauty” by Crzycowgal046

they want you to look

there

where the distraction is

building— just

walk away

to the other side

where the red velvet curtains

heavy and dust-filled

hang

pull on the silver ropes

open the drapes

look

and see

there

what they don’t want

you to see

the children—hungry

the mothers—ill

the fathers are forlorn

you thought it was sunny

but this is simply the rain

falling

and the black clouds gathering

look

see the children wade

in the muddy puddles

their shoes overflowing

water streaming over

shoe laces

see the mothers

gray clouds are mirrored

in their eyes

see the fathers

rise

to look at you

looking at them

wait while the mist

parts

wait— and the spectacle

dims and fades

wait

look

and see

Pamela Olson, 9/1/08

Inspired by One Single Impression

and “Praise” by Rick Mobbs