In the ruins of Hiroshima, what survived?
Who carried on life as before,
six legs scurrying to hiding places
previously unknown, small eyes
taking in a world transformed,
antennae a-twitch, sensing new odors,
making sense of the new order?
 
Yes, I could snuff out your life
in an instant or less,
did I not marvel at
such persistent existence, this
unexpected ray of hope
in a world gone mad.
 
 
This poem was written in response to Miz Quickly’s day four challenge, in which she asked us to think about things that could not be killed or erased. I’m not sure why I thought to determine whether cockroaches could survive a nuclear holocaust, but I found out that they not only could but did, being one of the few living things found by those who were sent to examine the aftereffects of the bomb blast at Hiroshima. This is not the poem Miz Quickly suggested, but it’s the one that wanted to be written right now. I’m also humbly posting this on Margo’s Tuesday prompt because I think it has a volta, although I’m never quite sure.

A day mislaid,
its hours misplayed,
its minutes lost
at such a cost.
 
Where do they go?
Above? Below?
We do not know,
yet miss them so.
 
 
When one spends 15 hours working at the polls, poetry is lost, even the pretense at poetry is lost. Doggerel hangs around for a while, though. This is a response to Miz Quickly’s Day Three challenge.

Your world.
The light passes through it,
illuminating speckles,
dark stars in your days.
Night comes. The darkness
extinguishes stars.

You learn change from
the light but remain
unprepared. Now you must
open one eye and emerge
from the universe into
a light unknown, still
longing for the stars.

This poem was written on day two of Miz Quickly’s November challenge. Go look at her inspiring image prompt.

 

At the center, the breath
my breath, our breath,
God’s breath.

In, out, steady, studied,
unnoticed, never forgotten
in continuous being.

In, out, exchanging
atoms with the universe.
Stardust personified.

 
 
This poem was written for the first day of a month-long series of poetry prompts from Miz Quickly. Today she asked us to create a frame of reference as a starting point for the month. I’ve just finished a 31 Day course in Mindfulness, hence my current cosmic center.