There was an old man in a cap Who drilled holes in trees for the sap He wore a thick coat Had a beard like a goat And fed his dog in a hubcap by Diane E. Dockum © April 10, 2023
The Tapper
Poetry, Diane E. Dockum
Coming To Terms With Yourself
A day will come when Finding yourself alone You will come to terms With your true self You’ll come to the mirror And welcome your face And be kind to the person You see in your reflection A time will come when You’ll grow to understand The value of your own friendship And the wisdom of your own advice You’ll curl up in a comfortable chair With a cup of forgiveness, and a good book You will read it a while Then turn out the light. By Diane E. Dockum ©April 28, 2014 Reposted April 9, 2023
Back Into It
Stretching And feeling my body Reach its limits And holding Holding a pose As the candle burns And the music plays And the incense burns I want to get back into it It's been so long My body cries out I am out of balance I need to get balance I stand on one foot I slowly tip to the left I'm out of alignment So I put my hands on the floor There once was a time I was supple and bendy The warmth in my muscles The visions in my mind Stretching is good For people my age So they say Gets the blood moving Gets the brain going And I want to get back Into my groove By Diane E. Dockum ©April 8, 2023
The Lantern
(A Dream)
There were fields Wide open On both sides of the road They did not belong To me but the neighbors The fields fallow And new grass had grown The furrows had made waves In the ground I was in the field And I lay down On the warm earth There were people On the road Walking and talking So I hid in one of the furrows The sun was directly overhead Voices came from the house Just east of the fields Men were talking And their voices carried Across the air Lying on my back I watched the blue sky And scudding clouds I wanted to be invisible Then I turned on my side And saw a lantern lying In the grass What does it mean This lantern Amidst the furrows Hidden in the grass A lamp that lights the way A source of light in a fallow field A Sabbath year Finding light Neither sowing nor reaping by Diane E. Dockum ©April 7, 2023
It Was Something
It was something So delicate A balance sublime Intricate lace woven Over time It was something You said With your eyes That reached my soul It was something Waiting just over My window sill A bird that lit upon my open hand It was something On the edge of my mind A tease of pleasure Glowing behind clouds Beyond my reach now It was something It really was As I recall By Diane E. Dockum ©September 16, 2021 Posted April 6, 2023
Thunder and Icing
Thunder and Icing Persephone’s birth pangs Her water has broken Jagged lightning of pain Darkness in daytime Rumbling thunder April sky pouring A wintery rain Every branch coated In crystal and dripping Freezing and melting At the same time Weather is fickle Sunny then dreary The birth of a season Welcome Springtime! ©April 5, 2023 By Diane E. Dockum
A Garden
Rows of green In the black dirt Stretching on and on Curving down toward the river A spattering rain sounds like popcorn on the leaves Making the plants dance From my porch I sniff the ozone Distant thunder rolls I Close my eyes Listen to the rain Earth scents brush past On the cool breeze Rabbits think they're hiding But I see a few Beneath the leaves Of carrots and tomatoes Eyes wide Watching for a chance To dine and dash By Diane E. Dockum © April 2, 2023 for Marble Hill Press, April 3, 2023
Childhood Days – 7 Haiku
On top of a hill Under spreading Maple trees So many stones there Old four-bedroom house Old cast iron kitchen stove Careful with the match Freedom to wander Exploring nature’s bounty Climbing trees for fun Found a hiding place Ghost stories in the attic Cobwebs in my hair Quiet daddy’s sleeping No piano practice now Go outside and play Grandma comes to stay Bringing presents in her trunk New dresses for school Magic in the wind Sleigh bells jingle in the night Reindeer on the roof by Diane E. Dockum © March 28, 2023 for Marble Hill Press, April 2, 2023
Graffiti
sometimes i can read it sometimes the words are not shaped correctly to fit inside my brain with too many sharp edges and pointy parts or balloon sized puffy curves getting stuck in my mind's passageways black smudges saying pushy words on sidewalks on brick walls on signposts and stairwells what are they saying i'm here look at me i own this space not you read my words i dare you i'm here defacing your clean white walls slashing at your rules and hiding in the dark and some call it art and some take a picture one thousand words in a snapshot on bathroom walls or carved in metal doors or stone tagging on train cars rolling through town screaming out heartache obscenities slogans paint over me i dare you you can't wash me off your inner eye don't turn away don't try i am eternal from the beginning of man through millennia crying for lost love for mayhem for mischief or hate crying out on the walls chalk coal or spray paint © by Diane E. Dockum March 28, 2023
Unmoored
I am alive
So they say
Yet it is up for debate
It is true
That I feel like
A hollow log
Floating unmoored
Down a river
Spinning
Turning
Bumping against waves
And other debris
Flotsam and jetsam
In the gin weeds
and pucker brush
Perhaps one day
I will drift ashore
On the other side
copyright by Diane E. Dockum
March 15, 2023
Marble Hill Press 