Posted in Poetry 2000 - 2009, tagged creativity, mentor, poem, Poetry, recipe, student, teacher, words on March 28, 2017| 12 Comments »
.
Recipes for poetry:
.
Stir words with both hands,
mix into synaptic colors,
paint them on walls
again and again
until the room
screams in ecstasy.
.
Cook words in test tubes
over the burner
that is your heart,
then spread on toast
like marmalade
and feed the hungry.
.
Wrestle with words,
squeeze them,
break them into pieces,
pin them to the floor
of your solar plexus
and in the end
always let them win.
.
(c) 2004, 2017 Betty Hayes Albright
(Formerly titled “Mentor”)
.
Posted in Poetry 1990's, tagged Earth, Gaia, music, nature, poem, Poetry, seeds, song, spring, Trees, words on March 24, 2017| 7 Comments »
.
Music rises from her garden,
goes off key
and disappears
into the sky.
Curious, she digs
with her bare hands
past dead roots
and rotting leaves
into birthing soil.
And there she feels a rhythm
pounding in the earth,
and the rise
of sacred humming
in her ears.
She drops a seed
into the hole
and out sprouts a melody
that grows into a tree.
Wind sings in its branches
and for the first time
in her life
she understands the words.
.
© 1996, 2017 Betty Hayes Albright
.
(a re-post, revised)
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Posted in Poetry 2010 - present, tagged Earth, emotion, Legacy of poets, passion, poem, Poetry, tribute to all poets, universe, words on July 28, 2014| 17 Comments »
(A tribute to the poets)
.
Our poems crisscross the world
intersecting
in a matrix of sharp points
or perhaps a gentle filigree,
the sun
winking through trees.
Our name is Passion
as the oceans pitch
and wail
and lightning splits
the sky.
When the earth shakes
beneath our feet
we shout to the universe
until our words scatter
like the stars
for everyone to see.
.
© 2014 Betty Hayes Albright
Posted in Poetry 1980's, tagged algebra, chemistry, equations, Love, love poems, math, poem, Poetry, solutions, words on April 1, 2014| 9 Comments »
(Old one from 1982)
.
Love poems sound corny like
old songs on radios,
black and white movies
starring bad actors,
valentine flowers
and sugar too sweet.
What language is there
for ethereal chemistry?
We need some math:
say it with algebra!
Problems of love
could be solved with equations,
but no – we have words
that don’t know where to start
and don’t know when to quit
and never say quite
what we wanted them to.
There, I tried again.
`
© 1982, 2014 Betty Hayes Albright
Posted in Poetry 1990's, tagged growth, Poetry, seeds, song, spirituality, spring, Tree, words on April 7, 2012| 44 Comments »
.
Music rises from her garden,
goes off key
and disappears
into the sky.
Curious, she digs
with her bare hands
past dead roots
and rotting leaves
into birthing soil.
And there she feels a rhythm
pounding in the earth,
and the rise
of sacred humming
in her ears.
She drops a seed
into the hole
and out sprouts a melody
that grows into a tree.
Wind sings in its branches
and for the first time
in her life
she understands the words.
.
© 1996, 2017 Betty Hayes Albright
Posted in Deep Water, Poetry 2010 - present, tagged drum, horizon, Love, Poetry, smoke signal, tanka, words on March 20, 2012| 43 Comments »
.
.
Beating of deep drum,
smoke signal on horizon,
and then he was gone.
More is said in love’s silence
than what we can say out loud.
.
© 2012 Betty Hayes Albright
Posted in Poetry 2000 - 2009, tagged creativity, mentor, poems, Poetry, words, writing on December 29, 2011| 40 Comments »
Things she learned from her mentor:
.
Stir words with both hands,
mix into synaptic colors,
paint them on walls
again and again
until the room
screams in ecstasy.
.
Cook words in test tubes
over the burner
that is your heart,
then spread on toast
like marmalade
and feed the hungry.
.
Wrestle with words,
squeeze them,
break them into pieces,
pin them to the floor
of your solar plexus
and in the end
always let them win.
.
(c) 2004, 2017 Betty Hayes Albright
.
Posted in Deep Water, Poetry 2010 - present, tagged cave, elm tree, lathe, Love, music, silence, words on November 3, 2011| 15 Comments »
Music carved the walls
of his cave
while his lathe
spun out bowls
from the old elm tree.
She held one to her lips
and sipped the brew
of smooth intention
.
and his music swelled the tunnels
and the caverns
of her heart
as she swayed to his tempo
while he penned his poetry.
.
But the day came
when the music stopped
and there rose a wall
of silent drums
when all the words fell flat
.
and there had never been
such a deafening quietude
nor had she ever known
such a glorious ache.
.
(c) 2011, 2018 Betty Hayes Albright
Posted in Poetry 2010 - present, tagged diamonds, fool's gold, glaciers, paradigm, poem, Poetry, sanity, wisdom, words on October 23, 2011| 10 Comments »
The right words
carve through opinions,
break up hardpan,
wikipedia
flip our paradigms
upside down.
The right words
un-dam reservoirs
of sanity,
transport memory
to new peaks
uncovering fool’s gold
and sometimes
a diamond in distress.
.
(c) 2011, 2014 Betty Hayes Albright
Posted in Deep Water, Poetry 1990's, tagged dreams, inspiration, interruption, muse, words on September 8, 2011| Leave a Comment »
I ask, why now
this smooth adrenalin fit,
these dreams
of hearts and tongues
that seal our magnet words?
Why now this low flutter?
Oh tender muse,
I pray you find me too
in this sweet swoon.
.
(c) 1994, 2012 Betty Hayes Albright
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Seasonings 