solo

I'm feeling so low
Solo
I'm feeling down low
low down bitch of a day
and there's no reason
just the season?
I can't stand the heat
and can't get out of the kitchen
so I'll just keep bitchin
solo
:(

- Donna Holmes (Summer 2016)

Sitting on the Ledge

Day has won, feel the sun, as it slips onto the horizon
On the edge of the wedge of rock we call North Mountain
In it dips in tides that rip, all around the Fundy shore

But there's no one keeping score. 

Sitting on the ledge by the edge of the world's smallest harbour
Slipping through the cracks would take me... farther
But the falling onto stone, breaking bone, might hurt more than I wanna feel

Unlike hearts, broken heads don't heal.

- Donna Holmes (Summer 2016?)

DIRT

"Dirt" has got a dirty name
Its notorious fame... may not be as bad
as "grime" or "slime"... but its name IS mud.
Just add water and you'll see
Just how muddy dirt can be

Poor dirt. It gets a bad wrap
People step all over it and track
... it over floors and rugs
and this really bugs... the dirt haters
who stamp it out with chemical warfare
Eradicating dirt till there's no more there
Till that dirt is just
Tiny particles of dust

Why do I care you ask?
About dirt and its past?
Well, dirt means the EARTH to me!
It keeps me grounded
It is a place to stand AND a place to grow
It is something to dig and something to hoe
It's the sand and the land where seedlings curl
It makes up my whole world!

Dirt has got a dirty name
But it shouldn't be blamed... for our planet's mess
I think it's time to celebrate grime and all its quirks
I'm not afraid to admit it...
I really dig dirt!

by Donna Holmes
July 1, 2013

Saving Pennies

INTRO
I wanna be a dragon
Soaring high above the clouds
In a world that values dragons
Not just the meek and pretty mouse
And when I breathe my fire
There'll be no need for me to yearn
Cuz the fire is my passion
Just hope it doesn't burn

CHORUS 1
And then I wanna save the world
And broker peace
Cure all ills, turn famine into feast
Invent fusion power
And teach the kids
To live in art and live off the grid

VERSE 1
I wanna be the flower
That everyone is hoping to pick
I also want the power
To know when I've been licked
I wanna sing forever
Even when I wanna die
Wanna open to another
But never let 'em see me cry

CHORUS 2
And then I wanna pass on dreams
To the one percent
Help them see that their view is bent
And then I wanna be the world
That I want to see
Or at least
Be a better me

VERSE 2
I wanna be a dragon
Soaring high above the clouds
In a world that values dragons
Not just the meek and pretty mouse
And when I breathe my fire
There'll be no need for me to yearn
Cuz the fire is my passion
Just hope it doesn't burn

CHORUS 3
And then I want to cool things down
Save up the heat
For times less warm and days that freeze
And then I wanna reassure
The people sad
And let them know
That we're not that bad

Let's save our pennies
And save our dimes
And save the world
Cuz we still have time

VERSE 3
I wanna be a hero
And also be the one who's saved
Don't wanna be a zero
But neither be the one that's always awake
I wanna be a dreamer
And face reality too
Sometimes I'm a believer
Sometimes I know the truth.

D. Holmes (first published here May 17, 2015)

But Then I...

By Donna Holmes, May, 2015.

Life is insignificant
Beyond meaning, without reason
Up against geology
Our candle flame's a flickin'

Time is an illusion
Fleeting moments standing still
The universe just.. IS
Every 'why?' a total nil

But then I...
Look at the colours bright, gaze at the starry night
Study each detail small, simply wonder at it all
Life is love and cats and soup and dogs
Life is myth and wine and truth and frogs
And then there's music
And there are fingers
See my fingers making music
Life is story, life is song

Remember that dusty story
Some famous guy once told
About that little bird a'peckin'
At the mountain very old

Infinity is crazy
Next to it we don't exist
We're just shadows in the darkness
Gritting teeth and balling fists

But then I...
Hear the little children laugh, see an elephant take a bath
Gape amazed at urban heights, watch in daze as they take flight
Life is flowers and comics and tea and art
Life is towers and conversations in parks
And then there's shelter
And there are raindrops
Share my shelter from the raindrops
Life is sharing, life is heart.

Refresh

By Donna Holmes, at Best Word Mtg, Jan 12, 2015.    Prompt: "Refresh"

New songs, new art
New year, new start
Old age creeping up
Old ways.... drop!

Start dreams, start car
Start the list and 'good things' jar
End panic, end the night
End the endless doomly blight

refresh, rejoice, remesh, revoice, remind, retrain, renew refrain
rename, reframe, remain, regain, reject regret, reset, refresh

Go the distance, go go team!
Go to market, go to green
Stop for red, stop the clock
Stop to talk and talk and talk

Hi the greeting, high the tree
Highway travel to new heights for me
Bye the bleeding, buy the spree
Bi-way take me by the sea

Tock Tick

tick tock tock tick
tock tock tick tick
waiting
in the dark
for sunrise and breakfast and the first lick
of jam-covered fingers
and the kick
of morning caffeine
before setting out upon yellow brick
tick tock tick tick

waiting
in a fog
of tired brain and heavy lids
where sandman poked fingers
and dreaming hid
any sense of time
before tripping over that yellow brick
tock tock tick tick

Too soon back
to the land of lonely
and land of snow
to powerless life
and meaningless show
tickety tockety go go go

tick tock tock tick
tock tock tick tick
time to hit that yellow brick