Haiku

I must hurl my noise
Insanely into the void
Myself at stake.

©2018 Donna Jo Wallace
10-17-2018

noise

i hurl my noise fearlessly into the void

so that I might know that I exist.

echo, it comes back to me

small round rock, pressed into the crease of my palm 

i relinquish it to the tide with a mighty ugh

The waves, already churning, will bring it back 

again for another palm another day

i fight gravity itself, wishing, i think, 

for my small ball to take flight just this time. 

it soars, peaks, changes direction and

plummets to the earth again, and again

as far as I travel many years many roads

still I travel home, ever more whole and real than before

until I travel out again

the lines I seek 

sure and straight 

defy me always,

disappoint.

in their place I find only

circles

endless, eternal. ever and always

a little

mysterious

©2018 Donna Jo Wallace

10-19-2018

Stumble

Today I will work awkwardly 

in entirely the wrong order.  

I will not be profound
I will not be efficient. 

I will flail, I will stumble
I will bask in uncertainty. 

Messy and distracted
Moving to moods I made up myself,

I will
against all odds
take the next step.

© 2018 Donna Jo Wallace

4-30-2018

Snooze Alarm

Early morning mental soup

ashen light seeps in, just barely,

muscles relax, sigh into crevices 
of my night-warmed mattress.

Elbow curls into covers just so,

feet, naked as a newborn’s have arrived 
of their own free will at this hollow between sheets,
finally warm, settled, and still.

Impervious to my husband’s snores,

my long arm emerges, squashes

the alarm clock once more,

my respite is unspoiled.

My cat arrives, perches upright on my hip,

nudges my sleepy wrist, willing it to live.

He curls around cozily, pins

my arm with the sheet.

Now, I want out.

 ©2016 Donna Jo Wallace    

Silence

Seek the silence

Cool and steady,

Centered and still

Trust the silence

It is here amid the noise,

Even in the storm of the city

It is the silence of land, of rocks

Deep within the earth,
Far beneath the waves

The same silence that is

In the still small space in your soul

When you are lost even to yourself

There you can find

the gentle space of silence

And that it is good.

©2011 Donna Jo Wallace

Front Porch

Still, I am the child who sits on the stairway,

illogically pausing where life is meant to always pass by

I ponder the brick frame of this

room that is not a room,

neither in, nor out

Here, sun and shadow,

wind and walls

banter and tease

Lines blur between houses, 
neighbors take human form

Past and present 
mingle in my mind, and
sit down with me

Such a simple thing, to break the seal of the house,

to go somewhere without going anywhere,

to breathe the air and dare to be seen

So just for a bit, I give myself permission to be here.

Content with book, breeze and birds

In the place that is not a place,

for a reason that is not a reason, and

Sip a bit

from a fresh cup of now

©2015 Donna Jo Wallace.
Note: Shared at Poets United / Poetry Pantry

Silence Song

Freeway lights wash over my face

one by one, by one, by one, by one,

the lonely rhythm tells me

we have approached another city

far from where we’ve come

and far from home,

Dad’s hands steady on the wheel

Mom dozes in her seat

A sister at each of my elbows

I wait,

This is the gorgeous silence

after the singing has ended,

wheels and road, each
pushing against the other always and forever, 

the white noise drones on still
and fills my ears,

Far from home

my family is condensed to this small steel box

pulsing along the highway

following the long smooth curve of the Earth,

halfway between silence and song,
halfway between home and not home,

©2002 Donna Jo Wallace.

Breath of Life

Breathe in Day

Exhale Night

Breathe in Winter

Exhale Summer

Breathe in Sun

Exhale Rain

Breathe in Sorrow

Exhale Joy

Breathe in Love

Exhale Fear

Breathe in Give

Exhale Receive

Breathe in Earth

Exhale Sky

Breathe in Need

Exhale Satisfied

Breathe in You

Exhale Me

Breathe in Explore

Exhale Awe

Breathe in Today

Exhale Tomorrow

Be here now.

©2011 Donna Jo Wallace.