Purple Haze

I learned from you
and the sumptuous sky
about lessons in pain
and in love

at times
there is no dignity
in a world devoid of feeling
and of knowing

yet, the world continues to spin
on the gravity of your gaze
and on the wellness held at bay
in a spinning top of purple haze


Image aalmeidah, Pixabay

Twitter #vss365 prompt words used: sumptuous. Follow me on Twitter here, and Instagram here.


MasticadoresIndia/USA Publications

I am always honored to have my poetry at MasticadoresIndia and MasticadoresUSA. It is a blessing. Thank you from the bottom of my heart, Terveen, and Barbara for always supporting my work; and, thank you to each of you for continuing to read, like, and comment on my poems on these two exceptional online magazines.

Here are my two newest pieces.

I would be honored if you would read them when you have a moment, thank you!


Jeff Flesch

#1 Amazon Bestselling Author of Nature Speaks of Love and Sorrow

Co-Author, #1 Amazon Bestseller, Wounds I Healed: The Poetry of Strong Women

Jan/Feb 2022 Author of the Month, Spillwords Press


#poetry, #boundness, #dignity, #emotion, #feelings, #gravity, #grow, #healing, #knowledge, #learning, #life, #limitlessness, #love, #masticadoresindia-masticadoresusa, #nature, #newest-publications, #pain, #poem, #purple-haze, #shame, #sky

Amber Gold

I rise like the sun
mornings amid amber gold

a wince, and a nod
untie the ties that bind —
rebooting

time
and those in, and out of rhyme —
dancing

to tunes known
and unknown

a home
boycotting
the status quo

are jewels of existence
dwelling within those that grow


Image Darkmoon_Art, Pixabay

Twitter #vss365 prompt words used: charcoal. Follow me on Twitter here, and Instagram here.


Jeff Flesch

#1 Amazon Bestselling Author of Nature Speaks of Love and Sorrow

Co-Author, #1 Amazon Bestseller, Wounds I Healed: The Poetry of Strong Women

Jan/Feb 2022 Author of the Month, Spillwords Press


#poetry, #amber-gold, #change, #cosmic, #dancing, #disruptive, #existence, #flow, #growth, #justice, #life, #love, #nature, #no-time, #poem, #resilience, #sun, #time, #universe

Birch Tree

I yearn
for charcoal-colored skies

where faith
and pain live together
conjoined
by tender loving hands entwined —
a paradox

and
a well of human possibility
bequeathed

to you, and me
underneath
the shade of the beautiful birch tree


Image by Image by freeillustrated

Twitter #vss365 prompt words used: charcoal. Follow me on Twitter here, and Instagram here.



MasticadoresIndia/USA Publications

I am always honored to have my poetry at MasticadoresIndia and MasticadoresUSA. It is a blessing. Thank you from the bottom of my heart, Terveen, and Barbara for always supporting my work; and, thank you to each of you for continuing to read, like, and comment on my poems on these two exceptional online magazines.

Here are my two newest pieces.

I would be honored if you would read them when you have a moment, thank you!


I am excited about my weekend away, and about seeing all of you over the next week.

Sending you love and blessings for a lovely weekend.

Jeff


#poetry, #beauty, #birch-tree, #connection, #emotion, #feeling, #life, #love, #masticadoresindia-masticadoresusa, #new-publications, #pain, #paradox, #pleasure, #poem, #shade

Hearts’ Stone

I manifest
the past, and the present
a prompt
riddled with uneasiness
and contentment —
colors

swirling in mind
reaching underneath a heart confused
and terrified

of acting rashly
and of being understood
absently

less known, than unknown
believing in the truth
within your hearts’ stone


by Moth, Pixabay

Twitter #vss365 prompt words used: manifest, present, prompt. Follow me on Twitter here, and Instagram here.


I am blogging less this weekend, and am off from blogging entirely next weekend, as I travel with a friend to a meditation retreat on Saturday. I will, however, catch up with all of you this weekend, and throughout the next week.

Wishing you all my best, and sending all of my love and blessings.

Jeff


Jeff Flesch

#1 Amazon Bestselling Author of Nature Speaks of Love and Sorrow

Co-Author, #1 Amazon Bestseller, Wounds I Healed: The Poetry of Strong Women

Jan/Feb 2022 Author of the Month, Spillwords Press


#poetry, #confusion, #content, #heart, #hearts-stone, #life, #love, #nature, #past, #poem, #possibility, #present, #terrified, #truth, #understanding, #uneasy

Mosaic Sun

I communicate
and commune with the stars
a haven
and heaven sitting inside my heart —
relatable

yet, not at all

a disconnection
breeding restlessness
and contentment
are shadows speaking in tongues
leaving behind
a viscerally experienced mosaic
sun


Image by Moth, Pixabay

Twitter #vss365 prompt words used: communicate, relatable, disconnection, rest. Follow me on Twitter here, and Instagram here.


MasticadoresIndia/USA Publications

I am always honored to have my poetry at MasticadoresIndia and MasticadoresUSA. It is a blessing. Thank you from the bottom of my heart, Terveen, and Barbara for always supporting my work; and, thank you to each of you for continuing to read, like, and comment on my poems on these two exceptional online magazines.

Here are my two newest pieces.

I would be honored if you would read them when you have a moment, thank you!


Jeff Flesch

#1 Amazon Bestselling Author of Nature Speaks of Love and Sorrow

Co-Author, #1 Amazon Bestseller, Wounds I Healed: The Poetry of Strong Women

Jan/Feb 2022 Author of the Month, Spillwords Press


#poetry, #awarness, #centered, #confusion, #despair, #emotions, #feeling, #heart, #hope, #knowing, #life, #love, #nature, #peace, #poem, #realizationm, #spectrum, #tranquility, #understanding, #waves

Your Shadow and Mine

I’ve hiked
up and over mountains of love
and of pain

wandering
through fields of metaphors
and valleys of symbolism

exploring within
while watching
minimal expectations
arise again

a balance
of body and mind

and of the love manifesting
in between
your shadow and mine


©JeffFlesch.com
Image by MenielDM, Pixabay

Twitter #vss365 prompt words used: hike, explore, minimal, balance. Follow me on Twitter here, and on Instagram here.


I wrote two poems with the word prompts from Twitter this week. Here is the second one.

Shadow’s Sown

I explore the depths
of the wind
and the space that lives in between
this moment and the next

a balance of learning
and of unlearning
arises again

when
minimal expectations
are drawn together
like a bow

representing
the shadow of words
left behind to sow


We are at that time of year in the Pacific Northwest when the hiking trails begin to dry out, and hiking becomes something that I will take part in each week. For those of you who’ve followed me for years, you know how much I love to be out in the forest and at the coast, two of my favorite places, regardless of where I am living and or visiting.

Here are some pics from my first short hike of the season.


For those of you celebrating Easter, Happy Easter, for those celebrating Ramadan, Ramadan Mubarak, and for all of you, may your day, and week be peaceful, and full of love.


Jeff Flesch

#1 Amazon Bestselling Author of Nature Speaks of Love and Sorrow

Co-Author, #1 Amazon Bestseller, Wounds I Healed: The Poetry of Strong Women

Jan/Feb 2022 Author of the Month, Spillwords Press


#poetry, #balance, #beauty, #expectations, #healing, #known, #life, #love, #metaphors, #nature, #pain, #poem, #reality, #realization, #shadow-self, #sorrow, #symbols, #truth, #unknown

October Rain

My father
a talisman of probability
and of broken hope, found
underneath a staircase
drunk
on October rain.

A teacher
who left probability aside
in favor of developing brokenness
into the night —
he fashioned emotions
into sleeves
of tears held at bay
a dam no one wants to make.

It is a skill learned
out of survival
when we feel like a mistake, and
a burden to life
and to an imagined view
staring back at me in the mirror —
You.


©JeffFlesch.com
Image by Mysticsartdesign, Pixabay


Recently I sent two poems to Rust & Moth, an amazing online poetry journal. While both were rejected, it reminded me that acceptance lives inside rejection, and is part of the writing process. It also reminded me to continue to pursue new topics and feelings in my writing. October Rain is a poem that explores both of these.


White-tipped Waves, by C.X. Turner

cradling the light
I didn’t ever hope
to find you

wave after wave
breaking down

retreating with the tide

awash
with past mistakes
in an ocean of loss

love
came to
remind me
take me with you
but let me go

I contemplate the seasons
you and I went through

find myself
inland on foreign soil
alone yet not lonely

discover
peaceful opportunities
to carry light
however deep the fight

White-tipped Waves is a poem that was created by a dear friend of mine, C.X. Turner, in response to velvet soft, which was a response poem to Scattered Sakura. Scattered Sakura was submitted to the Nature Speaks of Love and Sorrow 30 Poems in 30 Days collaboration by C.X. Turner. I love this poem with all of my heart.


#1 Amazon Bestselling Author of Nature Speaks of Love and Sorrow

Co-Author, #1 Amazon Bestseller, Wounds I Healed: The Poetry of Strong Women

Jan/Feb 2022 Author of the Month, Spillwords Press


#poetry, #broken, #burden, #c-x-turner, #emotional-turbulence, #hiding, #learning, #life, #love, #mirror, #mistake, #naturespeaks, #pain, #poem, #realization, #seeking, #sorrow, #tears, #trauma, #white-tipped-waves, #whole