Enjoying the Folk(s)

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Enjoying the Folk(s)

The screen door's left ajar,
boots vibrate old wooden boards,
glasses clink upon the bar,
and mandolin's melody is bested
only by banjo player's chords,
(or so his girlfriend declares
over a glass of mountain moonshine).

It's tucked away places like this
where generations of real politics are strummed,
where people nod their heads, understand;
as life is simple and a guitar's persuasion
can be won with a boom chuck
or fancy finger-picking made possible
only by selling one's soul to the devil
(or so I'm told).

Cigarette smoke curls its way to the ceiling
and time nods a sleepy head,
almost as if suspended, in no hurry
to usher in the buttercream light
that'll soon peak its way over the Blue Ridge.

Here is a place with history no textbook contains;
a place with its own oral traditions of war,
civil rights, hardship, love, hope of escape.
Of spirituals offered in fields, boxcars, living rooms,
and here, in the heart of Appalachia,
where community and family are celebrated,
and "popular' has been redefined.

So I relax and listen,
blink smoke out of my eyes, dare to inhale,
a bit, and absorb that which is unfamiliar;
listen to ethnic rhythms, and clink my glass
with that of a newfound friend.

by Margaret Bednar, April 1, 2019

This is linked with "Imaginary Garden with Real Toads - Music with Marian - April She Will Come - Simon and Garfunkel"

Also linked with "NaPoWriMo" - National Poetry Month, a celebration of poetry which takes place each April, was introduced in 1996 and is organized by the Academy of American Poets as a way to increase awareness and appreciation of poetry in the United States. 

Hatchlings

Hatchlings

I held their world in the palm of my hand
as well as pieces of what was left of the nest.
I was in awe of necks so delicate and slight,
tufted heads balancing, bobbing, and heavy.

With my finger, I touched them; featherless, pink,
mouths opened - did they think I their mother?
I had no sustenance to give.

In fact, I was the giant that tumbled their world,
doomed them never to soar open skies
or sing sunrise melodies.

They had perhaps one night
beneath starlit sky, one brief morning
of sun and fresh breeze...

But they would never know more.  I was thankful
they had each other to cuddle as life ebbed.

Wondered if we are fooling ourselves,
comforted with philosophy and physics,
with our observations, theories, and Nobel Prizes.

Could it be we are as sightless as hatchlings,
perhaps not even as fortunate as the ones
I held in my hands?

For we forget to gaze upon the constellations,
forget to relish sun and clouds, moon and stars,
in fact, close the curtains at noon and night ...

and we often die alone.


Margaret Bednar, March 30, 2019

This is written for "Imaginary Garden with Real Toads - Physics with Bjorn - Cosmology & Expanding Horizons"  

Spring Abandonment

Spring Abandonment

I walk along a mountain stream
where water rollicks over rock and hill,
like my puppies, joyously fast,

incoherent of March shadows
whose buds are sprouting, stretching,
rising toward dappled light,

filling smudged silence with song,
teasing yawning sprouts
toward spring's sunlit exuberance.

Pinxters first will bloom, delicately curled,
long stems rising, scent sweetly filling the air,
as clusters of violet Birds Foot daintily dot the path.

Trillium soon will march upon forest floor,
Fire Pink, Lady Slippers, & Bleeding Hearts
parading for all they're worth.

The names alone thrill me,
but the puppies gladly trample upon forbidden,
care not for promises of Primrose, Bee Balm & Phlox;

concerned only with the rise & fall of tumbling current,
teasingly splashing, scampering along,
embracing Spring abandonment.

Margaret Bednar, March 28, 2019


I think I used at least 12 of the "Get Listed" words (we were only required to use 3)...

This is linked with "Imaginary Garden with  Real Toads - Get Listed - Late March Edition"  

Redmond

Redmond

As far as I know
I've not a drop of Irish blood
coursing through my veins

yet swoon when I hear said accent,
dream of traversing Cliffs of Moher
in County Clare or the Ring of Kerry,
raise a glass in the town of Killarney.

(Just reading an Ireland map
makes one a poet...)

A mop of red hair, fair of face,
and I believe I've found
my Wise Protector,
a drop of Irish and I settle
for not one but two.

One I name Blue
for the adventuring we will do
upon mountain's Blue Ridge,
another I name Redmond,

nicknamed Red,
not for the outlaw O'Hanlan,
although he's a bit mischievous,
as puppies will be.  It's those moments
when he settles beside me, sitting so righteous,
so dignified for one so young,

that my heart swells, remembers
the comforting reds of Grandmother's house
and know my earliest memories
of fragrant trellised blooms,
warm tart pies, and red shuttered windows

still linger in my memory, if not by blood,
then perhaps a craving for the comfort
of red (Lusca) wine and blue skies...
and two puppies, Blue and Red.

by Margaret Bednar, March 23, 2019

need something to pair with that cabbage?  https://www.celticwhiskeyshop.com/wines-by-country/Irish-Wine/Lusca-Irish-Wines

My poem reminiscing about my Grandmother's house:  https://margaretbednar365.blogspot.com/2015/02/red.html

This poem is linked with "Imaginary Garden with Real Toads - Weekend Mini Challenge - Nomenclature"   Anyone an join the fun - have you tried writing a poem?... I welcome you to try! 

The Impasse

The Impasse

Beneath a trio of linden trees
he pauses, their leafy flutterings evident
they're watching, waiting

to see if he will stray.

Will he, with hat in hand test fate
or journey down well-worn path,
the way his horse knows so well?

Behind sun-lit window,
is she wondering too?

by Margaret Bednar, March 23, 2019

This is for "Imaginary Garden with Real Toads - Artistic Interpretations - Vintage Treasures - Paintings".

I have been absent from "The Garden" for a few weeks.  We were renting here in North Carolina and now we have purchased a house and we are all moved in ... not unboxed - our two car garage is full!  (slow and steady wins the race).  We also just got back from our son's wedding and we now have a new daughter who we adore.  Life couldn't be better and I also hope to be back here on a regular basis.