poem – Phillip Knight Scott

Ought to be

October 27, 2020October 27, 2020 Phillip Knight Scott

It would be folly to consider myself
where I ought to be, as if ‘ought’
could glow in your hand
like half-eaten candy thawing
memories under open clouds.

What hubris man to divine
import from earth-bound particles
bouncing among people walking
heads down, the center of it all.

Heavenly bodies revolve
around some other lantern
the same as me, sticky fingers
sweeter from the journey.

Written for today’s dVerse prompt “folly” and the Go Dog Go Cafe prompt “in your hands“

Poems

Lightness

October 23, 2020 Phillip Knight Scott

The moonlight sang that song
we can’t remember, invisible wings
cascading through the valiant wind
as the stairs insist
on climbing up.
Up.

Up where time remains an afterthought,
or hangs on the moonlight
nearly in the future. Time always comes,
playing metronome while weightless,
feigning lightness
to ease the ascent.

Poems

Rest

October 8, 2020 Phillip Knight Scott

The colorless tale revealed
the thunder within the traveler,
lost among thoughts of another drab day
absent the echoing light
normally demanding something
approaching the end.

Rest — or the appearance
of cloudy dreams lifting him
above
the gray skies
underfoot — is weary while an end
itself and for him,
thundering only a little longer.

dVerse Poets Pub: MTB Lists that Google Give us. I started with “rest is…” and took some liberties with “rest is for the weary”

Poems

Time was an afterthought
as the clouds called us to attention,
demanding we acknowledge
through misty eyes
or other fog-soaked facilities
the half-eaten candy of a pastoral dream
where rolling grasses trampled
through an otherwise quiet afternoon.

The half-hidden sun
implored us to come outside,
though we misunderstood
as he went in circles for days,
refusing to get to the point,
so we sat inside, anticipation dawning
with dew-drenched ideas of misadventures
masked by another day’s ascent.

Written for Sue Vincent‘s Thursday photo prompt “clouded” #writephoto
Photo by Sue Vincent

Poems

Brilliant arc

August 11, 2020 Phillip Knight Scott

That memory we used to share
comes asking for blueberries when I close
my eyes. I see a kaleidoscope.
Purple juice carries more than it thought
when pinched between fingers that just a moment ago
looked white.

You tried to ruin me but I know
tomorrow jumps two ways. A shooting star tells the tale
for only a moment, extinguished on descent,
though its arc burns red against the black
as if the contrast should surprise us.
The fire reveals the fruit.

Written for the Go Dog Go Cafe Tuesday Writing Prompt “You tried to ruin me, but I…”

Poems

Sarcastic shoes

May 20, 2020August 11, 2020 Phillip Knight Scott

Sneezes can be sneaky and
on particularly
warm nights when fireflies dot the horizon
like sarcastic shoes
leaving prints on white carpet,

the clock kills time
as tick (time
obscured in shadow or yellow dust)
tocs (keeping its own time)
slice through secondary thoughts.

Insects feel ephemeral
(though I hope
they feel nothing) as sarcastic shoes
envelop then in shadow,
interrupting time’s deliberate walk.

Poems

This tree

February 20, 2020 Phillip Knight Scott

This tree wraps the sky in its arms, a promise
of salvation buried beneath bark
as leaves peak at the surface, buoyed
by the world’s pledge of protection
softly cooing on the wind.

The breeze dissolves as all things must
into an atmosphere of unmoving refuse
where changing winds turn away
against the backdrop of cows laying still
under the too-slow warming sun.

And still this tree shivers looking ahead,
optimism scrubbing bark clean of dirt
and other residue otherwise clouding its defense,
stronger in the effort while grasping
at the heavens, uncertain as they are.

Written for Sue Vincent’s Thursday photo prompt: Still

Poems

Through the thorns

February 4, 2020 Phillip Knight Scott

We search for a scarlet rosebud,
grabbing past the dreary thorns —
hidden but hopeful — pricking us
on our pursuit of that perfect bloom
sprouting defiantly for us.

The fire reveals the fruit but
illuminates scars — some we’d hoped
to hide with half-eaten candy —
not realizing that the bigger the room
the more places for serpents to hide.

I feel fortune’s poke in this, propelling us
on a treasure hunt where X
misses the mark sometimes while
our best highwater pants
keep our shins delightfully dry.

Written for the Go Dog Go Cafe Tuesday Writing Prompt : “scarlet rosebud”

Poems

Survive the ice

January 21, 2020 Phillip Knight Scott

Morning arrived with an icy slap
of good intentions — a cheeky
red reminder to weather another day.

Will the unwritten tourist hasten
to the conclusion, twenty-four unlived
chapters cut for time?

Or will she hold the day close and enjoy
whatever blows in with the chill, knowing
we cannot choose the story but relish the book?

The sun illuminates
what night tries to hide — a colorless tale
cannot survive long.
Survive long.

Written for the Go Dog Go Cafe Tuesday Writing Prompt Challenge : “twenty four” and “ice”

Poems

Reflections in space

January 14, 2020January 14, 2020 Phillip Knight Scott

Standing in the mirror
she failed to divine
the scope
of a universe just above
the horizon. Unseen
within herself,
distracted by visions
of reflected glory, her dreams
begged for sunlight.

The astronaut neglected
to recognize the gravity
of the situation,
but with luck she will
seize the opportunity
another daybreak illuminates, light
bounding among
the star-point hopes
shining in the dark.

Today at dVerse Poets Pub, Mish asks us to choose last lines in a book and find inspiration in them. I took inspiration from this quote: “She shuts her eyes. Drifts off untroubled, everything clear, and radiant, and all at once.” — “And The Mountains Echoed” by Khaled Hosseini.

Written for the Go Dog Go Cafe Tuesday Writing Prompt Challenge: “Standing in the mirror she”

Tag: poem

Ought to be

Lightness

Rest

Clouded future

Brilliant arc

Sarcastic shoes

This tree

Through the thorns

Survive the ice

Reflections in space