Senryu #242020

The news is filled with stories about disappearing species. As species die and people crowd to see the last ones, we end up wiping out the rest of them and their habitats along with other species who happen to be in the way.  How can we be so arrogant to not consider this or anything else we do as a race to this planet? We are the creatures with the most developed brains but what do we do? We want what we want and to hell with whatever gets in our way.

big brains
bigger footprints
biggest ego

© Rebecca Sanchez 2020

A person photographing the stars also shows the movement of fireflies on a summer night. From Giphy.

I wrote this after reading about Fireflies and their habitats disappearing due to light pollution and encroachment.

Midnight Kata

Midnight Kata 

It is midnight at the Dojo
and a lone figure is spotted
he moves as if on invisible strings
worked by a celestial puppeteer-
such fastidious movement.

Slowly circling, ever vigilant
as he spares with the shadows
a Praying Mantis on a leaf
watches with great concern-
in a rustle of silk, he is gone.

© Rebecca Sanchez 2018

Written with my friends at dVerse~Poets Pub. The prompt is Unseen Things. My figure (who could be a Ninja) was only seen by a bug in the garden. This is my artwork I animated.

Super Duper Blue

Super Duper Blue

The moon plays tricks
with a lunar eclipse
eyes to the skies
the full moon comes soon
twice this month is nice
number two is blue
tipping and slipping
under the earth’s umbra
invitingly in syzygy
this blood moon makes us swoon.

© Rebecca Sanchez 2018

A Blue Moon is when two full moons happen in the same calendar month; lunar eclipses occur when the moon passes into Earth’s shadow; and supermoons happen when the moon’s perigee — its closest approach to Earth in a single orbit — coincides with a full moon. In this case, the supermoon also happens to be the day of the lunar eclipse.

The second full moon and the lunar eclipse will occur on the night of Jan. 30 or the morning of the 31st. And the supermoon will take place on the night of Jan. 30, which is technically one day before the moon reaches peak fullness, but even NASA is willing to call the event a supermoon nonetheless.

I watched it last night on my patio it was awesome! My picture isn’t great, but it’s the only camera I had. This was when the moon was fully eclipsed and blood orange.

Written with my friends at Poets United for the prompt moon. Also, shared with my friends at Imaginary Garden With Real Toads.

The Lost Masterpiece

The Lost Masterpiece

An artist surveys the picturesque scene below
picking up his brush he hesitates;

The night sky above was glorious
he’d never seen so many colors of blue
dotted with light billowy clouds
covered by a never-ending Milky Way.

A sleepy town lay in the valley
nestled between mountain peaks
joined by meadows of yellow flowers
a small sliver of moon watching over all.

The bell in the church steeple rang out
when all was quiet, an owl asked; “Who? Who?”
The artist didn’t know
his canvas as blank as his mind.

© Rebecca Sanchez 2014

This poem was written for a Magpie photo prompt in 2014. Shared here for the first time from Picturesque Words and linked with my friends at Poets United.

Vanishing Act

Vanishing Act

She could never keep her feet on the ground
she preferred her head above the clouds
daydreams taking her far away
leaving the cruel world behind
to others, just an empty shell
but on the inside…

She could never understand her fate
born free only to become enslaved
told when and how to feel
how to act and what to do and say
a second class citizen with a womb
expected to be a selfless caretaker of others
as if one job that pays less than a man isn’t enough.

She could never find peace in vacations
everywhere she went was the same
people controlling and questioning
lines of strangers greedy and pushing
draining her money and energy
not that any amount could unshackle her.

She could never breakout of her prison
returning to a home that wasn’t hers
“things” that belonged more than she did
a life she couldn’t bear for another instant
the heavy weight of it took her breath away
her heart crushed like so much stardust.

She could never commit suicide
despite her unhappiness with it all
so enthralled by the heavens that night
she made a decision to travel once more
plucking the evening star to wear in her hair
she decorated her robe with the milky way
wearing the rings of Saturn as her crown
a sliver of moon topped her scepter
finally, all the universe was hers alone.

Daydreams taking her far away
never, never to return.

© Rebecca Sanchez 2015/2017

An old poem reworked with my animation from Magpie Tales and shared with Imaginary Garden Of Real Toads. This is about women and some of the thoughts we may share about being born a woman in a man’s world. Some of us may dream of vanishing but we all know that there’s more to life. Going crazy (or suicide) is not the answer but I feel for the women who can’t deal and hope they find the help they need.

Overview Imagined

Overview Imagined

I wish that I could see the earth from space
free from the trappings of my life and gravity
my imagination might free me from this plight
so I fancy myself an astronaut on my way to the moon.

Acceleration pulls at me as the rockets propel me forward
I feel another stage release and I clench my teeth as I pray
general confusion and dizziness fill my mind as I try not to be sick
then we are in orbit and I’m floating in my seat.

I slowly move to the window with great expectations
searching the bright dots I find the small ball of pale blue
it looks so peaceful and pristine, just hanging there
everything else fades away as I savor the sight.

Earth, without the complications of being there
a gorgeous living and breathing planet covered in life
no boarders just land masses divided by blue waters
surely a paradise to those who live on the surface.

I realize I am seeing Earth as a whole for the very first time
and I feel completely different than I ever have before
witnessing the overview effect for the first time in my life
fills me full of hope as I re-enter the atmosphere…

…finding myself earthbound in my living room.

© Rebecca Sanchez 2017

“When we originally went to the moon, our total focus was on the moon. We weren’t thinking about looking back at the Earth. But now that we’ve done it, that may well have been the most important reason we went.”— Overview Institute co-founder David Beaver, retelling what one astronaut has said.

source: Google

They say that the photograph of our “big blue marble” has had a huge effect on how we think of our relationship to the world around us already. When you look at Earth from the sky, you do not see borders or nations or divisions or conflicts. You see a fragile-yet-strong miracle and the main objective becomes clear: to care for this wonderful, rare thing. And according to the overview effect, that can make a real difference in the world.

source: Google

Listen as the astronaut’s themselves describe our planet as seen from space and watch the beautiful view. It gives me hope that we may yet, become a unified and healthy functioning planet someday.

Written with Poets United.

White Wolf

White Wolf

A pack of wolves
roaming
in the rolling fog
drifting
towards me
almost invisible
under a new moon.

Eyes
piercing
the dark night
like burning coals
the pack
roving
like smoke.

One
lone wolf
leads
cautiously
moving forward
radiant
white coat.

Eyes
meet
as time
stands still
rapport
grows
spirits speak.

A twig
snaps
the spell
broken
a pack of wolves
disappear
with the morning mist.

© Rebecca Sanchez 2016

Written with Imaginary Garden Of Real Toads.