We Know not our Time! 12-28-2012

We Know not our Time!

The new is here for now,

Not to stay because soon

It too will be old.

Enjoy it just the same and 

Treasure the time you have,

For we know not our time!

Roll down a hill of grass,

And drink lemon-aid.

Laugh until your belly hurts,

Just because you can!

Smile at a stranger

And make your own day.

We know not our time,

So Live!


P. Contreras

  

Hope Street

 All along Hope Street

The boxes are full.

The people wait patiently

To see what they've received.

Boxes full of hope for love,

Boxes full of hope for life,

And Boxes full of hope 

for the future.

We never know 

What our box will hold,

Until we open it.

Open yours and 

Have some Hope!

P. Contreras

The Mirror on the Wall 10-23-2012

The Mirror on the Wall

The mirror on the wall,

It does not see it all.

Deep down into the core,

The beauty, there is much more.

It does not see the pain,

And the wisdom you have gained.

It can see the wrinkle in time,

But not the laughter that defined.

It only see's the outside,

Not the you that's really there.

It doesn't see the warm

Embrace that's waiting 

for you to share.

It can not see the smile

That is hidden beneath your skin.

The failures you have had,

Or even the wins.

The anger that is deep

And threatens to seep.

It only see's the cover,

Not the story hid beneath!

  P. Contreras

Flights of Freedom 9-24-2012

Juvenile Black-Crowned Heron

I am beauty in the
Eye of my beholder,
I am strong and free.
They wish that they could
Fly and 
Spread their wings like me.
I have no bounds to hold me,
I go wherever I want.
And if I should 
Need some sustenance,
I simply go and hunt.

I am beauty in the 
Eye of my beholder.
They are jealous tis true,
They wish they had
This simple life
Soaring in the open blue.

P. Contreras

The Shadow 9-20-2012

I am tired, but I'm wide awake
I wish that I could sleep,
The thoughts are running through
my mind, running oh so deep!
I have thoughts, thoughts you see,
of things I think you did.
When fairy tales should have been mine
and I was just a kid.
The images of running through fields,
Flowers slipping through my hands.
Are replaced with images of
A dark and troubled man.
I push them out, but they come back
Bleeding through my brain.
My heart is heavy, oh so heavy
filled with angst and pain..
I hate you for these memories
forced on me when oh so young.
They're thoughts that tumble
through my mind
and can never be undone.
I'm searching for a peaceful dream
filled with sanctity.
Help me wipe them from my thoughts
So sleep can come to me.

                        P. Contreras

Invisible 9-5-2012

Invisible

I live in an invisible world, 

It is my invisible world.

A world I have made because

I don't stand up for myself.

I don't make myself important.

Everyone else is more important than me

And now, I am invisible.

I look into the mirror and 

I do not see me, I see someone else.  

I am invisible.

Where am I, 

She left years ago to raise children

And to keep a husband.

Her dreams are gone, but hopefully

Not forgotten.

I hope soon she will show herself to me,

And become visible once again.

                       P. Contreras 

Flying 8-15-2012

Flying

Floating, dipping, gliding,
I feel so light and airy.

lifted up and weightless
I go without a care.

My mind is free,
My body benign.

I'm floating away,
More dreams to find.

No troubles do I have,
My cares are simply none.

In my dreams I'm flying
And every battle I have won!

                        P. Contreras

Mother Bear August 2012

He's not perfect, I know this in my mind
But in my heart, he is nothing less.

He shares all the little idiosyncrasies
that I have carried for so long.

Inheriting not just the good,
but the bad and annoying.

With all this, I know still
that the best part is his heart.

For unlike others he see's with
his heart not his eye's.

And judges not even those
who try to judge him.

I am biased I know, but I am
Mother Bear.

Do not harm him with hands
or words for fear,
that I will come and my claws I will show.

Loudly they will proclaim
that he is mine
and I am Mother Bear.

                  P. Contreras

In the Meadow of Life 1989

In the Meadow of Life

In the Meadow of Life
The large tree was beautiful and strong looking, sinewy with knots that bulged here and there.
His branches were growing in a symmetric way that gave him a look of grandeur.
The smaller tree stood beside it living in the shade and strength that the larger tree provided.
They grew there side by side leaning this way and that with the wind, growing closer and closer.
The grass was green beneath their branches and when their leaves did fall, they fell softly to the thick grass below.
His trunk was solid and his branches reached down to embrace the smaller tree.
Their leaves move this way and that and their limbs are entwined.
Her every branch reaches up to him and when he touches her it is as if her leaves have been rustled by a warm wind.
Their roots are intertwined and become one, that can never be undone.

                         P. Contreras

Death By Chocolate 8-5-2012

Death By Chocolate

It has been two long days
And no chocolate in sight.
I was craving it bad
And there wasn't a bite.

I had looked in the cupboards,
I had looked in the fridge.
If I didn't have it soon
It would be a big binge.

Madly I drove
Today to the store
To pick up some
Chocolate, and a little bit more.

Running the isles
To fill up my list,
I can't forget isle six
Or the chocolate I'll miss.

On my way home the
Chocolate I eye,
I must have a piece
Or I think I will die.

One hand on the wheel
And one on the bar,
I struggle to open it
While driving the car.

My attention is elsewhere
And not on the street.
I must have this concoction,
I must have this sweet.

I swerve the car
To just miss another
I've realized now
That I must recover.

I really don't want my
Epitaph to read,
"Death by Chocolate,
She just had the need".

           P. Contreras

Morning 8-3-2012

It's very early morning
And I stretch and yawn,
Go back to bed
It's not even dawn.

My body is tired,
While my brain is awake.
What to do, what to do
As I hesitate.

My body rolls over
While my mind is spinning,
I haven't decided yet
Which one is winning.

Get up, Get up!
My Brain yells at me,
With eyes barely open
I can hardly see.

It's cold outside and
I've decided to keep
My body in this bed
And go back to sleep.

                     P. Contreras

Rain July 2012

Faltering, but unending raindrops
Like knives cutting the air.
Pieces of thread that lead to the earth
Must end somewhere.

It's like dew on the grass
of a new spring morn
And little clear trinkets
that the leaves have worn.

A small raindrop,
Like a tear on a flower,
The hail that can come
and with it the power.

The feeling on your skin
when it's warm outside.
Like a hug from the ocean
in the midst of the tide.

Rain, oh how I love the rain,
It just erases all of the pain.

                 P. Contreras

From A Pal circa 1937 or so

This poem is in memory of my grandmother whom I wrote about today on my other blog,
All Things Wonderful


From A Pal

From a pal to a pal,
Now that everythings over
Can we still be pals?
We can still have fun together
As just two fun loving pals.
Some nights when you are
Lonely you can say,
"Oh Gee",
I still have a pal in
This whole world that's
Willing to be with me,
He's a pal that
Was my sweetheart
A long time ago
A pal that would be
with me anytime I want to go.

                        E. M. Brown

Manners 2003

Manners it seems have flown out the door.
People are rude to each other, what's more.

I say let's invite all our good conduct back,
Say hello to each other, let's get back on track.

Here it all is and it's well worth repeating...
Like saying something that's close to a greeting!

How about on your way out, holding open the door,
For the stranger with the package, and children and more.

Could you smile a big smile at all the strangers you meet,
Then see how it spreads through the crowd, through the street.

Saying "Thank you" and "Please" and other nice words,
Might make this a better place, if only you've heard.

Say "Hello" to the girl at the grocery stores stand,
You'll make her day and it goes hand in hand...

The smile that she gives you as you leave her store,
The very next customer will get a bit more.

Spread the news let them hear,
It's about love and good cheer.

It's about giving and seeing,
And seeing is believing,
That the best of us all is well worth receiving!

                                  P. Contreras

Living 5-20-1983

Can you see into my eyes,
Down deep into my soul?
If you can and look close enough,
You'll notice that it's cold.

I've stood by the fire
To get myself warm,
To try and thaw my heart.
But the only way to ease the cold
Is to step in all, not part.

I can't imagine myself out there,
I've always been in here.
And when someone held out
Their hand to me,
I always turned  for fear.

The only way for me to go is
Look and jump myself,
Or live a lonely, loveless life
Of living on a shelf.

             P. Contreras

My Love 1-6-1988

These tears that fall
from face to paper are
really tears of joy.

I've found the one
who's part of me and
fills in all the voids.

My happiness is so
immense, I can't
contain it all,

And so I'm writing
all this down, my
feellings to the paper fall.

He is sweet, yet very
strong and holds me
in his arms.

I know he'll always
keep me near and
protect me from
all harm.

Our love is strong,
so very strong and
healthy is our bond.

We'll be together and
love each other
until our days are gone.

He makes me laugh
and makes me think
of all the things to be,

When in our age
we walk together
with all our memories.

                      P. Contreras

My God 1998

My God,
My God
Not yours
He's mine
You don't prescribe to my religion
You're dead!

My God,
Your God
Would not prescribe to any of us
The killing of another!

Our God
Our God
Whomever he be,
Would love us all
To live in harmony!

                 P. Contreras

On This Day the Bloom Unfolds March 2005

On This Day the Bloom Unfolds

1-2-3-4-5, tiny fingers
1-2-3-4-5, tiny toes
A miracle, God knows
This miracle from within,
This miracle from you and me,
A child
So meek and mild.

Through the years
he will grow,
Through the years he'll
learn and know,
The love, the gift of
life we've given him,
This miracle from within!
    
                               P. Contreras

This poem was written five years after the birth of my son.  I wrote it outside of his school before I picked him up one day.  I guess I was feeling a little emotional.

What is Love 6-1-1981

What's a teardrop to me or you?
Just an ocean to the morning dew.

What's a heartache for all it's worth?
Just an earthquake to mother earth.

What's a friendship if it begins to die?
Just the difference between water and sky.

What's is like to be loved once again?
Just like a bird that begins to sing.

What's a love that is nurtured and saved?
Just a swell that makes the waves.

What's a life if it's not full of laughter?
Just living hell ever after.

                             P. Contreras

Blush 10-6-1980

Pen upon my paper

Thoughts upon my mind

The words were never clearer

The thoughts were ne'er so kind.

And when I think of you

My heart it starts to beat,

My face gets red, starts to burn,

And my body feels with heat.

The feelings were ne'er so deep

The thoughts were ne'er so kind.

Pen upon my paper,

Thoughts upon my mind.

                   P. Conteras