Jam right here through the first week of 2019

[Doreen Peri]

OK, this is a resurrection! Wrong holiday? I think not!
We're bringing back the annual Word Jam, right here in this spot.
From the winter solstice through the first week of the twenty nineteen.
Jammin' the words, know what I mean?
Bring your spontaneous poetry and post it right here!
Could be the last one, you never know, my dears.

Why?
Because seasons cycle,
daylight wanes then brightens,
all life renewed by light & rhythm,
the insistence of an incessant star dance,
our earth on a tilted axis drawing a circle
around the sun, and the whirl of life revolves.

Because though we cannot solve a winter
mystery, we can discover our journey
connected to each other, lovers of
words and art in an infinitely creative universe.
Because together we can light the world!

.....

IMPORTANT NOTES:
If you're a member who is returning to join in on this Jam, welcome back! We've missed you!

I'm hoping I set this up right. We used to do these every year but it's been a long time. Post ONLY in THIS thread! In case I didn't set it up right, if you're able to start a new thread, don't do it! Hah! Additional new threads will be moved to the POETRY forum. Thank you!

[Doreen Peri]

So, where are we now?
Finding our way during a new day,
trying to figure out how to figure out
what to say? Let's give each other a hint.

Say ANYTHING, it's all worthy!

Here it is almost 12:30
in the morning on December 23rd.
The absurd part of this info
Is that the year is already twenty eighteen.
How did that happen? I'm no bimbo
but I tell ya, things aren't what they seem
when it comes to time passing.
It goes by faster and faster and I'm not harassing you
by mentioning that. I'm sure you knew that, too.
Matter of fact, it's been years since I've even seen you.
But I haven't called, I'm so sorry to say.
Where have we been day to day?

VRRRROOOOM! It'll be twenty nineteen before you know it
and what will we have to show for it?

I, for one, am going to write some verse,
whether it be better than the last I wrote or
whether it will be worse.
I don't much care, to be honest.
I just want to communicate.
How about you? Are you going to write some sonnets?
Or something else before it's too late?

Chime in. Why not?
Give it a shot.

[sasha]

I wash up gently
on this beach of wakefulness
six thirty a.m.
twelve twenty-three eighteen
the woods outside
dark
no, not dark -
dim
vertical forms
painted by a full moon
low in the western sky
and what's that?
on the southeastern horizon -
a glow, a gleaming
phosphorescence
like a truck's headlights
still out of sight
but pointing the way
for an F150
charging up the hill
on some nameless errand...
I look back towards the moon
behind the trees
along the western border of my lot
whose peaks
are beginning to reflect
the faintest glimmer
of orange star-fire...

the celestial F150
is on the way

[saw]

went out to the car 4am
for a trip through town to the airport
pick up someone dear at the airport
cruisin' down Martin Luther King Blvd.....someone
told me once that every major town
has a road named for Dr. King....that's probably an exaggeration
so i see this little flickering light in my lane
like an alien might be trying to flag me down
but instead it's a police offer when a tiny penlight
not sure why she doesn't have something more significant
perhaps because this has just unfolded seconds
before I got there and there is man lying in the road
and maybe the most important thing is the quickest way
to ensure the next car....Me,,,,doesn't run over him
his motorcycle is in a hundred pieces
and he is writhing in pain, damn 415 am...a handful
of vehicles out and about this Sunday morning
and this dude manages to collide with one of them
I continue on toward the airport....and about two miles down the road
an ambulance passes me at a high rate of speed
I assume it's the young man that needed a ride to the hospital
and so it is here in Baltimore, there is always something going on
my friend arrives without incident from California
we enjoy the Christmas lights deliberately driving through the heart
of the city....city hall has a massive tree in front all lit up
and the building is bathed in purple light
that's what they do here in Baltimore when the Ravens win
I hope that kid is okay....and his Christmas is far better than
the two days before it

[Doreen Peri]

Time keeps the pace. People on the move.
Trucks and motorcycles. Accidents can happen.
Gotta be careful. Time keeps the pace.
Slow down, enjoy the ride!

We'll be on the other side of a brand new year soon enough.
Hang tough. We're not getting any younger but guess what?
We're younger than we will ever be again at this very moment!
Dig it!

Wireman went with me a long time ago to pick up my daughter
from BWI. A kind gesture on his part. I remember that day well.
It was Christmas time. We went into Baltimore and drove down 34th Street.
It's a miracle all right! All those lights! Everyone who lives there participates,
decorating their homes for the holidays.

It's funny how one Christmas will remind you of another one in the past.
We miss so many people. But their memories stay with us.
Each Christmas, I feel the presence of my grandmother, my father, my mom.
It's the little reminders that count. Grape leaves for Christmas dinner.
Baklava for desert.

This isn't a poem. It's just sentences broken into lines.
I miss my kids. I think I'll save up and fly to Seattle.
Time keeps the pace. Timing is everything. Everything is timed.

How did they grow up so quickly?
I thought getting old would take a lot longer.

[mnaz]

just spoke to an old friend I hadn't seen in awhile.
Talked about the usual administrative bullshit of
work and maintenance needing doing, ET CET,
then got down to the more mercurial, spiritual
business of life & ART. He's a musician, so we
talked about replacing sinks and running wires,
and how Larry Graham invented the slap bass,
and I'm gonna go see his gig this Friday..

[judih]

always now
jam time is now time
no accident

meant to be
these words, the right words
clean out the mind

[saw]

christmas eve
having dinner with old friends
home cooked meal
with real china and silverware
and it's always a good year for me
when everyone shows up
'cause that means they're still alive
and the conversation is like that Eagles' song
A peaceful easy feeling
and the food is splendelicious....
and no one stays up very late anymore
just the right amount time
to re-connect, break some bread
find a little joy in the comfort
of an old hat

[Doreen Peri]

Family, friends, a feast.
Many have gone, treasured memories.
Some are still here. This moment is all we have.
No better time to jam than now!

[judih]

morning quiet
last year's christmas haiku
decorates the screen

[mnaz]

Gotta admit, I dig the lights;
whole yards lit up all around
in my new neighborhood, to
chase off the chill and gloom
of the darkest, shortest days.
Goin' to see K's band this Fri.
Haven't seen him in six years.
O holy night, silent night,
and keep on rockin'...

[mnaz]

Sorry, just gotta getta
plug out to a coupla o' the latest tunes I
been DIGGIN (yes I know, DIG is a banned word).
Are you Ready, By Sly n' the Fam-Stone
(basically: don't hate.)
Think Twice by Delroy Williams.
(don't go fighting, for nothing at all.)
Been a good Christmas so far..

[Doreen Peri]

Why is DIG a banned word? OMG... I dig dig, dig it? Don't you dig it?
I can dig it, he can dig it, she can dig it,
We can dig it, they can dig it, you can dig it
Oh, let's dig it. Can you dig it, baby?
Grazin' in the grass is a gas, can you dig it?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_G984cNO3RM

[Doreen Peri]

Are you ready? Sly & the Family Stone:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EP6qwjnJW4c

[mnaz]

I dig..