EAGLE

EAGLE
Catskill Mountains, New York

Mills Lake

Mills Lake
Rocky Mountain National Park

PITCHER PLANT WITH DRAGONFLY

PITCHER PLANT WITH DRAGONFLY

ollie ollie oxen free


ollie ollie oxen free

hello dear friend hiding in the dark again
darling little child who thinks if they can't see you you can't see them
with that light of yours shining brightly
I know just where you are
with that light of yours shining brightly
it's even more obvious in the dark
why with that light of yours shining brightly
i can even see your shadow

ollie ollie oxen free

BUTTERFLY

BUTTERFLY
At Gold Hill

NICE TREE BARK!

NICE TREE BARK!
In decent!

JANUARY MORN


Speeding through in the old stick,
oblique sun performing on the frozen mountain,
giving a mountain strobe show,
mist rising off now barren fields
dancing with wood stove smoke,
droplets dangling, hope diamonds on bare branches.

JoAnn Bertone Chmielowski
January 15, 2014

WATERS OF BOULDER CREEK

WATERS OF BOULDER CREEK

OWL MOON



Goliath corn flakes ensconced in chocolate pudding crunch underfoot.
Freeze up time down in the field,
Ooh hail the encore!
Rising,
You,
My Owl Moon,
My only company in frigid cold,
Together, we do amazing things.


My only company in frigid cold,
Together, we do amazing things.

JoAnn Chmielowski
January 17, 2014

Emmons Bog

Emmons Bog

FRENCH VANILLA GLOW

Afternoon gaze,
March Sun,
your French Vanilla glow alights buildings and dormant baseball fields filled with geese searching the frosted brown grasses for whatever they search for, alike.
They have been beautified to the status of mountain lakes.

JoAnn Bertone Chmielowski
March 3, 2014

COLORADO 2013

COLORADO 2013
photo by Joe Chmielowski

WATERLILIES IN FALL

WATERLILIES IN FALL
LONG LAKE, ADIRONDACKS

AUTUMN WATERLILIES!

Oh my autumn waterlilies!
You make sense from any point of view!
Now, you've given me the sillies!
I'd give anything to dance with you!

MILKWEED POD

MILKWEED POD
At Audubon Bird Sanctuary

IN THE WOODS BY ARNOLD LAKE

IN THE WOODS BY ARNOLD LAKE
Wonderland!

LIGHT ME

LIGHT ME

Light me.
You are fire.
You are truth.
I am the highway.
Stick out your thumb.
Illuminated, I do not thrive in shadows for I am light.

JoAnn Bertone Chmielowski
July 6, 2012

GILBERT LAKE

GILBERT LAKE
Another way of looking at it!

DEE, DEE, DEE

DEE, DEE, DEE
I love you!

SPRING POND

SPRING POND
Another View

THE DOOR

THE DOOR
It Is What is Real

CUPPED HANDS

CUPPED HANDS

Writing freezes thought much as a photograph freezes the view.
Both entice us to closer inspection,
cupped hands trying to capture the sea.

JoAnn Bertone Chmielowski
April 30, 2012

Swallowtail on Milkweed

Swallowtail on Milkweed
Audubon Bird Sancturary

Atop Franklin Mountain

Atop Franklin Mountain

MY DOG BUZZY

MY DOG BUZZY
I LOVE THE SUMMER!!

A beetle for you

A beetle for you
Wow! Why?

FROG ON THE BOG

FROG ON THE BOG
July 2012

UNCERTAINTY

UNCERTAINTY

Uncertainty knocks once more, i
nvite it in.
A brother, it is already so familiar.
Smile, make it comfortable
Make a place for it at the table, feed it.
Clothe it, for it comes stark naked and cold.
Embrace it, and you hold unlimited possibilities.
Uncertainty, always there for you.

JoAnn Bertone Chmielowski
June 6, 2012

Sanford Biggers THE CARTOGRAPHERS CONUNDRUM

Sanford Biggers THE CARTOGRAPHERS CONUNDRUM
My interpretation at Mass MOCA

Yemana's Bench and me

Yemana's Bench and me
East Meridith New York

SUNFLOWER

SUNFLOWER
Early Fall

STREAM OF WORDS

Oh, stream of words, deep,
protector of inscrutable boulders!
Around the bend, in the shallows,
how you open eyes!

JoAnn Bertone Chmielowski
April 5, 2012

Rick's Space

Rick's Space
Fantasy Clocks

FALL UPON ME

FALL UPON ME

Fall upon me, light!
Illuminate, bring out what I have hidden!
For what has been
pain is now a robin in cold driving rain enjoying a birdbath!

JoAnn Bertone Chmielowski
April 24, 2012

What's Bugging You

What's Bugging You

resonance



continue on my love,
hold me with sweet words,
carry me with resonance,
strong and deep,
beyond the imagined.

JoAnn Bertone Chmielowski
March 1, 2012

ON THE BOG

ON THE BOG
Audubon Bird Sanctuary

LOOKING FOR EAGLES

LOOKING FOR EAGLES

The flamboyant avocado
ne'er to be found as
pantry moth larvae
deftly navigate the ceiling.
Mysterious odors disseminating
from kitchen cabinets pose as
text messages questioning
dog food label syntax.
Insidious thoughts conjured up
from a presumptuously "normal" life answer why
I have started looking for eagles.

JoAnn Bertone Chmielowski
November 4, 2011

REFLECTION ON THE EAGLE

REFLECTION ON THE EAGLE
ON THE BOG

Green Spikey Thing

Green Spikey Thing
Fortin Park

FLOCK OF BIRDS

FLOCK OF BIRDS

Thoughts fly off,
a flock of birds.
Conversations dangle,
prayer flags in the wind.
Love, you arise in still waters,
bubbles in a glass, bedside, overnight.

JoAnn Bertone Chmielowski
Oct 4, 2011

Falls at Watkins Glen

Falls at Watkins Glen
Flow..........

Under My Feet In Early Spring

Under My Feet  In Early Spring

j.b.c. quote 4/4/12

Feel free my love! Act like a deranged detective in a trench coat for life requires careful investigation! You are the only one in charge! ~ j.b.c. 4/4/12

Reflections

Reflections
JOE

November Browns

November Browns

BRILLIANT ANGEL

BRILLIANT ANGEL

Window open,

help,
heavily accented,
proffered through a lens of freezing rain.
Your face, brilliant angel, in brief,
carried me from where you came,
......to the place where you vanished.

JoAnn Bertone Chmielowski
January 24, 2012

Ladyslipper

Ladyslipper

FIRST CAT-TAILS

FIRST CAT-TAILS

LAKE TASHAMIMI

Joyous Lake Tashamimi,
favored lake of lovers,
atop the range of emotions.
A love,
not blind,
but simply,
eyes closed,
in trust,
leads us to the peak,
slaves to an ancient trade.

Cooperstown Vine

Cooperstown Vine

LOW ON THE HORIZON

LOW ON THE HORIZON

Dawn,
amber sun,
moves me,
low on the horizon.
You've come again,
oblique,
winter's novel angle.
Thus,

I write anew,
to a love
lost in Shangri La,
ancient as honey.

JoAnn Bertone Chmielowski
December 13, 2011

Goldfinch

Goldfinch
In my Backyard!

PEELED POTATO

PEELED POTATO

Late winter's peeled potato,
a half dozen sunken patches,
root buds, yet to notched out with the paring knife,
snow, melting, unveils golden fields,
outlining somber islands of leafless saplings enlaced by gray brush.

JoAnn Bertone Chmielowski
March 8, 2012

Teeny berries

Teeny berries

BABY GIRL PINK

Distracting glimpses on twisted roads
she peeks at us, here, there, over and over.
Baby-girl pink moon on the horizon of baby-boy blue,
how deftly she takes the breath away!
We, never thinking danger, gasp.

JoAnn Bertone Chmielowski
January 31, 2012

After the storm

After the storm
Andrew

Quote by unknown who knows

"It's not what you make of it. It's making it."

One inch long icicle

One inch long icicle

CLOTHED IN MAGENTA

CLOTHED IN MAGENTA

Who could not feel happiness upon seeing the reflection,
when thoughts,
neither black nor white,
have clothed
them in magenta?

JoAnn Bertone Chmielowski
November 20, 2011

Wood you?

Wood you?

LIVING LIFE

LIVING LIFE

Living life,

exposed roots
love light.
Inextricably tied by our ribbon of melodies,
all that lies hidden under the surface,
has become far more formidable.

JoAnn Bertone Chmielowski
October 16, 2011

Little Mushroom

Little Mushroom

BY HEART

BY HEART

We play each other over and over,
moon and sun,
on a landscape uninhibited,
love's melodies,
learned by heart.

JoAnn Bertone Chmielowski
November 1, 2011

LATE FALL

LATE FALL

FLOODGATES

FLOODGATES

Saturate, soak, drench me to the bone, keep pouring through.
Though the reservoir is full, I've opened the floodgates for you.

JoAnn Chmielowski
September 30, 2011

Autumn 2011

Autumn 2011

OH MR. EDITOR

OH MR. EDITOR

Oh Mr. Editor,

busy man in your well-appointed office,
Nefertiti on a corner pedestal,
altar-boy feet in garish blue wing-tipped shoes,
inextricably controlling the opined,
hot water and towels,
at the birth of another dimension.

JoAnn Bertone Chmielowski
October 12, 2011

Milkweed Aglow

Milkweed Aglow

ROOTS

Breathe deeply of the rich sweet earth my love,
With total surrender, wander further and further into the forest.
Have no fear of the seeds planted.
Honor, especially, the most broken ground,
for underneath lies roots
which will send forth
the one who reaches the light.

JoAnn Bertone Chmielowski
September 6, 2011

ROOTS

ROOTS

PRISMATIC SHAFTS

Prismatic shafts of light, through chinks in your armor shine so bright.
The color that I see depends on the angle relative to me. ~ jbc

OVER THE EDGE

Oh, my love, just when I feel I am about to go over the edge you remind me that our world is not flat, and being "on the brink" is, indeed, an asset rather than a hazard. ~jbc 9/18/11

NICE FUNGUS

NICE FUNGUS

CALLTO EXPLORE

CALL TO EXPLORE

A revelatory glance
that draws in and pushes away simultaneously,

you, oh mirror of internal recognition,
calling to explore my love
,
discover every day.


JoAnn Bertone Chmielowski
October 25, 2011

QUIESCENT SEA

Oh quiescent sea,
end your reverie!
For when fog horns break,
melodies awake.
Buoyed into passion,
your waves, oblique,
speak.
Listen.

JoAnn Bertone Chmielowski
September 20, 2011

Basswood Pond

Basswood Pond

TREES STRIP-TEASE

TREES STRIP-TEASE

Trees strip-tease, foiled by golden light.
Widespread, October now shines freely.
Enticed by brightly colored beauty but for a short while,
lovers wait patiently until they strip bare.
Only then, true form appears,
brilliant, stark potential in cold and darkness.

JoAnn Bertone Chmielowski
October 3, 2011

Tiny Mushroom

Tiny Mushroom

THROUGH MANY YEARS

Through many years
Through many lives
Through cool morning fog
Through torpid heat
Through chilling numbness
Through summer's fading light

I search for you though I hold you
I watch for you though I see you
I long for your touch though I feel you

The road taken to get here
could have been different yes
But I would not for a moment change
those seeds we planted
for what we harvest is eternal

JoAnn Bertone Chmielowski
September 15, 2011

MUSHROOM

MUSHROOM

SHUT IT BEHIND YOU

I have been holding the goddamn door open for you
It has let in
the winds
the rains
the snow
the cold
the heat
wry jokes
Son of Sam
dust and pollen
many seething insults
a yellow car with bad shocks
and stray animals of every description
When you enter, please shut it tight behind you, thanks.

JoAnn Bertone Chmielowski
September 27, 2011

Ferns in the Forest

Ferns in the Forest

OUTLINED

Oh, back-lit,
hazy mountain ridge,
crepuscular tree-line sublime!
My entire vision,
you have just outlined,
in
the brief moment you were mine.

JoAnn Bertone Chmielowski
September 7, 2011

Moon Me!

Moon Me!

COYOTE CALLS

Coyote calls through fog
pierced
by crows reviewing their agendas,
noisy silhouettes adorning the trees.
Oh, there is so much happening before the fog lifts
and invisible layers of day begin a heavy descent.

JoAnn Bertone Chmielowski
September 10, 2011

Friendly little dragonfly

Friendly little dragonfly

RESTING IN YOUR FOOTPRINT

As I travel the path to wherever,
I have retrieved that which you have dropped.
Right there, it was resting in your footprint,
a moment where the earth came to meet you.
No need to retrace your steps to gather it.
For I hold it for you with love and tenderness until we meet.
Slow down my love, and you will be walking beside me again.
JoAnn Bertone Chmielowski
June 10, 2011

Dream Flower

Dream Flower

enter her magic

"Mother made us whole perfect beings. To seek perfection in our own melodies, we must enter her magic". jbc 2/6/11

Thinking!

Thinking!

TIDAL BORE

Move me with your ebb and flow.
In a breath, we ride the tidal bore.
You, who reflect my heart's rhythm so,
Carry me safely to Mother's shore.

What created this?

What created this?

YOU, HONEY!

You sweeten my life,
all my fingers I lick.
though cautious I am,
oh my love, how you stick!

You, honey in the jar, right on the shelf,
I find your sweetness all over myself!
JoAnn Bertone Chmielowski
June 12, 2011

Inside of a daffodil..........

Inside of a daffodil..........

METAPHOR

METAPHOR

Talk to me in metaphor

Ooh baby..... keep it coming

That kinda tongue just lets me know

What ya think and how you're hummin'

Your similes, so very nice

They're sweet grapes on the vine

But metaphor, much more discreet

Your words change into wine!

Prose morphs into poetry when metaphor's the mantra

Served right up with simile, and side of double entendre!


JoAnn Bertone Chmielowski

June 20, 2011

Spice of Life

Spice of Life

CONTINUE TO CALL

CONTINUE TO CALL

There you are again, an old lover,

still looming tall on the horizon.

Even seeing your name still excites me.

I come closer,

just passing beside you, standing erect between two rivers of dreams!

I know you've been hurt, but you barely show a trace.

As I rub up against you,

I want you once again for that bittersweet moment,

when the sun starts to shine through the fog.

My dear New York City, I left you long ago for greener pastures.

Continue to call, flash me your brilliance you might, but I'm never coming back.

JoAnn Bertone Chmielowski
June 19, 2011


Flower Beauty

Flower Beauty

FIREFLIES

Fireflies in the field,
floating, sparkles of light at twilight.
I didn't know which one was you
until I heard the synchronicity of our breathe
Then they all were you.

Bee on Allium, won't you?

Bee on Allium, won't you?

SLOW ROAD

Breathe, let your hair down my friend!
Only yews, gentrified lean figurines,
sentries of the meridian,
survive life, warp speed in every damned direction.
Breathe, travel the slow road with me.
JoAnn Bertone Chmielowski
May 23, 2011

Flower fiesta

Flower fiesta

quote by a not famous person

"Total understanding of silence is the essence of understanding what it is we actually hear". ~JBC 3/1/11

Grasshoppers in Paradise!

Grasshoppers in Paradise!

HE SUPPOSES

Blue velvet and red roses
lie in wait at the front door
Not just what he supposes
is love, the music whore

JoAnn Bertone Chmielowski
May 17, 2011

Reflection

Reflection

QUIVER IN MIST

At dawn, the birds sing high in the oak
leaves, yet unfurled, quiver in mist,
bridal lingerie in spring's midst.

Truly in the pink!

Truly in the pink!

EARLY MORNING

Beauty of the early morning,
Breathe deeply, meadow air, golden green.
Become one with the bird,
Bring to the day, my love, joy's melody.

Silken Milkweed Explosion

Silken Milkweed Explosion

YOUR HOLDING PATTERN

Above the bedlam,
you keep me flying.
And I do,
yes, my darling,
I certainly do enjoy your holding pattern,
as we seek a safe place to alight before the fuel runs out.

Golfball or Mushroom?

Golfball or Mushroom?

CARDINAL IN THE SNOW

Cardinal in the snow.

Transcendent.

You regale me with beauty.

Your equanimity impresses.

For you I compose love.

For you I compose a thousand kisses.

For all we share becomes sublime.





Cardinal In The Snow

Cardinal In The Snow
photo art by JoAnn Bertone Chmielowski

TO YOU I WRITE

To you I write.
You know who you are,
now transmuted from whom you were but a moment ago.
To you I write,
not of what is abhorrent,
but of what merely whets your appetite.
Thereby, you will read here not of iniquities,
but of my love.

My Friend Harmon

My Friend Harmon

WILDEBEEST

WILDEBEEST

My instincts return,
herd of wildebeest in search of greener pastures.

You, having picked off the weak,
leave me with thunder.

JoAnn Bertone Chmielowski
September 28, 2011

on a island

on a island

AS LOVE SPRINGS

As love springs forth
from a deep otherworldly place within,
the heart clears of limited beliefs.
Without a need for words,
a connectedness of souls does
neither objectify nor have an objective
jbc 2/14/11

Reflection on the pond

Reflection on the pond

quote by a not famous person

'To laugh, even at the sheer thought of laughing, is the most curative gift I've been given.
Even in adversity's face it finds its place". ~ jbc 2/2/11

Bovina Winter Scene

Bovina Winter Scene

AZURE WATERS

Breath,
sheer white silk,
lover to inexorable melodies.
Spirit phrasing infinite measures,
lying naked, untethered in azure waters,
smiles.

FINE PAIR OF DUCKS

FINE PAIR OF DUCKS

MY MORNING STAR

I awoke to you
my morning star
reflection of your face
rids me of errant thoughts
the day so new

VERSE BY VERSE

Verse by verse
we write our song
kindness creates the melody
and laughter begins each chorus
Love, from the soul, da capo, al fine.

JoAnn Bertone Chmielowski
January 27, 2011

Nature's black and white

Nature's black and white

MOON TO SUN

Shine, sing what your heart holds,
sing your dream.
Without you, oh sun, I, the moon, how high,
cannot be seen.

JoAnn Bertone Chmielowski
January 12, 2011

White Beyond the Fence

White Beyond the Fence

SUN TO MOON

Sing, oh moon,
in my beautiful rays.
Reflect from your heart,
the voice of every phase.

JoAnn Bertone Chmielowski
January 12, 2011

SPIRIT ROSE

Spirit rose,
from beyond,
the voice of a garden of laughter.
Spirit rose,
exciting bloom,
I breathe deeply of you and smile.

EXCITING BLOOM

EXCITING BLOOM

ADVENT

ADVENT

Oh, winter Solstice,
my spirited lover and harbinger of darkness,
beseech me, once again, to see the light that begins with your advent.

JoAnn Bertone Chmielowski
December 1, 2010



Beautiful Newborn Fatima

Beautiful Newborn Fatima

TO FATIMA

TO FATIMA

It is you,
my three day old grand-daughter,
it is you,
sleepily smiling your Buddha smile,
all knowing,
you are my teacher,
it is you that still knows we all are part of the same organism.

JoAnn Bertone Chmielowski
December 6, 2010

November Brown Seeds

November Brown Seeds

NOVEMBER BROWN

NOVEMBER BROWN
Seeds await a blanket of snow.
Entering beauty rest until spring,
November brown embraces every promise,
dance partner in a waltz of winds and darkness.
JoAnn Bertone Chmielowski
November 30, 2010

Lighthouse

Lighthouse

grace of words

grace of words,
touching where one is softest,
envelop,
security blanket for the soul.

Waterlily

Waterlily

ALLUVIUM

ALLUVIUM
Wondrous that you haven't relocated from this strange state that is me.That you read me, talk to me.
The very same instant, I read you, talk to you.
A synchronicity of thoughts, racing full throttle.
You have taken a place under the umbrella I hold to stop the deluge from soaking me to the bone.
Suck in our bellies, tuck in our butts, you too stay dry.
In surrounding alluvium, my thanks, accumulating.

JoAnn Bertone Chmielowski

April 24, 2009

Pod

Pod

MY BOURGUIGNON

MY BOURGUIGNON

Sounds from a European cafe.

Kiss on a dark rainy day.

To this sultry, steamy lair you slip in, stealthily, fresh air.

Your gypsy melody, my fine French wine,

graciously provide sips of sunshine.

Too passionate for my bourguignon:

what goes on without anything going on.



JoAnn Bertone June 17, 2010



Which is reality?

Which is reality?

SAPPHIRE IN THE ROUGH

Tumble with me

Oh, sapphire in the rough

Rotating with the earth

we'll polish each other so every facet shines

brilliant as never before

light years in the making

Oh, sapphire in the rough

Tumble with me

Any Door

Any Door

RESIDUAL LAUGHTER

RESIDUAL LAUGHTER
In your absence, you leave me with residual laughter.
Oh how lucky I am you've given me this light.
That even in the darkness, I manage to find the switch.
JoAnn Bertone Chmielowski
January 22, 2010

Dandy dandelion

Dandy dandelion

COLD

Even after you were gone, you continued to give me warmth.
Finally, I too am cold.
Awake and shivering in the night
Waiting for spring.
Knowing full well that it will take time.
The glare of morning sun, my reminder it is still winter.
January 2010



Sailing on Lake Erie

Sailing on Lake Erie

INTEREST

INTEREST
In some exquisite way,
My emotional bank account grows.
You, interest.
Love, compounds.
Keep the change.
Make life rich.

Dragonfly, my dragonfly

Dragonfly, my dragonfly

LOVE'S TAPESTRY

You are but a silken thread in love's tapestry.
Fine, but deceptively strong,
a contrasting hue,
bringing out all its highlights.

Rockport Icon

Rockport Icon

THE LIFE SENTENCE

THE LIFE SENTENCE

No judge, nor jury.
No i,nnocence, nor guilt.
No victim, nor perpetrator.
No racketeering, nor embezzlement.
The life sentence is the same for us all.
Love.
That's the life sentence.
I exhort you, commit the crime!
Or it will be the death sentence.

JoAnn Bertone Chmielowski
November 12, 2009

MUSIC OF MY LIFE

You, my comfort, as much as my challenge.
As much as I want to be close to you, I want to be far from you.
As much as I feel I know you, I feel I don't know you.
You, grounded, as much as in outerspace.
You, music of my life.
You, on my mind as much as out of my mind.

Blink of a Spiral Staircase

Blink of a Spiral Staircase

DANCE WITHOUT MOTION

The word without motion, here.
Like your wildest dreams.
The shout of an arrow.
A whisper of silk.
They can inflect nothing, not even a sigh.
A caveat, you're more a part of this dance than you can imagine.
The dance without motion.

Beautiful Grandson Ahmed

Beautiful Grandson Ahmed

MY PASSION

My passion drives me.
I don't follow it in another car.

Brookwood Lily

Brookwood Lily

BRILLIANCE

I thrive in brilliance like a cold-blooded animal.
Blood flowing in the warmth of your light.
You move me.

Starfish from Cape Cod

Starfish from Cape Cod

PARACHUTE

PARACHUTE
Your parachute of love has deployed.
Safe to fall ever so gently, fall ever so gently, fall ever so gently, eyes closed.
Your parachute of love has deployed.
On the updraft, you drift, drift, drift to some exotic place, eyes closed.
Upon landing, eyes open.
Something beautiful beyond expectations awaits.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOE

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOE

BEAUTIFUL ROCK-LADY

Beautiful rock-lady,
Thank you for your being,
awakening me, torpid, in the hot sun.
My beautiful rock-lady,
the gift, a synchronicity of our rhythms,
was a loving reminder from the universe.
JoAnn Bertone Chmielowski
November 8, 2010

Living Room Lookout

Living Room Lookout

THREADS

We weave and unweave with words the threads that muse.
Our naked skin cloaked in velvet, silk, burlap,
crinoline, lace or polyester microfiber.
We fabricate.

Oystermania

Oystermania

No Explosion

Alternate self meets real self in a sensuous embrace. No explosion, only effervescence.



In the Garden in Bovina

In the Garden in Bovina

TRAVELING ASTRIDE

TRAVELING ASTRIDE
Traveling astride,
relationships holding a far higher purpose
are not as much destined to fall in love with each other
as they are to fall in love with the universe.

JoAnn Bertone Chmielowski
November 29, 2010



Pansies in Cooperstown

Pansies in Cooperstown

OMNIPOTENT RESTS

Tis only they that can be
present before the melody starts,
Tis only they that can be
felt after the melody ends.


Letchworth Waterfall

Letchworth Waterfall

(NOT PENNSYLVANIA BABY)

Kiss of a dark rainy day,
open door to another state,
(not Pennsylvania, baby)
where we are as close as we are far.


Joe's Eye

Joe's Eye

ENCHANTED

Pass through your world.
A pause.
You, there, reading.
I, here, sharpening the pencil.
As you read, we are in the same place:
Enchanted, for a brief moment.

Lovely little tickler

Lovely little tickler

TIME FLASHES

TIME FLASHES
Time flashes us, like a naked runner going by...swiftly, deftly.
It passes before we even realize what the hell it was we saw.

Iridescent little bug

Iridescent little bug

COLLATERAL

COLLATERAL
Don't hold me back.
The tighter your grasp, the more resistance I need to use.
Let me go and you will still find me there, close beside you.
The only difference will be I now can breathe.

Colors are changing, but am I not the same being underneath?
Ripening fruit, in development, not mood.
Grant me impunity, it is collateral to sweetness.



My Poetry, Short Stories and Photography Blog

I am so happy to be able to share my writing and photography with you. Please scroll down for more short stories, poems and photos, you have been very kind to read this far.

14.12.17

NEW POETRY OCT/NOV/DEC 2017

GOOD STEAD

Keep the mind alert, always in good stead,
When every road leads us to someday dead,
It'll continue to where it's been led
10/17/17 ~jbc


HAMBURGER PATTIES

Every action,  a guardian of the mind
Making hamburger patties, diligence, created
Repetition that makes us better in kind
In the smallest of actions, never frustrated
11/5/17 ~jbc

FEARS

For inspiration, I’ll pray
That it’s coming my way
My fears I’ll allay
By those words I will say

~jbc 11/18/17

GETTING OLD

Given our options getting old is a good one
Not all that much choice in how it’s properly done
The approach, solely in the head
How we feel to become dead

~jbc 11/18/17

HOLY COW

Cramming things inside my head
I’ll rejoice in this til I am dead
Wisdom accumulating faster now
Days fly past, fly past, shit, holy cow

~jbc 11/16/17

GOOD MEAL

Savor life
Like a good meal
It can a take long time just thinking about the recipe
And almost as long in the planning and prepping
Lest we don't savor it, it is chowed down in a swift mindless flash

~jbc 11/18/17

IN THE LURCH

Find the breath that makes the mind unshakable
Insights that arise,  unmistakable
You're safe, inner or outer storms
No matter what comes, in whatever forms
It's a noble search
Wisdom hanging in the lurch

~jbc  11/19/17

SUBLIME

The urge to rhyme
It’s so sublime
However do you find the time
Your words, a spate
But often great
All written down to contemplate

~jbc 11/18/17

MOUNTAIN COOKIE

You see, I am craving a Mountain Cookie,
thoughts arising in the most quiet of times,
I imagine the taste, texture, the bite it has,
and pleasantly rough feel it has as it goes down my throat,
and how easily it would assuage my hunger.
As I cling to this feeling, even write an ode to it,  voilà,
I am suffering, suffering for lack of this Mountain Cookie.

~jbc 12/7/17


CHRISTMAS

How easily we court a desire
For material, beset with fire
Extinguish the flames friends
Things shouldn't be our ends
Seek the joyful tidings
Of mindful abidings
Oft we suffer, pleasure seeking
Peace of mind, the breath needs tweaking

~jbc 12/8/17

MISSLES AND WHISTLES

The absurdity has become the reality
So many negate the causality
Of missiles and whistles
Of guns and pistols
Of sugars real and fabricated
Of pills to keep us all sedated
The causality has come from greed
Beware which desires you choose to feed

~jbc 12/10/17

FINAL CURTAIN

All of which I am unsure,
it yet poses strong allure.
Based on what I suppose,
from where those first thoughts arose.
Of one fact I’m very certain,
falling of the final curtain!

~jbc 12/13/17

MOLASSES

Less to fear the more time passes
Unless you sit upon your glasses
Lest you meet up with some asses
Hope you days flow like molasses

~jbc 12/12/17

GIVE PAUSE

The suffering for which we are the cause
To this very issue we should give pause
Give ample time to think things through
‘Bout what we shall or shall not do.

~jbc 12/13/17






9.3.14

OWL MOON

OWL MOON

Goliath corn flakes ensconced in chocolate pudding crunch underfoot.
Freeze up time down in the field, 
Ooh hail the encore!
Rising,
You, 
My Owl Moon, 
My only company in frigid cold,
Together, we do amazing things.

JoAnn Chmielowski
January 17, 2014

AFTERNOON GAZE

Afternoon gaze,
Oh, Winter Sun,
your French Vanilla glow alights buildings and dormant baseball fields filled with geese searching the frosted brown grasses for whatever they search for, alike.
They have been beautified to the status of mountain lakes.

JoAnn Bertone Chmielowski
January 30, 2014

JANUARY MORN

JANUARY MORNSpeeding through in the old stick,oblique sun performing on the frozen mountain,
giving a mountain strobe show,
mist rising off now barren fields
dancing with wood stove smoke,
droplets dangling, hope diamonds on bare branches.

JoAnn Bertone Chmielowski
January 15, 2014

26.9.12

In memory of Bataan Faigao

In memory of Bataan Faigao
Gentleness married strength.
Strength married gracefulness.
Gracefulness married relationship to the phenomenal world.
Relationship to the phenomenal world married breath.
Breath married relaxation.
Relaxation married wisdom.
Wisdom married humor.
Humor married beauty.
Beauty married the deathless.
The deathless married Heaven.
Heaven married Earth.
Earth married creation.
Creation married love.
Love married Life.
Life married death.
Death married non self.
Non self married primordial non being.
Primordial non being married consciousness.
Consciousness married truth.
Truth married bliss.

Bliss is married to the all.
~ 2012, unknown

5.4.12

STREAM OF WORDS

Oh, stream of words, deep,
protector of inscrutable boulders!
Around the bend, in the shallows,
how you open eyes!

JoAnn Bertone Chmielowski
April 5, 2012

quote by j.b.c 4/4/12

Feel free my love! Act like a deranged detective in a trench coat for life requires careful investigation! You are the only one in charge! ~ j.b.c. 4/4/12