Pico

Dawn breaks the sky
raw light floods island & ocean
All birdsong ceases for just the moment
when day is painted over night
colour returns to us
a breeze slowly lifts
the sun soars, reaching for this speck of land
in ocean immensity
 
Pico, veiled in high cloud
crenulated by sister cones
looms soft purple & charcoal across the strait
diva of the skies, demanding attention
holding the gaze
stately hot tempered grand dame
always beautiful, subtly threatening

Copyright © 2022 Kim Whysall-Hammond

Another poem about the Azores, I must return soon……

Sun Queen

Our Lady the Sun
source of heat and fuel for life
beautiful at the horizon
painting clouds and sky

We bask and burn in her glory
as she sits supreme at system centre
girdled by planets, visited by stray comets
Regally burning

Interior electrons impede her light
render her glowing orb opaque
not that you can see this
it would burn your eyes out

Copyright © 2015 Kim Whysall-Hammond

Another Damn Poem

Form
doesn’t always follow function

Beauty
cannot always be seen

Love
is hardly ever symmetrical

Copyright © 2022 Kim Whysall-Hammond

Ammonites

Walking east across the beach
boulders and rocks littered
as if discarded playthings.
Each contains treasures
some already spilt out
glistening traceries of lives past
revealed after aeons of hiding.

Copyright © 2021 Kim Whysall-Hammond

On the hill watching sunset

two figures and a blanket
tall dry grasses whispering
as light fades in the west
and shadows fold around them

Copyright © 2021 Kim Whysall-Hammond

Northern light

Blue Baltic waters
semi-sweet to taste

Pale rose rocked islands
Rising softly from the sea

And oh
Oh
All those Birches

So many Birch trees
tall straight trunks
massing on every surface

White wrapped
Or black inked?
Design icons

Bearing thin scrolls of bark
whose paleness
reflected summers northern light
into grateful eyes

Copyright © 2017 Kim Whysall-Hammond

For John Looker

Friday Poem: She Walks in Beauty

She walks in beauty, like the night
Of cloudless climes and starry skies;
And all that’s best of dark and bright
Meet in her aspect and her eyes;
Thus mellowed to that tender light
Which heaven to gaudy day denies.

One shade the more, one ray the less,
Had half impaired the nameless grace
Which waves in every raven tress,
Or softly lightens o’er her face;
Where thoughts serenely sweet express,
How pure, how dear their dwelling-place.

And on that cheek, and o’er that brow,
So soft, so calm, yet eloquent,
The smiles that win, the tints that glow,
But tell of days in goodness spent,
A mind at peace with all below,
A heart whose love is innocent.

by Lord Byron

Surround yourself with beauty

Surround yourself with beauty
Look at what you own
Is it beautiful or loved?
Does it give you pleasure?
Does it embody a memory?
Keep it
Possessions need to work for you
Need to lift you
Need to remind you who you are
Designer labels? Latest high tech? Do you need to follow the herd?
I sit in a room with books I love and want
With photos of those I love
With objects and art that say something to me
All bought on a shoestring
Possessions do not define me, they cannot say who I am
My poetry attempts that
But my possessions comfort me

my attempt to surround myself in beauty.

Copyright © 2015 Kim Whysall-Hammond

A Rainbow Octopus

Not the poetry of words, but certainly the poetry of motion. A stunning video of a Rainbow Octopus from Aesthesiamag :

AesthesiaMag

More info: NAD-Lembeh.com | Facebook | YouTube

In a short clip captured during a blackwater night dive in the Lembeh Strait, a blanket octopus unfolds and displays a colorful web multiple times her original size. The aquatic animal’s iridescent body and tentacles glow against the nighttime water before she releases her translucent blanket that connects her dorsal and dorsolateral arms. Only adult females are equipped with the lengthy membrane that reaches as long as six feet and dwarfs male octopi, which are less than an inch in size and most often die immediately after mating. Generally, the females only unfurl their color-changing blankets to appear larger and more intimidating to potential predators. Shared by NAD Lembeh Resort, the underwater video was taken on a RED Gemini with a 50 millimeter Zeiss Macro lens. You might also want to check out this footage of a blanket octopus in waters near…

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Summer’s loss

Heart broken she withdraws
as every winter
into dark soil
as every winter

The promise of the stars nightly turning
the sinking and turning of constellations
the track of planets wandering  across the sky
say that she will return

Time past she was encouraged
by midwinter fires
now we trust to orbital mechanics

Copyright © 2019 Kim Whysall-Hammond