Anthopilous-Jana among the flowers

07/28/2024

Water Dance

Led to the waters, she
By wind and rain and sky
She sought her solace there
And purposed not to cry

A water dance, did she
While envious clouds float by
Blocking out the sunlight
And it’s blazing wakeful eye

A siren’s heart, had she
Prone to the waters call
Yet there she danced alone
Behind a crystal wall

Languished there, did she
A heartsick lover’s plight
Her feet then ceased to dance
And gave in to the night

A memory now, is she
A distant fleck of light
Yet somehow dances on
With love’s enduring might

Jana Pollard
7-30-23 ©️

03/16/2024

Of Misty Mornings

Misty, morning footpath leading
To unknown destinations;
Silken strands of insect snares,
Boasting of spider creations.

The quiet of morning stillness,
The backdrop to feathered wings;
Flitting swiftly between the trees,
A wood thrush warbles and sings.

Verdant fronds of fern and leaf,
Lift limbs to reach the dawning sun;
Her face, a peach and warming glow,
She’ll stay until the day is done.

Then, once more, the mist will fall,
And blanket twilight’s offerings,
Covering all with sweetened dew,
Hushing, as nature’s mother sings.

By Jana Pollard
3/16/24

01/02/2024

You and Me

If you sit down right next to me
It won’t take long for you to see
That we are very different birds
With different beaks and different words

For I am me and you are you
Of that, there’s little we can do
And don’t you think it’s right this way?
As we go through our day to day?

It just seems right that I should do
The me things that don’t look like you
And you, in turn, will be the top
At doing you things, so don’t stop!

There, it’s settled, I’ll be me
And you’ll be you, infinity
For truly, there is no one who
Would be a better ME or YOU!

By Jana Pollard
12/15/23

10/01/2023

Ode for the Fallen Children
(For the millions of innocent souls who have been, and are now being, trafficked)

Too many little broken birds
Have fallen to the ground
Silenced now, their mournful words
Devoid of any earthly sound

They cannot stretch their injured wings
Or take to open, azure skies
The loneliness and fear it brings
When we can’t hear their muffled cries

Now gaze upon an empty nest
Where there was, once, a happy life
Awakened from their innocence
Into a world of pain and strife

This wretched, broken, faltering world
Has once more gobbled up
The precious little fallen birds
Who’ve downed from Satan’s bitter cup

Isn’t it our purpose here
To scoop up every shattered one?
To breathe life back into their ear
Until the good, at last, has won?

Erase, we must, the ugliness
That’s steeped into their hallowed souls
Redeem them from the lion’s mouth
Before the devastation tolls………

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Protection should have been their lot
And from kind hands that would there, love
Instead, they’ve learned of scarlet shame
No life befitting a white-winged dove.

By Jana Pollard
10-1-23 ©️

10/01/2023

09/10/2023

Perfection

You didn’t see it , you say?
You didn’t see it because I didn’t want you to see it.
I worked hard to conceal it.
To make our lives look shiny and bright.
To make us appear to be normal. Better than normal…”perfect”
But not so perfect people would suspect it was an act.
Balancing everything.
Dropping nothing.
Fearing every single day that it would change at the turn of a dime.
Fighting so hard to control something that I had no control of.
Losing my mind and my grip on reality
Running as far and as fast as I could
No one can survive that race
No one comes away without wounds
No one wins when everything fails.

It is my deepest shame…
I’m not perfect.

J. Pollard
9-10-23

09/08/2023

Senescence

Through my words, he falls in love with me,
I am a Cyrano in keeping;
But were his eyes to fall on me,
My hiding place would be stripped free,
Tis I who would be weeping.

Is not the person more than flesh?
Pray tell, what of the mind and heart!
I long to say that we have met,
But fear lays hold on deep regret,
That reality would see us part.

No phantom vision of beauty lies
Within this corruptible shell,
The days of spring and youthful strides,
Washing o’er us like the tides,
Have vanished now and bid us well.

And yet my heart is beating strong,
My mind forges on triumphantly!
But the outer shell has given way.
In constant wear towards decay,
To the essence of humanity.

It is all that I have left to give!
That tender girl of yesterday
No longer lives, nor dances free,
All that is left is what you see,
This withered cloak is doomed to stay.

The secret here, the mystery,
Lies deep within the human heart;
Unveiled, it is the best of me,
‘Twas never worth my vanity,
For my spirit holds the choicest part.

Jana Pollard
6-24-23

08/26/2023

Message in a Bottle

My words go out to distant shores,
A harbinger of hidden things,
To where the endless ocean roars,
And soaring seagulls spread their wings.

A time may pass beyond my time,
Clear glass keeping veiled thoughts pure,
Ever striving, as rocks to climb,
While yet, my hopeful words endure.

Perhaps one day, they’ll find a beach
And work their way to someone’s hands,
So that my thought-filled words will reach
A soul from foreign, distant lands.

Once released from watery tomb,
My words will, as they did before,
Flow gently from my writers plume,
Redeemed beyond the ocean floor.

Emerging as a beacon’s light,
An ancient text from yesteryear,
As two ships sailing in the night,
Alight upon the reader’s ear.

And what shall ever come of that?
I’m sure that I will never know,
As all words are the pen’s zummat,
Departing as young lovers go.

Jana Pollard
8-26-23 ©️

08/19/2023

Broken Dreams

So many dreams I’ve never seen,
Existing just beyond my reach,
Dreams that lie unharvested,
A too high-hanging summer peach.

I dared to dream them at one time,
Yet did not dare to see them through,
So all the juicy sweetness there
Remains untasted, worthless fruit.

Now those dreams lie on the ground
Rotting in the summer sun,
Never having touched the lips
Or held the heart of anyone.

Decaying daily, breaking down,
They slowly return to the land,
Forever gone from age to age,
Slipped through the fingers of my hand.

Do not make the same mistake,
Go live your dreams before they die;
They may not meet with huge success,
But you won’t know if you don’t try.

Jana Pollard
4/29/23

08/12/2023

Sister Moon

A late summer’s night
Sister moon rises
She sloughs off her worries
And sheds her disguises

Gliding on currents
Floating on water
She communes with the sky
As destiny’s daughter

The night closes out
And Sister moon sleeps
She lowers herself
Into watery deeps

Tomorrow may come
Today is our pledge
She stumbles upon
Serendipity’s edge

An eye to the heavens
As Sister moon rises
Her opulent journey
The role she reprises

Jana Pollard
8-12-23 ©️

07/31/2023

The Dance

As I wandered late last night,
Along the hills and footpaths there,
My eyes fell once, and then again,
Upon a child with golden hair,
Beneath a grove of Hawthorn trees,
Dancing in the warm night’s breeze.

A shine, she had, within her eyes,
A twinkle in her feet and toes,
While fairies stretched their wings and danced,
Along the margin, to dulcet prose;
With my own eyes, I saw the sight,
That sprightly celebration night.

From my hiding place I watched
This joyous scene I’d found by chance
I thought myself quite fortunate
To have happed upon this fairy dance
And while my own feet stayed quite still
Yet, my heart is dancing still.

Jana Pollard
©️7-20-23

07/31/2023

The Birth of a Poem:
(A tribute to my poetic brethren)

There are so many words in my head,
I can’t get them out fast enough
Jumbled and jarring
Whilst mayhem is scarring
A wasteland of refuse rebuffed

A myriad of words to choose from
But only the finest will do
Perfect and polished
Whilst others demolished
A semblance of structure ensues

Like captives seeking light to be free
My thoughts made of words find escape
Scratching and clawing
Ultimately falling
At last, on the page, they take shape

Jana Pollard
7-29-23 ©️