Tag Archives: Alberta Avenue poetry

Butterflies, Blossoms, Birds and Billboards

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Today  I was surprised and excited when I noticed a billboard with a painting by local artist, Maria Pace-Wynters, beside the Stadium LRT Station on Stadium Road.

It is entitled  “I Can See My Dreams”

Congratulations Maria! What a treat to be driving down Stadium Road and see your art!

Of course, I wrote a poem about it…

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 Fair face

Suspended now

Youth exaggerate

Lushly growing things, seen through a gossamer wing

As from your thoughts arise, birds, flowers. Butterflies

This child, this muse, this dream

A wallpaper of life

 

Smash!Down

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Early Sunday morning, a car was left abandoned in front of our house. By Sunday afternoon, someone had smashed in the car windows leaving a scene of violence behind them. Shattered glass covered the lawn and pavement surrounding the car. I still feel myself tense up when I think about it. Smash!Down are the words that I use to describe what I saw.

There’s a curve in the words

Smash!Down

Glass shards hit the ground

in a see-through sound

Smash!Down

No light savior behavior

Just a grin that turns in

Music born from within

You repeat to the beat

Smash!Down

 

 

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Smash!Down

One is a lonely number- for a bicycle !

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Bicycles in Amsterdam

Bicycles in Amsterdam

Greetings everyone! We have just returned from Amsterdam.

Bicycles are rampant there as the city moves in a seamless ballet of pedestrians, cars and bikes. There is the occasional horn honk or brake screeching, after which the city’s inhabitants glance at each other muttering the word “tourist” under their breath.

 On the Avenue, you might see a couple of bikes chained to a rack, but in Amsterdam there are crowds of bicycles huddled together. They have designated bike lanes, separated from the traffic, making it safer. There are also thousands of kilometers of bike trails running next to the highway in the Netherlands. Bicycle heaven!

One is a lonely number- for a bicycle!

One is a lonely number- for a bicycle!

Amsterdam inspired me to get out my bike and write this poem.

Night rain

water sprays behind my tires

plopping fluid drops

merging together

smelling clean and cool

Serene

lone cyclist with a newly-made sun

lighting my path

this Alberta Avenue morning

 

Blessed are the Poor in Spirit

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I saw this sign as I was walking on Alberta Avenue. It made me think of the beautiful writing of the Beatitudes and inspired me to write this piece.

Blessed are the Poor in Spirit

Blessed are the Poor in Spirit

Blessed are the poor in Spirit

So the good book said

Blessed are the stony benches

Where homeless lay their head

Blessed are the streetwalkers

Who struggle with their clothes

Blessed are the places

Lost cigarettes repose

Blessed are the mothers

With children held too tight

Blessed are the poets

Who gaze into the night

Blessed are the ones who listen

As the church bells knell

Blessed are the spirits

Who look beyond the shell

Blessed are the ones who work

For glad fraternity

Blessed are the poor in spirit

For all eternity.