dreams – Colleen Keller Breuning

Dragon Hunters

Dragon Hunters

Linen clouds drift by,
dragon hunters swift and spry,
morphing in the sky.

Fluffy figures fair
cast their magic everywhere,
marching through the air.

Let’s chase the gold sun
like china dolls on the run;
the hunt has begun.

Through marshes we wade,
hues of emerald and jade,
as pastel skies fade.

The darkness descends;
hidden deep inside the glen
is the dragon’s den.

Dragon roars echo
louder than the cackling crow,
amber eyes aglow.

Black velvet twilight,
creeping shivers in the night;
just hold my hand tight.

In our veins fear flows;
should we stay or should we go?
heaven only knows.

Nothing’s what it seems;
slay that dragon with moon beams,
wake up from your dreams.

Hatcher and Posie,
won’t you dragon hunt with me?
I miss you dearly….

Colleen Keller Breuning © 2023
February 4, 2023

I just loved the whimsical topic of Dragon Hunter this week. It inspired me to write a rhyming haiku series, not always easy to do with the syllable limits. It immediately took me back to my own childhood days of cloud gazing, and when I did the same with my own kids. What a magical thing it is! I still do it when I get a chance, but often it is when Dan is driving and we both notice the beautiful cloud shapes in the Virginia sky. I probably take as many cloud pictures as I do cat pictures – well, maybe not. Certainly not as many pictures I take of my grandchildren Posie and Hatcher, when I get the chance to be with them!

This week’s poem is dedicated to Posie and Hatcher. They are my heart’s delight, and Katie sends me photos daily of them. They are growing and changing each day. When we saw them in October and December, I gave Posie a bunch of Katie’s things that I had saved from when she was a child. There was one particular pale pink satin leotard and matching skirt that Katie wore nonstop – and Posie wore it to her gymnastic class and riding her scooter yesterday! You can’t imagine how deeply that touched my heart. And little Hatcher is growing and just got a big boy haircut – WOW, he looks even more handsome than before! I simply cannot wait to see them and play with them again. Grandchildren are so very special.

I hope you have a chance to breathe deep and cloud gaze this weekend. It is so relaxing to just watch the clouds drift by and morph into different shapes. It’s good for the soul, and it brings immediate serenity to me. Have a wonderful weekend, all!

XOXO

Colleen

Ecrits Blogophilia Week 31.14 Topic: Dragon Hunter
Hard Bonus: Incorporate a lyric by The Clash (Should I stay or should I go)
Easy Bonus: Include your favorite childhood toy (doll)

Cool Blue Water

Cool Blue Water

Hope springs eternal in my heart
Ever ready for a fresh start
A place for dreams and reverie
Where cool blue water waits for me.

Give me the splendid silent sun
As bees and flowers come undone
Running through fields of green, so free
Where cool blue water waits for me.

Drifting down in the aqueduct
I vow my life to reconstruct
I accept time absolutely
Where cool blue water waits for me.

Hope springs eternal in my heart,
Where cool blue water waits for me.

Colleen Keller Breuning © 2023
January 28, 2023

Hello! A late post again, and y’all know why….. Work, work, work! That’s all I do! You know the old saying. The overtime at work has been crazy this month, and I’ve barely had time for anything else. There is so much for us to push out in the month of January it is insane. I’ve been logging 20-30 hours of OT every week this month. I think I already wrote that last week. But just THREE MORE DAYS until things ease up. We are an amazing team, we’ve got this. *BREATHE DEEP*

I have gotten so much done and learned so much this past month. I really love my work, and definitely enjoy serving our clients at my accounting firm. It has been such a tremendous experience! But you know the saying “All work and no play makes Jack a dull, dull boy.” (I think that is from The Shining, one of the best movies!) Yes, that’s kind of how I feel this month. DULL, lol. Dan and I are both so busy that we have not done one social thing all month – except go to a holiday work event, which was very nice indeed! I have worked every single day, including weekends, this month except New Year’s Day. The overtime pay has been nice, but I’m ready to at least get my weekends back.

I started writing this last Sunday, but then got super busy and did not get back to it until this evening. I really miss writing more often and especially reading my fellow blogger’s blogs. I feel guilty about that, even though they probably understand – if not, please bear with me during this season. I miss photography. I miss going to a winery on weekends. I miss seeing my family and friends. I miss Face Timing with the grandkids more.

But it’s all good. Life is good. I actually have two outings planned for next weekend – woo hoo! I don’t really have anything else to say. I wish you all a wonderful weekend, and hope you stay warm. Sending love to y’all.

xoxo Colleen

Mood: Sleepy
Inspiration: “The Water Diviner” by Ludovico Einaudi

Ecrits Blogophilia Week 30.14 Topic: Hope Springs Eternal
Hard Bonus: Use a line or quote by Walt Whitman (“Give me the splendid silent sun” and “I accept time absolutely”)
Easy Bonus: Include an aqueduct

Aim for the Stars

Aim For the Stars

She dances, a tiny beauty
Leaping through cloud formations
Blonde hair flying in the breeze.

She gallops, full of laughter
Perched on her pink silk pony
She steals your heart away with ease.

Her smile glints golden sunlight
Radiant, warm and lovely
Follow all your whimsies, little sweetheart
Follow all your dreams, little sweetheart
Whirl on, twirl on,
Aiming for the stars.

She runs free, elusive spirit
Changing with every moment
She’s such a beauty to behold.

I wish time would freeze forever
Memories branded on my heart
But days fly and I’m growing old.

Her smile glints golden sunlight
Radiant, warm and lovely
Follow all your whimsies, little sweetheart
Follow all your dreams, little sweetheart
Whirl on, twirl on,
Aiming for the stars.

Colleen Keller Breuning © 2022
April 2, 2022

I needed to write something happy and light today, after posting that heavier poem “Withered Sunflowers” last week. So this week, here is something a little whimsical and uplifting!

This is dedicated to my sweet granddaughter, Posie. I’ll share with you a little insight into my poetry writing process. I started this scribble scrabble back in January on the plane ride back home, after attending her 2^nd birthday. As usual, I had my music on and my notebook at the ready. I wrote parts of this piece as I listened to Radiohead’s song “No Surprises.” It kind of follows the rhythm of the lyrics from the first half of the song, not exact, as I tweaked the syllables and stanza structures a bit. I jotted out a couple of stanzas and then this poem was left unfinished in my notebook until this morning. I played that song again and put on the final touches.

That’s always a fun way for me to create a poem, to be inspired by the music! And Posie, of course – she is a true delight, and she is my heart!

Mood: Whimsical
Inspiration: Posie Mae and “No Surprises” by Radiohead

Golden Parachutes

Golden Parachutes

On Monday mornings I wake up with dread.
My heart is pounding, gut heavy with rocks,
Exploding pressure cooker in my head…
Bracing for chaos as I punch the clock.

Mountains of emails and telephone calls,
Dealing with problems and bad attitudes.
I’m losing all patience, hitting the wall…
I’d like just one moment of solitude.

The week is endless, no relief in sight.
Day after day, corporate misery.
No golden parachutes and no stock rights…
Retirement seems to have eluded me.

My nerves are frazzled and my brain is numb…
Wondering if Friday will ever come.

Colleen Keller Breuning © 2021
February 26, 2021

Ecrits Blogophilia Week 51.13 Topic: I’ll Have Just One
Hard Bonus (2 points): Reference a Sesame Street Character (Frazzle)
Easy Bonus (1 Point): Mention a Cooking Disaster (Exploding Pressure Cooker)

Secret Phrase Guesses:

1.  Dream Land
2.  Clouds in my coffee
3.  Stairway to Heaven
4.  Jacob’s Ladder
5.  Fluffy Pink Clouds
6.  Head In the Clouds
7.  On Cloud Nine
8.  Cotton Candy Cloud
9.  Field of Dreams and Lavender
10. Sweet Dreams are Made of This

Topic:  Tyler   Pic:  Jessica

Bells on Christmas Eve

Bells on Christmas Eve

Jupiter aligned with Saturn
and winter took a bitter turn.
Our flashlights scanned the galaxy
as the hoot owl whispered softly.

Do you remember hearing bells
jingling as Christmas Eve snow fell?
By my window cold and icy,
as the hoot owl whispered softly.

Where did you go? Why did you leave?
Bells break the silence as I grieve.
My shattered dreams a memory
as the hoot owl whispered softly.

Jupiter aligned with Saturn
as the hoot owl whispered softly.

Colleen Keller Breuning © 2020
December 24, 2020

For my Mom and Dad…. memories surround me this Christmas as we prepare for a very different and lonely holiday season without being able to be with family due to COVID. I am missing my family intensely this holiday season, particularly sad we cannot visit with Mom this Christmas. This poem contains elements and references to both of them; the repeating line was triggered by hearing a hoot owl several nights ago outside my window, the first time in our 8 years living here. My Mom loves owls, and she is a constant in our lives. ❤

Today I will be chopping walnuts, just like Dad did every Christmas Eve for his delicious walnut cake. I will never forget the excitement that both Dad and Mom brought all of us kids during the Christmas season. There are so many cherished memories – writing this took me back to the time as a child when I woke up on Christmas Eve, so excited that I heard jingle bells and tried to look out the icy window to see if Santa was on our roof! Even though we didn’t have a lot of material things growing up – we had a lot of love and that’s all that matters. I wish each of you a peaceful Christmas with lots of love and blessings. xoxo

Ecrits Blogophilia Week 42.13 Topic: The Meaning of Dreams
Hard Bonus (2 points): Mention a Childhood Memory (hearing bells jingling on Christmas Eve)
Easy Bonus (1 Point): Include Something Battery Operated (flashlights)

SECRET BONUS GUESSES:

1.  White fox
2.  The snow fox
3.  North Pole
4.  White out conditions
5.  The fox and the hound
6.  Foxy loxy
7.  Sly like a fox
8.  Fox is my spirit animal
9.  Snowblind
10.  Walking in a winter wonderland

Topic: Craig Picture: Lika

Dreams of the Rainbow Bridge

Dreams of the Rainbow Bridge

Somewhere far over the rainbow,
beyond the mountains and seas,
there is a place of peace and beauty
where the cats and dogs run free.

My dreams have been invaded,
colored by memories so sweet.
I saw you running in the distance;
my heart skipped several beats.

I tried to shout, mouth frozen,
no sound escaping my lungs.
It’s impossible to think or speak
when the cat’s got your tongue.

Somehow you sensed my presence,
running, leaping up into my arms.
And just like before, I held you tight
to protect you from life’s harms.

Hearts glowing with endless love,
we sang and danced in the rain,
glad you were whole once more,
beautiful and free from all pain.

Then your image began to fade,
as dawn broke, the sun bursting anew.
So I’ll hold on tight, waiting again for night,
dreams of the Rainbow Bridge and you.

Colleen Keller Breuning © 2020
October 9, 2020

For my sweet Tommy Breuning…. I love you.

Ecrits Blogophilia Week 30.13 Topic: Cats or Dogs
Hard Bonus (2 points): Include the phrase ‘cat got your tongue’
Easy Bonus (1 Point): Incorporate any song title by Andrew Lloyd Webber (“Memories,” from Cats; “Beautiful” from Love Never Dies)

SECRET BONUS GUESSES:

1. Cats and Dogs (in blog)
2. Cat’s got your tongue (in blog)
3. Rainbow Bridge (in blog)
4. It’s A Dog’s World
5. Best friends
6. Tongues Out
7. Trouble waiting to happen
8. Thelma and Louise
9. Trouble with a Capital T
10. Catty friends

Topic: Jay Picture: Christine

Amiss

Shenandoah National Park – Colleen Breuning © 2015

Amiss

Treacherous winds blow
Cold drifts in a field of snow
Dreams of long ago

Something is amiss
I need more in life than this
Searching for true bliss

As the seasons change
Leaves strip away, rearrange
O’er the mountain range

Giving up the fight
Anguish deep in the black night
Dark spirit take flight

Hopes and dreams combust
As my ashes turn to dust
And silent tears rust

Angel, take me far
To a waiting distant star
Free of hurt and scars

Colleen Keller Breuning © 2015
November 3, 2015

To Mingle With Shooting Stars

To Mingle With Shooting Stars

These tired bones ache
and the futile tears fall
undetected, unrelenting,
like soft rain on a summer day.

The wind stills in deference
to a radiant light rising up,
drawing closer, closer
as I crawl to the precipice.

I am about to take my last voyage,
a great leap in the dark
where faith meets fate,
where screams in dreams are silenced.

Will I fall like a lead weight
or sprout butterfly wings;
sink into the fiery depths
or ascend a stairway to heaven?

Plunged into the frigid darkness,
holy water seeps through my skin,
coming clean of past transgressions,
purifying my tarnished soul.

Thunder shakes heaven and earth,
the sentinel angels have spoken;
my body and spirit finally set free
to mingle with shooting stars.

For my dear friend Deborah Truitt…RIP. I love you.

Summer’s End

Summers Endjpg

Summer’s End

The destination of my dreams
is not as distant as it seems.
Watch the fading summer sun start
the liquefaction of my heart.

While eagles soar with high esteem,
the destination of my dreams
is painted in the sky’s blue fields,
where hope abides and sorrow yields.

As raging seas soon turn to glass,
the pangs of your sadness will pass.
The destination of my dreams
infuses my last breath, it seems.

Shut softly your watery eyes,
no time for tears or mournful cries.
I’m free to ride the gold moonbeams,
the destination of my dreams.

In Valleys of Green

Blogophilia Week 23.7 Topic: Unrelenting Spirit
Bonus Points:
(Hard, 2 points) Incorporate a Mary Poppins quote or line (such as “a spoon full of sugar helps the medicine go down”)
(Easy, 1 point) Include two types of yellow birds in blog (goldfinch, meadowlark)

In Valleys of Green

Life is like a runaway train
engines thundering blue and black
oblivious to the pain
beneath the broken tracks
my eyes begin to rain.

Somehow the truth passed by me
beneath the surface, slipping away
into the ever-raging sea
far from the light of day
into total obscurity.

Yet inside, an unrelenting spirit lies
whispering stay awake
don’t close your eyes
the sorrow will soon break
with the gray morning skies.

Lay me down in valleys of green
where the goldfinch play
and the meadowlarks preen
singing at dark and light of day
and all the hours in between.

Oh Angel in white, help me to see
take me to that place once more
where butterflies roam free
where I can heal to the core
where I can be me…

Mary Poppins quote used: “Stay awake, don’t close your eyes.”

SECRET BONUS POINT GUESSES:

1. Angel in white (blog)
2. dark and light of day (blog)
3. Send me an angel
4. It’s a nice day for a white wedding! (Billy Idol ☺)
5. The answer my friend is blowin’ in the wind
6. Behold the desert rose
7. Gypsies tramps and thieves
8. Alien goddess bride
9. Mars – destination wedding!
10. Desperation and destruction in Death valley
11. Found the runaway bride on Mars!
12. Whiter shade of pale
13. Operation Desert Storm
14. Eve of Destruction
15. Dry your tears
16. Cracked Earth
17. Mother Nature is pissed!
18. Don’t cry for me, Argentina…
19. When the oceans die
20. Don’t tell me little white lies

Topic: Tyler Myrth
Picture: Tyler Myrth