heaven – Colleen Keller Breuning

Washed Out to Sea

Washed Out to Sea

I sit upon the craggy rocks
Fluffy white clouds float by in flocks
The past, a distant memory
As the tide washes out to sea.

My heart feels hollow, left behind
Tears of sorrow render me blind
Whispers to heaven, fervent plea
As the tide washes out to sea.

Take me with you, far and away
To golden fields and jasmine sway
Our haven for eternity
As the tide washes out to sea.

I sit upon the craggy rocks
As the tide washes out to sea.

Colleen Keller Breuning © 2024
February 10, 2024

Hello everyone – hope you are having a great week! This was Writer’s Choice Week in Blogophilia, so I could write as my heart desired.

Next week marks the 21^st Anniversary of my father’s passing; he died of lung cancer on February 17, 2003. This poem is dedicated to him. The pain of losing him will never, ever go away. Dad was a “gentle giant” and my protector. He was the strong and silent one who was always looking out for me during my life, even when I didn’t want him to. Everyone loved and gravitated to him, especially babies and children. He was an inspiration for all his five children, and countless grandchildren. I miss his comforting presence, his voice, his hugs, his sense of humor, his hearty laugh, his love for life. I even miss his funny, prolific sneezes (he could sneeze like 15 times in a row)! Dad was a great cook, a bird nerd and a music lover, which I believe all of us kids inherited from him. For some reason, the past few weeks I have found myself thinking of him at the end of the day and releasing a few tears. He died far too young at the age of 68, and we all wish we had more time with him.

That said, I am instead trying to focus on the beautiful memories and the blessings that I have received from Dad throughout my life, which are plentiful. Some of the best memories I have are just of BEING with him…. going to work at the rail yards, playing ball in the backyard, watching the fireworks from our playroom window, summer nights sitting on the front porch, listening to music, watching hockey, driving trips, rocking on hotel porch chairs simply watching and listening to the ocean… He may not have been perfect, as we are all flawed in some way, but he was the perfect Dad for me. I miss you and love you, Daddy!

May you all have a Happy Valentine’s Day – remember to cherish those you love, and always take the opportunity to show them and tell them how much you love them!!! ❤

xoxo,
Colleen

Mood: Sad
Inspiration: “Dear Father” by Neil Diamond – Jonathan Livingston Seagull, Dad’s favorite

Ecrits Blogophilia Week 32.15 – WRITER’S CHOICE – Washed Out
Hard Bonus: WRITER’S CHOICE – Include your favorite flower (jasmine)
Easy Bonus: WRITER’S CHOICE – Incorporate floating clouds

The Whispering Wind

The Whispering Wind

When night falls with pain and sorrow
and I’m feeling cold and hollow,
in the midst of anxiety,
the whispering wind comforts me.

Hear the caress of windchime rings
as the lonely mockingbird sings.
While pondering my destiny,
the whispering wind comforts me.

Now as my restless spirit roams,
guide me to my heavenly home,
and when the rain falls to the sea,
the whispering wind comforts me.

When night falls with pain and sorrow,
the whispering wind comforts me.

Colleen Keller Breuning © 2023
March 3, 2023

Happy Friday! I quickly penned this sonnet in between work projects this evening. It’s feeling a little bit like winter this evening, dark and the wind a bit gusty. The wind seems to speak to me here at our home in Virginia. We get a very strong western wind that comes straight down the road and hits the front of our home, as we are at the bottom of the cul-de-sac. Sometimes it whispers, but other times it howls like a banshee! I almost think the wind is one of my muses. I mean, after all, I am a Gemini an air sign. Maybe that’s why the wind evokes my senses. I have sensitive but strong lungs, haha.

I can’t believe it’s already March. The winter has flown by. Are you ready for spring? I certainly am – and my daffodils are already starting to bloom. I hate to complain about the weather too much, but it sure has been finicky lately. One day it’s 30 degrees, next day it’s 70! The highly variable temperatures are confusing the spring bulbs, and also wreaking havoc on people’s health. I think it’s safe to say most of us are ready to embrace some warmer weather and enjoy the sun a bit. And on the bright side – daylights savings time starts next weekend, so it will be lighter later in the day. Yahoo! I can’t wait for that, as it gets old driving home from work in the dark. It can be a bit nerve wracking, and I’m always paranoid I’m going to hit a deer or something.

Nothing else new here. Dan and I are pretty busy with tax season, so we haven’t been doing much but working. One of these days we’ll get out for a winery visit, but not this weekend. Lately we’re lucky to go to the grocery store together, lol… We need to plan our next vacation, as this is the first time ever we don’t have specific plans in the books. A tropical getaway sure would be nice! Hmmm…. time to start daydreaming. But more likely, it will be a trip to Florida to visit the grandkids, whom I miss dearly. Have a great weekend, everyone.

xoxo
Colleen

Mood: Windy
Inspiration: “Whispering Wind” by Moby

Ecrits Blogophilia Week 35.14 Topic: Whispering Wind
Hard Bonus: Incorporate a lyric from the band New Order (“when the rain falls to the sea”)
Easy Bonus: Include a gymnastics event (rings)

The Mourning Light

The Mourning Light

no sign of the sun
the morning is full of storm
framed by steel gray clouds

the heavens melt down
weeping angels fill the sky
shedding bitter tears

the mud and the roots
drown in relentless sorrow
shallow and hollow

restless winds of March
ruffle the raven’s feathers
ashes to stardust

sepia snapshots
the essence of life wavers
in the mourning light

Colleen Keller Breuning © 2021
March 5, 2021

Ecrits Blogophilia Week 52.13 Topic: Melt Down
Hard Bonus (2 points): Incorporate a line from a Pablo Neruda poem (The morning is full of storm; the mud and the roots)
Easy Bonus (1 Point): Include a character from Dr. Who (Weeping Angels)

Secret Phrase Guesses:

Mad Scientist
Kitchen Chemistry
Weird Science
Science Experiment
Back to the Future
High School Chemistry
Test Tubes
Wild Hypothesis
Love Potion #9
Crazy in Love

Topic: Christine Picture: Christopher

Amethyst Sky

Rain has fallen five days straight.
The levee breaks, hope comes undone.
Tears from heaven flood the grass,
Sparkling like diamonds in the sun.

But it’s all right, I hear your voice
Whispering as twilight draws nigh.
Your smile beckons from distant stars
Twinkling in the amethyst sky.

Now westward winds stir restless,
whipping up the anger and wrath.
Flames shadow dancing in the dark,
the fire casts its light upon my path.

But it’s all right, I hear your voice
whispering as twilight draws nigh.
Your smile beckons from distant stars
twinkling in the amethyst sky.

I don’t want this pain anymore,
It’s been far too many years.
Give me shelter from the storm,
Ease my anguish, dry my tears.

But it’s all right, I hear your voice
whispering as twilight draws nigh.
Your smile beckons from distant stars
twinkling in the amethyst sky.

Colleen Keller Breuning © 2015
October 7, 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.

Ode to Elly

Blogophilia 50.3 Topic: “There is no “I” in Team”

Bonus Points:

(Hard, 2pts): mention a Maya Angelou quote
(Easy, 1pt) : incorporate a unique use for honey

Final date to post: February 12th, 2011 GMT midnight
Final date to post ALL GUESSES: February 15th, 2011 GMT midnight

Ode to Elly

I read the news and sat motionless for hours,
Staring out the window at the sky black as coal.
I searched in vain for solace, words of wisdom…
As pangs of sorrow echoed through my soul.

She painted passionate portraits with her quill,
A songbird’s cry, whispering lovers who part.
Her words are the honey that soothes the sting…
They hold together the broken pieces of our hearts.

Now our heads bow down in silent prayer,
Hot tears melding with the gentle winter rain.
Hear her tender voice wafting in the breeze…
Filling us with warm comfort, easing the pain.

She is an angel in funky boots watching over us all,
Surely as the fading sun sets and distant planets spin.
She sails on in dark skies, ever dancing on moonbeams…
Nothing can dim the light which shines from within.

I was all set to let Tommy take the helm this week and write a funny blog. That was, until I woke up this morning and went through my usual habit of checking the Facebook feed. It was so early I had not even had my first cup of coffee. I was directed over to a Myspace Blog written by my dear friend Lainey, where I read the heartbreaking news that our beloved friend Elly Funky Boots had passed away of lung cancer on Tuesday, February 8. I was, quite simply, stunned…. and deeply saddened.

To all of the writers who knew her on Myspace, Elly Funky Boots was a sweet, compassionate woman with a heart of gold and a very talented pen. More than that, she had a wicked sense of humor and was a real friend to everyone she encountered. She was an integral part of the CPC and Harmony Pub blogs, and she truly was one of those people who believed that there was no “I” in Team. She collaborated with fellow poets, encouraged fledgling writers and even hosted poetic challenges at different venues at Myspace during the blogging heydays.

I had the privilege to get to know Elly a little better in 2009, when she became a featured poet at my e-zine Blue Turtle Crossing. She was very gracious and generous, basically granting me full access to her blogs to pick and choose from the many delightful offerings of her poetry. She was intensely private, preferring to only go by her pen name of Elly. I had prod her a little to allow her to let me publish a photograph of her on the site, as she was a very modest lady who preferred to let her adorable, wild “funky boots” avatars set her apart from all the rest.

I never even knew that her real name was Patty until today. Rest in peace, dearest Patty. You will be missed, my dear friend.

Marvin, the Maya Angelou quote I used is:

“Nothing can dim the light which shines from within.”

Also ~ I will send in my secret bonus points separately this week, as I do not want to detract from the serious nature of this blog.

HUGS and LOVE to all my friends who knew and loved Elly!