Tag Archives: rain

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)

Tide

Tide

I pray like falling rain and light
Hiding within shadows of night
Drowning in the shallows of pride
For I don’t want to fight this tide.

My veins pulse with a quiet dread
Clouds in my coffee and in my head
Unleashing all the tears I cried
For I don’t want to fight this tide.

High above, the sky is broken
So many words left unspoken
Release my fears, arms open wide
For I don’t want to fight this tide.

I pray like falling rain and light
For I don’t want to fight this tide.

Colleen Keller Breuning © 2023
January 21, 2023

Hello, family and friends. Sorry I’ve been a bit MIA.  I’ve been offline much of the week due to work. I’ve worked more overtime the past month since my days in the 80’s working at Arthur Andersen & Co during tax season. Of course, that was 40 years ago when I was in my 20’s…. Suffice it to say, I’m exhausted – because I am, well…. older! My life is: Drink coffee, work, eat, exercise, drink wine and sleep. And repeat. That’s about it lately!

I’ve been trying to stick with a healthy diet through all this, and that has been tough. I have managed to resist the sweet treats and temptations at work, and at home. However, tonight after my 6 mile run, my body was craving some comfort food. So I whipped up a quick meal of Boboli pizza crust, with sauce, parmesan, mozzarella, freshly cut basil, green/red/yellow peppers and seasoning. Yum, and Dan was happy about that too! A guilty pleasure that was, but I think my body just needed some carbohydrates, even if they were not good ones. You just need to give yourself a break after eating oatmeal, salads and soup every day, ya know?

It was really nice this evening to exercise the right side of my brain with a poem. It was a stress buster. There actually haven’t been clouds in my coffee, there are NUMBERS in my coffee LOL!!!! I dream about processing 1099s, W-2s, 941s and running my 10 key calculator. I still have one, and yes, I tape footed numbers to my workpapers just like back in the 80’s. That’s how I roll. My eyes can’t take reconciling bank statements from a PDF online. I have to print them and tick off transactions. Yeah, I am old school.

Well, that’s all I got. Only 10 more days until January ends, then the overtime will ease a bit. I can do it! Have a great weekend.
xoxo Colleen

Mood: Exhausted
Inspiration: “The Sky is Broken” by Moby

Ecrits Blogophilia Week 29.14 Topic: Clouds in My Coffee
Hard Bonus: Incorporate a lyric by Moby (“I pray like falling rain and light;” I don’t want to fight this tide;” “the sky is broken.”)
Easy Bonus: Include carbohydrates

Hurricane Bones

Hurricane Bones

I woke to the sound of rain
hard upon the roof
gutters gushing streams of pain
mourning doves aloof.

Brittle bones begin to ache
as outer bands lope
ominous clouds roll and break
overshadowed hope.

The cat snuggles up to warm
soft gray, purring deep
seeking comfort from the storm
drifting back to sleep.

Astral spirits have been spurned
blue skies turn to black
too late, for the tide has turned
there’s no going back.

Cold winds thrash with great despair
ravishing the land
flesh, bone, there is nothing there
dust mingles with sand.

The rain falls like tumbling stones
melding sky and sea
sorrow carried in my bones
for eternity.

Colleen Keller Breuning © 2022
November 11, 2022

I must be getting old, or else that hour long Martial Arts workout last night kicked my butt, haha. Today I truly did awake to the sound of rain (one of my favorite Sylvia Plath lines)… and pain! I had slept 8 hours, but literally felt like someone pummeled me. Neither Aleve nor Advil helped. I have been trying to fend off a sinus infection ever since our return from Florida last week. I did finally to go my PCP and was prescribed antibiotics since I just had pneumonia/bronchitis/sinus in July. Today, the combination of the sinus infection, the remnants of Hurricane Nicole passing through and two long work weeks have left me feeling whipped.

The topic “hurricane” is one close to my heart, having lived 24 years in South Florida and riding out many – starting from Hurricane Andrew in 1991 through Hurricane Wilma in 2006, which left us powerless for 2 weeks. It was one of the top reasons we left and moved to Virginia. My kids still both reside in Florida, so anytime there’s one churning in the Atlantic or the Gulf, we’re relentlessly watching the “cone” and following the hurricane’s track. It is so exhausting going through a hurricane, from the preparation through the aftermath. It can be absolutely frightening and heartbreaking.

Today we just stayed home, did a little non-taxing accounting work (pardon the pun), laundry and ate some homemade chili that I defrosted this week. It was delicious and so warming on a dreary day like today. Anyway, the topic and the Sylvia Plath poetry lines were my muse this week. Just a little rhyme scheme composition I played around with, to reflect a passing mood. I’ll feel better tomorrow, because there is work to be done around this house in preparation for the upcoming Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays! Best of all – Katie, Brenton, Posie and Hatcher will be coming for a visit beginning November 30. I cannot wait! Have a good weekend, everyone!

xoxo Colleen

Mood: Achy Breaky
Inspiration: “I’ll Take the Rain” by REM

Blogophilia Week 19.14 Hurricanes Hope
Hard Bonus:  Include a line from a Sylvia Plath poem (“I woke to the sound of rain” and “Flesh, bone, there is nothing there”)
Easy Bonus: Include your favorite animal (dove, cat)

Perfectly Flawed

Perfectly Flawed

Paper thin
pale porcelain skin
aching bones upon the wake.

Sullen dawn
a hole in the clouds
and I’m thinking I might break.

Dark sky bursts
rain pelting, melting
glacial heart that never thawed.

Fragile soul
bleeding wounds that healed
and I am perfectly flawed.

Colleen Keller Breuning © 2022
July 30, 2022

Mood: Grateful
Inspiration: “Porcelain” by Moby (my ringtone)

Spirit of the Forest

Spirit of the Forest

Far above the towering redwoods
Where the lone bald eagle flies,
Steely clouds conspire and gather
To break in alabaster skies.

Monsoon descends upon green woods,
Crystal raindrops mingle with tears.
Shadows creep within the forest,
Stirring up my deepest fears.

A life of suffering and sins,
I hear your cry upon the winds.
If only I could stop the rain,
If only I could ease your pain.

Standing firm in distorted thoughts,
Unwillingness to sacrifice.
Tempting fate until the end,
You made your choice and paid the price.

Thunder crashes across the valley,
Walls of rocks are tumbling down.
They seek revenge, restless natives,
As your spirit walks these forest grounds.

A life of suffering and sins,
I hear your cry upon the winds.
If only I could stop the rain,
If only I could ease your pain.

Would you spend each day as if it were your last one?
Would you ride a white horse into the setting sun?
Would you change your mind if you had a second chance?
Would you dare to leave your fate to circumstance?

A life of suffering and sins,
I hear your cry upon the winds.
If only I could stop the rain,
If only I could ease your pain.

Colleen Keller Breuning © 2022
June 11, 2022

Inspiration: Moby “Lie Down in Darkness”
Mood: Pensive


Withered Sunflowers

Withered Sunflowers

Smoke and flames frame the horizon;
Red blood runs cold, hope forsaking.
Distant gunshots are growing closer,
And the sinister skies are breaking.

Families torn, they flee the border,
Clutching withered sunflowers in hand.
A demented monster unleashes terror,
And destruction spills across the land.

The rain beats down upon my window
On this endless and forlorn day.
I crave your touch to soothe my soul,
For you are light and I am gray.

Mortar descends along with madness
As tears blur the television screen.
Dire horrors of war are omnipresent,
Like nothing that we have ever seen.

We are sinking deep in desperation,
A flood of fear pushing all hope aside.
Fighting strong waves of desolation
Humanity swims against time and tide.

The rain beats down upon my window
On this endless and forlorn day.
I crave your touch to soothe my soul,
For you are light and I am gray.

I reach for you, my hand outstretched.
In suspended animation, it lingers.
Your warmth ignites the fires within me,
White light scattering through my fingers.

Hold me tight against the raging storm,
As withered sunflowers come undone.
Clasp your weathered hands in mine,
Together we will pray for peace to come.

The rain beats down upon my window
On this endless and forlorn day.
I crave your touch to soothe my soul,
For you are light and I am gray.

Colleen Keller Breuning © 2022
March 12, 2022

I wrote this poem two weeks ago and have not looked at it since. For some reason, I did not have the energy or the impetus to publish it. My heart is absolutely shattered to watch the heartless invasion of Ukraine…. to see families torn apart, men staying behind to fight, and for what?? No provocation, just the sick, demented desires of one depraved monster to rebuild a Soviet Union that can never be again!  It’s sheer insanity, and we all feel powerless to do anything but watch in horror.

Emotions rage at every turn,  seeing pictures of the beautiful countryside obliterated, the bombing of a maternity hospital, slaughtered children and citizens, mass graves… it’s all so terrifying to see scenes reminiscent of the Holocaust and Nazi Germany being replayed in real time!  It is hard to put into words how helpless, upsetting and grieved that we fellow Americans feel over these horrendous crimes. God help Ukraine, God help us all in this crumbling world!

Someday I will record a spoken word reading of this poem…but not now. I literally do not have the strength to do it without dissolving into tears.

xoxo Colleen

Mood: Heartbroken
Inspiration: “Primavera” by Ludovico Einaudi

Of all the musical pieces I have ever listened to, this one never fails
to touch me deeply and make me weep….

Broken Clouds

Broken Clouds

Ashen gray clouds
hang low to the ground
a thick layer of fog
rising like dense smoke
infusing the atmosphere
with its petulant moods.

All I see is alabaster sky.
The moon has gone missing,
the sun hidden in a sempiternal stretch
of colorless stratus, dull like
a bolt of sparkly silver tulle
that has lost its shine.

And I am walking on broken clouds,
knee deep in ambivalence,
rain falling beneath my sodden feet
to the barren earth far below me.

And I thought I heard
the ocean siren call to me,
with her song of hollow promises
echoing against the crash of waves.

The seas have eluded me.
The skies have betrayed me.
The sun has ignored me.
The moon has shunned me.
The clouds have denounced me.

Where do I go now in this netherworld,
in this endless purgatory?
As twilight beckons, shades of indigo
dissipate the broken clouds.

The crescent moon glides by
with a shy smile and thin hopes,
as a vagabond wind transports me home,
an escalator to waiting distant stars.

Colleen Keller Breuning © 2022
January 13, 2022

This idea for this poem was sparked in the Atlanta airport on a recent trip to Florida. As we were walking through the terminal to make our connection, the current weather board sign caught my eye. It simply stated, “Broken Clouds,” and I immediately knew I would write about it. It stuck with me as I scribble scrabbled some words, listening to mood music on our final flight to Florida. It was very cloudy, foggy with a bit of rain and yes…. broken clouds everywhere.

Then this stayed dormant in my notebook due to work commitments, until I finalized it last night. It morphed into this mood piece, after two rainy, gloomy winter days of editing.

Funny how the writing process can be. It’s been a while since I wrote consistently due to travel, holidays and work. I feel out of practice and intend to get back into my weekly writing routine. It is a form of therapy, and I sure do miss it when I can’t find the time to write! Stay warm, everyone.

xoxo
Colleen

Mood: Cloudy
Inspiration: “River of Rain” by Jami Sieber

Paper Cranes

Paper Cranes

Hope trickles down in purple rain 
As I wait for the morning light
Amidst one thousand paper cranes.

Anxiety flows through my veins,
Cries of anguish deep in the night.
Hope trickles down in purple rain.

The robins sing in sweet refrain,
Welcoming the sun with delight
Amidst one thousand paper cranes.

Bury my fears, bury my pain, 
Spilling tears and ink as I write.
Hope trickles down in purple rain.

Breaking free from these heavy chains,
I am a lone dove taking flight
Amidst one thousand paper cranes.

Simple words can never explain
Depression’s devastating plight.
Hope trickles down in purple rain 
Amidst one thousand paper cranes.

Colleen Keller Breuning © 2021
March 26, 2021

I was going to write a light-hearted ditty about bears having a picnic in the forest, but I just couldn’t make it work within the confines of this week’s Blogophilia prompts. The Prince lyrics and the paper cranes steered me to write this villanelle, a poetry format I have not written in a while. It was fun, like putting a word puzzle together. I love that kind of challenge!

One of my favorite fairy tales was the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. It brings back wonderful childhood memories of Mom reading us bedtime stories from an old book.  I just purchased an enchanting book for Posie that also features this illustrated story.  I can’t wait to give it to her and better yet, read it to her!

The paper cranes/purple rain image above was created by me…using commons pics from Pixabay.

Ecrits Blogophilia Week 2.14 Topic: The Three Bears
Hard Bonus (2 points):  Use a lyric from a Prince song (“purple rain” from Purple Rain; “I am a dove” from I Would Die 4 U) 
Easy Bonus (1 Point): Mention “paper cranes”

This Week’s Pic

SECRET PHRASE GUESSES:

  1. Fairy tales (in blog)
  2. Goldilocks & the Three Bears (in blog)
  3. Wonderful childhood memories (in blog)
  4. Bedtime stories (in blog)
  5. Childhood imagination
  6. Shadow dancing
  7. Childhood dreams
  8. Dreamland
  9. Read me a story, Mommy!
  10. Alone in my room

Topic:  Leta    Picture:  Stormy

The Autumn Storm

The Autumn Storm

Outside the rain clattered,
pounding on my windowpane
as the autumn winds rumbled,
thrashing like a hurricane.

Dread ran deep in the black night,
sharp lightning cut the skies.
Sparking bolts struck the ground,
impervious to my fervent cries.

Hours dragged on in turmoil
until the storm came undone.
Its last chords, a final sonata
in deference to the morning sun.

A prism shone through the clouds,
rich rainbow colors peeking through.
Leaves were scattered on the ground,
jewel tone reflections in the dew.

Crisp periwinkle skies beckoned
as tree limbs stretched, cold and bare.
Blue jays frolicked in the woods,
the scent of hope rising in the air.

Though storms of life may come and go,
I realize how simple it could be
to breathe deep and release my fears,
allowing serenity to wash over me.

Colleen Keller Breuning © 2020
November 14, 2020

Ecrits Blogophilia Week 36.13 Topic: The Final Sonata
Hard Bonus (2 points): Incorporate a quote by Laurie Colwin (“Outside the rain clattered,” “How simple it could be”)
Easy Bonus (1 Point): Include a prism in your blog

SECRET PHRASE GUESSES:

This week’s picture

1.    Moonlight sonata
2.   Luna
3.   Blood moon
4.   Man on the moon
5.   Purple haze
6.   Pink moon
7.   Full Moon Madness
8.   Dancing in the Moonlight
9.   Moondance
10. Bad Moon Rising

Topic:  Lissa    Pic:  Christine

Masks and Lies

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Morgue File Free Photos © 2016

Masks and Lies

Blaze the spark of early fires
Velvet whispers, deep desires
Muted rapture in the dying light
You are shadows, I am the night.

Don’t listen to the weathermen
They talk about the rain again
Tap your homicidal feelings
Paint the sky upon the ceiling.

But you fall to dust and crumble
In walls of words that tumble
Knowing the liar has no truth to give
And he has to have a lie to live.

No matter where the river flows,
I must follow where my mind goes
Masked by clouds, just out of sight
You are shadows, I am the night.

Colleen Keller Breuning © 2016
January 27, 2016