winter – Colleen Keller Breuning

Empty Sky

Empty Sky

My witness is the empty sky,
Devoid of any truth or lie.
Raindrops tumble from clouds of gray…
It all ends in tears anyway.

Winter wallows with brutal cold
As cherished memories unfold.
No matter what they do or say…
It all ends in tears anyway.

Behold as Christmas comes again
With scent of spruce and cinnamon.
But time is cruel, stealing the day…
It all ends in tears anyway.

My witness is the empty sky…
It all ends in tears anyway.

Colleen Keller Breuning © 2022
December 24, 2022

Merry Christmas to all! I was trying to incorporate a lighter Christmas mood, but Jack Kerouac kind of rained on my parade today. Haha!! Researching his quotes, the two lines I chose stuck with me and fit into this Kyrielle sonnet scheme as the repeating final couplet. As I’ve said before, writing a sonnet is like putting together a jigsaw puzzle of words!

Actually I was thinking of how this past year was very difficult for so many. On a personal level, seems like those close to me have gone through a lot this year (or the past 3 years, I should say). This morning I was reflecting on the loss of my dear brother-in-law Bob this past April. It was on both Dan and my mind, we happened to talk about it upon waking this cold Christmas Eve. We both have such wonderful memories of Bob, his tales of adventure, Sasquatch, goofing off in Michigan with the kids. If you knew Bob, you can just imagine! All kids absolutely LOVED him! Our kids loved playing pranks on him, one year they woke him as he was sleeping in the basement with a robot contraption featuring a vacuum cleaner! I have some hilarious pictures of him – what a sense of humor and a beautiful heart he had. He was the youngest of four Breuning brothers, and the loss was very sudden and tragic. It left us all stunned and devastated, we are still saddened by his early departure from this Earth.

It is also that time of year when I reflect on special Christmas memories from my childhood, and how lucky I was to have the parents and siblings I have. We didn’t have a lot of money growing up, but we always had special family times and memories. Some of them were crazy funny, and it’s always so much fun to repeat those stories when we are all together (which unfortunately is getting rarer these days). Christmas has always seemed less special after losing my father in 2003. It sort of jolts you into this alternate reality: your parents are actually not going to be immortal like you secretly hoped. I cherish all the time I have with my Mom and look forward to seeing her on Christmas!

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas, may you spend it surrounded with your loved ones, making more cherished memories. Stay safe, and stay warm!

XOXO Colleen

Mood: Melancholy
Inspiration: “Morning” by David Darling

Ecrits Blogophilia Week 25.14 Topic: A Cherished Memory
Hard Bonus: Incorporate a quote or line by author/ poet Jack Kerouac (“My witness is the empty sky” and “It all ends in tears anyway.”)
Easy Bonus: Mention your favorite herb or spice (cinnamon)

Bewilderment

Bewilderment

Summer beckons, delights of June
My eyes are the size of the moon
Gentle breeze caresses the bay
And I won’t let it fade away.

Pour the champagne, the night is young
The taste of passion on my tongue
The weeping willows bend and sway
And I won’t let it fade away.

My wings flutter like mockingbird
Bewildered by your ad hoc words
Winter sun sets in skies of gray
And I won’t let it fade away.

Summer beckons, delights of June
And I won’t let it fade away.

Colleen Keller Breuning © 2022
December 3, 2022

Happy Saturday! We are having a blast here with Katie and the grandkids! This is a short off the cuff Kyrielle sonnet that I jotted down this morning. It kind of evolved from the Panic! At the Disco lyric “eyes are the size of the moon.” It’s just a little piece about love, life, and wanting to hold onto the warmest memories we make. We go through so many emotions in life, some bad times along with the good. Sometimes people say things not intending to hurt others, but they are just words. Though it isn’t good to live in the past or the future, it always helps to have beautiful times to bring to mind. It also lets us know that pain and sorrow do not last forever. Sorrow never completely goes away, it can become less intense but then wash over you again like a rogue wave.

I wanted to write about the wonderful time we had at Otium Winery with the grandkids this past Thursday. It was a spur of the moment trip that’s around the corner from our home. The minute we opened our car doors upon arriving, three barn cats ran up to us and greeted the kids with loud meows and purring. They were so excited, since my fraidy cats have only been making very careful appearances for them. The sun was setting at the winery, and we got some beautiful photos of them with the cats. I will always cherish this memory, the picture Katie took of my holding them, cats at their sides, and the beautiful winter sun setting in the background – I adore this and live for these moments!!!!

Hope everyone has a wonderful and blessed weekend!
xoxo Colleen

Mood: Thoughtful
Inspiration: “Je Te Laisserai Des Mots” by Patrick Watson

Ecrits Blogophilia Week 22.14 Topic: Bewildered
Hard Bonus: Include a lyric from Panic! at the Disco (“Eyes are the size of the moon” and “pour the champagne”)
Easy Bonus: Use the term “ad hoc”

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

My Christmas Spirit

My Christmas Spirit

Tender hearts swell with gratitude,
The season casts its festive mood.
Twilight twirls in fresh fallen snow
As Christmas lights twinkle and glow.

Cardinals cavort in branches bare,
Winter sun fades in crimson flair.
Your spirit calls when cold winds blow
As Christmas lights twinkle and glow.

Memories of you warm my soul,
Your absence left a gaping hole.
Tears and emotions ebb and flow
As Christmas lights twinkle and glow.

Tender hearts swell with gratitude
As Christmas lights twinkle and glow.

Colleen Keller Breuning © 2021
December 31, 2021

Memories of Christmas past always come to mind as I am decorating for the Christmas holidays. This year, for the first time in 8 years, I decided to put up some of my Dickens villages. It always makes me think of my father, for some reason. He delighted in seeing the lighted houses when he visited our Florida home shortly before he was diagnosed with cancer in 2001. We had him around until February 2003, and then our whole world changed.

Not having Dad around, especially at the holidays, makes me a little melancholy at times. He is my own personal Christmas spirit that comforts me when I am feeling sad or unsettled. I know he’s watching down on everyone in our family, with a huge smile. I believe he’s proud of all of us, to see how our families have grown. I only wish my grandchildren could have met him. I miss you and love you, Dad.

I hope all of you had a wonderful 2021 and holiday season, despite all the turmoil, COVID, and heartbreak we have seen in this world. I wish you all peace, health and joy in 2022!

Love,
Colleen

Mood: Pensive
Inspiration: “In the Bleak Midwinter” by Ric Mills

Spring Equinox

Spring Equinox

Ides of March haunt me
as I sulk in my bedroom
wallow in darkness

winter winds persist
robins ruffle breast feathers
at the hint of snow

shades of ivory
floating free from the heavens
melting on impact

new dawn breaks golden
sun rays caress tulip buds
cherry trees blossom

feel the world shifting
on cusp of spring equinox
birdsong lifts my heart

Colleen Keller Breuning © 2021
March 20, 2021

Meet & Greet:

Happy Spring and Happy Anniversary to us! My real name is Colleen Marie Keller Breuning and I’m a faithful Blogophiliac to the core. I can’t believe it’s been 14 years that we’ve been blogging together in Blogophilia!

I joined in 2008, the very first season — not sure the exact week, but I estimate sometime between Week 11 & 15. I remember seeing Blogophilia when it first launched, but I just lurked a while because I wasn’t sure if I was up to the challenge. I believe I saw a few of the poets and writers from other Myspace groups posting there – DJ Myke, Violeta Falo, Craig Fallon and Dahlia Ramone come to mind. I decided to dive in head-first with a revealing emo poem. I think Tyler Myrth joined about the same time as me or a few weeks later. And I do not think I’ve missed one week since then, despite vacations, illnesses, crazy work hours, exhaustion, life in general and lack of motivation!

The thing I love most about Blogophilia is the friendship and camaraderie within the group. I have met several of the present and past participants in real life: Violeta Falo, Dahlia Ramone, Christine Wichman and Lisa Kessler. And the funny thing is I met all of them during various trips to California. I would love to meet more of you in the future! Let me know if you are ever in the Northern VA/Washington DC area. I would be happy to meet you at a winery (but of course)! 😉

Another thing I love about Blogophilia is that it’s the ONE thing that has kept me writing consistently every single week!!! Honestly if not for that weekly challenge, I would probably be quite lazy and just not write. I try hard to find at least an hour or so on a Friday or Saturday to dedicate to writing. If you do the math, since we have now completed 13 years, that is roughly around 676 weeks of writing challenges! (WOW!!!!!) That means 676 poems that I otherwise may not have written on my own. I also love that the different challenges (some very boggling) often lead me down a rabbit hole, and I end up writing something I normally would not write. The one thing I most regret is not having enough time lately to visit everyone’s blogs. It weighs on my mind that life is so busy that I can’t even do the reading I WANT to do. Work and life circumstances have been taking up the majority of my time recently. I apologize and hope to do better! *sigh*

So thank you for the years of dedication to our group and the writing inspiration, Marvin Martian and the entire gang of Blogophiliacs! I love you all!! ❤

Ecrits Blogophilia Week 1.14 Topic: Happy Anniversary to Us (Topic Provided by Marvin)
Bonuses – Choose up to three bonus suggestions and use in your blog to score 2 points each (6 points maximum): From the list Marvin provided I used: 1. Ivory for the 14^th anniversary. 2. Ides of March. 3. Something a 14 year old likes to do – sulk in bedroom

*****MEET & GREET – Score extra points for introducing yourself either on the WordPress blog or the Ecrits Blogophilia Facebook post. Include your name, when you started with Blogophilia and your favorite thing about the Blogophilia writing group/challenges!!!*****

SECRET PHRASE GUESSES:

1. Party Time
2. Hey Mr. DJ
3. Hit the Dance Floor
4. Move it to the rhythm
5. Get into the Groove
6. Pump up the Jam!
7. Techno Beat
8. Mosh pit
9. Dancing machine
10. Let the rhythm move you

Stray

Stray

Dark loner wanders as the sun goes down,
Dirty asphalt beneath his weathered feet.
Straying on, past the far edges of town,
There is no vacation on these mean streets.

Though winter is waning, bitter winds blow,
He shivers behind a ramshackle shed.
His fur coat matted by cold rain and snow
As visions of summer dance in his head.

Searching for solace, hungry and alone,
A life counted with every waking breath.
The black specter of fear gnaws at his bones,
Too many years he has eluded death.

Your journey is over, so close your eyes…
Fading deep into the nights of goodbye.

Colleen Keller Breuning © 2021
March 12, 2021

A sonnet for all the stray cats that I would love to save…. 😥 ❤

Ecrits Blogophilia Week 53.13 Topic: Vacation
Hard Bonus (2 points): Include a Grateful Dead Lyric or Title (“Cold Rain and Snow” and “In the nights of goodbye”)
Easy Bonus (1 Point): Mention a Fur Coat

SECRET BONUS GUESSES:

Snake in the grass
Snakeskin
Venomous reptile
Mortal coil
Hissy fit
Viper
Rattlesnake
Slithering away…
Leather for my snakeskin boots
The sidewinder sleeps tonight

Topic: Craig Pic: Christopher

Inspired by the music:

Whiskey Drinker’s Sonnet

Whiskey Drinker’s Sonnet (Dark Sonnet #3)

The winter sun fades out, no crimson glow
And a wall of endless white is falling.
As I shiver against the ice and snow…
The bottle of Macallan is calling.

Into cut glass, I pour liquid courage,
A cascade of gold hope to see me through.
North Star beckons, a trail to encourage…
Just follow it and keep your dreams in view.

I want to conquer life, to soar, to thrive,
To drink the warm amber, drown my sorrows!
Flow through my veins and make me feel alive…
I want it now, today and tomorrow!

Release all my troubles this cold, dark night
And banish the zings in the morning light.

Colleen Keller Breuning © 2021
February 5, 2021

Ecrits Blogophilia Week 48.13 Topic: On a Cold Dark Night
Hard Bonus (2 points): Include a song lyric from the original Willie Wonka movie (“I want it now/I want today/I want tomorrow” and “Just follow it and keep your dreams in view”)
Easy Bonus (1 Point): Use the term ‘the zings’ correctly (it means hungover)

SECRET BONUS PHRASES:

1.  Goth Girl
2.  Funeral for a Friend
3.  Gothic wedding
4.  Under the Veil
5.  Creature of the Night
6.  Bride of Frankenstein
7.  Vampire Queen
8.  Witchy Woman
9.  Evil Woman
10. Here comes the bride, all dressed in…black

Topic:  Michelle    Pic:  Dia

At First Frost

At First Frost

Dew
frozen
on grass blades
first frost comes late
crunching under boots
sudden change of seasons
as December tumbles down
cold air clashes with bitter winds
bare branches of the maples tremble
scored and stripped of their remaining brown leaves
alabaster clouds gather overhead
signaling their steely intentions
a gentle hush comes over me
white snow speaks in silent tongues
releasing pristine flakes
and I breathe deeply
as time stands still
winter draws
ever
nigh

Colleen Keller Breuning © 2020
December 4, 2020

Ecrits Blogophilia Week 39.13 Topic: Sudden Change of Seasons
Hard Bonus (2 points): Incorporate the phrase “first frost”
Easy Bonus (1 Point): Use the name of a punk rock band (Clash)

SECRET BONUS GUESSES:

1.  White snow (in blog)
2.  Pristine flakes (in blog)
3.  Frosty the Snowman
4.  Dreaming of a white Christmas
5.  Baby it’s cold outside
6.  Bananarama
7.  Snowflakes
8.  Raspberry Beret
9.  Old Man Winter
10.  Help me, I’m Melting, I’m Melting!

Topic: Christine Pic: Rebecca R.

Stars In The Southern Sky

Stars in Southern Sky-1 — Glenn Frey Photo © Gus Stewart, Redferns; Photoshop Creation by Colleen Breuning

Stars In The Southern Sky (A Quatern)

There are stars in the southern sky
Smiling as the full moon floats by.
Hear my voice on the summer breeze,
Sweet songs drifting across the seas.

The world keeps spinning, do or die.
There are stars in the southern sky.
The candle flickers, growing old.
Starkness of winter blowing cold.

My days get shorter, wracked with pain
In this deluge of freezing rain.
There are stars in the southern sky,
Hidden by clouds as angels cry.

Watch as I defy gravity,
Set free from this purgatory.
And when I twinkle, you’ll know why
There are stars in the southern sky.

Written in memory of Glenn Frey of The Eagles… inspired by one of my favorite of their songs, “Seven Bridges Road.”

Waiting For Spring (A Villanelle)

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Waiting For Spring (A Villanelle)

Sweet sentient beings of the sky

Rustling about in the hedgerow,

Waiting for spring… to dream, to fly.

A cool wind whispers as clouds roll by,

Telling tales they already know,

Sweet sentient beings of the sky.

Heed the call of the lonely magpie

Through the valley, soft voices echo,

Waiting for spring… to dream, to fly.

Cardinals flock and chickadees cry,

Seeking comfort in haven of snow,

Sweet sentient beings of the sky.

Dancers in the wings, crows go awry,

Stirring up horses in a meadow

Waiting for spring… to dream, to fly.

Rest little ones, morning is nigh.

The stars will guide you as you go.

Sweet sentient beings of the sky,

Waiting for spring… to dream, to fly.

January 7, 2015