Serenade to a misspent youth…..

Pink organza dress

A sea of roses in her hair

Undercurrent of sensual sorceress.

Scents of love promised

Followed by adrenalin rush.

 

Temptress divine

A moment of indiscretion

That claimed you as mine.

Followed by a tsunami of regret

And a lifetime of commitment.

 

© Alison Jean Hankinson

 

Image:

Raimundo-de-Madrazo-y-Garreta

Aline with Flowers, Free to use for non commercial use.

I have decided to submit this poem for d’Verse open link night. I wrote it at the weekend. It took me a while to find an image that I liked, and I actually discovered a lot of images by Garreta that I liked, so that was a bonus.

 

Summer sleeps…

Hibernating hedgehogs

Slumbering squirrels

Luscious leaves crunch beneath my feet

As autumn prevails

 

Ochre turns to burgundy

Mist upon the hills

Children wrapped up snuggly

To keep them safe from seasonal chills.

 

© Alison Jean Hankinson

This is for d’Verse meeting at the bar…  is the season where many creatures are going to sleep for the winter- the trees were amazing today-but I only had my cellphone to get photos with…. I wanted to feel justified in my choice of burgundy….

 

Snowflake obsidian and the search for truth…

 

Volcanic igneous gemstone

Black, brave and beautiful shards of midnight glass

Give me peace and calm and inner light, reflect the moonlight.

 

Snowflake obsidian

Talisman around my neck,

As passion ignites my fury and the truth cannot be silenced.

 

Protect and purify

Cleanse my soul in the darkness of this night

Reflect the majesty of a thousand warriors.

 

Pele Goddess of fire

Watch over me, give me strength to fight

Let me vanquish the evil voices that speak to me

From the belly of the volcano.

 

©Alison Jean Hankinson

This was for d’Verse and is about snowflake obsidian which is one of the gemstones associated with my birth sign Scorpio- there are six in total- beryl, apache tear, aquamarine, coral, obsidian, and topaz. Snowflake Obsidian, is a stone associated with Scorpio in Ayurvedic astrology. It is a beautiful colour, and is seen as a talisman. I have always been drawn to truth, this is a Scorpion characteristic, but also something that came to me through my name. Alice is of teutonic origin and means “the wise counsellor, or the truthful one.” I think Alison came from Alice.

The image is in the public domain for reuse and was taken from Flickr.

 

Shades of Dad.

Winter

Chestnuts roasting on an open fire

Christmas Carols ringing in my ears.

The fug of the snug

Stench of sweat and old men.

Scent of Old Spice wafts across the bar

And the unmistakable

Aroma of clan pipe tobacco

Lingers in the air.

 

©Alison Jean Hankinson

This is for d’Verse quadrille.

The photo is actually of my Dad’s dad, (My Grandad).

Hope and Anchor.

Robin singing in the hawthorn tree

A timely reminder for me.

That this day is full of hope.

 

©Alison Jean Hankinson

It was a difficult week this week, and for a while there I was at a bit of a low ebb. Funny what can and does knock us of our course and it is hope that pulls me through.

A few years ago when we were having some colossal woes at a school I was working in, a senior leader proposed that hope was what would steer us forward. Someone questioned this was a valid foundation for any future to be built on and I felt like saying loudly with all my head and heart that sometimes hope is all we have.

The Hope and Anchor is the pub in the village where Dad lives, and it was where we had our wedding reception, and I think that hope was one of the things that my parents taught me to value. Faith Hope and Love.

The images were taken today in Port Carlisle, where Dad lives.

 

 

 

Mary Queen of Scots, hypothetical questions to Darnley on the murder of David Rizzio.

I crept silently to the stairwell

Lest my footsteps be heard by the strangers outside

And I wondered who was with you on that murderous night?

 

My lover and husband whom I had trusted

Child and heir to the throne growing steadily in my belly

And yet I wondered if this would be enough to still your tongue?

 

Your jealously simmered and boiled

Bubbling over into bloodletting at my feet

And I wondered did you love him, or did you love me?

 

© Alison Jean Hankinson.

Questions for d’Verse.

Image courtesy of Wikimedia. from an etching 1791 Mary, Queen of Scots witnessing the murder of David Rizzio.

Shall we sit on the park bench at sundown…?

Shall we sit a while,

Watching the sun go down over yonder?

Shall we share our bravest thoughts and dreams

Express in silent contemplation

Our sense of wonder?

 

Shall we watch the night unfold

Hold hands and watch the day grow old,

Pause a while, dream a little, share a smile

Knowing that the stars meanwhile

will always serve as a reminder

 

Of the love we shared?

 

©Alison Jean Hankinson

This is for d’Verse  where Bjorn has challenged us to write a poem of only questions…my first effort was very questionable….this is my second….

Mother’s Pearls of Wisdom…

There’s no such thing as a free lunch

A job worth doing is worth doing well

Pearls of wisdom

From mother’s repertoire of sayings.

 

She believed that when one door closes

Somewhere a window opens,

That a kindness given

Is a teardrop in heaven.

 

©Alison Jean Hankinson

This is a quadrille for d’Verse. The word we were given was free.

 

Prunella preferred pugs…..

Prunella preferred pugs

As a matter of fact

Not cats

All whiskers and fur and sitting on laps

Not for her.

 

Prunella preferred pugs

Snug as a bug in a rug

with her dog in a shrug

By the fireside.

In the winter.

 

pug-1210025_1920

©Alison Jean Hankinson.

The image is from pixabay and is free to use.