Category: People

Poetry by Patrick Jennings
Read More
The World Comes Apart, Cannon Beach, Oregon, United States of America

Ashore

The world comes apart a little
As I drag myself up onto the shore
Desperate to make the high tide line
Before exhaustion consumes my consciousness
Which seems already sparsely rational

The flood tide saved me
Put land within my reach
But while the Moon is a compassionate Goddess
The Sea Lord is greedy
And eagerly awaits Her waning influence
To drag me back to His depths

Hand over hand I crawl
Wet sand beneath my nails
Sodden clothes a sullen weight
Every laboured breath sputters salt water
Until my eyes roll back
With a final thought

I hope this is far enough

Continue reading Ashore
Poetry by Patrick Jennings
Read More
Waiting, Taken from a moving taxi, Jakarta, Java, Indonesia

Waiting ~ Pic and a Word Challenge #330

In a moment of sizzle
Humming fan blades
And the thrum of traffic

She waited
For some tasty tidbit
I couldn’t make out from the taxi

She thought about yesterday
And tomorrow
Last week and next month

She thought about everything
But this moment
And the tasty thing sizzling

Or the next moment
When the tasty thing would mercilessly
Burn her tongue oh so deliciously

But…

Who’s to say any of this is true?
I was just a photographer living in the frame
Capturing serendipitous moments from a moving taxi

And now I’m just a poet
Listening to the words as they come
Trying to give them their moment

So all of it is fiction
Or maybe some of it is the truth
Though, hopefully

I’ve created something
Which at least
Speaks truly

Even if
It only speaks truly
About the act of creation

Or maybe, the story
Is just saying something truthful
About the creator

Continue reading Waiting ~ Pic and a Word Challenge #330
Poetry by Patrick Jennings
Read More
Beachcomber and Lover, Cannon Beach, Oregon, United States of America

Beachcomber

Beachcombing
You come with me
The same way you come shopping
Indulge me

Shopping
You come into the mall
Find a comfortable place
Then sit and read
Or people watch
Feign interest in the things I buy
Then watch over the bags
While I go to another shop

At the beach
You walk safely
Beyond the longest waves
While I splash about
Getting soaked
Finding sea stars and shells
Sand dollars and seaweed
Always feigning amazement
At the wonders I bring

But whether a crowded mall
Or an empty beach
You always come
Often despite my protestations
That you don’t like to shop
Or go beachcombing
That you’ll be bored
And I’m sure your time
Would be better spent
Doing something else

“No”
You say
“I’m coming”

And it always surprises me
Takes my breath away
When I notice that your feigned pleasure
In a new scarf
Or a hermit crab
Is just a distraction
Because you’re not looking at the object
I’m showing you
You’re looking at me
With the sparkle of wonder in your eye
And I’m reminded again
That you come
To be with me
And there’s no place
You’d rather be

And, my god
I could not love you more
For the way you take pleasure
In indulging me

Continue reading Beachcomber
Poetry by Patrick Jennings
Read More
Hours Before the Dawn, Bridger Bay, Antelope State Park, Utah, United States of America

Hours Before the Dawn, the Sun Rises

Sky and lake
Rippled with moonlight
Clouds a veil
Drawn over coy constellations

On the shore
She stands
In a susurrus of near silence
But for the lap of wavelets
On salt crusted sand

Intent on the texts
Passed between friends
“I am free” she writes
“Good” comes the reply
A pause, and then, “Be safe!”
“I will” she taps out
Adds “I don’t know how long
I’ll be AWOL”
A long wait before
“Your leave is authorized” and
“Take all the time you need”
“I will” she repeats

She smiles
Throws the phone into the lake
Where concentric ripples
Interrupt the linear
Gradually diminishing
Until they disappear altogether

She stands a good while longer
Content
Relieved
If a little anxious
About what the coming daylight will bring
Then shrugs it off

“Fuck him”

Hours before the dawn
The darkness has already ended

Continue reading Hours Before the Dawn, the Sun Rises