Awakening

Still dark when I wake
to stumble from slumber
the light yet a good while away
Cold water to waken
from dreams I’d mistaken
for what was the start of the day

Tea Leaves

Mangled leaves and withered dreams
Torn from their stable branches
In a final flurry of beauty
As they float down on a cold breeze
To join the Turkish rug of autumn.
There may yet be a child of wonder
Who makes a pile as tall
As their tree once was
And refuses to give up on them
As he leaps into their embrace.
But eventually, the snow will fall
Like a curtain on the stage
As the what-ifs and what-could-bes
Take a long, final bow
And melt away into the dull gray
Of the winter’s cold soil.

Roots

Future dreams are trees
With their roots in the present:
Give them water now.

---

Rafiki’s Nikki

CALLING ALL ROMANTICS

By Charles Robert Lindholm

A
Monthly Event,
Full Moon Rising,

Leprechaun

The day started with little laze,

wondering if it’s the same roof under

which I started giggling.

I was lost in something gazing at the trees

visible through my window.

Back in Sublime

So, when days tantalise
and it’s still a bit cold
‘Cos the warmth hasn’t yet come our way
And March sees some colour
with early Spring there
Evident on each sunny day

POLAR VORTEX

By Charles Robert Lindholm

A Polar Vortex,
A Killer Cold
Invades Us
From The North

HAIKU: AS SKIES TURN GRAY

By Charles Robert Lindholm And Karen Meredith-Lindholm

The Winds Blow Cold As

HAIKU: COUNTING OUT SYLLABLES

By Charles Robert Lindholm

 This Is What I’ll Do

HAIKU: I WAIT AND WORRY

By Charles Robert Lindholm

I Wait And Worry

My Beloved Angel Will

HAIKU: AND THEN I WRITE POEMS

By Charles Robert Lindholm

My First Conscious Thought

Is To Take A Breath Of Air

HAIKU: I CAN’T HELP STARING

By Charles Robert Lindholm

Your Eyes Entrance Me

A Flickering Fire’s Flame

THE BEST OF 2018

A Look Back At The Reluctant Poet’s Best Of List For 2018
Thanks To All For A Great 2018 And Best Wishes To You For A Wonderful 2019!!

Thanks for being a part of my life this year!!!!
Chuck
The Reluctant Poet

MY SWEET AUTUMN – REPRISE

By Charles Robert Lindholm

I Am A Lover,
Of The Seasons
And For Each Of Them
I Have My Own,
And Secret Reasons
For Letting Them,
Make Love To Me 

They All Touch Me
In The Deepest Way

THE HERE AND NOW

By Charles Robert Lindholm

Dreams Of The Future
Bring The Sweetness
Of Possibilities
And Hope

IN BETWEEN THE LINES

By Charles Robert Lindholm

There Is A Secret
Hiding Place
I Have
That I Keep

Unknown
To The World

The Freedom to Live

Her life had overturned, become a sort of hell;
The devil lost her soul, but sought her mind to claim.
Once happy, now ensnared inside a secret cell,
Played by her tormenter as if it were a game.

HAIKU: ARMISTICE DAY CAME

By Charles Robert Lindholm

Armistice Day Came

An Illusion Of Peace

SMOKE SIGNALS

By Charles Robert Lindholm

You Think Things
Are Going Well
You’ve Been Together
For Awhile Now

THE NEWS OF REALITY

By Charles Robert Lindholm

Try As I Might
To Live In A Bubble
Away From The
World And It’s Trouble

SURRENDER

By Charles Robert Lindholm

The Last Act
Of A Broken Heart
Is Surrender,
A Final Letting Go
Of A Love That Has Died

HAIKU: CLOWNS IN CRAZYTOWN

By Charles Robert Lindholm

CLOWNS IN CRAZYTOWN

OLD COMPANIONS

By Charles Robert Lindholm

I Have A Couple
Of Old Companions
That I Can Always
Count On
To Stand By Me
No Matter What

SOMETHING BETTER

By Charles Robert Lindholm

She Spent So Many Years
Wishing And Dreaming Of
Something Better
Than What She Thought
She Had

She Had A Restless Heart
That Always Hungered
For More,

MESSAGES MEANT FOR YOU

By Gina Gallyot And Charles Robert Lindholm

Between The Secrets And The Sadness
Hidden In Cracks And Crevices
And In The Shadows
Of The Spaces
Between Lines Of Poetry
Are Messages
Meant For You

I COULD SLEEP IN A SMALLER BED

By Charles Robert Lindholm

I Could Sleep In A Smaller Bed
There Is No Physical Need
For Me To Have All The Room
Provided By A King Size Bed

Faith, Creation and Creator

First posted on http://www.fleetingmuse.wordpress.com on May 15,2018

Rose is a rose
By any other name
Creator, not sanctioned by
One’s own faith
Why is not the same

A Mother’s Dreams

Your dreams do not predict the future,
Be relieved they process the past
So you can function this morning.
Your fear still burns
The sweet blood in your veins,
It contaminates your heart.