Monday, May 3, 2010

Illusion

An orb of promise, hope and possibility
Descends upon an awaiting crowd.
Palms held skyward and eager;
Fingers unfurled like blooms.
The determined sure hands of believers
Jostle with the quivering fingers of the non.

A minnow in my mind
Bubbles to the top of my fish bowl memory,
Where my non-believing hands
Had once let hopes and expectation
Plummet, uncontested, to the ground
With a predictable, uninspiring thud.

But not I, determined my little man,
With the prize securely grasped in both hands.
“I caught the ball”, he declared to his departing contesters,
Before throwing it absentmindedly back to the pitcher.
“Ahhh”, I finally see.
It had been just a ball
All along.

© Strauss
3rd May 2010

Thursday, April 29, 2010

rain haiku



a clothes line draped
in fresh water pearls
after the rain

Strauss 2010

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Thirst and the Nocturnal Captive


There's an oasis on the other side of the room.
My parched mouth yearns for it.
It is just beyond reach.
The more I acknowledge it's existence
The drier my mouth becomes;
The quicker my salivary well retreats.
But at this hour,
The tiny warden forbids my partaking
in activities that should end such suffering.
He requires stillness to enable slumber.

Patiently
I wait the surrender of weary infant eyes.
The moment they do succumb
I shall leap from this bedside incarceration;
Seize that cup in desperate hand
And gulp down a torrent of cool liquid relief,
Sounding my liberated pleasure
With a deep and satisfying AHHHHHHHHH!

I hope I don't wake the warden.

© Strauss 2010

Monday, April 12, 2010

Untitled


Magnify my eyes and you will see,
My iris is a slowly ticking clock;
My pupils, the setting sun.

© Strauss 2010