The moon was so bright tonight, so full of himself.. casting crisp moonshadows on the landscape awash in a pallor of blue. The stars refused to yield and they somehow shone just as bright glistening like priceless gems by candlelight. The owls sang their courtship..”who cooks for you?”; Then a sudden movement out of the corner of one’s eye as they would glide silently from point to point until their plaintive questions turned into a raucous belly laugh upon reuniting. This bawdy festival of celestial and bestial bonhomie continued as the moon slipped overhead with a glare of eerie proportions as he conducted himself. He made the horses in the paddocks restless, and me too. I found even my dim eyes could perceive my progress across the field to find the smell of horses and quiet munching. I reached out a hand to find the warmth of large bodies and a smooth summer coat. I leaned in, and the mare leaned back to greet me. I stood for awhile, hands flattened and skimming her coat until I was sure to have the delightful smell of horse left on my hands. Then I bid her goodnight and picked my way by moonlight back to my door, through the throng of owls belly laughing in the bath of blue light. Upon crawling in bed I relished the smell of horses that clung to my hands and finally found sleep on a night that plainly refused to be dark.
CvWG 9/2019
The night that refused darkness

Poetry night, so bear with me;

Emotional darkness swallows hope and innocence

It is said that light and darkness can’t occupy the same space at the same time, but I know that
it can.

Oil and water, when mixed, form millions of tiny circles, as the hydrophobic properties of oil close
it off from the aqueous solution. Still, they stand together, in the same space, at the same time.
As is true of life and the human condition, emotional darkness swallows hope and innocence.

Then, shortly after, the reverse is true. What’s to become of the one who sees the two exist at
the same time? Light, existing parallel to the dark like oil on top of water. The soul of the
onlooker caught in between the two layers, staring at them both in confusion and awe.

Very few have experienced the phenomenon of light being forced to hold hands with the dark.

Neither moving. Going not forward, nor backwards. Not up or down. Just….still. I tell you it’s got
every resemblance to holding one’s breath indefinitely. Waiting for God to say “BREATHE!”; Yet,
the command never comes. Blind faith and exhausting loyalty sustain the lost who continue to
wait to breathe.
CvWG

She enters into it with faith renewed

Sometimes out of habit, heart without a clue

Faithfully, there’s only one constant true

Always with eyes of perilous blue

Her honesty disarms a man

And apparent fearlessness otherwise beguiles

Independent and stubborn

With eyes that flash of perilous blue

With creative Zeal that draws you in

Watch as she Revels in life’s Beauty and pain

Listen as she swears she do it all again

But something’s hidden under the perilous blue

Don’t box her in

Don’t tell her that you love her

Don’t think that she’s yours alone

Cos you’ll soon discover

Why those eyes are so perilous and blue

She doesn’t mean to wreck your world

Lower lip bitten in turmoil and fear

It’s just that she doesn’t know how to handle

The riches you freely offer unto her 

Left sitting there as she Fades out of view

A song

Gone baby gone,

You went and ruined it this time

Gone baby gone

Maybe you will finally opine

She’s run away for good this time

Fled from the all too familiar  scene

It could have been frogs fur fine

But you misdirected the whole damned thing

So she’s gone baby gone

And you are left with nothing

Resolved herself before dawn

And left you the ring

So sit back most eligible bachelor

And wait for the next fool

Three strikes you are out Ole Blazer

Surely you know the rules

CvWG

10.2.18

My Mother’s Hands

Dear gentle hands have stroked my hair

And cooled my brow,

Soft hands that pressed me close

And seemed to know somehow,

Those fleeting moods and erring thoughts

That cloud my day,

Which quickly melt beneath their suffrage

And pass away.

No other balm for earthly pain

Is half so sure,

No sweet caress as filled with love

Nor half so pure.

No other soul so close akin that understands,

No touch that brings such perfect peace as Mother’s hands.

~Charlotte G. Slater       1.18.01

Here comes the sunshine

Here comes that daughter of mine

Here comes wit sublime

Here’s a poem for her for all time

Sweet kisses

Three wishes

Lovely MacKay

The most beautiful

The most willful

The most fantastic countenance 

I have ever seen

Sweet bliss

A mirthful twist

Lovely MacKay

You bring me so much joy

A love that does not cloy

My heart you fully employ

~Charlotte Greer Slater 8.7.09

Enter Twilight       

Looking back on my life

I see all my mistakes run rife

Wake up another day but the pain won’t go away

What am I fighting, in my own peculiar way?

Enter the twilight

And rise into the light of dreamtime

Give me knights and dragons to smite

As I rise straight through the night and out of time

Into a light I pass

Another dream another chance

To succeed I must find my compass

Through the maze will I advance

I’m going to find my way in life 

Finally see things in black and white

Making everything all right

If I could just rise to the light

Because I know there is time

So I must exercise my dreamtime

Resolve demons as night hours chime

Sorting my life while supine  

– Charlotte Greer Slater      7.16.11

I Chose

Today I chose it over the ocean

Over the trees, their fall leaves

A hawk perched high on a branch

Over the chandelier of sunlight broken

By a cathedral of trees

On azure waves: over sweet smelling flowers

Shaped like teacups and trumpets

Over my ivy garden where I once dreamt

Today I chose the steeper path

I stare defiantly at God’s wrath

I dare the world to encumber me

For I shall chose to shed its weight

And dwell with the stars and moon

Above the treetops

With the owls and night noise

Today I found a reservoir

I chose to find the font inside myself

I will lie down in crocuses

But rise again to the treetops

With owls and night noise

To lift me high

~Charlotte Greer Slater 3.10.09