leave when broken

her crimson 
crumbled brown
finds comfort 
in his frown

while unrelenting 
heartache
calls her feet
to hit the ground

and spill into 
a new life
where he is 
no longer found








Pamela A. Lamppa 
Copyright © 2016 
All Rights Reserved

Aubade

While eyes are sleepy in the early morn
the birds are chirping in their chirpy way,
and I am staggering to find my brain
inside a coffee cup full to the brim.

Those pesky birds sing happy melodies
erasing any thought I'd have to smile.
Their song is more like noise inside my head
until I sip my java in the sun.

Just as my eyes begin to feel the light
I listen to these warblers quite amused
that just a moment prior they were noise
but now they are an aubade to my day.

This morning ritual begins at dawn
but only in the spring and summer months.
My caffeine and a song to warm my heart.
So simple, yet what more could one desire?






Pamela A. Lamppa 
Copyright © 2016 
All Rights Reserved

Tracks

I pirouette
within my promenade

a spin within
this dance
of life

my journey ventures
on to find 

those fated dreams
as iron tracks
go on and on 

then stop.





Pamela A. Lamppa 
Copyright © 2016 
All Rights Reserved

Partners

There is a pool within my hand;
an open palm for you to swim,
to grow your dreams, and to expand
lively notions that will not dim.

And as you tread to ease your soul
you see a light to every goal
rejuvenated in this dip
with my support in our kinship.



Pamela A. Lamppa 
Copyright © 2016 
All Rights Reserved

Painting by Vladimir Kush

A Rispetto, an Italian form of poetry, is a complete poem of two rhyme quatrains with strict meter. The meter is usually iambic tetrameter with a rhyme scheme of abab ccdd. A Heroic Rispetto is written in Iambic pentameter, usually featuring the same rhyme scheme.

Just Yesterday (For Sarah)

Soft petals are the contours of your face,
grown woman from the rosebud you once were;
just yesterday, a babe in my embrace.

Where once you were adorned in bows and lace
your pleats and leathers happily occur.
Soft petals are the contours of your face.

How could I know that you would set the pace
to spin each year into this whirling blur!
Just yesterday, a babe in my embrace.

The world has turned yet I would not erase
the kindness that your heart beats to transfer.
Soft petals are the contours of your face.

My daughter, there could be no better place
than this, the growing kinship we prefer.
Just yesterday, a babe in my embrace.

Your grown-up beauty flows with style and grace
these tears within my eyes cannot deter.
Soft petals are the contours of your face;
just yesterday, a babe in my embrace.




Pamela A. Lamppa 
Copyright © 2016 
All Rights Reserved



The highly structured villanelle is a nineteen-line poem with two repeating rhymes and two refrains. The form is made up of five tercets followed by a quatrain. The first and third lines of the opening tercet are repeated alternately in the last lines of the succeeding stanzas; then in the final stanza, the refrain serves as the poem’s two concluding lines. Using capitals for the refrains and lowercase letters for the rhymes, the form could be expressed as: A1 b A2 / a b A1 / a b A2 / a b A1 / a b A2 / a b A1 A2.

Reference: https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/text/villanelle

Stepping Out of the Box

I walked the straight and narrow as you bade
and toiled for years to make it to the top;
that upper crust of sweetness that you laid - 
mere sugar laced with arsenic in each crop.
How blind I was to miss your hot crusade
not once to see or shout for you to stop.
But I the fool like those who'd come before
neglected to believe you'd want for more.

To all you "haves" and to the one's you've caught,
to those who dare to judge me where I stand,
I bid good day to all you precious lot!
No longer will I work at your demand.
Stripped bare am I and left to dance and rot
amid the rubble of this contraband
with nothing more than tear stains 'neath my eyes
for all your promises that came up lies.

And so, a wiser man have I become
as I remove myself from this affront.
Remorse no longer bids me to succumb
as if I should adhere to bear the brunt.
And those who feel established call me dumb
to step out of this worker-bee's false stunt.
Regrets are just a tool you've used to peel
the livelihood my youth gave you to steal.



Pamela A. Lamppa 
Copyright © 2016 
All Rights Reserved





Ottava Rima

A Ottava Rima is a poem written in 8-line octives. Each line is of a 10 or 11 syllable count in the following rhyme:

one octive poem. abababcc
two octive poem. abababcc, dededeff
three octive poem. abababcc, dededeff, ghghghii

...so on and so on

Reference: http://www.shadowpoetry.com/resources/wip/ottavarima.html

Fresh

(A spring Rispetto)



I wait for earth to warm my heart
the soil to breathe with life anew
where I as one, become a part
of who I am and what I do.

Could any other season be
more personal than this you see;
the me I am and often bring
when all is fresh in early spring?  




Pamela A. Lamppa 
Copyright © 2016 
All Rights Reserved










A Rispetto, an Italian form of poetry, is a complete poem of two rhyme quatrains with strict meter. The meter is usually iambic tetrameter with a rhyme scheme of abab ccdd. A Heroic Rispetto is written in Iambic pentameter, usually featuring the same rhyme scheme.

Ardent Reaffirmation

As sun begins her long descent
from noonday high to brittle beach
his soft-held lips sing sad lament
as sun begins her long descent.
And winsome woes begin ascent
spread far beyond his nimble reach
as sun begins her long descent
from noonday high to brittle beach.

Spread far beyond his nimble reach
while river's current turns aside
his tear filled eyes must now beseech
spread far beyond his nimble reach,
those questions voiced through silent speech
where thoughts and feelings must collide
spread far beyond his nimble reach
while river's current turns aside.

Where thoughts and feelings must collide
to reconnect the heart with love
his grateful prayer will not subside. 
Where thoughts and feelings must collide
with all the care he stands beside,
he places hope in those above
where thoughts and feelings must collide
to reconnect the heart with love.

He places hope in those above
and watches faith remove the sun,
that tender hand suggestive of;
he places hope in those above.
Time passes through what's now begun
like gentle coo of mourning dove.
He places hope in those above
and watches faith remove the sun.




Pamela A. Lamppa 
Copyright © 2016 
All Rights Reserved






"Triolet"
ABaAabAB
"An intertwining triolet poem."
Combining two or more triolets linked by repeating lines. The sixth line of the first refrain forms the first line of the next refrain and so on.

Barrage

I maneuver 
between
skewed shadows

perceive

recall lamp-lit
nostalgia before 
ominous flood

before brooms
before mud

when orange cat
like ginger marmalade
meows sweet mews
on warm 
front porch memory

before 
blood doors
slam away 

dense rain and 
rising river water




(inspired by the painting "Breaking it Down" by Mary O. Smith)







Pamela A. Lamppa 
Copyright © 2016 
All Rights Reserved

Shame

Thought waivers,
bends the blister of
spoken tongue
as harsh domains
fire yesterday's
ember.

Splendor exhausts
earth-scent
as it conspires with
the cost of cadence.

Genes remain
entombed in 
soiled blood
while heritage
resounds with
an echoed
shriek.

I am no better
than Mother's 
yesterday.







Pamela A. Lamppa 
Copyright © 2016 
All Rights Reserved

Diverseness

Deep in the cozy round of crisp-point square
a circled arch holds words that dance and wear
the newness of the stranger found in heart
and beats its song for all who stop to start.

Who says the round peg cannot find its place
like needles shed from bright and bending larch?
Each frozen branch stiffens like laundry starch,
while zeal's curve glows to fill the empty space.

And here, beneath the sheen of budding love
one's differences begin to build a home.
Murmurs as gentle as the peaceful dove
brings heart to rest where never need it roam.

Embrace life's shapes and sizes as they come;
acceptance should be all it can become.









Rebel Multi Rhyme Sonnet 10 syllables per line
Rhyme Scheme aabb, cddc, efef, gg



Pamela A. Lamppa 
Copyright © 2016 
All Rights Reserved

unintended disclosure

i.

cornered walls

echo breath,

sighs heave,

regurgitate

discovery

in dusty paper

and old paint.

ii.

sleep is apprehensive;

a cognizant deterrent

for kept secrets.

iii.

stale scent

misses lip's

covert distortion;

presses truth

against veins.

I question

love's edification.

Pamela A. Lamppa 

Copyright © 2016 

All Rights Reserved

Of Earth and Mortar

Today, the air is fragrant and alive
each breath a gift as sun reveals her light.
It seems so fitting that I might derive
a vision of myself in living flight.

Though I can never boast of feathered wings
nor see the earth from high up in the sky
I can, instead, believe as queens and kings -
I am of her and so identify.

I labor for the deeds of living soul,
my working hands to build the man I am.
From earth and mortar leveled with control
my value far outweighs a tinker's dam.

A price cannot be placed to show my worth
for every day I breathe upon this earth.




Pamela A. Lamppa 
Copyright © 2016 
All Rights Reserved

Threadwork

You are...

fine lines 
that form arches 
beneath lobes;

twined pairs 
that string scented 
euphemisms each time
laugh lines fade.

I am yours;

fingers meshed
within sunrise -
woodland pine
nibbling noses









Pamela A. Lamppa 
Copyright © 2016 
All Rights Reserved

Peeled

I spiral,

thin-ribbon caress
upon guarded memory
while lids burn,
bleed retorts
disguised in 
denim jeans and

bygone tears.




Pamela A. Lamppa 
Copyright © 2016 
All Rights Reserved

Rally

December fingers fumble with April snowfall as radical speech hits the soap box bending beneath Trump's rhetoric and a carnival of Republican brass. To the left, a blend of first time voters and long standing Democrats balance a bucket of Sanders against the status quo. Even my daffodils are mouth agog with the fresh frost that leaves them mourning spring's warmth. 


Pamela A. Lamppa 
Copyright © 2016 
All Rights Reserved

Ebb Tide

I am curled,

breech amulet 

that dispells faith,

derelict branch 

left dormant amid 

mollusk-laid sand;

a scab 

blistered by 

the host of

day-whimper.

Yet night blues 

cool

residual reds, 

burn stiff flesh

into dreams that 

scatter upon

smooth silk 

linen.

How gently I dip

beyond surrender

willing to rise

again when

called.

Pamela A. Lamppa 

Copyright © 2016 

All Rights Reserved

Tempering

A bloom as fresh
as frosted glass

its light
its sound

its mossy sash
on autumn's fingers
filled with strife

that hold so
tight to
passing life.



Pamela A. Lamppa 
Copyright © 2016 
All Rights Reserved

Winter Morning

Daybreak pretends
a tepid critique 
enclosed by 
brisk flake
and frost-laden sod
as winter sun glows
flesh between 
ocean mist
and steel blue.






She asked: "What is the color of apricot?"  I believe I showed her.   


Pamela A. Lamppa 
Copyright © 2016
All Rights Reserved

Impression

I fold,
rush to undulate
beneath your swell,
billow 
at the crest 
of heated curl,
and break 
within your
white-capped 
surge.





dare I make a ripple ...


Pamela A. Lamppa 
Copyright © 2016
All Rights Reserved

Intimations

She turns a whisper
and the air cools 

gently. 

Spring haze drifts
between the glint
of iris reflections 
bending 
within ripples.

I know this place 
of yesterday's glimmer
and bleed memory 
for its taste. 





Pamela A. Lamppa 
Copyright © 2016
All Rights Reserved

Defeat

It is opulent mist,

nightshade of life

copulating behind

the preen of

darkling breath

and the botanical

ash of elusive

mercury

that curl a neglected

tongue's fever

in its vicious cycle

of charade

and shifting surrender.

Pamela A. Lamppa 
Copyright © 2016
All Rights Reserved