Poetry Collection

SUSAN

Praise to you

My glorious Accident.

Creeping, crawling, poking

Your way into my soul.

Letting me know

All men’s plans are child’s play.

God knew

I needed you.

…Donna Hruska

THE LAUNDROMAT

Young matrons

In bulge-bottomed blue jeans,

No-color sweat shirts sagging in indifference

below rollered heads–

This steaming pink rosebud trimmed temple

Pulsates in screaming decibels

Of green and pink machines,

Blaring radio rock–

A cleanliness rite

Substituting for the slim-bodied adolescent

dream of forever-afterness.

…Donna Hruska

THE CHILDREN

…come into my living room

And stare,

Black skulls, too large,

And eyes–

Dull…dull…

…do not cry.

Voices, neither beg nor sing,

Mouths, forgotten how to chew,

Their bones cannot be live.

We measure life in payment books,

In seven no-trump bids,

While eyes

Around my living room

Wait

For me to move.

…Donna Hruska

NOTE

Have you noticed that they rarely cry…

The starving ones?

(Tune in,

Seven Eastern and Pacific

Six Central Standard Time)

Though nerves must scream,

Grating between bones and skin…

Remember that

Next time your stomach growls.

…Donna Hruska

HAIKU

Slicing cold, the lake

Water slithered around us . . .

Spring by calender.

. . . Donna Hruska

FIRST SNOW

First splash of snow,

Spitting,

Sputtering,

Timid among the raindrops–

Slithering,

Slipping,

Warning of crystals to come.

…Donna Hruska

NORTHLAND AUTUMN

Autumn comes to the Northland

Heralded by scarlet maple flags

Signaling from among their yet-green comrades.

Hot-cold patches of sun

Whisper chemical messages

Till the kaleidescope spreads.

Even pine trees,

Remaining sedately green,

Surrender,

Festoon themselves in borrowed finery

And preen before bare neighbors.

A BIG FAT BEAR

A big fat bear

Sat in a chair.

He wore his shoes

And underwear.

A little mouse

Came scampering by.

Did ever a bear

Jump so high?

. . .Donna Hruska

A SPECKLED FISH

A speckled fish

Had just one wish

To go a’sailing

In a dish.

He lost his sail

And broke his tail

And laughed,

“I wish I was a whale.”

. . .Donna Hruska

A MONKEY SAT

A monkey sat

Upon a tree.

I looked at him,

He looked at me.

I tipped my hat,

He scratched his ear.

I said, “Come down.”

He said, “Come here.”

He would not come,

Nor would I . . .

We waved our hands

And cried, “Good-by!”

. . . Donna Hruska

I KNOW A GIRAFFE

I know a giraffe

Who got a sore throat

Because he went out

Without his fur coat.

He played near a castle

And fell in a moat,

But quickly was rescued

By an old ferry-boat.

His mom called the doctor;

His dad called the nurse.

But in spite of the medicine

He only got worse.

Till they gave him ten gallons

Of sassafras tea–

And today he is healthy

As you and as me!

. . . Donna Hruska

RETURN

Dropping through clouds

Flat layers

Above fluffy mounds that invite skipping,

romping–

Sunlight filters through a random latticework

of mists,

Caressing, then gently passing.

Far below

The Sun works its textured tracery on water.

Lines, squares,

Earth, in geometrically precise patterns

Begins to rise.

Now, flaps down,

We pause in mid-air,

Dipping,

Pivoting on a wingtip.

Slowly, grays emerge green

Dotted with white and salmon housetops.

Green separates to grass and trees.

The runway rushes past,

As life returns.

COMMITMENT

If I should drift through life

Uncommitted,

A comedian

Playing in an antiseptic world,

How should I explain my existance?

. . . Donna Hruska

ADVENTURE

Once upon a summer’s day

I looked beneath a stone,

And there a little bug I spied,

Standing quite alone.

He scampered down the path so quick

I scarcely saw him go,

And where he hid himself from me

I guess I’ll never know.

. . . Donna Hruska

A SPIDER

A spider sat

Upon my lap

And settled down

To take a nap.

Now–

I would not want to be thought rude–

But spiders are not like dogs,

Or cats

Or pets like that–

So, I gently set him down,

And I sincerely hope that he

Found a better bed than me.

. . . Donna Hruska

VALENTINE

Of course,

I might have married Gold,

And lived encrusted,

Jaded and jetted,

Statused by the latest;

Or,

I could have opted for Silver,

Lived certain, settled,

Pampered and protected,

Secured by surety;

It is even possible,

I would have chosen Mercury,

Existed individualized,

Unhampered and uncategorized,

Ignored by convention;

As it was,

(I marvel at my discretion)

I found an alloy,

And, not live, but effervesce,

Encrusted, settled and individualized,

Encompassed by perfection.

…Donna Hruska

SONNET II

All beauty does corrupt the eye, as when

A scene that on first viewing sharply seared

The sight, now viewed as daily regimen

No longer holds the grace at first reverred;

But joins the background of our present care

And neither noted nor remarked upon

(Unless a flaw might fleetingly ensnare

The eye) might just as well have been withdrawn.

So too the beauty of a mate once loved

May fade in eyes proximity has dulled

And passions, potent then, now tightly gloved,

May fade; a union by itself annulled.

Until unnurtured beauty gone, the soul

Too late perceives it is no longer whole.

…..Donna Hruska

CHILD

There is a joyful grace

In how your lashes sleep upon your face,

And when you stoop to choose

That bit of lint between your shoes,

You touch my heart.

The airy softness that you wear,

A scent of cookies in your hair,

The way your fingers dart and move,

All things about you join to prove,

The beauty of God’s art.

by Donna Hruska

WINTER

Cold gray light filters

Dully onto damp leaf beds.

It is long till spring.

. . .Donna Hruska

INFANT

Praise to you

My glorious Accident.

Creeping, crawling, poking

Your way into my soul.

Letting me know

All men’s plans are child’s play.

God knew

I needed you.

. . . Donna Hruska

WANTED

The man to whom I will tip my cap

Is he who will teach my children to nap.

. . . Donna Hruska

ON WAKING UP

I have no need of alarm clocks,

No, not for many a year,

Just persistent little voices,

Screaming “cereal” in my ear.

. . . Donna Hruska

A PURPLE MOUSE

A purple mouse

With an orange house

Invited me to tea.

He served blue steak

And polka-dot cake

And danced upon my knee.

. . . Donna Hruska

WORDS

Words, no longer Latin,

Sonorous,

Then still.

Whispered silently

Or raised in unison.

Despair not.

God is the same.

. . . Donna Hruska

PARENTHOOD

Let scientists continue

To perfect a testtube life,

To limit population,

To ease our pain and strife.

Let women seek fulfillment

In their feminine mystique.

Let men pursue the dollar,

Develop talents to their peak.

But I must speak for parenthood,

That much maligned vocation,

For therein lies fulfillment,

Painful joy, heartbreak, elation.

Where else can man with God be whole

Than in creation of a soul?

. . . Donna Hruska

A FOX WITH SOCKS

A fox with socks

Has cut his locks.

He put them in

A cardboard box.

He sent them to

His mother-in-law.

And then he laughed

Ah,haw, haw, haw!

. . .Donna Hruska

A MONKEY SAT UPON A TREE

A monkey sat

Upon a tree.

I looked at him,

He looked at me.

I tipped my hat,

He scratched his ear.

I said, “Come down.”

He said, “Come here.”

He would not come,

Nor would I…

We waved our hands

And said “good-by!”

Donna Hruska

WILL

There once was a brother named Will

Who sat on a high window sill.

“It’s really no bother,”

Said Will to his father,

“Except when I fall, I feel ill.”

. . . Donna Hruska