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Improbable Wings

Posted on 30 October 2019 by H. Hennenburg
Image by David Clode illustrating poem titled Improbable Wings by H. Hennenburg
Image by David Clode

Improbable Wings

A cool rush of flagrant defiance
Unlocks a chain of misdemeanors
That fall from my tongue in a fevered cadence
My soliloquy goes uncharted
In this forest of layered beasts
Whose fragrant alliance has put me up to the mischief
I have fallen at the feet
Of one cleansing breath
That has choked the life from subjugation to rules that loathe exceptions
And I have taken flight on improbable wings

© H. Hennenburg, 19 October 2019

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  • Of Noble Beasts by H. Hennenburg 20 November 2019 We are the dreamer warring with itself, killers saddled with irony.

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Boundless

Posted on 26 October 201926 October 2019 by H. Hennenburg
Image by Conrad Ziebland illustrating poem titled Boundless by H. Hennenburg
Image by Conrad Ziebland

Boundless

Where am I?
In the sea…floating…gracefully
Having left my shore, my home, my beginning –
my end
I am here floating
Counting on the great watery vastness
because nothing else counts
There is no future or past
that can measure against this moment of birth,
this gem of becoming,
this blossoming under the moon
There is no structure made of earth or time
that can define boundaries of love
No words to describe what it means now
What you ask of me is too small
The sea is full of air
the air is full of sea
the cosmos full of rocks and stones
that are full of atoms, full of particles, full of space
Where is there an end or a corner to pin love to
and say, “this is how high,” or, “this is how deep,” or, “this is how long?”
You ask too little of me
I love you more greatly than this

© H. Hennenburg, 20 November 2005

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  • The Shape of Water by H. Hennenburg 14 May 2020 Do you know that the shape of water is round? Like earth, like sun, like…

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Beloved

Posted on 15 October 201915 October 2019 by H. Hennenburg
Image by Mark Basarab illustrating poem titled Beloved by H. Hennenburg
Image by Mark Basarab

Beloved

A river of stars finds me dreaming
Inviting space to sculpt stone into waves
Where river and red sea meet
Where so-called laws of physics
Are tossed into depths unknown
And shadows bear witness
To blood and tears fueling the mallet
The chisel strike sparking points of illumination
Into thin air
To be held aloft in a vacuum
Promising nothing
And doling out all
In a lucidity of timelessness
That gazes into the density of my abyss
And calls me beloved

© H. Hennenburg, 14 October 2019

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  • Whole As Is by H. Hennenburg 4 October 2019 “You are a worthless girl,” she says…and she says it again and again until the…
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Raptor

Posted on 6 October 2019 by H. Hennenburg
Image by Sven Lachmann illustrating poem titled Raptor by H. Hennenburg
Image by Sven Lachmann

Raptor

One morning an eagle flew out from the fog
And crossed my window pane
Splitting the view between treetops and sky
And then disappearing into the wings
Into sight unseen

I was rapt…I was her mark
It was my fog that held her aloft
And that lifted in her absence
Not to be earthbound
But ripped loose by talons seeking life

To bring death into life again
The soaring peal of a tailwind
Resonating the divide
Between treetops and sky
Freeing the spirit like so much fog

© H. Hennenburg, 6 October 2019

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  • Ovation by H. Hennenburg 14 September 2019 Will you dance the transcendent carnality into harmonious crescendo and raise the light into ovation?
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Whole As Is

Posted on 4 October 2019 by H. Hennenburg
Image by Alex Lopez illustrating prose titled Whole As Is by H. Hennenburg
Altered image by Alex Lopez

Whole As Is

“You are a worthless girl,” she says…and she says it again and again until the mirror cracks.

Then she studies the crack. Carefully. As it might well be a gift from beyond. Seeking a hidden message, she leans in and fingers the edges as her eyes scrutinize every jagged corner. She stands back and gazes from a distance. Arms folded. Knuckling fist to mouth…pondering.

“You are a worthless girl,” she whispers, re-examining the careless magic that summoned this unexpected visitor. “What does it mean?”, she wonders silently, eyes fixed on the glassy fissure. All day she is consumed by the question. It follows her through her tasks and obligations. It hovers over her. Slides beneath her. Envelops her.

And the crack in the mirror watches her. When she goes outside, it calls to her. And every time she returns, she studies it again.

She considers, tentatively, “you are not a worthless girl.” Then directly and squarely at the crack in the mirror, she declares, “you are not a worthless girl.”

The mirror does not mend.

But the girl…the girl is now fascinated by the possibility – by all possibility. What could come next?

“You are worth the sun and moon and all the stars in the universe,” she chances quickly.

“You are worth the planets and the ice and the oceans and every bit of life, seen and unseen,” she exclaims.

Nothing breaks, nothing mends. Everything is whole exactly as it is.

“You are worth time and immortality,” she dares. And at this, everything disappears.

She wracks her body this way and that, wanting to see every direction at once. Is it true, the nothingness? What does it mean? “What…is…it…worth?” she utters slowly as her face cracks the smile of consciousness.

© H. Hennenburg, 26 April 2019

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  • Thank You by H. Hennenburg 27 May 2019 Thank you for the journeys that never end and for hopeless dreams that beg us…
  • Ovation by H. Hennenburg 14 September 2019 Will you dance the transcendent carnality into harmonious crescendo and raise the light into ovation?

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Untouched

Posted on 2 October 20195 October 2019 by H. Hennenburg
Image by Public Domain Archive illustrating poem titled Untouched by H. Hennenburg
Image by Public Domain Archive

Untouched

I am held in harbour
Stationed in my moorings
Bathed by the sun
Cradled in moonlight
I am untouched by your storm
If there even really is a you

© H. Hennenburg, 27 September 2019

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Ovation

Posted on 14 September 201928 August 2019 by H. Hennenburg
Painting title Music Magic by Mary DeLave illustrating poem titled Ovation by H. Hennenburg
Music Magic by Mary DeLave

This painting has remained a powerful and ever-fresh source of inspiration since I bought a print of it nine years ago. That is the magic of Mary DeLave Art.

When I look at any piece of Mary’s work, the words “mystery” and “primal” leap to mind. It conjures up from within me something ancient and instinctive; something fundamental and pervasive. What is it about these paintings that is so deeply and endlessly compelling?

Is it the vibrancy of her colours, paired in such a way as to ignite themselves and each other? Maybe it’s the celebration of music, a most powerful force unseen but universally understood. Perhaps it’s the frequent presence of animals in Mary’s work, or the many wide, unwavering eyes shared by all her species that convey an intimate interconnectedness of life.

Maybe it’s the way – if you look at a DeLave painting long enough – a face you hadn’t noticed at first will often emerge, sometimes seeming part of the more obvious faces…are we separate or are we one? And perhaps there is a faint suggestion of spirits in what looks like invisible profiles kissing cheeks.

I could go on and on. Gazing at Mary DeLave’s artwork feels like an infinite process of discovery of self, of the nature of life and of something beyond. Do yourself a favour and head over to Mary’s site and feast your eyes on some gifts that just won’t stop giving!

Ovation

Will you dance if I play?
Will you sing if the music knows you?
Kiss my cheek and loose yourself to the wind?
All that is promised, my friend
Is the golden rooted hum in the lumber of my guitar
And the spirit of trees weeping Spanish Moss
Echoing their deep bass on the oaky breeze
Tickling our palate for lust for life
Only this raises the palms of the dead skyward for more

Will you dance if I play?
Will you stomp the earth into resonating vibration
So that the whole world may sing
All dressed in a dream
With spiraling notions relieving the seams
This is what we came here for
Something ancient and primal
With our skin stretched across the depths
Like a drum

Will you dance if I play?
Will you spin into arms and out again?
Will you rise with a melodious eye
And spy on the whole of existence?
Its steel strung heart of persistence
Voicing the chant of sublime being
Will you dance the transcendent carnality
Into harmonious crescendo
And raise the light into ovation?

© H. Hennenburg, 5 August 2019

Thank you, Mary DeLave, for granting permission for me to share an image of Music Magic, your painting that inspired this poem!

Joyfully linking to Poets United.

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Asked & Answered

Posted on 13 September 201924 September 2019 by H. Hennenburg
Image by Mervyn Chan illustrating poem titled Asked And Answered by H. Hennenburg
Image by Mervyn Chan

Asked And Answered

I am asked and answered
Beleaguered jasmine trill of longing
Skyward dances
Snake smoke trail seducing sway
Leading way
Beguiling smile descending
Swing upending the cause
Bemused and bespoke
I am exactly as ordered
Dyed crimson and bordered
In sailcloth and wind
And nothing untangles the fragrant cry of desire
The sea sprayed reaching
For fire aloft
From hands singed with elation to remain

© H. Hennenburg, 13 September 2019

Joyfully linking to Wild Fridays at Poets United.

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The Immortal Summons

Posted on 7 September 201918 April 2020 by H. Hennenburg
Image by Alexandr Ivanov illustrating poem titled The Immortal Summons by H. Hennenburg
Image by Alexandr Ivanov

The Immortal Summons

We came out from a land
Rich with harmony and sacrifice
We built legends and legacies
And threw fire from our fists
Unto the firmament

We brought down gods upon our heads
We sought shelter in their arrogance
Devoured our fear like ripened fruit
And this is how we nourished our souls
Grew teeth in our throats to imprison them
Behind voices made lame by our dinner

Our hearts grew thinner
And our chests spanned wide
To shield and conceal our labouring breath
Convinced of our impending death

But our souls
Trapped in our breasts
Heaved through our skin
The immortal summons
To life

© H. Hennenburg, 20 August 2019

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Embrace This

Posted on 24 August 201925 August 2019 by H. Hennenburg
Image by Bessi illustrating poem titled Embrace This by H. Hennenburg
Image by Bessi

Life wants to live.

Trauma, indignity, betrayal and other unwelcome visitors show up in some lives more than others. If they show up enough, a person might reach a point where they feel – they believe – they cannot withstand anymore. One more blow, and they will crumple and cease to be. They might plead and put The Great All That Is on notice: “Look, I can’t take anymore. I’m just letting you know this, in case you can find it in your heart to not send any more my way.”

Then, another blow – maybe a series of small ones, or one low-grade, crushing long one. Then, the person might just shut down – cease to even try negotiating with the powers that be. “What’s the point?” Now this person KNOWS, they really cannot take anymore. Truly, this time, the person will break when another wave comes.

Then, another blow. A big one. One that makes all the other blows seem like mere child’s play. And do you know what happens to our little person? Our weary, bedraggled, pushed-beyond-the-breaking-point little human, who has always had thin skin, but who now surely possesses no skin at all anymore.

It takes a long time, but this person opens their heart and makes themselves vulnerable – again. They do it. And they do it because now they really know something. Now this person knows something that is true: Life wants to live. It keeps going whether or not we can keep up. Life wants to live. So may as well embrace it. We are stronger than we think we are.

Embrace This

I’ve watched you break
I have felt every bone,
One by one, splinter into fragments
Into dust and rubble
Utter annihilation, not once
But many times

I’ve seen you stand up to tidal waves
I’ve seen you refuse fortunes
I’ve seen you run headlong into the mouth of a beast
And then another…and then another
How you emerge to run again
I do not know

But I’ve seen you reappear like magic…fully formed
Over and over again
I’ve seen the map re-write itself
I’ve seen the flowers bloom
And ruts in old roads replaced by mountain meadows
Purely by the sheer power of your will

I’ve seen you cry
Alone, abandoned and betrayed
And I’ve seen you walk outside and go right on loving

There is no give up in you
Even when you desperately wish it so
So may as well embrace this
This longing
This heart hurt
This betrayal
Because it is happening
And your heart will rise to meet you
…Again

© H. Hennenburg, 7 November 2018

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E-Books by H. Hennenburg

E-Books By H. Hennenburg

Ten
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Riders of the Tempest: The Story of WE
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About H. Hennenburg

Poet and author, H. Hennenburg

Hi, I’m H. Thanks for stopping by my site. I created Hennenburg.com to be a home for truth, joy & wonder as I experience and explore them in my writing. I have a sense of these three phenomena as both producing and encapsulating many themes that have recurred in my writing for as long as I can remember. Themes such as: [read more]

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KHAYA RONKAINEN Read along as Khaya and I explore the meaning behind some of the poems in my e-book, Riders of the Tempest: The Story of WE.

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Riders of the Tempest: The Story of WE
by H. Hennenburg

Riders of the Storm by H. Hennenburg ebook cover art
Cover painting by Autumn Chiu @ArtChiu

There is no “I”. There is no “you.” There is only WE. “Reality is in the possibilities,” and Riders of the Tempest is a quest for the heart of what can be.

This collection of poems by H. Hennenburg tells the story of WE. Born from Supernova, we bear the imprint of the universe: the mandate to expand. Gripped by a deep yearning, we march into a tempest…a great storm…a war between our desire to expand as individuals and our desire to expand into the truth of our oneness. We believe we are mere “echoes to the sea and gathering storm,” but there is more to the universe than what we see. We are “more than the caged experience of sight.” Endowed with an infinite stream of choices, what happens in our story if we reach for more?

Download for free at: iBooks, Kobo & most Amazon stores

If you don’t use a tablet or e-reader and would like a copy, please contact me for the PDF version.