senryu 06/04/10

pink frisbee flying
erratically through the air--
father/daughter time

©2010-Art Belliveau

doubt 04/10/10

Doubt if you like, that the sun will rise
Doubt the oceans are wet or the deserts are dry
Doubt the floor is below and the sky is above
But never my child, should you doubt my love

Doubt a dropped rock will fall to the ground
Doubt that thunder makes a mighty sound
Doubt the waves that rock the sea
But doubt not my love's greater than infinity

©2010-Art Belliveau

Reading at Books-a-Million 03/23/10

you read to me yesterday
from a "real" book
a book with small type
and very few pictures

as i looked at your
child's body
sprawled confidently
in the gray chair

other images
superimposed
in my mind's eye--

you as an infant
giggling and smiling
up at me from your crib

you as a toddler
rushing up to me
as i picked you up from
the babysitter
looking at me like
i was the hero of your world

you in the future
mature and composed
poised and strong
ready to take on
whatever life
throws at you

and the love welled up
a roaring in my head
momentarily
drowning out your words

as you continue growing
remember this always
you are loved
more than you can know

©2010-Art Belliveau

senryu 03/22/10

in the chill water
playing with my sweet daughter
I am filled with warmth

©2010-Art Belliveau

Moving Forward 3/09/10

moving at your own pace
following your internal compass
mapping out your own path
every day more new discoveries
on your voyage into
your unknown future


©2010-Art Belliveau

Bailey's Gone 2/23/10

I usually don’t make comments here, I try to just let the poems speak for themselves, but this is the exception. A little over a month ago, one of our dogs died. We had Baily for 14 years. Molly knew her since she first came home. Recently Molly told me she wanted to write a poem with me about how she felt about Bailey being gone. We talked and I took down what she said in my notebook. The poem here is all her words. All I did was arrange the lines.

I feel like part of my heart’s broken off,
Because part of my family is gone.
I’m starting to forget what it felt like,
When you licked my face at night.
Whenever I come home--
It just doesn’t feel right.
It feels like something is missing,
At the end of the day.

©2010-Molly Belliveau and her daddy

senryu 12/20/09

Molly’s Christmas play
she was the cutest angel
it was type-casting

©2009-Art Belliveau

senryu 11/06/09

a family walk
through the cool dark fall ev'ning--
bonding together

©2009-Art Belliveau

before you

before you
i thought i knew
what love was all about
i had experienced it
i had lived it
i had it down pat

but then you arrived
and from the first glimpse of you
when you looked into my eyes
when i held you tightly to me
i knew i was wrong

i felt the other half
of my heart
blossom open in the light
of your love

six years so far
and it has only gotten better
as i watch you grow
see you develop into
your own person
from the tiny baby
who taught this old man
what love really is

©2009-Art Belliveau

taking time

so much time
demanded by
“necessary” things
like work
like cleaning the house
like taking care of the yard
never time for
family
daughter
wife

unless

time is taken
deliberately
consciously
taken from the “necessities”
taken for the important
people

an afternoon at the park
the gabble, gabble, honk of
geese
blending and mixing with
the laughter and shouts of
playing children

wife and husband
sitting in the shade
reading, watching, listening
mother and father
playing with child
holding hands
buying ice cream from a truck
and making a memory

the important takes precedence
over
the necessary


©2009-Art Belliveau

the battle begins

the battle begins
each side takes its position
it may be over quickly
or may drag on and on
seemingly endless
wails of agony
shouted threats
tears and submission
and when this battle ends
the next is still in sight
even for a first grader
homework happens

©2009-Art Belliveau

Time for Bed

I go into your darkened room
lights out, but for
the angel in the wall
Final kisses
Final hugs
“You’re my good girl”
I whisper with my kisses
“And you’re my good Daddy”
you reply with conviction
as you hug me tight
And
with everything in me
that’s just
exactly
what I want to be

©2009-Art Belliveau

Molly Had a Sleepover

Molly Had a Sleepover

Molly had a sleepover,
All her best friends were there.
With sleeping bags and giggles,
All of them walked on air.

Kat, and Kylie, and Kaiden,
Came for a night of fun.
They were ready for the party.
It would be the bestest one.

First they got into their p.j.s,
And then they watched TV.
They ate some ice cream and some chips,
And drank a gallon of sweet tea.

They played with their stuffed animals.
Had a midnight tea party.
They did each other’s hair and nails,
They were beautiful to see.

They dug out Molly’s jewelry,
And put on a fashion show.
They were going full speed now,
Not one of them did slow.

They went into the bedroom
And shut off all the lights.
They took turns telling sacry stories.
They gave themselves the frights.

They squealed and and jabbered all night long,
Until into the sky the sun crept.
And finally after a night of fun,
As the morning came, they slept.

©2009-Art Belliveau

Speed of Life

Speed of Life

some things in life

happen so fast

they are finished 

almost before they begin:

lightning

an eye blink

a single flick of a hummingbird's wing

your first five years

©2009-Art Belliveau

The Meaning of Meaning

I sit down with the intention

to write a poem

this poem, actually

I want a poem to capture for myself

and any who may read it

my take on the essence of the world 

I drift off, eyes slightly unfocused

jaw starting to hang down

maybe in a creative fog

maybe just trying to stay awake

I stare at the clouds through 

the open windows behind the tv

looking for metaphors 

searching for meaning

My thoughts are obliterated

concentration destroyed

the well ordered words I was constructing

fall to ruin

Molly, my daughter, 

all of five years old

runs into the room looking for me

talking at full volume

with gusts of up to 100 words a minute

She misses me and wants me

to come with her and visit the

tent in her playroom

to see how well decorated it is

She also has to let me know

all about the three-legged dog 

she just saw on Animal Planet

and how it had lost its right front leg

holding out her own right arm

and making cutting motions with the left

Mometarilty annoyance rushes through me

my budding creation of words and phrases

dissolved into nothingness

not even remembering where I had planned 

to start--all gone

But then it hits me hard

that poetical epiphany

where before I was searching for meaning

by looking outside my window

and attempting to construct it on my own

I now had that meaning

rush into the room on her own

for the lines I could have created

based on my observation of clouds

cannot compare to the actual living

of life with my family

©2009-Art Belliveau

Papa’s Paradox

Papa’s Paradox

you have moved me

in ways I never expected

never imagined

never thought I could be moved

you depend on me 

so completely

sometimes it’s a little scary

but i wouldn’t change it

whether I would or not though

it will change

as you grow older and develop

into your own person

and i know that is good

it is right 

it is proper

it is also painful for me

pride and loss are intertwined

at every advance you make

as you read and write

and think your own thoughts

all too soon I will be nothing more

than a specator of your life

as you live it as you see fit

still moved, but removed as well

©2009-Art Belliveau

NaPoWriMo 4/26/09

Bike Ride

an April Alabama afternoon
one that will fade in your memory
blend in with so many others
but a special day for me

pale blue sky overhead
like an inverted china bowl
the gray macadam of
the deserted elementary school
parking lot
spread out before us

to the left a baseball field
a father and sun at batting practice
sweating and laughing in
the afternoon’s heat

to the right Woodland Drive
cars occasionally humming by
quiet for a while
one or two
then spurts
then quiet again
no apparent pattern

I set up a camp chair
under the covered walkway
the red brick of the school
behind me
a cool breeze blowing
keeping me comfy
in the shade

you ride your bike
finally

the flatness of the empty lot
calls to you in a way
our slanted street
never has

this is your first extended ride
and you go to the far end of the
L-shaped lot
never even looking back
free and happy on your bike

you wobble on a turn
and my stomach drops
i know if you go over
there is no way for me
to catch you

it will take too long
to reach you
to hold you
to comfort you

but you recover
look back at me
and wave
overjoyed
at riding that bike

and I know
although I do not want to know
although it hurts to know

this is how it will always be
you going off on your adventures
testing the boundaries
of freedom
taking chances
I cannot save you from

and I am hit
emotionally
viciously
with a truth
a truth that
I had known
intellectually
for some time

letting you grow
letting you go
is now
and will always be
the hardest part
of fatherhood

©2009-Art Belliveau

NaPoWriMo 4/05/09

Now that you are gone

this little house has
too many rooms

the emptiness of our bed
begins to crowd me out

the silence grows so loud
it drowns out all my thoughts

the hands of the clock
move more slowly

as I wait for your return

©2009-Art Belliveau

NaPoWriMo 4/04/09

Epiphany

Before You

I thought I had a full life
thought I had a purpose
thought I had it all

Before you

I thought I was satisfied
thought I was fulfilled
thought I was contented

Before you

I thought I knew purpose
thought I knew happiness
thought I knew love

But the day you were born

all those thoughts
changed
to certain knowledge

©2009-Art Belliveau

cinqain 3/25/09

My Girl


Molly
brilliant, bubbly
asks, laughs, loves
everybody's friend
My Shortie

©2009-Art Belliveau