ANN CHRISTINE TABAKA - POEMS

Ann Christine Tabaka has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize in Poetry, has been internationally published, and won poetry awards from publications. She lives in Delaware, USA.  She loves gardening and cooking.  Chris lives with her husband and two cats. Her most recent credits are: Ariel Chart, Page & Spine, West Texas Literary Review, Oddball Magazine, The Paragon Journal, The Literary Hatchet, The Stray Branch, Trigger Fish Critical Review, Foliate Oak Review, Better Than Starbucks!, Anapest Journal, Mused, Apricity Magazine, The Write Launch, The Stray Branch, Scryptic Magazine, Ann Arbor Review, The McKinley Review.

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Great Game Changer
​

​Once …
Once upon a time …
Once upon a time there was a vibrant young girl,
full of passion and ambition,
full of pride and self-worth.
 
Time …
Time is the great thief.
It beats you down when you are ill-prepared.
It takes more than your youthful appearances,
it robs your ebullience and inner stalwartness.
 
Forward …
Forever forward …
never back,
never standing still,
always accelerating with each blink of the eye.
 
Graying hair and clouded eyes aside,
some manage to soldier
past the desolation,
past the indignation,
past the animosity.
 
Many …
Many will tell you …
Many will tell you that
old age brings new confidence,
but many lie.
 

Ode to a Cat
​

​Oh killer of paper balls
And tormentor of squirrels
Laying at my feet
You have warmed your way
Into my heart
 
Soft vibrations emanate
At the touch of a hand
A sound so intoxicating
To those who are enchanted
By your spell
 
Murderous claws and fangs
Bared and ready for attack
Against the invisible enemy
Lurking safely behind
The flower pot
 
Luminous jade eyes
Capture the imagination
For some you are a god
Others see you as
An omen of evil
 
Oh unpredictable imp
And lover of comfort
You are a delight to me
And those others
Whom you allow in
 
 

Ransomed Dream
​

​A tangled toss of dreams upon a placid sea,
what ransom is paid for such a delight?
 
Oh bittersweet consequence of life!
 
In sunlight, the essence of reality
fades with the morning mist.
 
My existence is arranged in droplets of hope.
Brightly colored time sings back within echoes
of a life I do not recall.
 
Seeing through eyes of the faceless,
there is nowhere to turn, so forward I trudge. 
 
The moment has come to escape entrapment,
to unleash the force within. To live!
 
At times loneliness consumes me,
as thoughts vaporize beyond my grasp.
 
Like rancid milk, a mockery of all that I hold dear, 
but within my reach is redemption.
 
Dreams now coalesce and float to the top
as I wade through the murky void.
 
Ransom paid, I am once more free
to live the life I envisioned from the first.
 
 

King David
​

​Uninhibited, David danced
before the Lord,
wildly and unashamed.
Clashing cymbals, beating drums,
fueled the passions of his heart,
as the Ark lead the way.
Author of the Psalms,
girded with linen ephod,
bare arms flailing to the music,
he praised his God,
His exuberance could not
be contained,
even while being chastised. .
His lineage was blessed
for all eternity, for the only
begotten son would herald
forth from his house.
And, so today we dance still,
for God loves a joyous heart!
 

Lament
​

​I did not write it down,
and now it is lost.
I did not write it down,
now I pay the cost.
 
The fragility of memory and thought,
if only for the moment that I bought,
rolling over going back to sleep,
thinking that my words would surely keep.
 
On the nightstand were paper and pen.
If only I had written it right then.
Now frustration and anger set in.
Being too tired was my only sin.