Wednesday, January 29, 2014

Briefly

With a forked tongue
you flay me,
slay me,
flip and fillet me
then pay me
a veiled complement...

double entendre?   


 Mama Zen asked us to write a Twitter-sized poem (140 characters or less) over in the Imaginary Garden. This one is a mere 116. 

Friday, January 24, 2014

The Other

I am the mist
on a raw autumn night
obscuring your vision,
making the familiar strange.

I am the path
you didn’t choose
leading away from your home.

I am the breeze
murmuring in your ear
of adventures that never were.

I am the dream  
you almost remember
dissipating as you rise.


This is for G-man and his FF55.  Click on the link and check it out.

Monday, January 20, 2014

Of Magpies and Toads

    Muscian in the Rain by Robert Doisneau


I love you darling
with your comfort at arm’s length.
but when rain falls soft
on black and white autumn days
I seek the warmth of your touch.


This is generated by writing prompts from two wonderful writing sites.  The first, IGRT, is responsible for the form, which is called tanka.  A tanka contains 31 syllables in a line pattern of 5/7/5/7/7. Check out the link for a much more complete description, and other writers' tankas.  The second source, The Mag, has provided the picture.  Check that site for more writers' responses to this image.


Friday, January 17, 2014

Waxing Gibbous

     Photo by Mary Bach

The moon murmurs
 to you alone
when need eclipses fear,
drawing you  out
over dark stony beaches
through back alleys
and under bridges,
where small flames,
barely aware of their heat,
flick shadows
across your face.
And here you stand
at the border,
between light and dark
pulled by both,
but belonging to neither.  


This is for G-man's FF-55.  Click on the link and check it out.  The prompt for a poem about the moon came from Brendan at Imaginary Garden with Real Toads.  Check out that site for some excellent poetry and a link to a brilliant poem by Sylvia Plath (and interesting background information by Brendan).  I'm not listing there though, since I'd a bit late, and I didn't quite follow the rules and use the word list provided.  But you should still have a look!

Friday, January 10, 2014

Morning Chores

I feel a little unfinished with my posts today, but here goes.  I have two versions of a poem, one for dVerse I in the Looking back/forward I chose the previous 'hearth, home and common speech' prompt.  The other, shorter version is for my very favorite G-man and his FF55.  I think they need a little settling and tweaking, but here's what I have so far:
(I appreciate your feedback and/or suggestions, including which version you prefer.)

#1
I enter the barn.
Smells of hay and horse,
warm and sweet,
fill me.

Barn cats wind around my legs
in timeless figure-eights,
purring their thanks.

Horses whicker
low, intimate, impatient.
Water, grain, hay;
most are gracious,
a few greedy,
as I go down the aisle.

Then I pause and live
for a moment
in this contentment.



#2
Today is bone cold;
wind snatches my breath
as I walk to the barn.
Inside, smells of hay and horse,
warm and sweet,
like summer pressed
between the pages
of a book,
fill me.

Barn cats wind around my legs
in timeless figure-eights,
purring their thanks
for the breakfast
I will provide.

The horses whicker
a low, intimate greeting,
impatient for their breakfast.
Water first,
then the grain, then hay.
Most are gracious,
but a few are greedy,
as I go down the aisle
murmuring good mornings
 and doling out sweet feed,
along with a scratch or a pat.

There are more chores
to be done,
but I pause and think
that I could live forever
in this contentment
that fills this
space.



Tuesday, January 7, 2014

New York at Night

    New York at Night by Vivian Gucwa

Take my hand
and walk with me
into the night of the world.

Take my hand
and walk with me
into the simmering stars.

Take my hand
and walk with me
into the light of my wound.

Take my hand
and walk with me,
and I will make you whole.


Written for Tess Kincaid at The Mag creative writing group.  Also posted at dVerse Open Link Night.  Click on the links to check them out.