The drunkard

Pic courtesy Daily Mail

He loves to drink
his eyes are sunk, his cheeks hollow
into a drunken stupor he everyday sinks
losing count of days, passage of time he cannot follow.

As weeks after weeks
pass without the use of razor’s edges
his bristly beard has yellow streaks
he is found often in ditches and hedges.

Why is there commotion about love
constantly, he wonders. One broke his heart, the other
left him for the heaven above
Oh, how he misses his mother!

He is bitter about the falling rain
he hates the sight of red flowers
he has vowed never to be fooled again
damn! these unseasonal showers!

He was not meant to be a single bird
he had planned to have five kids – tops
never a loner, he liked to be a part of a herd
now a caricature of himself, like a scarecrow amidst crops.

He lies on the footpath, watching the clouds white
he has lost the will to take life heads on
living sucks, realities bite
he now awaits, the death season

He is the stone that gathers no moss
staying in the filthiest places
passed out on the road, passed out on the grass
scarce noticing the ox-eyed daisies.

In the hourglass of his life, sand
stays still. No son nor daughter
to carry forward his legacy on land
or air, or fire or water!

Written for dVerse MTB. Today’s host, Laura, has asked us to write an alternate rhyme poem of at least 3 stanzas

the rhyme scheme is ABAB; CDCD; EFEF etc

We are going to borrow the end rhyme pairs from a published poem in the order they were written.

I have borrowed the end rhymes from the following poem.

Winter Rain
Christina Rossetti

Every valley drinks,
Every dell and hollow;
Where the kind rain sinks and sinks,
Green of Spring will follow.

Yet a lapse of weeks
Buds will burst their edges,
Strip their wool—coats, glue—coats, streaks,
In the woods and hedges;

Weave a bower of love
For birds to meet each other,
Weave a canopy above
Nest and egg and mother.

But for fattening rain
We should have no flowers,
Never a bud or leaf again
But for soaking showers;

Never a mated bird
In the rocking tree—tops,
Never indeed a flock or herd
To graze upon the lea—crops.

Lambs so woolly white,
Sheep the sun—bright leas on,
They could have no grass to bite
But for rain in season.

We should find no moss
In the shadiest places,
Find no waving meadow grass
Pied with broad—eyed daisies:

But miles of barren sand,
With never a son or daughter,
Not a lily on the land,
Or lily on the water.

Also joining in Eugi’s moonwashed weekly prompt.

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As dusk descends

The canvas of sky is stretched taut
splatters of fuchsia, white and peach
before the curtain draws on the departing day
the bay is bathed in golden crepuscule hue

As the sun eases into tranquility
low murmurs bring the evening calm
gossamer wings of insects gleam
the water shimmers a soft sultry blue

A grey sloop sallies forth in the skies
carrying the moon to the other side
brown leaves strewn on golden-green grass
golden trees silhouetted against the cinnabar sky

‘Tis time for the weary and tired to unwind
the earth snuggles into soft duvet
the sonorous sound of silence ensues
into the gloaming birds homeward fly

Written for dVerse MTB. Today’s host, Sanaa, invites us to try a new poetic form. Line messaging is a poetry form created by Angel Favazza where the poet seeks to utilize the last line of each stanza to bring forth and represent an idea, a thought and notion.

There is no fixed meter, syllable count or rhyme scheme here except that the last line of each stanza (when read separately from the poem) should deliver an independent message or be a poem all on its own. 

Books

Burn them, they said in frenzy/they said about books
condemning ink and paper/ that ignite the soul
memories cannot be abolished or shredded/ nor let one sleep
Tyrants fear writers/ so praise the written word
history is not a set of books/ it is a way of life illuminating hearth and heart.

Written for Sadje’s wdys and for dVerse MTB. Today’s host, Laura has invited us to play with opposites, cleaving them in fact.
Fun Fact: Cleave is a contranym, a word with 2 opposite meanings: i) split or sever. ii) become strongly involved with or emotionally attached to.

Thus we are taking an opposing word pair as theme prompt and writing two distinct poems, which then combine as one larger composition i.e. whilst they are distinct the 2 poems also should converse/relate  with/to each other


A.  Choose ONE of these paired opposites for your two poem’s theme whilst also including the chosen word somewhere in the body of each poem

  • admit – deny;
  • amuse – bore;
  • beg – offer;
  • condemn – praise;
  • fix – break;
  • mix – sort;
  • scatter – collect;

B. And with your chosen antonym pair, write your poem(s) in ONE of these poetry forms:

  1. THE CONTRAPUNTAL – 2 poems that are distinct from one another but together can be read as one poem. They can be adjacent columns or  fit alternately (italicised , boldened, indented to distinguish one from another  if desired)
  • THE CLEAVE  –so  similar to the above  to be almost indistinguishable – I’ve seen it defined as 3 poems but ‘the inventor’ only states 2!  Seems the poems blend together across each line to make one poem.
  • The REVERSO – two poems in one with the 2nd one being read from the bottom to the top.

Sea manipulator

Pic courtesy iStock

The sea maiden cleaves stormy blue
the ship of night is eggshell hued
no secret; her string-pulling ways
willy nilly maiden heaves and sways

The wind whistles a diabolic dirge
the foamy waves are silver verged
fork-lightning prongs the white horses
firm, she faces fickling forces

Shining softly the sun appears
calming tumult and fluxing fears
pummelled but proud she stands her ground
on peaced sea she is homeward bound.

Written for dVerse MTB. Today’s host, Grace, wants us to have fun with word play. Read more about it here.

Also for Eugi’s moonwashed weekly prompt.

Sign of life…or what?

Pic courtesy Max Healthcare

I

I had grown comfortable in my body’s skin
embracing its dips and swells
accepting its shortcomings
celebrating its earthly triumphs
singing its somewhat off-key song uninhibitedly
but it decided to turn rogue one day
it remembered not how much it was loved!

II

Wasting pains rack my body and my soul
I had nurtured it with love and care
my sun sign became my marauder and guarded me not
muscles and nerves frustratingly fail
tyrannical torment impales my limbs
my army of cells feeds on me
when guards become thieves, all seems lost.

III

Your words of love fill my lungs with new life
my anguished body bedrenched with exertions
feels safe as it trembles in your fatigued arms
my craven heart finds solace in your warm smile
hope flutters feebly flapping fragile wings
with you as my bodyguard, I guess, I might just make it.

Written for dVerse MTB. Today’s host, Laura, has challenged us to this:

And so for today’s MTB prompt you should choose ONE of these threesomes:

  1. Sun; moon, earth
  2. Godhead Trinity/God/Father, Jesus/Son, Holy Spirit
  3. Yin, yang, oneness

OR Choose ONE of these compound words with the derivatives:

  1. Body, guard, bodyguard
  2. Dragon, fly, dragonfly
  3. Free, lance, freelance
  4. High, light, highlight
  5. Rain, bow, rainbow

We are writing without any set rule for rhyme or meter:

  • A poem with THREE separate and distinct stanzas
  • Each stanza numbered or subtitled with the reference word
  • Include the reference word within the stanza if not subtitled

Someone very close to me was diagnosed with cancer last month. This one is dedicated to her and her husband.

The morning air

The garden was sweet and fresh after the rain 

Not yet a fierce blue of noon 

There was not a cloud in the sky 

The flowers were half-asleep, roses dew-crumpled 

She sat in a garden chair by the side of the lawn 

We ate breakfast out in the garden 

The light on her face was very becoming 

A clear milky opal 

He blushed with delight

Of Human Bondage (pg 144)
My Family and Other Animals (pg 41)

Written for dVerse MTB. Today’s host, Laura, has asked us to:

Choose TWO books of prose

Pick ONE page from each

Extract SHORT LINES from each page*

ALTERNATE them to make a poem

Use italics and plain font to differentiate the text sources

Use one of the source lines or a combination as TITLE

*short lines mean you are not taking too much from the source in plagiarism

When right is wrong

Leaning too far right makes them maniacal
everything is either black or white
they are impervious to the greys
with scant regard for inclusivity.

Their brain goes through a change that is chemical
irreversible is the damage done
common sense it, for sure, waylays
replacing it with typical perversity.

Quizzical looks don’t affect their hides political
they brand others as anti-state
erratic, jumbled and bitter their ways
what do they know of diversity!

lackadaisical in work but their beliefs fanatical
with them around doomsday is neigh and everyone pays.

Written for dVerse MTB. Today’s host, Björn, has invited us to try our hand at a new poetic form bref double. The rhyme scheme can be

axbc-axbc-axbc-ab
abxc-abxc-abxc-ab

I have followed the former. Check the site for more details.

I have used words from Jane’s random word generator.

Acceptance

Sleepy sun does slowly stretch
across the splattered hues
I twirl with glee
I dance with me
across the splattered hues

Day comes after the night on cue
yet ne’er the same can be
same old, same old
follows the mould
yet ne’er the same can be

eyes see what we want them to see
can be deftly cajoled
to fly off ledge
to step off edge
can be deftly cajoled

Kaleidoscopic tints enfold
’tis better not to kvetch
sometimes I rue
sometimes pursue
’tis better not to kvetch.

Written for dVerse MTB. Today’s host, Laura, has asked us to write a roundabout poem. Read more about it here.

Also written for Sadje’s wdys.

Myriad moods of marriage

Arrange,
to meet to assess if there’s something
Connect,
over similar tastes and sweet nothings

Peep,
from beneath the lashes, wondering if there’s reason to reject
Glance,
eyes entangled, hearts somersault did effect

Adore,
at first sight;  is it even real?
Infatuated,
with every detail, however trivial!

Love,
isn’t it actually lust after a fashion?
Caress,
how can a mere touch ignite fiery passion!

Vows,
to remain faithful to each other forever
Cherish,
each other in this lifetime and ever

Stand
together as a team whatever the times
Agree,
to not disagree on parenting paradigms

Understand,
the nuances of what is left unsaid
Respect,
the boundaries that are never set

Raise,
not your voice, temper the temper
Silence,
not each other but anger’s ember

Celebrate,
the differences that make one who they are
Accept,
adjust, not complain nor needlessly spar

Aging,
should not dim the zeal nor the fervour
United,
hearts always beating in tandem with ardour.

Written for dVerse MTB. Today’s host, Laura, says; today’s poetry prompt it’s all about couples, twos, in other words couplets!

The poetic form I have used, as suggested by Laura, is the côte.

About loving and living

From Freepik

It alights lightly, fluttering softly, leaving goosebumps, then you become aware of it when your heart is all aflutter, beating to a primordial song, awash in indescribable emotions, blood afire in your veins, your soul lit with the luminosity of pure joy; at once divine and carnal and there is no need to shout from the rooftops, for love like fragrance cannot be hidden. And yet, life is about living, not regretting so it is always better to proclaim.

Written for dVerse MTB. Today’s host, Björn, has asked us to get aphoristic. You can read about it here.

Also for David’s W3, where Britta (POW) has asked us write a prose poem on love.