Pebbles – pantoum for dVerse

I’m thinking now of all the time we spent,

Heads together,with the wild gulls crying,

Carefully choosing – some stayed, and some went –

And all the while, the sea sighing.

Heads together, with the wild gulls crying,

We chose one if it gave us pleasure,

And all the while, the sea sighing,

As we amassed our glittering treasure

We chose one if it gave us pleasure

We brought it home, a fragment of our past,

As we amassed our glittering treasure:

A twisting shell, a sea-worn piece of glass.

We brought it home, a fragment of our past,

When you were young, and muddy, and ran wild

A twisting shell, a sea-worn piece of glass,

A stick, a stone, all treasure to a child

When you were young, and muddy, and ran wild

Carefully choosing – some stayed and some went –

A stick, a stone, all treasure to a child:

I’m thinking now of all the time we spent.

This is the first pantoum I ever wrote – all the way back in June 2016. I thought I’d include it for comments and feedback. WordPress has done that thing again, where it just ignores my formatting – sorry about that. This is being reposted for the dVerse form exploration. Get over there and have a look.

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Eggs – Pantoum II for dVerse

I hold you up to see the eggs,
five of them, blue as April sky.
You cling on with your toddler legs,
observing them so solemnly.

Five of them, blue as April sky,
each one a fragile, freckled womb;
observing them so solemnly,
we hope that they will make it through –

each one a fragile, freckled womb,
holding an ugly, hairless thing.
we hope that they will make it through,
and in July, we’ll hear them sing.

Holding an ugly, hairless thing,
in need of food, and warmth, and love,
and in July we’ll hear them sing
of earth below, and sky above.

In need of food, and warmth, and love,
I watch you grow and learn new things
of earth below, and sky above,
and start to spread your fledgling wings.

I watch you grow and learn new things;
you cling on with your toddler legs,
and start to spread your fledgling wings:
I hold you up, to see the eggs.

My second pantoum for the dVerse form exploration, hosted this month by Gina. I have a love-hate relationship with pantoums. One day I will write the perfect pantoum, and then I WILL NEVER WRITE ONE AGAIN. It’s really hard to maintain sense and repetition, and keep it all flowing smoothly. This one comes close, I think right now, but doubtless I’ll come back to it in a couple of weeks, and shake my head over it. There are certainly a couple of continuity errors that I am hyper-aware of. However, this exploration is about growing as a poet and opening up to feedback, so I’m putting it out there. I’ve actually got less confident about it as I’ve written this explanation/justification, so I’m going to stop now.

Rooks – pantoum for dVerse

I watched a crowd of rooks fly by –
“They’re on the search for food”, I said –
black cut-outs on a paper sky,
we see them, and we think of death.

“They’re on the search for food”, I said,
a cheerful democratic crew,
we see them, and we think of death;
they make me think of people, too.

A cheerful democratic crew,
leaders and stragglers make their way –
they make me think of people, too,
out shopping on a winter’s day.

Leaders and stragglers make their way,
black cut-outs on a paper sky.
Out shopping on a winter’s day,
I watched a crowd of rooks fly by.

Gina is hosting at dVerse tonight, and we continue our exploration of forms. Gina brings us the pantoum – she’s given a really good description of it, if you want to read more. Basically it’s a series of interlocking, repeating couplets.

If you are an avid reader, you might notice that I have taken the start of this from my rubaiyat of a couple of weeks ago. I thought it would be interesting to contrast the forms directly. You can read it here https://fmmewritespoems.wordpress.com/2019/02/01/winter-rooks-rubaiyat-for-dverse/

Forgiveness – poem for dVerse

He told her he forgave her,

every day – until

the words curdled in her mouth

and scarred her skin

and she forgot the crime

and who had sinned, but knew

it must be her, for he

forgave her every day.

Frank is hosting at dVerse tonight. The theme is “blame and forgiveness”. I suspect there are some beautiful poems out there, full of glorious gentleness, but this has come out a bit bitter and twisted. Forgive me.

Sipping – quadrille for dVerse

So good to be back with the gang,
sip sipping at our memories,
like a bee sips at nectar,
and, yes, the laughter,
the music, the booze,
the laughter again,
that walk that we do –
clumping and separating,
but mostly the talking
and talking

Mish is hosting Quadrille Night at dVerse, and our word is “sip”.

Dirt – rubaiyat for dVerse

Who would have thought that so much dust could gather

On every surface? Its like Miss Haversham

Lives here. Cobwebs form lacy curtains,

Grey dust accumulates. Life unravels.

Me, I prefer to deal with living dirt –

Wet footprints, slick with the good earth,

Spilt juice, sweet and sticky, laking

Across the table’s stripped pine desert

And I love silence, but I love the clatter

Of feet on stairs, hard debate, easy chatter,

And the hot beat of the music that you play,

That matters so much, and yet doesn’t matter.

This is (probably) my last rubaiyat for this month’s form challenge. I’m linking it to the original rubaiyat post from Frank, and to Jilly’s post on imagery in the rubaiyat.

Venus and the God of War

Venus sways in,
waist cinched tight,
heels high,
hips tick-tocking
like a metronome

she looks at him

the God of War,
sprawled across the
cheap bedspread,
stubble-chinned and
snoring.

“Oh, honey mine”,
she croons,
letting her fingers
do a slow dance
among the hot,
damp hairs
on his hot damp
belly

“Lick me like I’m candy,
crush me till I burn”

but there’s nothing doing here.

She looks at him
with god-cold eyes,
and wonders how it came to this –

how she left her
clever-handed husband
for this bar-room brawler,

with a broken sword
and a half-dead droptop.

At the window
she looks down
at the tempting streetlights

wonders what happens next.

Gods crave worship.

We’re playing (with) computer games at dVerse tonight. I’m hosting, and I’d love to see you there.

A pinch of fog

A pinch of fog

stirred into coffee

will blur the mind…

sprinkled on porridge

will soften the day ahead…

scattered on strawberries

will bring sleep

and dreams of winter…

use it wisely.

A quick fire twiglet for Misky – a pinch of fog

February – quadrille for dVerse

February fill-dyke –
hard to love
when the sky is
dish-cloth grey
and the rain
runs tumble tilt
down the lane.
and the wind is
a slap, not a kiss,
but today
the sky is
bird-song blue
and I believe
in spring.-

The De-light-ful De is hosting at dVerse, and it’s quadrille night! Our word is “kiss” . Come and play with us!

Invisible roses – poem for dVerse

He bought her invisible roses –
filled her arms with them –
petals insistent against her skin –
piled them round her –
petals feathering against her lips –
and the smell of them –
deep as wine –
heaped them in great drifts –
until she sank beneath the weight of them
invisible.

Merril is hosting dVerse tonight, and we are asked to think about all things invisible.