On journeying

All those unmapped journeys –
or the ones where the map
was a scrawl, and the one
where the map was a voice
saying here, no, here,
and the one when the map
was a song, half forgotten.

We were OK. We were always OK.

A quadrille for De at dVerse. Forty-four words, and tonight the keyword is “map”.

Advertisement

Hoverboards

I miss the future – you know –
the shiny one, all ergonomic curves
and silver screens. The clean one.
I miss that hope. I miss the boldly going,
peace and prosperity, all that stuff.
Perfectibility. Hoverboards. Utopia.

What are we stumbling into?
Rain and the lights failing. Nobody home.

A bold quadrille for De at dVerse.

Winter

Some days, she forgets herself –
sugars the countryside,
adds candy colour skies –
a drift of birds –

and then remembers who she is:
monochromes the world,
deadens the light.

Some nights, she throws clouds,
but sometimes she can’t bring herself
to hide the stars. She can’t resist
the sparkle of them.

A quadrille for Mish at dVerse. Our word is “candy”.

Fire

All that sunlight
trapped here. A hundred years
of sleep in a green tower –
sunlight gathered, woven
into something solid,
light that murmured,
light that swayed,
light that knew the taste of soil
and the sound of birdsong
and the dark –

and we have woken it –
warmth spilling out,
golden and dancing
goddess again.

A quadrille for Ms Jade Li at dVerse. Our word is “warm” – perfect prompt for this time of year!

The wedding

“My wife and I”, he said,
and everybody cheered.
After, we gathered round them –
“You’re punching, mate”
somebody said, “You’re punching”

and, smiling
he acknowledge it,
accepted it. Embraced it –

and she moved closer, nestling
in his circling arms, bird to his bear:
a small boat resting
in safe harbour.

a quadrille for dVerse – 44 words including tonight’s word: punch

In this river of clouds

there are fish of many types –
silver flashes of lightning
deep grey of storms,
rippling, shimmering
shoals of showers –
suddenly there, suddenly gone –

sunlight falls through
green reeds, swaying,
summer rains
dart and dazzle and dance,

and the clouds drift on.

A quadrille for De at dVerse – 44 words, including today’s word – “type”

Inspired by an image on Twitter from @PaulDragonwolf1