Tag Archives: Poetry Challenge

A Measure of Tears

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“Moscow Metro” by Michael E. Arth (via Wikipedia Commons)

 

Her stoic mother kissed her,

the day the man took her away,

Smolensk to Moscow, a measure of tears

 

that never flowed for the Motherland–

there is duty, and there is love–she remembered

her stoic mother kissed her–

 

not the first time, but definitely the last,

while the embarrassed sun sulked behind the clouds

the day the man took her away

 

to that gated place. She learned to dissemble–and excelled–

yet inside a child remained, hurting–

Smolensk to Moscow, a measure of tears.

 

A wisp of a story in a cascade poem for Jane Dougherty’s prompt, using the above image, Moscow Metro by Michael E. Arth, as inspiration. I picked Smolensk because that’s where the character Elizabeth Jennings came from on the show, The Americans.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Before the Rain: Tritina Challenge

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The sun rises, the horizon a crimson flame–

red sky in morning, tonight comes the rain.

Yet still the robins sing, in tree branches lifting

 

skyward, boughs and birdsong, lifting,

shifting as the sun’s rays flame

the world in gold before the rain.

 

And in these hours, before the rain,

when eyes and voices are lifting,

down below the daffodils burst alive and flame–

 

and robins hop amidst the flame of flowers, lifting, winging, before the rain.

 

This is a tritina for Jane Dougherty’s Poetry Challenge. She asked us to choose three words from a poem by Francis Ledwidge.  I chose flame, rain, and lifting. I might be having a having a hard time concentrating on forms, but I also think this is a difficult form—for me, at least.

 

With a Bang Comes Possibility

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Image by enriquelopezgarre from Pixabay

with a bang

comes the birth of worlds

and star songs

drift, falling

to papaya glow, rising

over barren rocks

 

then soaring

above burnished crags

the black-winged

dreamers fly,

carrying all the befores

and all the afters

 

landing here

where light and shadows

together

dance, holding

possibility aloft

for millennia.

 

A shadorma sequence for Colleen’s Tanka Tuesday. The poem is inspired by the image  above chosen by Linda Lee Lyberg.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Truth and Beauty

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Moon,

fragment

of larger

star-tossed bodies,

do you ring the rings,

in rhythmic melodies,

beauty unheard by mortals?

Rocky surface a void–or not–

universal truths of the cosmos

perhaps not universal or the truth.

 

This is an etheree for Colleen’s Tanka Tuesday challenge, using synonyms for empty and space. I read that astronomers have discovered 20 new moons circling Saturn, making a total of 82.

I’m taking a quick poetry break. I’m sorry I’m so behind on reading posts. The book is almost done.

 

 

 

Moods

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August Sky over the Delaware River at Red Bank Battlefield

 

Glowering

clouds reflect my mood,

shadows cast

on river

rolling to the sea, endless

cycles streaming throughout time

 

creating

stormy skies and light

untamed and

magical

the appearance of a deer

like a gift to me,

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like nature

answering a call,

now a need,

now the light.

I walk on, heart more joyful,

the river flows on.

 

A shadorma sequence for Colleen’s Tanka Tuesday, using synonyms for character and wild. This was inspired by a walk I took yesterday.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Light Behind the Clouds

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The storm rolling in

 

Charcoal clouds

sweep across the sky–

windswept shrouds

covering

summer’s blue, a magic trick

of sun, moon, and stars

 

glimmering

with secrets of time.

Watch streaking

meteor

carrying ancient glitter

scattered on the earth.

 

I’m supposed to be working on my book, but somehow my poetry brain took over, and a poem appeared instead of a chapter. Ooops! This is a shadorma sequence for  Colleen’s Tanka Tuesday–synonyms of light and dark.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Transitory Structures

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Building in a puddle, Philadelphia

A lightning bolt zig zags across the grey and ominous sky. I quickly slide my hand down from the metal pole to clutch the plastic handle of my umbrella. Thunder booms. I walked faster but stop to look down at the sidewalk. There I see an upside-down, ephemeral world; beautiful and transitory, a skyscraper in a puddle.

Ordinary sights

made extraordinary—

in a summer storm

 

A Haibun for Colleen’s Tanka Tuesday, Poet’s Choice of words.