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 |  Entries to Express It In Eight from September 2020 to the present . |
| The number of poems enforces the use of blog format with ten poems per page. |
| Altai Song The horse calls, restless in the paddock, a crow caws a warning from the trees, far off, a bird yodels of the frozen snow, the shepherd answers the cries of winter and the song begins, a deep drone, gathering pace as the strings join in and we’re off with the guttural, rhythmic chant of the riders of the forest. Line count: 8 Free verse For Express It In Eight, 11.17.21 Prompt: Altai throat singing. |
| Paraguay! Liquid it is, the harp, cascading notes to the crashing waves of the driving guitars, pounding on the shore where the harp plays and dances; Paraguay’s song of sadness and joy, rolling like the ocean, sparkling as a stream on the stones. Line count: 8 Free verse For Express It In Eight, 11.16.21 Prompt: Paraguayan Harp Music. Notes: I first heard the music of the Paraguayan harp in my mid teens.This was in a television documentary on the subject and it was a total revelation to me. It seemed so unlikely that the harp should be the national instrument of such a minor country in the backwoods of the South American continent. But it fitted in so well with the folk music of the people and I wanted to hear more of it. I searched for forty years to find other recordings but in vain. Along the way I learned a lot about the history of Paraguay and how the harp came to it, brought by Jesuit missionaries who first established and ruled the country. There were times when I could hardly believe that this odd blend of a classical European instrument and Latin American rhythms could really exist. Perhaps I had dreamt this fantastic creation into being. But then the internet and Google came along and I was able to search far more extensively for proof that my memory did not lie. And there they were, just a few recordings of the real thing, the music of the Paraguayans, mixed in with orchestral attempts to “civilise” it. Paraguay’s history has been one of great hope and crushing disappointments, times of freedom and brutal oppression, but out of it arises this cheerful and uplifting music built around the cascading notes of the harp. In its way, it is as representative of the best of South American music as that of the haunting Andean flute. |
| Morning Comfort Too old to dream, yet sometimes fleeting memories of other times, other places, trouble my waking mind, as cares and woes of long ago return to worry me. I shake myself and remember: sufficient unto the day… Line count: 8 Free verse For Express It In Eight, 11.15.21 Prompt: Last night I had the strangest dream. |
| Relativity It’s the same with everything, there is no joy without pain, it’s suffering gives happiness its flavour, sparkle and edge; light without darkness is glare unbearable, the eye goes blind, and so it is with life, as death saves from empty monotony. Line count: 8 Free verse For Express It In Eight, 11.13.21 Prompt: The poem About Suffering by Elisa Gabbert. |
| Arc Me Another “Turning and turning in the widening gyre” the circle chases itself, unconcerned about slowing to make it easier, like the dog circling before lying down, like the snake swallowing its tail, the earth swinging upon its gravitational orbit. Round and round the mulberry bush, the monkey chasing the weasel. Line count: 8 Free verse For Express It In Eight, 11.12.21 Prompt: Write a circle/round poem. Note: There is something called a round or circle poem but, since its first requirement is that it have nine lines, I must presume that is not what is meant here. |
| Diplomacy “Not slept a wink,” she said, and I nodded in sympathy, noting her eyes were red, and held back by my empathy. Yet something’s not quite right, as I too was awake last night. I’ll not mention it anymore, what kept me alert was her snore. Line count: 8 Rhyme scheme ababccdd For Express It In Eight, 11.10.21 Prompt: Not slept one wink (from Cymbeline). |
| The Man Behind the Curtain And I, silent and gloomy as I am, would have an even darker side, to be aired abroad, I don’t think so, the pivotal word in Mark Twain’s quote being that single “never.” Darkness is dispelled by light, secrets the stuff of gossip. Who’d make a liar of Sam Clemens? Line count: 8 Free verse For Express It In Eight, 11.09.21 Prompt: "EVERYONE IS A MOON, AND HAS A DARK SIDE WHICH HE NEVER SHOWS TO ANYBODY." - Mark Twain. |
| Coffee And I thought they liked coffee, I thought it was caffeine kicked them into gear, I thought it was hot, steaming, evil, black coffee they liked, but how wrong I was, they waxed lyrical telling of coffee, praising its virtues, its morning boost, I thought they meant coffee, but now it appears they all drink cappuccino, whatever that is. Line count: 8 Free verse For Express It In Eight, 11.08.21 Prompt: National Cappuccino Day. Note: I have never been in a Starbucks. The reason is that they have a huge range of concoctions with strange names, none of which means a thing to me. It has always been apparent that, if you need a coffee, an honest, unadulterated, black coffee, Starbucks is not the place to go. If you wanted a shave, you wouldn’t visit a hairdresser, would you? |
| None I searched the stores without avail, bazaar, department, every door, in the stalls and even sales, upstairs, downstairs, all I could remember, but, in all those varied wares, it seemed there was no vember. Line count: 8 Rhymed abab For Express It In Eight, 11.06.21 Prompt: November. |
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