Poems for years 4 and 5 of the Promptly Poetry Challenge. |
A year's worth of poems, every week for 52 weeks, spanning 2023 and 2024, plus the year following, from August 2024 to August 2025.(provided I live that long, of course). |
Snow It snowed today, swathes of little flakes windblown across our vision, literally laterally, coating the deck like matt paint, slowly thickening to a crust of white puff pastry, glistening in reflected light from our window. We didn’t go out, but watched content with winter’s usual greeting, Christmas still to come and sunshine and more snow before next year. It’s enough that seasons still chase the chosen round, unaffected by our sins. Line count: 18 Free verse For Promptly Poetry Challenge, Week 19 2024 Prompt: Use these three words: snow, sunshine, glistening. |
Serendipity Like a Beatles medley of endless invention and chance life erupts in happy accident as moment follows moment tumbling in abandoned glee always onward never halted a chain of golden links poured in perpetual piste. Is it all then in serendipity launched haphazard to no end a fortune favoured forever? Oh, there’s an end and turning back we understand that all was for the best. Line count: 16 Free verse For Promptly Poetry Challenge, Week 18 2024 Prompt: Serendipity. |
Gratitude The problem with expressing gratitude, it often appears as mere platitude; so common the wording of thank you, it’s only just better than blank you. And though there are no languages where gratitude commonly languishes without expression in one form or another, there might be one we’re yet to discover. In the end it’s probably best to stick with the words of the rest, and give a delighted impression - do not stoop to a surly confession. Line count: 12 Rhymed aabb For Promptly Poetry Challenge, Week 17 Prompt: Thankfulness. |
Nomad Song I think they will say of me that what steps I left were free for roots I never put down and wandered from town to town. Line count: 4 Form: Tanaga - quatrain, syllables 7777, rhymed aabb For Promptly Poetry Challenge, Week 16 Prompt: Write a tanaga. |
For Andrea Again I am reminded of those late nights when you snuggle close and ask “Are you awake? Tell me a story.” And I search my empty brain and speak of memories of youth running free in a dry and desert land and how loneliness struck me in my damp and misty homeland of friends that came and went and yes I’ve been alone at times. And you recall those times alike though now that we’re just you and me and how strange it is that it’s enough and all our gratitude’s for now and not the past. Line count: 15 Free verse For Promptly Poetry Challenge, Week 15 Prompt: Picture of a Thank you note. |
Endgame The first and last, alpha and omega, so life plays out its petty dance, right to the end when breath comes short and every nuance snatched at, only to slip through the grasp, aged fingers awkward in their haste to hold the final moments hesitant, the sight now dim in fading light. Thus poor creature huddled in vain, resigned through long acquaintance, yet unable to loose its grip in final sigh, would say quite bold, “Yes, now would be the moment, smoothed by constant touch to familiarity and rest.” And then the life force, instinct, will, turns in an instant ferocious still, no, just one more breath, a second glance, before I go - it’s not too much to ask. Line count: 18 Free verse For Promptly Poetry Challenge, Week 14 2024 Prompt: Use at least three of the following words in your poem: stunning, nuance, colorful, last, first. |
Jackson Pollock Primary colour dribbled from the lip the tin tipped and dripping red yellow green blue struggling their random patterns painted pooling plastic paths pirouetting pastiche of explosive performance entwined one within the other and a thousand more wriggling in random writhing riot confused and silent cacophony and chaos of accident intended. This mass of shape and line coloured fresh and free is wild and even beautiful a design of energy and verve but art gagged and voiceless wall hanging without a cause. Line count: 16 Free verse For Promptly Poetry Challenge, Week 13 2024 Prompt: Quiet chaos. |
A Poem From Nowhere A good morning to the empty pristine page, awaiting its breakfast of magical words, and thoughts are aligning all eager and sage. But jumbled they are, all so dumb and absurd, the brain it’s not working, “Vacation!” it cries, I hunt for a subject but ev’rything’s blurred. the teevee is shouting and telling its lies, the coffee is weak and not up to its task, the hope I had early just dwindles and dies. I think I am beaten, I may have to pass - but wait, it seems I have succeeded at last. Line count: 11 Form: Terza Rima - Rhymed aba bcb cdc dd, 11 syllables per line For Promptly Poetry Challenge, Week 12 Prompt: Write a Terza Rima. |
Halloween At Last Poor little Johnny, who died only last week, he didn’t mind - he was ever so meek; but what really hurt him and made him feel sad, he missed Halloween and the chance to be bad. He haunted each night in the same old streets, wailing and moaning and dressed up in sheets. The other ghosts listened and they understood - poor Johnny was only expressing his mood. They came to him then with a clever idea, “You need a friend to possess and be here,” and Johnny latched on to his little dog Stan, who knew him at once and accepted his plan. Now each Halloween they go forth as one amongst trick or treaters and all having fun, from house to house and fast on their feet, go Johnny and Stan collecting their treats! Line count: 16 Rhymed aabb For Promptly Poetry Challenge, Week 11 2024 Prompt: Picture of a dog trick or treating in a sheet. |
Oh, Do Not Ask, “What is it?” Some things are so special, moments of bright sunbursts of awareness, scattered as mountain peaks in the foothills of life, high experiences that shine their crystal clarity and illumine the dark corners forever. To speak of them in hope of understanding is to demean the mystery, to drain the nearness of the divine with earthly care, the perfect light of that instant sullied with inspection and force feeding the replete. ‘Tis enough to say God spoke. Line count: 17 Free verse For Promptly Poetry Challenge, Week 10 2024 Prompt: Write a poem about a moment when you felt overwhelmingly joyful. Note: The title is a quote from The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock by T.S. Eliot. |