Posts

Showing posts from January, 2015

Poetry penultimate day!

Morning Dawn breaks Announcing itself proudly While sweeping away the dark Birds trumpet the arrival The air snaps with possibility Colours spread across the sky The energy of a new day crackles

Poetry day 28

Stagger Once you staggered towards me with a milk bottle in your hand,   determined to close the space between us that shoved you further from me with each passing second.   I thought of milk at school, passed round at break times – glass bottles and thin striped straw stuck through the gleaming silver top. I thought of mother’s milk, nurturing and necessary to grow that tiny baby into a real person with thoughts, dreams, desires of their own. I could never know what you were thinking right then, I imagine you could not have told me either, as you stared through me, hated me and tried to glass me. Dementia is cruel.

Poetry day 28

Fly Dreams and promises set free to roam, Pick their way carefully through confusion, Treachery stalks that kind intention, When it was simple, it was unadorned, Gazing clearly out from excited eyes, All was possible and you knew it, Set yourself free to fly while you can.

Poetry day 27

Time P eople thought they could control me They fought hard to contain me I bit harder and won You do not stop what is not yours I am here, there and everywhere Before you, above you and behind you I lead you.   Remember that.

Poetry day day 25 - two poems to catch up!

 Okay, so it is one poem with the two words combined.  Cheating! Immaculate Universe I could hold that immacuate universe of yours in my hand if I chose.  Keep everything special held tight where nothing falls out.  I would feel that shifting weight of knowledge bursting against my fingers but I would not let go.  Rainbows would form and galaxies collide.  I might be begged to give up all the secrets I held close.  I would resist.  Keeping guard of perfection is tiring but it would be an honor.  If you gave me the chance to be it all.

Poetry day 23

Teapot The Mad Hatter dances circles Coming closer, moving away He makes you laugh Whispering in your ear sweet secrets that make you glad You know everything They know nothing Stay silent and keep the truth inside.

Day 22

Mistakes Mistakes will be made The results may fade She is told She feels old It should be understood They know you never would Want to hurt and pain Unravel like a train Twisting on the line

Poetry day 21

Museum Take a walk around the museum, why don’t you? Look over there, that’s your first holiday in Spain, Remember the photograph? Short bobbed hair, shorter skirt - but it was the sixties, There’s a drink in your hand, And you’re sat on a boy’s lap whose name you couldn’t recall, You are young and happy. Look this way, it’s snowing in the back garden, Your daughter is there in a white fluffy coat, She looks like a tiny snowball, You are a mother. And just over here, You’re in Thailand, And there, at a party sat looking bored at a table, You came home with an orchid trapped in a plastic case, On a beach wrapped in a towel with two freezing children, Playing with the kittens; dragging a piece of string for them, Sat in the garden with a cup of tea and a biscuit, You are you.

Facebook and I are on a break...

I love Facebook.  It took me a while to get into it but since 2007 it has been a part of my daily life.  Recently though, I began to realise that I was spending a lot of time just wandering around my news feed, randomly liking things that friends had posted and generally not using my time very productively. Facebook has enabled me to reconnect with people I haven't seen in thirty years (I can't believe I am old enough to not have seen someone for thirty years.  That's shocking, especially when I still don't feel any different to when I was thirteen).  It has allowed me to share information and keep in touch with friends and family who, for whatever reason, I don't get to see that often nowadays.  It has also given me the opportunity to share everyday stuff with people who, if I didn't post status updates about what I'm doing or put photos up, would miss out on what we as a family are busy doing. There are two reasons that I have fallen a little out of love

Poetry day 19

  As always happens with these poetry months, I'm getting behind so cheating by writing shorter poems and putting more of the key words in each one.  Still enjoyable though and a great way to look at the heft a particular word brings with it. Misery, bridge, collector Your dream collector Sees you on the bridge and sends Misery your way

Poetry day 20

Wig Your personality changes And you are in disguise An unwelcome coat hangs by the door That nasty wig hides your hair Who is this? Get out now.

Poetry day 16

Keepsakes I keep, for your sake, the things that mattered That scarf, the little black hat for cold days The heavy, wide coat that swirled when you turned And a dress that is too narrow for me But you loved it which means it matters now.

Poetry day 15

Flourish The bare earth shelters those fragile seeds She pats them in, waters them, keeps them safe Warm sun, fresh rain and long days of magic Turn those brown dots into determined shoots Pushing their way towards a bigger world Beneath her tender care, life has flourished.

Poetry day 14

Skin Paper thin wrinkles Pale, freckles in sun Keeping you inside

Poetry day 13 - and the poems get shorter!

Heart Heart swiftly departs My fingers outstretched in vain It’s gone in a blink

Poetry day 12 - 2 poems!

Bones – a villanelle Grass blankets your bones lying still Where is the peace in this new sight? But bright sun shines upon the hill I wonder why this is His will Is this the result of some might? Grass blankets your bones lying still Your leaving is a bitter pill Though you left for a greater light But bright sun shines upon the hill Air grows cold but for you no chill You wait in peace for stalking night Grass blankets your bones lying still Of life you never had your fill You did not know you had to fight But bright sun shines upon the hill My thoughts of you survive the kill It is not fair, it is not right Grass blankets your bones lying still But bright sun shines upon the hill   Careen You move in a wave Destruction follows You delight in it  

Poetry day 10

Impress Are you here to impress me with your words? Do you seek to lie to me once again? I do not know who you are any more, Although your voice is one I think I know, There is a familiarity there, I cannot explain but it makes me safe I think, to have you near me when I fail. Your voice tells me you love me.   I believe On those days my mind does not trick me, But those days are less now and you stranger I know, look at me with fear and sadness For what must come next.   For what must come next.

Poetry day 9

Smart Ordinary Intelligent Thoughtful Caring Fun Understanding Wishful Envious Frustrated Scared Furious Thoughtless Disappearing Gone.

Poetry day 8

Light bulb Once a shimmer gleamed And you laughed at your choices Over time they froze And you had no choices left The shimmer tarnished and died

Poetry day 7

Today it is time to try the cinquain form, while still following the theme of dementia. I think the simplicity and repetition work quite well. Fallen That word That word, that word On the tip of your tongue Chasing it, trying to know it That word.

Poetry day 6

After playing around with the sestet form yesterday, which i very much enjoyed and was quite pleased with the first result, here I am experimenting with the terza rima form.  I am less pleased with this although on paper, the structure looks 'easier' to work with.  I think this rhyme scheme diminishes what I was trying to do as it is clunky and appears forced.  However, this is all about trying and learning through failing and for that reason it stays! Engineer An engineer created your mind He tinkered with your soul But then it all began to unwind You were once whole Until fate or genes called the shots And you were handed a new role That wonderful mind turned to knots Easier to bear once you ceased to know And stopped worrying about everyone’s plots That life force used to glow And I missed it when it was gone Your laughter stopped its flow When you had forgotten where you were from While your memory imploded like

Poetry day 5

Trying a haiku...   Pigeon I thought I heard a pigeon flapping, but it was just your mind leaving.

Poetry day 4

This is the sestina! I haven't written many of these and I'm quite pleased with bits of this although it isn't nearly as clever as the examples I read before trying my own.  Definitely something that needs more practice. Tricky Watch him, he’s quick That thought there, hiding out Behind your memory, Something that you can’t quite remember, You grasp but then he’s gone Fast and slippery, into the dark. Look steadily into the dark, And if your mind is quick You might catch that one before he’s gone, Wait for him and catch him out While you can still remember, Before he reshakes your memory You never admired that memory Until it began to creep into the dark And then you couldn’t remember, It all went so unfairly quick, You tried for a while to figure it out But by then it had already gone Your thoughts had packed up and gone, It played a cruel trick, that memory Not letting you know in advance that it wa

Poetry day 3

I'm keeping with the cheerful theme of dementia still and writing in blank verse to try and keep a sense of regularity while the words suggest dissonance.  At least that's the idea! Straw Autumn brings straw and with it ends summer Gold spears cut down leaving their jewels behind Waiting for collection, wanting harvest Those jewels seeping slowly run through fingers Life giving bright sunshine contained within The grains bounce onto the floor with a swish She stands and watches, looks but doesn’t see Her harvest gone, cold winter comes grasping Fast and unkind tendrils stripping her soul Her light fades as she becomes hollowed out.

Poetry day 2

Today's  word is courtesy of Maria.  WIth all of these poems, as before, I am simply writing what first comes into my head and with very little editing, just clicking 'publish'.  I find editing and reworking any form pretty tricky but am attending a poetry revisioning and editing workshop this month which should hopefully prove inspirational! Abacus Those abacus beads sliding slowly now Through your thought haze where fog prevents clear sight Click, click, the smooth edges roughened with age They give you the wrong answers and you know Sometimes that they are slyly tricking you. You fight the shaded ink of coming night And clutch fiercely your truths and greying hair The beads fall from their string, trickle away.