stop the noise
sometimes
when you
don’t have anything
to say
the very
best way
to acknowledge
that is
to keep
your fingers
from typing
any words
Tag Archive: Brettfish poem
the alchemist
i watch
through my window
and the rain
as you
dig through
my trash
to somehow
discover
your treasure
[Our prompt for the day (optional, as always) plays of our resources. Today, I challenge you to write a visual poem. If that’s not specific enough, perhaps you can try your hand at a calligram? That’s a poem or other text in which the words are arranged into a specific shape or image.]
Waterless
a
drop
of water
might seem to be
inconsequential but in
these times of incessant drought
even one single solitary drop of water
might feel like a tsunamic wave to the
person who has not seen any sign
of liquid refreshment for weeks
especially if you offer to place
place said drop on
their tongue
[And now, without further ado, our prompt (optional as always) for Day Eight: today I challenge you to write a palinode. And what’s that? It’s a poem in which the poet retracts a statement made in an earlier poem.]
It has always been you
It has been claimed
This by myself
In previous Aubade,
That coffee was
The thing i dreamt of
When in bed i laid
However, when my wife it read
She was not quite amused
So like a biased judge i now
Consider me recused
You see, she’s always been the one
My lady, tbV
[aka the beautiful Val]
Who slumbers beside me
This “coffee” was a passing fad
A once-off dalliance
And i will make it up to her
If given half a chance
[a little p.s. i must add
if you could keep this quiet
you will know why and understand
just as soon as you try it
i have made peace with my dear wife
we’re stronger than we’ve been
as long as she does never find
my drug patch of caffeine]
[For the next poem in the challenge which is a calligram aka shape poem, click here]
[National Poetry Writing Month – composing a poem a day based on a prompt – Find an Emily Dickinson poem – preferably one you’ve never previously read – and take out all the dashes and line breaks. Make it just one big block of prose. Now, rebreak the lines. Add words where you want. Take out some words. Make your own poem out of it!]
I, not Death, stood up
it was not death.
I stood up… and all the dead…lie down?
It was not night for all
put out your tongues,
for noon was not frostmy flesh I felt crawl
fire, for just my marble feet, could keep cool
and yet, it tasted, like them all
the figures I have seen set for burial
reminded me, of mine as if my life were shaven
and fitted to a frame
i could not breathe without midnight
’twas like a key ,
when everything that ticked has stopped
and space stares all around
or grisly frosts first autumn morns
repel the beating groundbut, like chaos
stopless, without a chance
or even a report of land to justify despair
[with apologies to emily dickinson, based on her poem, ‘It was not Death, For I Stood up’]
[For the next poem, an Aubade, which i think is my best one so far, click here]
[And now for today’s prompt. Love poems are a staple of the poetry scene. But because so many love poems have been written, there are lots of clichés. Fill your poems with robins and hearts and flowers, and you’ll sound more like a greeting card than a bard. So today, I challenge you to write a “loveless” love poem. Don’t use the word love! And avoid the flowers and rainbows.]
word unspoken
the unwashable grease stains beneath his nails
still there after countless washings
from that time he drove out to rescue you, midnight last week
and changed your tyre at the drop of a hat
his favourite jeans relegated to the back of the cupboard
displaying the splotches of paint he couldn’t hold at bay
as he ‘just dropped by’ that saturday morning
when you and some friends who never showed up were going to paint your wall
the old cellphone he pulls out to text his parents
to let them know he is going to be late
looks pitiful and ancient when held against your new gleaming smartphone
the one he quietly handed to you, when yours had slipped
and smashed its screen upon the floor
his face, after you have left the room
the edges of his mouth, shortly after you smile at him
the lingering he does at events that you attend
all speak a thousand times the word that he cannot
[For day 5’s challenge which involved a reworked Emily Dickinson poem, click here]
And now, for our optional prompt! Today I challenge you to write a fourteener. Fourteeners can be have any number of lines, but each line should have fourteen syllables. Given the day, i decided to go for an Eastery theme:
Easter, in fourteen beats
An air of doom and gloom has descended upon the earth
Friday night’s unfortunate events made Saturday tough
People dull-faced like zombies trying to take it all in
Listening for but not hearing any sign from above
And now, on the third day, will it be any different?
Do we hold on to expectation or simply give in?
As we gather with our friends, there is not a lot to say
Til suddenly, a door bursts open, and, “I have seen Him!”
Can this even be true? No-one knows what to make of this
His closest friends have already taken off down the street
Peter is quite fast, but John overtakes him on the way
Enters an empty tomb with nothing but a folded sheet
A group of fisherman at night trying to catch some fish
An instruction comes from the man they see upon the shore
Suddenly the net is breaking, could this possibly be?
Will they be reunited with their rabbi friend once more?
As He bids His final farewell He reminds them once more
You will be known by others in the way you show your love
With this message burning in them, Jesus knows it is time
He can ascend with confidence back to His home above
Irresistibly Fish 