Poetry with Erik with a K: Lonely Cloud

So sometimes when i’m not myself i become this guy Brad Fish who has a whole series of videos warning people about Dangerous Things You Can Least Expect [DTYCLE] which were either funny or not, depending on whether you found them funny or not.

And then today, i discovered that sometimes when i’m not Brad Fish, i might end up becoming Erik [with a K]

Erik loves poetry and the soothing effect it has on him and so he has decided to share one of his favourite well-known poems in the hopes that hearing it read in a different accent might bring it more alive to you as well.

He does hope you will enjoy:

What are your thoughts? Did Erik [with a K] move you? Or should he be the one being moved? 

[For a Dylan Thomas poem recited beautifully by Erik with a K, click here]

NaPoWriMo: Day 7 – Money

[And now our prompt: keeping to the theme of poetry’s value, Wallace Stevens famously wrote that “money is a kind of poetry.” So today, I challenge you to write about money! It could be about not having enough, having too much (a nice kind of problem to have), the smell, or feel, or sensory aspects of money. It could also just be a poem about how we decide what has value or worth.]

hidden treasures

please forgive me, if i seem a little withdrawn

i was hoping i might find a safe place to deposit myself

but that doesn’t seem to be something i can bank on these days

something of a cache-22 situation perhaps

which i would have previously appreciated

but now? well it is not something i would pursue

as i take note of the people who would

coin it at my expense

you have to give them credit i guess

while constantly checking to make sure that they are not always simply

After The Money

[To continue on to my first ever Palinode, i know, click here]

NaPoWriMo: Day 6 – Aubade

[Today’s prompt springs from the form known as the aubade. These are morning poems, about dawn and daybreak. Many aubades take the form of lovers’ morning farewells.]

Just For A Second

as i stumble out of bed, you are nowhere to be found

i had hoped that you would be waiting for me

but no, yet again it seems like i will have to be the one

to come downstairs and chase after you

my mind drifts back to the last time we met

the sensation that ran through my body 

the moment my lips touched you

and how i knew that we were meant to be

together

forever

or at least for a day

and then repeat this ritual again

why don’t you stay

why do you insist on running out

and making me pursue you once more

i stand alone in the kitchen for a few moments

thinking of nothing but you

and then suddenly something stirs

and you are there before me

looking way too hot for me to touch

and so i wait

time passes

and i feel something has cooled 

once again it is i who will have to make the first move

you give no resistance as i bring you to my lips

and once more my whole body celebrates our union

and once more just as it begins

it is finished

i look down

and you are gone

and yet i am the one feeling empty

as i ponder to myself

should i pour a second cup? 

[for the next poem in the challenge which was about money, click here]

NaPoWriMo: Day 4 – Love

[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]

NaPoWriMo: Day 3 – catchup: Fourteener

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

[To continue to Day 4 of the Poetry challenge, click here]

NaPoWriMo: Day 2: catchup – romance

Today, I challenge you to take your gaze upward, and write a poem about the stars.

 stardust

oh distant star

how i used to gaze romantically upon you

thinking of the wonder it would be

to one day shoot off into space

and land upon you

wandering around

creating memories

watching planets whizz by

as shooting stars sounded off their celestial celebrations

in the distance

enter science class [stage left]

as if learning that your distance from me

was not enough to dampen my spirits

the illumination of the fact that

your illumination is caused by the

conflagration of gases that make up your being

and that if ever i did manage to traverse

the atmospheric disco ball darkness that keeps us apart

and ever land on your surface to wander in wonder

that my very shoes, socks and the soles of my feet

would simply scorch

skin and sinew

reducing my very legs to bloody stumps

that is, if my whole body had not exploded into a ball of disintegrating ash

before even coming reasonably close in any way to any form of physical contact with you

so, hoping you won’t take this personally at all

but i think i would rather keep all my current appendages intact

and let any wondering

replace all wandering

and keep you simpley as a momentary regular distant head nod of acknowledgement

as i gaze outside my window on another starry night

to wish what may

to wish what might

[For the next poem, a fourteener, on the theme of Easter, click here]

NaPoWriMo: It begins…

So, discovering this thing a few days late, but tbV pointed it out to me and with a recent spate of poetry coming out of me both here and here, it feels like a good thing to jump into – [Inter]National Poetry Writing Month where you get a prompt a day and write a poem based on it…

The first poem challenge was a poem of negation that involves describing something in terms of what it is not, or not like. I cannot resist playing catchup with that one and so here we go:

O Deathly Grape

Contrary to the kind of belief that is popular

The raisin is not a food sort

It is not an enhancer of meals

Or a delightful twist to a dainty dish

You, blackened husk shell of a juicy living food of reclining roman emperors that once was

You do not deceive me in the slightest

You are not a tasty morsel threatening in any way to tempt my tongue

You are not an ingredient my eyes light up for as they see you tucked away in yet another desecrated dessert

You are not a treat, nor a  pleasure, nor some kind of party in my mouth

Are you not the opposite of something that isn’t not a complete abomination?

You can but look on in jealousy at those foods i long for that you will never be

Such as a delightful dripping chocolate waterfall flowing from a fountain of goodness

The hard crackling shell of setting chocolate encasing the multi-flavoured ice-cream beneath its firm hold

The chocolatty mousse fondant holding together two moist walls of caked goodness

And more.

But none of this is you.

Rather you lurk, and hide, and try to blend in.

But you will not. i am wise to your tricks and i will not be drawn close.

You will not find yourself an Oscar chasing lead or supporting role player in any meal that ever graces my lips.

The life you held and offered so long ago when you were edible, juicy, grape, has expired

And is no more.

And like that snuffed out opportunity for a single shot at bringing a smile to my face with your sweet sweet juice.

So your time has passed, and you my fiend, are done…

[For the next Poem, related to stars, a dark comedic romantic one, click here]