Barry White's Memorable Verse for the Lovelorn..

Take it Off
What?
Baby,take it all off
Don't be ridiculous
I want you the way you came into the world
What is wrong with you?
I don't wanna feel no clothes
You've been at the Schnapps again
I don't wanna see no panties
Which reminds me did you bring the washing in?
and take off that brassiere my dear
I haven't worn a bra in twenty years
Do you have something to tell me?
Eveybody's gone
That's a pity
We're going to take the receiver off the phone
No,I'm expecting a call from Felicity
because baby, you and me-heh
this night,we're gonna get it on
Did you feed the cat ?
to Love's Serenade
What! I'm not putting on Eine Kleine Nachtmusik at this hour

POW PROMPT 5

POW PROMPT 5

' The Dresden clock continued ticking on the mantepiece
And the footman sat upon the dining-table
Holding the second housemaid on his knees--
Who had always been so careful while her mistress lived '

From ' Aunt Helen' by T.S. Eliot

Looking forward to some splattered diverse brilliance next Wednesday!

Crushed by Love

completely captivated
overwhelmed by the
irresistible smell colour
and texture of my larger
than life sized love
warned by all
that this obsession
would lead to my demise

I know why some of us are
drawn to damage
drawn to danger
drawn to dross
like moths to the flame

I know how to read
I know they are right
I try
I try
to resist
to grapple
to struggle
too late

POW PROMPT 4

POW PROMPT 4

Well it's time to find your inner child and settle back for story time with Rall
sprouting a whole lot of silliness.

The Rabbit's Tale

Tea parties are torture
with Alice
a pretty little girl
of scorpion heart
whose cutting comments
and withering looks
can cause guests to disappear
into their shoes,tip a saucer on end
and reduce a rabbit to a pipsqueak

She was much nicer before meeting
blue caterpillar and meanie mushroom
spending far too much time with them
down in the glade
Her eyes are ring'd smoked hookah blue...
from rolling too many bluebells and hollyhocks

Constantly squeezing and pummeling me
until I bruise blue she insists on my
presence at her afternoon teas with misfits
sporting strange hats with price tags
grinning cats and tweedle dumdee twins
when all I really want to do is race off frantically
in a waist coat with a pocket watch
just like any other abnormal rabbit

If I crouch down very still
I might get lucky and disappear
Too bad about these ears
Oh crikey, she is stroking my scut
I can feel myself blushing pink from the feet up
Where the hell is that ' drink me ' bottle?

Night Walk...

we walk past doyles
past the wafting aromas
of lobster thermidor
and garlic bead
past the dinghies
on rusty chains
past the tinkling sail boats
never failing to gasp
at the aching beauty
of the marquesite brooch
set against black velvet
in the distance
past the fishermen cottages
past the intrusive mansions
picking posies for the kitchen vase
and on to the cove
we stare at the ferries gliding by
slowly silently like fluorescent
caterpillars
we stare at the floating marker buoys
and without saying anything
we know it will break our hearts
to leave this

TOREADOR

TOREADOR...Wordle

The pattern on the crumpled caparison
was the same as Marquesa's outfit
Taking a discreet sip of absinthe tincture
secreted in her purse she performed the practiced
aristocratic wave to the crowd
living proof of a futile class system

Pressing the flesh
meet and greet
she fondled the horse's muzzle
smiled at the matador
who doffed his montero
and breathed a sigh of relief
that this part of the ceremony went off
without a glitch
The horse, the only sapient presence in the arena
considered doing a bolt but capitulated
when he felt the cold steel of the sword
destined for the bull

POW PROMPT 4

Write a poem as a response to the painting above ' Feet Beneath The Table ' by Charles Blackman (Australian Painter.)
You could assume a character if you wish. I know I am identifying with at least two . Gosh,
Wednesdays come around quickly. So best leave you to get on with it . I can feel a form coming on. No, lost it. Not in form after all. Looking forward to reading you then. A toute a l'heure or toodle-oo amigos!

POW PROMPT 3

I was hoping to write something light and daffodil but you know poems ,they always have their way. So here t'is

After Midnight

She was still in bud
The others had peaked early
leaving her behind
their tarnished blooms blown
drooped destined for a
brown pressing between print

Her petals were reluctant to unfold
She had overstayed the cocoon
Emerging, she blinked dumbfounded
dazzled by the truth beyond safe pink
Grateful to the God of dysfunctional delay
but no longer able to endure
betrayal
toxic kisses
jet judas eyes peering out
from behind black curtains
of middle eastern hair
she thought of that coach

The prince could keep his glass slipper
Turning into a pumpkin
after midnight seemed
very appealing

Live Your Dream

Well you know what ?
Well you know something ?
Well you know what ?
I think it has got to be
something to do with Queensland
A sixteen year old alone at sea for seven months
negotiating Cape Horn in a small pink boat the size of a bath
rubber ducky mountainous waves,thunder,lightning
'Castaway' heart in the mouth movie world adventure
And all she wants now is her driver's licence
Live Your Dream could morph into
Live Your Nightmare
Well you know what ?
It's all yours anyway

POW PROMPT 3

POW PROMPT 3
Something a little less mind bending this time.

It was the first fresh peach I had ever tasted.
I could hardly believe how delicious.
At twenty five I was dumbfounded afresh
By my ignorance of the simplest things.

From 'Fulbright Scholars' Birthday Letters by Ted Hughes. Ted Hughes was appointed England's Poet Laureate in 1984. He was married to American poet Sylvia Plath who tragically committed suicide in 1963. A very good movie called ' Sylvia' was made in 2003 starring Gwyneth Paltrow and Daniel Craig depicting Ted and Sylvia's life together.

Write a poem inspired by this quote. See you next Wednesday Banditos and remember Bob might not be your Uncle.

POW PROMPT 2

POW PROMPT 2
I ended up using a rejection letter with a song from the movie Bridget Jones ' Just Like You'. For those who do not know this song I have put it in the side bar. Scroll down to find the prompt.Looking forward to your poems.
Please Do Not Write your poem in the comment section.

PLEASE GO MISS JONES

Dear Miss Jones
This letter is to inform you that
you have not been successful in
your application for the position
of Poetry Professor.
I've been searching for a long time
We have received a number of applications
from popular local poets who are interrelated
and whom we consider more suited to the position.
For someone exactly like you
We prefer to overlook qualifications
as we find these create unhelpful independent thinking
and we tend not to accept travellers as we find them
knowledgeable and not amenable to censorship.
I've been travelling all around the world
Speaking languages other than English we consider
an unnecessary distraction and along with travel
it is deemed subversive, suspicious and unpatriotic.
Waiting for you to come through
Frankly we discourage you from applying
for any position in this organization in the future
Someone like you makes it all worthwhile
as we are comprised of reactionary unenlightened automatons
and it is in our interest to maintain the status quo.
Someone like you keeps me satisfied
Someone exactly like you

One Single Impression...Reign

Miss Jones Reigns

You're alone all the time
Does it ever you puzzle you
Have you asked why?
I'm every woman it's all in me
Chakachaka Khan
All by myself
Don't wanna live all by myself
Anymore arrrrrrgh
Raindrops keep falling on my head
It's raining men
Hallelujah
It's raining men
Amen
Have you met Miss Jones?
Long to reign over us
God save the Queen
She was just Miss Jones to me
We are the champions
We are the champions
Hey Jude
Is this the real life?
Is this just fantasy
like a bohemian rhapsody?

The Lion King Twins... A Sequel to Fun of The Fair?

George and Gerrick
the Lion King Twins
hailed from generations
of Lion Tamers
circus sawdust swirling
in their blood and brains
As babies Mum used
to leave them in the monkey cage
while she cracked the whip
to the roars and bared sabre teeth
of Leonidas and his pride

Twinky the tight rope no net
ballet act had set her sights on Gerrick
but sadly only succeeded in captivating George
instead
Gerrick was a sensation in his youth
driving the crowds wild with his bravado
Lately things had started to go wrong like the
dropping of a chair or tangle of the whip
Leonidas had been patiently waiting for years
Exhilarated by jangled nerves and smell of fear
He pounces...the crowd screams
George armed with rifle staring dreamily
at Twinky doing her tippy toe turns
fires a fraction too late and
MISSES

POW PROMPT 2

POW PROMPT 2
If you scroll down to the Poetry News you will find an excerpt from Elizabeth Smart's prose poetry novel "As I Sat Down By Grand Central Station And Wept ''. It is a police interrogation juxtaposed against a biblical psalm. Write a poem using this excerpt loosely as a model. Your poem should illustrate juxtaposing and contrasting elements. You could use a poem, a song, a letter, a hymn, something operatic or biblical and please, no interrogations. I'm looking forward to a variety of responses . So let your imaginations run riot. This should be fun to write. See you Wednesday. Until then, keep yourself nice!

POW PROMPT 1

POW PROMPT 1
Write a poem to the above collage.

It is Wednesday already Down Under. I realise that it is still Tuesday for most of you. I am going to set the time the same as USA RWP time because that is what we are used to. This is an exception because I am on the road all day tomorrow . Am heading off to the sticks and will be out of computer range until tomorrow night. Can't wait to read everyone's poems.
This poem was not as easy to write as I thought it would be. It wrote itself in the end.
Please DO NOT write your poem in the comment section here.

Gypsy Poets

A bedraggled lot
trundling along
king hit
with sneers aimed sharp
bull's eye'd by
arrows of disdainful stares
from the thumbs up thumbs down
complacent crowd a dull'd herd
damned since the Fall

Sometimes a patronising soul
offers tea and sympathy
an essay in prescribed goodness
balancing the ledger taking out
an insurance policy against the
hereafter a vain attempt to
squeeze through the eye of the needle

None know that tucked away
under thin blankets
clattering amongst the broken pots and pans
under bare feet in between dirty toes
diamonds gold and rubies lurk and lodge
Some spill out and slide through slits in
the wooden plank'd floor
A trail of gold dust follows the rickety old cart
Even the horse is laughing

ENIGMA

ENIGMA

A poem for two little sparrow poets on OSI
They know who they are!

It is enigmatic
to consider how
a delicate little sparrow
flying through lace handkerchiefs
pegged to a washing line
preening her wings
amongst blossom buds
whispering a sparrow sigh
can drop a
heavy nugget of gold

POETRY NEWS

Dorothy Porter's poems are short and powerful. Dorothy was a well known Sydney poet who died of breast cancer in 2008. I thought I would introduce you to one of her short poems , one that I very much empathise with .

NUMBERS
I get magic
( sometimes I get more
than I bargained for)

but I don't get
numbers.

Numbers do worse
than humiliate
or elude me

they don't add up.

I am no algebra tart
ravished
by the meretricious music
of the spheres

My eyes and nose
never streamed
with incontinent ectasy
through geometry classes
as my disastrous triangles
collapsed in a cacophany
around me.

Oh and maybe another with a bit more bite

IS IT NOT THE THING?
( After Byron)

Trying to get a gutless friend
to get it
Byron wrote
Is it not the thing?

He was praising the bawdy
spurt
of his own poem, his own
ballsy Don Juan

Ever poet wants to write the poem
that penetrates
with the ice-cold shock
of the Devil's prick.

The poem that will fuck you awake
or kill you


ELIZABETH SMART
Canadian author/poet Elizabeth Smart in her poetry prose novel 'By Grand Central Station I Sat Down And Wept' described her arrest for adultery in 1940 crossing the Arizona border with her lover British poet George Barker.She juxtaposes the degrading interrogation by police with some uplifting verses from the 'Song of Songs' Psalm 137 from the Bible. To quote Derrick ' the squalor splendour' juxtaposition works very well in this citation.

'Back at the Arizona border they stopped us and said Turn Back, and I sat in a little room with barred windows as they typed
What relationship is this man to you?
My beloved is mine and I am his:
he feedeth among the lilies.
How long have you known him?
I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine:
he feedeth among the lilies.
Did you sleep in the same room?
Behold thou art fair,my beloved
thou hast dove's eyes
In the same bed?
Behold thou art fair,my beloved
yea pleasant also;our bed is green.
Did intercourse take place?
I sat down under his shadow with great delight
and his fruit was sweet to my taste.
When did intercourse first take place?
The king hath brought me to the banqueting house
and his banner over me was love.
Were you intending to commit fornication in Arizona?
He shall lie all night betwixt my breasts
Behold thou art fair my beloved
Behold thou art fair
Thou hast dove's eyes.

WELCOME TO POW

Welcome to POW, ( Poetry On Wednesday )the only steam driven poetry site on the net. For those of you who are still frazzled after (APO) April's Poetry Orgy here is a prompt that should not be too difficult.

POW POST Prompt 1
Write a poem based on the POW collage above. Collage always has a surreal quality and for those who have surreal minds this could be fun. Some may see a more serious side to it. I can see both so I will let it write itself. It offers endless possibilities. Feel free to use the picture with your post and write in any of the forms you wish, the more scholarly and complicated the better. We will
all be impressed, especially me, as I never seem to understand what is happening anyway.

Poems cannot be submitted here. You will need to write them on your own site under a
POW POST Prompt heading. My poem will be first up on my site 1a.m. every Wednesday.
Please resist the temptation of putting your poem on before Wednesday. You can comment on my poem on Wednesday and this will link others to comment on yours. Make sure you name the title of your poem in your comment to me.

As with RWP policy the comment is not a critique. We appreciate sincere encouraging comments here but pleeeze this is not a poetry site for nauseating saccharine effusions (oh well, just occasionally then!) I look forward to your poems and meeting up again. If newcomers lob on to this site by mistake or otherwise by all means join in. WARNING: Poets with surreality and humour issues may find some poems a health risk! If you enjoy this romp you might like to place the small photo of POW logo in the widget gidget( whatever it is called) side panel of your van.If you have any technical problems just prostrate yourself before strangers on the net. It doesn't work but I can't think of anything else.

POETRY NEWS will be a feature every week. As this is a small group (hopefully more than three) we like to keep up with gossip and what is happening out there in party poetry world. So if you have some interesting news (no recipes please.. oh well maybe something along the lines of a lethal cocktail concoction is OK ) send it in to the comment section of POETRY NEWS. More soon.