Tan Renga

A new year begins
With the blooming
Of  a single frosty rose

Mizuhara Shuoshi

standing aloof and unloved
a block of ice for a heart

Carpe Diem Haiku Kai

B&P's Shadorma and Beyond
MLMM



forsaken
by all now alone
a torn leaf
a rustle
an autumn gale wind rattles
the door of the soul

 

inspired by " Leaves"

Sara Teasdale

 

Poetic Gems

LATIFA PRAYER

georgeplacepoetry by Debi Swim


I exist, but more than that, I have a purpose and people who love me, need me. I desire, for myself and those I love, contentment, spiritual blessing, and peace within the storms. I hope I’ll be missed when this time on earth is over, missed for my smile, my silly love of puns, for arms that hug, hands that dry tears, ear to hear the venting of frustrations. But, let the remembrance bring a smile and the tears be few, don’t mourn, just remember me. I believe and I trust in God. I’ve whittled my theology down to just this; that God is. He is completely other and yet human. I will live for Him. I let go of the past hurts and disappointments, not forgetting them, but grateful for the lessons they have taught. I’m stronger, a little wiser and looking forward. I love my life. I see it as the grace of God. I am prepared to die but not yet ready. I have too few days left to squander on what ifs or surrender to despair. There are poems yet to be written, songs to be sung, springs yet to be sprung and breath yet to be breathed.

Oh, the gift of life
let me have lived with honor
my gift back to You

Alfred Deller, Feste's song 'Hey, Ho, the wind and the rain'.

Erasure Poem
Twelfth Night..Shakespeare
Act V scene 1

when i was  a little tiny boy
a foolish thing was but a toy

when i came to man's estate
knaves and thieves
men shut their gates

when i  came alas! to wive
swaggering i could never thrive

when i came unto my beds
with toss pots  - drunken
hey ho

but that's all one
our play is done
with a hey ho the wind and the rain
for the rain it raineth every day

Prompt Nights...Saana Rizvi
Poets Pantry...PU

Teddy Bears Picnic

if you go down to the woods today
be sure of a big surprise
it may not be all hats and wicker baskets
picnic time for teddy bears


you may think you are alone
but the woods have eyes and ears
for every bear that ever there was
will gather there for certain because
today's the day
the teddy bears have their picnic

Midweek Motif PU

G. A. Brescianello: Ouverture for 2 violins, viola, 2 oboes

Sweet Was The Song

a seamless design
intricate patterns
in harmony together

remove a petal
and the flower will know
she can read your  thoughts
carried on the wind

the full moon
beams on you  tonight
will wipe away your cares
sweeten your dreams
how do i know?
quelqu'un m'a dit

Tan Renga

night rolled away
the street sweeper's broom
deepening dawn sounds

Gillena Cox






he buttoned his coat tighter to
keep thoughts of her warm

Carpe Diem Haiku Kai

For The Weekend

Three Word Wednesday

fanatic enchanting giddy



bullies are versatile
they can be as enchanting
as a floral tribute
reeking of
giddy fragrant poison
fanatically precisioned
when it comes to the cut




they can be sociopaths
cowards who need cohorts (apaths)
and come in all genders classifications
shapes and sizes
they do not work alone





they take delight
in inflicting suffering
on those
who are perceived
as threatening or weak 
for whatever reason

flimsy paper tigers
crumple
when confronted
and turn into bin liners




midweek motif PU

Kern: All The Things You Are

my heart skips a beat
when i hear this song -
thinking of you

Haiku Horizons

Now is the Month of Maying

Shadorma & Tanaga

autumn's here
dry leaves crisp and brown
crackle crunch
piled up high
fun to jump in scrunch 
now is the month of maying
but not down under

we will wait for our spring
to do the 'maying ' thing
that northerners do
round now or june

it's time for our rest
we think it is best
to sleep like the bears
take respite from our cares

B&Ps Shadorma and Beyond MLMM

A Madrigal Too Late

M

all of eighteen
she was given a book
of shakespeare songs
still has them

never thought anything of it
never thought of the flowers
never thought of the countless gifts
the myriad kindnesses given to her

just a pretty girl
head in the clouds
never thinking
never thinking it would end
and that one day
never thinking if someone called her darling
she would fall to pieces

For The Weekend

Botticelli Women

collage mural

there's something about
botticelli women
i share a bedroom with these two
translucent beauties
peering out from a collage mural





collage mural

i have not seen them
for two months
when i walk back in
i will be amazed
it is always the first time

The creation of beauty is art . Saana Rizvi Prompt Night

Poetic Gems

i'm losing my head again

over you again
at night again
against my will again
because of a song again
but losing my nerve again
because i've failed again
& again
& again

Robert Lee Brewer - Poetic Asides
' Otoliths ' Poetry

Not Strictly Ballroom

 I am planning to write up a new feature called Poetic Gems on a regular basis. Most of the poems which I find the most moving and beautiful, are written by  the enormously talented poets who blog, so I have decided to feature and share them. Any objections to your poems being featured, please contact the author of this blog in the comment section and your poem will be removed a toute vitesse !

Haibun 
(not strictly ballroom:)

no one knows
these lovelies

they are not sitting
on library shelves
gathering dust with the others
quietly resting unopened

most of which
are a testament to the consistent
tortuous learning circle
of academic life

decades of
student scrawls
underlining
pertinent passages
in order to jump
the required hoops and hurdles
to conformity
the mecca of ultimate 'success'

the great leveller
conformity - no stand outs
amongst the grey herd 

Heeding Haiku with Chevrefeuille ...MLMM

Bluebird

someone tried to kill
that little bluebird
in my heart

it almost drowned
in its own tears
it is resting now

one day it will heal
it will sing again
brighter than ever

Midweek Motif  PU

Sunday's Whirligig

canadians could do
with the marvellous sound
of torrential falling rain
not just a light downfall
little puddles
beneath their feet
but a great force of water
drenching
the raging blinding inferno
destroying their homes
thinking of you all
sending prayers

For The Weekend

Shadorma

catholics
playing hollywood
fantasy
dancing nuns
las vegas show girls - only
in america

B&P's Shadorma and Beyond
MLMM

Tan Renga

a dragonfly pair
fastened to one another
went flickering past

Tomas Transtromer

practising their first lesson
from the birds and bees

Carpe Diem Haiku Kai

Erasure Poem

Erasure poem based on

Le Secret by T J Merton.

i have a good life
i go away in my sail boat on a cloud
i have a secret
it would make you laugh
i see everything
i visit secret stars
don't bother to write me
you aren't thinking about me
i am a bird
which God made

The Secrecy Of Literature

lights out
rattle rattle of rosary beads
click
goes the door

the night begins

nothing as exciting
as reading by torchlight
for an inquisitve  child
eager to learn everything
not on the school curriculum
lost in the adventures
of the scarlet pimpernel
in love with jane eyre's
mr rochester
wandering the moors
with heathcliff and kathy

eyes hanging out on stalks
from the book covered in brown paper
which cynthia williams
found in her father's library
smuggled  into school and passed 'round
to the selected few

the subject of much explosive giggling
secret notes  passed in latin class
to the drone
of mother loyola's translations
of caesar's gallic wars
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

sorry cynthia
i have broken
our vow
i know i was sworn
to an oath of secrecy

decades have flown
tempus fugit
along with  mother loyola






still hear the squealing scraping
deliberate dragging of chairs
across the wooden floor
by naughty girls
"sedete in silencio" girls
ad majorem dei gloria,





still have fond memories
of  our latin class
still have all the drawings
and comments you use to scrawl
all over my text book
(in atrocious hilarious latin)
best wishes


Midweek Motif  -  PU

Tan Renga

in the moonlight
Wisteria flowers look fragile -
a gust of wind

Chevrefeuille 

purple scattered everywhere
like pieces of a broken heart

Carpe Diem Haiku Kai

Bach : Oboe Concerto in D minor, 2nd movement

Jane Reichhold

shadows of leaves
cover the open holes
her flute forgotten

the oboe's plaintive cry calls
from across the vast ancient plains


Carpe Diem Haiku Kai

Haiku Horizons

not a good idea
swinging from chandeliers
must check light fittings

otherwise can fall
with a crash that will echo
across the ocean


Sunday Scribblings 2

Cinquain for Sinbad

always
a helping hand
makes a  huge difference
healing deep wounds and drying tears
thank you