A Poet's Rhapsody

I.

A poem is a raindrop in mid-
                                          dle of my run-
ning thoughts, a riddle at
                                       tip of my tongue-
                    a symphony of fleeting words-
a flash of white wings above trees-



II.

A poem is you
                       between heart-
                                              beats-
      -core, mantle, skin  -
                       shadowing move-
                                               ments-      
I run
Not to trap you in the page  
But hurl you back
                       to starless & moonless
                                                sky-



III.

A poem is roar
               sound searching in its intensity
                                 amplifying thunder run
               reaching climax
only my ears 



Posted for dVerse Poets Pub - MTB Ars Poetica, hosted by Paul John Dear.   Please join us when the pub doors open at 3pm EST.  Thanks for the visit.

Out of the winter blue

I gave birth-
it was autumn 
but winter came early that year

There were no stitches
nor bleeding pain 
It was as if
I woke up from a coma 
& spoke a third language 
only the child & I knew  

    frost, chill, ice- 
    my tongue suddenly understood
    what loneliness meant
     
In the many nights that followed
my hands would slide under her body  
to cradle her close but she didn't want 
my milk, nor warm blanket 
I became besotted with her small fingers
curled like spring buds & her eyes -
so bright and wild as purple star   

     stillness of night, moon 
     thrumming under my breastbone -
     my eyes open for first time 

Perhaps it was I
suffering from postpartum blues
who thought it strange 
that no one could hear her cry but me
that no one could hush her restless voice   
in my head until I take my pen & write

      I know 
      even before you were in my womb-
      I know you
             
I have no name for this child
but she is delicate as a poem 

Photography by The Canadian Press/Jeff McIntosh

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7. An icicle forms on a sunflower as snow continues to fall in Cremona, Alta., Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2014. Environment Canada issued a snowfall warning for Calgary, and much of the rest of Southwestern Alberta. 

Posted for D'verse Poets Pub - Following through on a Metaphor ~ I could write a novel about my writing journey but I will keep it short for now ~  Thanks for the visit ~

Awakening

           

                                                   Yellow-frayed memory

                                                   Cutting deep wounds

                                                   Black inferno

                                    Twisting sky                               

                                    Into backward time relapse             

                                    Dripping melancholy

                                                  Gather them all  

                                                  Ink and pen, cloud seeds  

                                                  Verses, red    

                        Stories, orange           

                        White escape

                        Revitalizing spirit

                                                 Awakening eyes

                                                 Magical

                                                                journey

Posted for Imaginary Garden with Real Toads :   In 35 words

and Poetry Jam:  Magic

picture credit:   here

My journey

there are roads under the rising sun
which takes you beyond white painted signs,
      cobbled streets, riddled with stones broken,
      pushing boundaries, shivering spines


there are some journeys that define you
mark creases deeply on your forehead
      circle eyes in laughter lines and woes
      seasons tongue of oils and garlic bread


here in my pale hands are the rice grains
to seed the grassland and cleave the soil
      of words into trees. behold the rain,
      sun and ocean, all new as i toil


each day, my spirit gathers firelight,
cadence, wheels and speed. bolder, i write  


Posted for OpenLinkNight of Real Toads and D'verse Poets Pub 
Happy Anniversary Month and cheers for many more journeys ~  


Picture credit:   Moment like this by Uwe eischens

On being productive

the arm trembles
the hand falters

in a second, or a minute,
fear and doubt creeps in.

the ball slides off
you miss the shot
even before it leaves your hand.

this is what happens
if you don’t practice your craft
or play on a regular basis.

you lose your touch,
and sense of rhythm.


so
  write
          play
                compose
paint
       sing
            cook
                    doodle
                              draw

everyday if you can.

even a short 5 minute writing
or composing a sentence will lead
into a verse or story.

in  touch with your spirit,
you will be more productive than ever.

Posted for Theme Thursday:   Prompt is produce. 

I was listening to my male officemates talk about sports and an athlete missing the shots or not catching the ball.   No matter how good you are, if you missed a game or didn't play in the field for some time, your play will not be as good as when you are playing all the time.      

picture credit:   here 

Gift of Poetry

soft cadence of words

music notes in my mind 

one cold morning, unbidden

falls in my hands, like snowflakes 

caressing the copper leaves

veiling lush forest in white dust

quiet time of reflection, 

pulse to live fully in the moment,

before the winter past of regret

bury the sun freckled seeds 

under dark hollowed trees,

unknowing of its potent spell 

cautiously, 

i open the poetry box 

and let its spirit wring my soul

Posted for Imaginary Garden with Real Toads:  A Gift

The itch to write came to me late last year.  After years of reading books, I was intrigued to try writing prose and poetry.   I am still learning the craft as I have no experience at all in writing, much less in poetry.    It take time for me to write (a torture I must admit) but the words have been flowing since I have learned to trust my muse.    The past months have been an exciting journey for me as I am trying out new forms and styles of writing.   Thanks for the visit.     

picture source:   here

Personal Challenge - Poetry Writing

Thanks to everyone who visits my blog ~ 

I have set a personal writing challenge for myself.   After getting encouragement from my son who is into poetry (Street Poetry), I decided to try my hand in composing and writing short poems.

I have not written poetry for the longest time so it is a bit of challenge to coax my writing muse out and give her the free rein.   I set the following goals for myself:

10 entries - poems about Love 

10 entries - poems about Life

10 entries - poems about Friendship

I hope to hit my goal on or before the end of May.    

I also set up another blog just about poetry but it is set to private so I can freely draft and compose my thoughts.   You might asked where my inspiration comes from and what do I do to  let my imagination run free.    

I chose these 3 topics because they are the most popular searched topics on poetry.   They are general enough to start with, and with my life experiences, I think I can write something about it.   

Next, I listed down random titles or topics concerning each category.    It is amazing what titles I can think of regarding Love, Life and Friendship.     Next, from each title, I randomly choose one, and just started writing about the title.     I usually play with words and phrases, so it is fun just letting my fingers write the words as it pops in my mind.   Sometimes, when I am done with a poem composition, I revise the title to fit my post or I come up with a different story altogether.

So far, I have about 10 compositions in draft, so it seems that the word prompts from the working titles are working.    To also get ideas, I read stories.   I don't read the poems of others at this point, because I want to develop my own style of writing.   Original content to me is important because it is what readers are looking for.     It is also the same when I started blogging,  I didn't read other's blogs until on the 3rd month when I was more confident of my style and presentation.   I didn't want to be intimidated by how well others are doing but after a while, I wanted to compare my style and improve on it.   That was when I started reading and commenting on the blogs of others.   

On the subject of improving my craft, my son encouraged me to join a forum or community about poetry so I can post my work and get feedback about it.   I have signed up for this, but I haven't yet posted my work.    I think I need to get pass my fear of negative feedback from others about my work.    Of course, I am my worst critic...  I don't post it until I have polish it enough to give it its unique message.     I am also careful not to overdo the editing part - it will never be perfect but if it is good enough, then I publish it.     

If you are into poetry writing, let me know what works with you.         

Hope everyone has a good weekend ~