3 Poems, An Elephant’s Eye And Food Poisoning
OK, let's start with a few poems from the Quarter Crazy Marathon I took part in a few weekends ago. I've included the prompts so you can see what I had to create within each hour.
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Prompt #7: Use as many of the following words as you can in your poem:
articulate, describe, decoration, justify, audience, distort, chorus, harbor, folklore, world, curve, obscure, neglect, tease, format, sequence, virtue, exclusive, theme, harsh, spare, fresh, social, stake, stunning, sanctuary, entertainment, influence, mention
#7 TEASING PERCEPTIONS
When I think of how
you used to justify your folklore
as some exclusive virtue,
I see through the eyes
you tried to distort
using an obscure world.
But in the sanctuary of age
this chorus sounds behind me
With no longer an audience
of one who chose to harbour
harsh neglect of the soul
I arrive fresh in my sanctuary
You tried to articulate
your own format as if
it was the only true path
But your influence has fallen short
You see, I upped the stake
changed the sequence
You removed the decoration
of youth for your own entertainment
I have seen how to curve the theme
Did I mention
I have a spare point of view
Tucked away in my handbag?
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Prompt #1: Write a poem about how one man's trash could be another man's treasure.
CRIME SCENE REPLAY
-It happened behind me
Her words faded in their answer
D.I. Valerie Carpenter knew the girl was lying
Forehead smooth, no apparent emotion
in replaying of the scene
The badge would need to find that one
tiny throwaway sentence, a fact, a half confession
to make the case
- I didn’t see it. I just heard it
Just. Such a small easily discarded word
-And that was that.
The law demanded so much more to get the result he deserved
in apology for the loss of his young life
-May I see the photos again?
Blood stained floors and wall, a broken glass door
the gruesome sight reinforced by will
-I never saw the knife
Valerie’s ears, like a bat’s, pulled in the phrase
As it dropped mid air
D.I. Carpenter slowly slid the scene photos away
from hands and eyes, a refusal to satisfy a murderous appetite
They were just words, thrown careless
a banana skin upon the concrete floor
but there was only one who was slipping
Deception has its own definition on the face,
in the body and amongst the trash talk of a murderess
lay Valerie’s treasure and the search began
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And a personal one, for my mum...
Prompt #2: Write a poem about a specific accomplishment in your life and how it has improved you as a person.
PARTNERS
No longer the child
The screams the fights the crying
the sound of you throwing up
playing music haunting your empty nights
The bottle of morphia in the bathroom cabinet
Covering the damage
I was already transitioning but slowly
Still enveloped in my guitar, song writing and poetry
At 14, too young to be introduced to the pain
you were destined to carry as you had once carried me
The only escape was a plane, a single suitcase and a guitar
My little brother, still with his stuffed toy, bringing up the rear
You had never been alone
From family to wedlock your entrapment over
I watched you humble, no more diamonds upon your fingers
thanking distant relatives for cups and plates and cutlery
Sitting on a rolled up carpet with my brother and I
Eating the little we could afford in front of a two-bar electric fire
I found myself sharing decisions with you
You taught me how to put up wallpaper using a plumb line
for accuracy and in that cold council house
A handout for your sins of saving your children
I took on the responsibility of a partnership
and we three survived the long winter of freedom
I painted this elehant's eye this week. I'm pretty happy with it.
I'm revving up for The 24 hour Poetry Marathon in September. The Quarter Crazy took place over 12 hours, starting at 11pm (9 am in U.S,). Yes, I know I'm a glutton for punishment but I love to write to prompt and then adapt.
My main drama last week was getting a bout of food poisoning from some reef fish. Holy Moly I was in agony but thankfully, all done and dusted.
Hubster is busy preparing for the Cairns Festival Parade - he is organising the Ukulele float with members of different uke groups coming together to walk behind a truck, playing and smiling to the crowds. Yes, I'll do it too.
My True Crime Course is amazing and soooooo interesting. This week I have learnt about lies - how the body and mind makes them and how to break them in others. I will plan a short story soon using the cues and clues I have gleaned. My characters are all being rethought with them telling lies here and there, as people do, to make them a little more believable and actually likeable.
This week's books of choice are - 'Everything you ever wanted to know about watercolour' which is really helping me step by step and 'The body language handbook'- Hartley and Karinch. I need a new fiction book. I must snoop on our bookshelves downstairs. I'm sure hubster bought this year's Booker Prize winner... I'll check before bedtime.
Went to art exhibition opening yesterday afternoon after the gang finished practicing for the Yungaburra Folk Festival. The festival is in October, creeping up soon. We've settled on a set list and are now shining the edges. Didn't drink the French champagne on offer at the gallery Artists At Work, Cairns, but scored some deliciously muddy chocolate cake. Yummy nom nom.
That's all this week. Not started my Vietnamese tourist language studies but I will, I will. There's time for everything.
Pip pip peeps