A poem a week for a year. |
Anything to break the drought... |
Eloquent Spark Remember brave Jan Palach, to ignite the spirit of protest at Russian tanks crushing the Prague Spring of 1968. Self immolation did not serve to turn aside such tyranny, but left the West ashamed, standing by in impotence as freedom burned on the pyre. And so erratic is indecision. Line Count: 10 Free Verse For Promptly Poetry, Week 36 Prompt: Ignite, Ashamed, Erratic. Write a ten-line poem using at least two of these words. |
** Image ID #2242655 Unavailable ** Thoughts at Altitude Take the path up the mountain, through the moors of gorse and heather, up to where the air is sharp as breath yet soft with the hanging mist, there at the foot of the silent peaks, their jagged rocks wearing only the white blankets of eternal cold, there lies the limit of life, the tree line long passed and only the lichen, low, grey and painted on the rock, the lone pioneer of these bitter slopes. Beyond is wide and empty sky. Line Count: 12 Free Verse For Promptly Poetry, Week 35 Prompt: Illustration of mountain moor. |
Composite Man 2 Composite man, dreaming in his breakfast mirror, has nothing on his mind but time as he ties the knot of his day. His habitual reflection brings no rejection upon the task before him but only silent desperation. Line Count: 8 Free Verse For Promptly Poetry, Week 34 Prompt: Write a poem that focuses on reflection. |
Big Sky The words speak of Montana or Wyoming but the plains have the same enormous skies, that great bowl of washed out blue echoing the featureless landscape. Much of Africa, too, lies beneath such emptiness, a void so immense and without limits that I can believe the stories of immigrants taking one look at the vastness and boarding the plane to return to their comforting valleys and dales. But to those who have grown under the blue, this open and unfettered space is home and hearth, tough love of the infinite, freedom beyond understanding. Line Count: 14 Free Verse For Promptly Poetry, Week 33 Prompt: Take the phrase "Big (blank)," replace the blank with a word or phrase of your choosing. Make the new phrase the title of your poem, and then, write your poem. |
Mailbox I haven’t checked the mailbox in a goodly while. It isn’t that I don’t want bills or something in that style. Those letters with the windows have lost their qualms for me ever since the box was empty as far as I could see. It being dark inside the thing, I reached to feel inside and something bit my finger hard, so bad I even cried. My penknife had a flashlight, it hung upon my belt, I turned it on and sent its beam to find what I had felt. To my surprise, was then revealed a sprite enraged to find his home invaded by clumsy hand, a monster to his mind. “Begone,” he yelled, infuriate, “And leave my home alone.” I closed the box and wandered off, my equilibrium quite thrown. I haven’t checked the mailbox in such a long, long time It’s not that I’m afraid of him but privacy to me is prime. Line Count: 28 Rhyme abcb For Promptly Poetry, Week 32 Prompt: Opening the mailbox. What did you find inside? |
A Broken Promise Halfway through the year and more Acrostic rears its unwelcome head. Promised avoidance once before, Perplexed and bewildered now instead. Yesterday is long forgotten, Now is the moment most insistent, Each and every thought begotten Will bow to request made so resistant. Yes, though sinews groan and do protest, Exactly this must be attempted. Acrostic decreed as this week’s test (Remember never again be tempted). Line Count: 12 Rhyme ababcdcd, etc. For Promptly Poetry, Week 31 Prompt: Write an acrostic poem using the phrase: HAPPY NEW YEAR |
A World at Home On the floor, in the corridor, shafts of light dancing on the lines of wooden strips receding in the distance to the stairs to the attic and the window behind, lit in vague and moving patterns as the lowering sun shines through the branches of the trees, the wind creating this playful game of light and shadow on the glass, throwing transcendent beams to the floor where bright shapes dance to enrich my sight. Imprisoned in the house, adventure still finds a way. Line Count: 15 Free Verse For Promptly Poetry, Week 30 Prompt: Write a poem based on something that happened to you this week. It could be something life-changing or something seemingly ordinary. Turn those moments into a poem. Line count minimum: 12. No max. |
Objects in the Mirror... Invite me on a stroll through the tangled byways of my exile, and my feet will find a much travelled highway, the road to memory and nostalgia, my neighbourhood for years. My past is addicted to this cure for the future. Line Count: 10 Free Verse For Promptly Poetry, Week 29 Prompt: Use these three words in your poem: stroll, exile, addicted |
Through the Window Through the window, December in her tattered clothes, strewn abroad in autumn’s colours, browns and ochres, the naked trees spread their skeleton fingers to the grey overhead, the windswept, monotone sky of an agèd year, and the cold promise of the bridal snow to come. Line Count: 5 Free Verse For Promptly Poetry, Week 28 Prompt: Look outside your window. What do you see? Look at the sky. How do you feel? |
Geriatric Love Song Standing before the commode in the dark room, weak, back aching, hip joint angry, my wife awake in the bed, worrying and awaiting my return. Word Count: 25 Free Verse For Promptly Poetry, Week 27 2020 Prompt: Challenge yourself to write a poem that is no more than 25 words long. |