Step Up To the Bar

Posted on July 20, 2018 by

Written for dVerse Poets Pub – “Septets for dVerse’s 7th Anniversary”  (posted by Frank)
In honor of this anniversary the theme for Meeting the Bar is any seven line poem or, if one is feeling ambitious, a poem whose stanzas each contain seven lines.
Your poem does not have to be a Chaucerian stanza. It does not have to rhyme. It doesn’t have to be about anything in particular. It just has to contain seven lines or have stanzas of seven lines each.

The dVerse bar is welcoming you
to pull up a stool, take a load off.
Our bartenders will fix you a drink or two,
we’re informal, cozier than the Waldorf.
Select a cocktail, any one, (except a Molotov).
If you are feeling quite courageous,
step up to the mic, and read some pages.

Happy 7th!

https://dversepoets.com/

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Mark of Greatness

Posted on July 19, 2018 by

Written for:  Poets United Midweek Motif~Greatness  (posted by Susan)
(in honor of Nelson Mandela International Day – 07.18.18)
In your one new poem, use greatness as a theme. You could reflect on the elimination of poverty, on Nelson Mandela, or on some other revelation of greatness.

Nelson-Mandela-Quotes-of-Freedom

rose_that_grew_from_concrete_poem_grande

Philanthropists tender
funds for charitable
causes–one being aid
to impoverished families
in our own country, said
to be richest in the world.

If all people were treated
equally, provided food,
clothing, and a roof over
their heads, instead of
being shunted aside,
pride and dignity
would be theirs. That,
to me, would be a mark
of greatness.

http://poetryblogroll.blogspot.com/

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Dad’s 65th

Posted on July 19, 2018 by

Written for:  Poetics Aside #445 – Write a special day poem.

A friend’s yard
festooned with balloons,
Old English Sheepdog
looking alarmed

at large gathering,
family and friends
to celebrate together
in July’s lovely weather.

Surprised 65th
for my deserving Dad
who arrived at gate
and thought he had

walked into party for Mom.
Discovering his mistake, brown
eyes lit up, presents awaited
photos snapped, yummy cake.

 

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path

Posted on July 19, 2018 by

Written for:  Carpe Diem #1474 – path into oblivion

path

path into oblivion (photo (c) Chèvrefeuille)

“Another nice scene from one of the many parks in my hometown. Look at that light play through the leaves, the fading colors of the pond and the disappearing of the blue sky into a kind of vague white. It’s a crossroad … which direction will I take? Were does that path lead me to? Does that path lead me into oblivion? It’s up to you now …”

walks in dense forest
miles of trees ahead
road to forever

http://chevrefeuillescarpediem.blogspot.com/

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fragile

Posted on July 18, 2018 by

Written for:  Carpe Diem #1473 – Fragile Beauty
download-3

merest flutter
bodies like stained glass
monarch butterflies

http://chevrefeuillescarpediem.blogspot.com/

 

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in the meadow

Posted on July 18, 2018 by

Written for:  Carpe Diem Crossroads #13 – Chilly Coolness
“Welcome at a new episode of our CDHK feature “Crossroads”, the feature in which I challenge you to create a so called “fusion”-haiku from two haiku and to create a Troiku with your “fusion”-haiku.”

Here are your two haiku to work with:

chilly coolness
my feet on the wall
for a midday nap

the color of wind
planted artlessly
in a garden of reeds

© Matsuo Basho (Tr. Jane Reichhold)

Here is my attempt:

cool wind creates dancers
in this summer meadow
cattails sway

cool wind creates dancers
green blades nod back and forth
grass is alive

in this summer meadow
sounds of bleating
sheep in the distance

cattails sway
white heads inclined as a bow
summer’s stage

http://chevrefeuillescarpediem.blogspot.com/

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Power Is Not Knowledge

Posted on July 18, 2018 by

Written for:  dVerse Poets Pub – Poetics:  7 and 7 (7th Anniversary)  (posted by Gospel)
and for:  Imaginary Gardens With Real Toads – The ‘Tuesday Platform”  (posted by Sanaa)

The “seven deadlies” as they are known in pop culture, are:
• Greed
• Lust
• Envy
• Gluttony
• Sloth
• Wrath
• Pride

And the seven virtues are:
• Charity
• Chastity
• Kindness
• Temperance
• Diligence
• Patience
• Humility

“I’m asking you to write a poem about one or all of these and how your life has been affected. Do you see a complementary function between vice and virtue? Is there one in particular that has played a key role in your giving in to temptation? Or one that has provided a valuable lesson? Can you personify them and show their relationship in an unforeseen light? Consider one or more of these questions, but the form for your poem is open.”

 

Can any effective appeal
be made to a greedy,
prideful person whose
gluttonous appetite
for power and fame
never seems to wane?

Can he not open
his eyes and heart
in welcome to all of humanity,
and acknowledge their worth
with kindness, tempering
that dangerous drive
to achieve a dictator’s blindness?

I am fearful for every ideal
America used to stand for.
I am fearful to turn on
news,  and find we are crumbling–
that building blocks of freedom
have come crashing down … all for a kingdom.

https://dversepoets.com/
http://withrealtoads.blogspot.com/

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like and unlike

Posted on July 18, 2018 by

Written for:  The Twiglets #85 – “unlike my mother”

She thought of herself
as being unlike
her mother. With age,
each time she started
speaking, her mother’s
voice emerged.

“You are not unlike
your mother.”
She did not know
if this was meant
as a compliment.

She is nothing like my mother, he claimed,
more demure, does not curse or place blame
He took her to dinner
where she proved a sinner
swilled drinks, and cursed–same as the old dame.

https://thetwiglets.wordpress.com/

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Thwarted

Posted on July 17, 2018 by

Written for:  dVerse Poets Pub – Quadrille #60 – Itch   (posted by Grace)
“To kick off this week’s celebration, we will play with the theme of “7”, (hint, hint). Do you have that itch to write after a hiatus? Do you have an unscratched itch? Do you believe in the 7 year itch? Do you have an itchy feet and want to hitchhike across the country? I hope you are itching to play our Quadrille today.”

HAPPY 7th ANNIVERSARY TO OUR BELOVED BARTENDERS AND CUSTOMERS!

Like an itch that cannot be scratched,
she longs to break free of numbing
idleness. Get out and live. Life has
its own ideas, throwing unpleasant
surprises one after another. She feels
plotted against, thwarted at each
attempt. She writes, she draws,
she dreams.

https://dversepoets.com/

 

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Picnic Day

Posted on July 17, 2018 by

Written for:  The Sunday Whirl, Wordle #360

Words:  simple, gravel, edge, low, tight, path, climb, knots, trim, spread, spray, pattern

She wears a simple, lace-edged
shirt, patterned with sprays
of violets scattered
across collar and cuffs,
knotted at her trim waist.
Climbing a white graveled
path, she holds tightly
to a woven basket laden
with blueberry muffins,
and a jar of lemon
curd for spreading.
Low light of pale sun peeks
through maples. Perfect day
for a picnic.

https://sundaywhirl.wordpress.com/

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