Seven Girls

Image courtesy of Angie Bergen Collection

Image courtesy of Photography-on-the-net

Seven Girls

Faded background, long ringlet curls:

sign of the times from yesteryear.

The worn faces of seven girls

wearing vague smiles, mostly austere.

Updated background, tattoos and swirls:      

sign of the times from modern day.

Made-up faces of seven girls:

wholly different kind of display.

Times have changed; and this resonates.  It’s true…

each photograph could capture me or you.    

###

Notes:  The prompt from Sepia Saturday was to either use their vintage photograph (a marvelous one which I still might use!) or use one of our own.  Inspired by some of the work of Bob Scotney, I decided to do a contrast(ish) poem, using an old and a new photograph which I paired with the poetic form Sonnetina Tre.

Thanks for visiting.  My wish for tonight?  Stay dry, warm and safe.

Commentary

Kick Stand

~ The bicycle, the bicycle surely, should always be the vehicle of novelists and poets.  ~Christopher Morley

~ Think of bicycles as rideable art that can just about save the world.  ~Grant Petersen

~ When I see an adult on a bicycle, I do not despair for the future of the human race.  ~H.G. Wells

 _

Consider this:  art,

rideable or readable,

is, at heart, still art.

###

Notes:  The above picture, which is a digital reproduction of a poster from La Belle Epoque (a particular period favorite of mine!) was thoughtfully provided by Magpie Tales for their current prompt.  My first thought was that I wanted to find some bicycle quotes, and build from that.  I actually found three quotes that I really liked.  The picture and the quotes inspired the - errrmmm - readable art (or what you will.)  That's my kick stand.

A Distant Bohemia

Image courtesy of Chest of Books/A Distant View of The Powder Tower

A Distant Bohemia

Distant…

The drums of the past beat

cobbled tattoos

Distant…

On the empty streets here

pushcart dreaming

 

Distant…

The Tower calls me on

in shades of grey

Distant…

Memory of a day;

lifetime ago

Distant…

Sepia photograph

brings it all back

Distant…

I thought I let it go,
distanced myself... 

***

Notes:  Poetic Form: Triversen Poetry, a form developed by William Carlos Williams [courtesy of The Poets Garret]; inspired by the prompt from Sunday Scribbling of the word, "Distant.'

What a Trip!

Image courtesy of mspaforums

Tripping

Shoes left

in the middle

of the floor…forgotten…

until the middle of the night:

Dark.  Ouch!

***

Note: Poetic Form: Cinquain; inspired by Poets United Thursday Think Tank #58 [darkness]

Little Cat Feet

Image courtesy of Vintage Venus

Where is the Cat?

…yeah… it was three o’clock in the morning

and as per usual, I was awake,

so I wished that I were a feral cat.

No matter the consequence, it’s the cat

who chases stars in the night, ‘til morning

comes.  Then she packs away her games, awake

no more.  I want to leave stars in my wake;

stars that come on little cat feet…a cat

who finds peaceful slumbers in the morning.

Morning comes and I am still awake…but I wonder…where is the cat?

***

Blueberries

Monday's Child Prompt - Illustration by Clara Burd

Blueberries

Bunnies love blueberries, and so do I.

I picked plenty this morning, so I’ll share.

Maybe I can save enough for a pie.

(Somehow I doubt I’ll have any to spare.)

Bunnies…would you pick more berries?  Come on,

and I’ll show you how.  It’s easy as pie.

We need more blueberries ‘cause they’re all gone.

They tasted so good, we ate our supply!

Let’s pick more tomorrow.  Bunnies, goodbye.

###

Notes: The form is Novelinee.  The illustration is a sweet gentle picture that brought to mind a small child sharing his bucket of blueberries with some of the forest animals.

***

As you may have noticed, I have not been around much in recent time.  There is a reason for that, but it is actually writing-related:  I am working to complete a middle grade historical novel.  

Because I attended a NJ SCBWI First Page session with two editors from know publishing houses, back in mid-April, I was given a three-month window of opportunity for submitting the finished book to those editors.  But...unlike previous sessions I had attended in past years, this time I only had the story sketch and the first page written.  (In the past, I've had entire books already written.)

Yikes!

Therefore, I have been researching and writing like crazy to get the book written (and polished) by the mid-July deadline.  I think I'm in the home stretch right now - so please keep your fingers crossed.

And after mid-July, I hope to be back in the proverbial saddle again, posting (and reading) poetry!  ☼

Beachy Thoughts

Illustration by Carmen L. Brown, 1917 - courtesy of Monday's Child

At the Shore

Another sunny morning at the shore and

The ocean greets my piggy toes in cool, foamy waves.

The shells on the beach and also in my bucket

Have a glowing iridescence: it’s like silvery silk, wrapped around a tiny world.

Everyone should have a morning like this at least once.

Starfish and conch and mussels swim by in the salty water.

“How do you do?” I sing, greeting each one with a smile.

Only time will tell if they’ll

Remember me after I’m grown, but

Every once in a while, when I see a pretty shell, I believe that they will.

###

Poetic form: Acrostic

Process notes: This illustration brought back memories of when I was little and I visited my grandparents, who lived in Atlantic City.  I always looked forward to walking the beach so I could see the treasures hidden in the sands, and also, I loved stand in the shallow waves and feel the water tickle my toes.

Share & Shairi Alike

Monday's Child posted an adorable illustration by G. Shepheard of two little Dutch girls and two little cats - who are apparently fascinated by one another.  As the mom of twins, this prompt was irresistible to me.

Therefore, I decided I needed to write a quatrain kind of poem, in order to get the two and two/twin thing going.  I visited The Poets Garret for an idea, and found - to my delight - the form Shairi. 

Twins

Sister and I saw two small cats.  They looked at us and said, “Mew!  Mew!”

Sister observed, “Like us, they’re twins – that’s twice as nice!” I said, “So true.”

She asked the cats if they would like to come with us, or just pursue

some wee field mice.  Each thought a bit, then climbed aboard her wooden shoe…

…and my shoe, too.

###

For those who might be interested, here's the scoop on the Shairi:

This is a rather unusual form, originating from Georgia in the 12th Century. The English language version is a mono rhymed quatrain of sixteen (16) syllables broken up into four sections.
There are two versions, the Dabali Shairi or low version, and the Magala Shairi or high version. The low version is not really suited to the Iamb poet as it consists of five syllables, followed by three syllables, a caesura and then a triple rhyme. Here is the schematic;

x x x x x, x x x, - x x x x x, (x x a) x x x x x, x x x, - x x x x x, (x x a) x x x x x, x x x, - x x x x x, (x x a) x x x x x, x x x, - x x x x x, (x x a)

The Magali Shairi is much better suited to the Iambic user as sections are broken up into fours (or two iambs), there is still a caesura after the second section, but the requirement is only for a double rhyme. Here is that schematic;

x x x x, x x x x, - x x x x, x x (x a) x x x x, x x x x, - x x x x, x x (x a) x x x x, x x x x, - x x x x, x x (x a) x x x x, x x x x, - x x x x, x x (x a)

Weird Animals

Image courtesy of divaboo.com

The cute/peculiar little guy to the left is called an axolotl.  He's a member of the salamander family, for those who might be interested in the subject.

Now, you might wonder why I have a picture of him (or maybe her?)  The answer to that question is that one of the prompts by Big Tent Poetry this week was to write about a fear of animals.

Would you be afraid of this wee critter? 

Fear of Animals

If confronted with an axilotl

I’d make a noise which might sound glottal.

And face to face with wee aye-aye?

I might be scared and start to cry.

But ‘dumbo octopus’ just seems

a chilling part of late night dreams

(a nightmare of the Pikachu.)

I would be scared and so would you.

And to be honest, I’ve no wish

to ever meet a (yikes!) blobfish.

But chances are both fat and slim

that I would ever find her (him?)

My fears of creatures that seem freak

have nothing on the mouse.  “Squeak.”  “EEEEEEEK!

###

And speaking of peculiar, Three Word Wednesday provided the word prompt of 'peculiar, fabricate and adamant.'

Image courtesy of ResidentialAdvisor

Peculiar Haiku

I am adamant:

I really do fabricate

peculiar haiku.

###

[Note: Check out this website to see more photos of cute/peculiar animals - like the blobfish, the dumbo octopus and the aye-aye.  It's cool - and yes, about that, I am adamant!.]

Adamant Atom Ant
image courtesy of cartoon-photocolletecton