Over at Weekly Prompts, the Weekend Challenge word is: Traveller … please visit their wonderful site by clicking on >> Here Today my poem is about those annoying companion travellers.
“As a poet, sometimes we confuse ourselves, Trying to create ashes, instead of fire ” – Leonard Cohen
Over at Weekly Prompts the November Colour Challenge is: Flame … Please click on >> Here to visit their fabulous site. My poem below, is about whether or not anyone reads or takes any notice of the “flame” within a poet’s words.
“I set out one night When the tide was low There were signs in the sky But I did not know I’d be caught in the grip Of the undertow” – Leonard Cohen, from his poem ‘Undertow’, taken out his book “The Flame”
Help or Hindrance
There the penguin squats
So slick and smug
Point blank
He questions me
“What are you doing?
Where are you going?
What are you trying to achieve?”
Why are you crying?
“I’m timeworn and unsure”
I blandly reply to Freddie
The fidgety fairy penguin
And despairingly, I gaze
Back at Freddie
Through my teary eyes
As I continue to wonder
Are my imaginary words
A help or hindrance
“Until Eyes Hear Sound” will be available in December
Over at Weekly Prompts, the Weekend Challenge is the word: Why. You may visit their fabulous site by clicking on >> Here Featured Image Above: A photo taken by Derrick Knight, >> https://derrickjknight.com/2023/10/27/autumn-has-arrived/ and again he has kindly given me permission to reproduce his intriguing photo, here on my poetry site … and I am always asking myself, Why?
Over at Weekly Prompts the Wednesday Challenge word is: Time . To visit their fabulous site, please click on >> Here … my poem “Anti-Rust” spans twenty-three years of “Time”…
Anti-Rust
Twenty-three years have gone
Since I suffered my first stroke
I remember being cold and scared
I awoke the next day in hospital
Feeling like my limbs were full of rust
And my confused mind
Was locked inside a sleepwalking man
Disorientated and not to be trusted
Twenty-three years on
And two more strokes later
My body is still full of rust
But with the wonders of modern medicine
And some plucky self determination
I have recovered my cognitive abilities
And with the aid of anti-rust drugs
I am active enough to type up my canny poems
The Rust, Sivert Hoyem . Lyrics
Twenty hours he is gone Another time she’s waiting for him When he comes home He’s in terrible state He’s just sitting there by the window With his hate
A rusty bathtub in the garden Seven cars are in the yard And only one that is running Life is spout??? in the wilderness But in his heart
It’s not a place for new beginnings Everything you make make just falls apart
Sometimes she thinks It’s the rust that eats the soul In the winter time the sky is burning Purple orange and gold
So one night like any other She takes her bags out to the car She passes a minute Then she starts down the road You can get anywhere On the full tank of fuel And on an empty heart
It’s not a place for new beginnings Everything you make just falls apart The house neglected and forbidden ??? ???
Just thinking about it breaks your heart ???? from the ceiling ??? burning stars So decay and the rust that eats the soul The winter sky burns eternally But people come and people go
Over at Weekly Prompts “today is the 1st October”, and the October Colour Challenge is Just Black! … Please visit their fabulous site by clicking on >> Here … and below is my response to the ‘Prompt’
Over at Weekly Prompts, the Wednesday Challenge is: Broken Please visit their fabulous site by clicking on >> Here … My appropriate Broken poem is attached below
Over at Weekly Prompts, the Weekend Challenge word is: Energy. Please visit their fabulous site by clicking on >> Here … things are still yucky here on my computer and to post a poem is proving to be quite a challenge and very “Energy” sapping for me …
On my “nearby” walking track this morning I happened to spy some “nearby” Dragonflies. … Over at Weekly Prompts, the Weekend Challenge is; Nearby … Please visit their fabulous site by clicking on >> Here .
Today I am presenting another poem that will be appearing in my new book “UntilEyes Hear Sound”. I wrote ‘Lullaby’ in May 2023, and the Senryu will be the opening piece in the ‘Senryu’ section ofChapter 10. Short Poems: Haiku, Senryu, Tanka, and Others.
And coincidently, over at Weekly Prompts, the Midweek Challenge is the word Napping, please visit their fabulous site by clicking on >> Here …
Please Note: All above images (Except the one of Frankie), were by taken by Derrick Knight, and he kindly allows me to reproduce his wonderful photos here on my poetry website. If you wish, you may visit his fabulous Site via this link > https://derrickjknight.com/2023/05/17/baby-species/
Over at Weekly Prompts, the word: Backwards is the Weekend Challenge. Please visit their fabulous site by clicking on >> Here. – Below, I followed Sue’s suggestion and went “Backwards” through my files and found this intriguing piece from September 2017 Featured Image: Artwork, by Kerri Costello, Graphic Design Artist, my amazing niece/second cousin, who lives in Philadelphia, and I think this was the first design that she created for my poetry website.
Burning the Fears
I’m frightened, and too scared to show my face
And knowingly, I’m arriving late
The ghouls are spying from the hill
And lower fools are poisoning her will
Underneath her, a wicker complete
Above, she’s suspended from a stake
The bonfires started, against the rules
And the crowds rejoicing, as the fire drools
Waiting agog, for her garments to ignite
The flames are crackling below her tonight
And the mob’s listening for her ungodly screams
But there’s not a whimper! Within she beams
And secretly, I see her black cat’s drowning tears
Ivor.Plumber/Poet 