Showing posts with label Kyrielle. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kyrielle. Show all posts

Wednesday, February 17, 2016

Can't Hide

Untitled/TurgoArt (Turgo Bastien)/public domain/Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons



Can’t Hide

“Like a church bell, a coffin, and a vat of melted chocolate, a supply closet is rarely a comfortable place to hide.” ― Lemony Snicket, The Blank Book
                                            
‘Twas lookin’ for a place to hide
right after one late night joyride.
But nothin’ worked.  Still in plain sight.
A bell can’t shade a bright headlight.

We knew we were in trouble ‘cause
we broke some laws.  At least, a clause
or two.  Think they will expedite
the coffins?  Damn! A bright headlight.

So Jerry tried to run.  Not me.
Was snagged by Officer McGee.
And choc or closet?  Full of spite.
Can’t hide when lit by bright headlight.

###

Form: Kyrielle.  Inspired by Poetic Asides' Wednesday prompt of 'hiding.'

Tuesday, February 16, 2016

Fand

photo by Caroline Knopf, image courtesy of Magpie Tales
Fand

Her gilded coat is shiny with
a touch of brine, a touch of myth.
And really, does she stand at guard
with pointed pike and heart so hard?

Or does she honestly reflect
the rocky coast?  Her cheek is flecked
with tears and spray.  Her calling card
is pointed pike and heart so hard.

However, she is just a wraith
who once upon a time had faith.
She’s now at sea: her own churchyard.
No pointed pike; her heart’s the shard.

###

The form is Kyrielle.  The inspiration is based on the photograph above, as graciously provided for by Magpie Tales.  The poem, in turn, is about Fand, a fantastic seabird/woman from the tales of Irish mythology.

Choices


On the Pont de l’Europe by Gustave Caillebotte, public domain. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

Asked and Answered


“Which would you rather be if you had the choice--divinely beautiful or dazzlingly clever or angelically good?” ― L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables

It is a question, I suppose.
Three choices: what to choose of those.
I don’t think I’ll reply too fast.
The implications might well last.

So, beautiful.  Would that I’d see
a thing divine.  Could that be me?
And clever.  Let me but contrast
the implications.  Might well last.

I think I’m good, ‘though angel-ish?
I doubt it.  Should that be my wish?
I fear I’m at a strong impasse.
Thus, I won’t choose just one, at last.

###

The form is Kyrielle.  The poem was inspired by the Wednesday Poetic Asides' prompt of 'At Last.'

Thursday, March 19, 2015

The Sweet 16 - Round 3

It's Voting Time Again!  I made it to Round 3!  It's fun!  It's challenging!  Come visit and vote!

Here's the link: http://www.thinkkidthink.com/3-stitched-vs-10-waylay/
Thanks for your support!!!

Thursday, February 19, 2015

Temptress of Cookies

Biscuits Lefèvre-Utile by Alphons Mucha, 1897/Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons/Public Domain

Temptress of Cookies

She proffers up a gilded plate.
I wonder, could this be her bait?
“Biscotti or a bourbon ball?”
Surrender!  I am in her thrall.
“Taste this cantucci di Prato.
Just one bite…”  I’ve won the Lotto!
Those Florentines!  I can’t forestall
surrender!  I am in her thrall.
She’s wicked.  She’s a temptress.  I’ve
just never felt so – S’mores! – alive!
Her schnecken’s my confectioned all.
Surrender!  I am in her thrall.
“Rochers à la noix de coco?
Petit fours?” She drives me loco!
She’s a Pfeffernüsse doll.
Surrender!  I am in her thrall. 

###
Notes:  The form is Kyrielle (yes, I love this form!)  The artwork which inspired this poem is by my favorite La Belle Epoque artist, Alphons Mucha.  Especially with the Girl Scout cookie season (yum!) well upon us, I thought this poem was kind of apropos.  And for more noisy treats, please check out the Phoenix Rising site.  And don't forget, Poetic Asides is serving up treats, too.

Wednesday, February 18, 2015

Reaction in Copper

Ludwik Misky, A girl plaiting her hair, 1916.  Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons/PublicDomain.

Anamnesis

She watches.  A defiant glare.
She sighs, and then she pulls more hair
into the burnished copper braid.
She should be scared; she’s not afraid.
Some light streaks through a window slat
illuminating ginger plait
which shows one tendril'd lock has strayed.
She should be scared; she’s not afraid.
She brushes back the errant strand,
then glances at her empty hand
which soon will grasp a smallish blade.
She should be scared; she’s not afraid.
And with a swipe, that auburn tress
falls to the floor. “Let them obsess
about the one who disobeyed.
She should be scared; she’s not afraid.

###
Notes:  Form: Kyrielle.  The poem was inspired by the above artwork.  When I first saw it, I thought that the girl in the picture was wary and very much wanted freedom, even if it came with a cost.  From that, she decided that the only way to get to that good and safe place would be to cut off her beautiful hair.

Sunday, February 8, 2015

Onomatopoeia Dreamscape

"SYNTAX(1813) - 27 - The Doctor's Dream" by Thomas Rowlandson - Image extracted from page 293 of The Tour of Doctor Syntax: in search of the picturesque ... Fifth edition, with new plates., by William Combe. Original held and digitised by the British/image courtesy of WikimediaCommons/Public Domain.

Onomatopoeia Dreamscape
 

Flip-flap-flip-flap-flippetty-fling,
books go flying zig…zag…zing.
Words are all a-clink, a-clatter.
In my dream, there’s naught a-matter.
Fwoosh! A novel buzzes ‘round,
blurting out each verb and noun!
Next, some poems play with patter.
Words are all a-clink, a-clatter.
Bam! I clap my hands while trilling,
“Ding! Dang! Dong! It’s all quite thrilling!”
Cream-white paper, inky spatter…
In my dream, there’s naught a-matter.
Giggle, giggle! Themes now mingle.
Flying tomes give me a tingle.
Oh, so fun, this chitterchatter!
In my dream, there’s naught a-matter.

###
Notes:  The form is Kyrielle. The poem was inspired by the above picture in conjunction with the prompt of Onomatopoeia from Phoenix Rising Poetry Guild.

Saturday, January 31, 2015

The Pose

Léopold-Émile Reutlinger - LOTI, Manon_SIP. 934. Photo Reutlinger/
Wikimedia Commons/Public Domain
1903

I think I’ll rip these curtains down.
They clash with my charmeuse Worth gown.
I’d break the Internet, you see,
but it is just nineteen-oh-three.
Instead of grease, I wear this dress.
that’s quite notorious.  The press
would love to see some more of me,
but it is just nineteen-oh-three.
No Internet.  No YouTube buzz.
No Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr.  Does
that mean I can’t break hearts?  How dree,
but it is just nineteen-oh-three.
Celebutants must feed the need
of culture or they won’t  succeed.
‘Though I am hardly bourgeoisie,
the year is still nineteen-oh-three.

###
Notes: The form is Kyrielle.  The pose which was struck in this portrait reminded me of a certain woman on the cover of a certain magazine, who was supposed to 'Break the Internet.'  I thought it was kind of an interesting comparison.  Also, although the woman in the above postcard was clearly wearing Edwardian dress, I do not know if the dress was actually Worth, or if the picture was even taken in 1903 - although it was from a collection that was created in that general era.

Sunday, April 22, 2012

Grasset's April

'April' - from Eugène Grasset's Calandrier 'La Belle Jardinière' 1896

Grasset’s April

April’s surely the sweetest time,
where flowers bloom and tendrils climb.
In my mind’s springtime eye, I see
you…with a nosegay of sweet pea.

Meandering rills frame a scene
that’s dotted with pink and soft green
but the fairest of all must be
you…with a nosegay of sweet pea.

And, oh, how I find myself spun
in pastoral dreams, with the sun
spreading its warmth.  Beside a tree:
you…with a nosegay of sweet pea.

O in this garden, by Grasset,
the centerpiece this April day
is just the one who’s dazzingly
you…with a nosegay of sweet pea. 

###

Notes:  The inspiration for this poem originally came from Sepia Saturday's prompt of a black and white World War II era photograph of some people working in a garden.  Now, as you may have already guessed from earlier posts, I'm a huge fan of the poster art of La Belle Epoque, so this Grasset poster worked really well for the words that were playing in my head.

On another note, most of the other poetry I'm penning this month can be found at Robert Lee Brewer's April PAD Challenge.  In case you might wonder, for the most part, I've 'challenged' myself to write in the form Kyrielle.

Saturday, April 14, 2012

Apocalyptically speaking...

Image courtesy of  The Meta Picture

Zombie Apocalypse

“Zombies are people, too.  Okay, dead people with poor grammar skills.” ~Night of the Living Dead

Let’s celebrate apocalypse –
the zombie kind. Here are my tips:
So…one: you moan, and two: eat brains.
Three: Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’ reigns.

It’s ‘Doomsday’ – zombies can be found
at Starbucks, Game Stop…all around
the shopping malls and bowling lanes
where Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’ reigns.

Their biggest problem? When they talk.
But only zombies rock ‘the walk.’
It’s even better done in chains
‘cause Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’ reigns.

Zombies, existentially,
are what the world will zombday be.
If zombies are the last remains,
then Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’ reigns. 

###

Notes:  The form is Kyrielle.  Over at the Poetic Asides PAD Challenge, Day 14's theme is 'Doomsday.'  Well, anyone who knows me knows my poetry typically doesn't want to be a downer. It's meant to be clever and funny (I said 'meant to be', you know) and it's really just shiny, happy people poetry.  

Usually.  

I mean, I have my causes and my rants (and don't get me started, okay?)  But I also believe that life is too short ('though not in a doomsday kind of way, of course) so why not laugh.

After all, the zombies will get you zombday anyway.

Propeller Tales

Image courtesy of antiqueairfield.com

Air Mail

Postmaster, here’s another dime.
Please get my package off in time,
and tell my Bobby, ‘Yes, I’ll wait!
With hugs and kisses.  Love you, Kate.”

This faster service, this ‘air mail’
I hope will, in the end, prevail.
Five cents is worth it. (I’d pay eight.)
With hugs and kisses.  Love you, Kate.”

Dear Bobby, here’s your 'Miss You' box
with goodies like some hand-knit socks.
I’ll gladly pay the extra rate.
With hugs and kisses.  Love you, Kate.”

And so, I’ll wait for your reply
that comes when e’er the mail planes fly
and bring their cargo – precious freight!
With hugs and kisses.  Love you, Kate.”

###

Image courtesy of asutravelguides

The Swingin’ Stews of 1965

I dream of flying in a plane
to London, Paris or to Spain.
The stews in flight quite happily,
will offer, “Coffee, tea or me?”

The year is sixty-five and I’m
a handsome fella in my prime.
Those swingin’ stews, I guarantee,
will offer, “Coffee, tea or me?”

Up in the clouds, I will applaud
the safety demo.  I’ll act awed.
I know this trick will work.  You’ll see.
They’ll offer, “Coffee, tea or me?”

Perhaps one stew will be ‘the one.’
A guy can dream ‘cause it’s in fun.
But so you know, my choice ain’t tea,
when she says, “Coffee, tea or me?”

###

Notes:  Sepia Saturday provided the prompt of 'flight.'  So...I looked for some vintage (or vintage-ish) pictures from which I could make a couple of narratives which might reflect the mores and attitudes of the times.  

What's odd about me writing for this theme is that I hate to fly!  Yes, I do fly  - because it's the most expedient way to get to a destination that's way far from home, but the strange thing is that I fly to places with my husband, who has his private pilot's license - because I encouraged him and gave him his first lesson as a gift.

And also, when I was younger, I actually considered a career as a flight attendant ('though not a 'swingin' stew.')

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Branching Out

Image courtesy of gardentreeslandscape

Slumber Leaves

There is a tree on my front lawn
where all the mourning doves are drawn.
They caw, they woot and even peep.
What’s in my tree won’t let me sleep.

Some gusts whip branches high atop
this tree, now banging without stop.
Between the doves and branches … *bleep*!
What’s in my tree won’t let me sleep.

And just when I might think, ‘That’s it,’
cicadas in my tree transmit
‘cicada song.’  I want to leap.
What’s in my tree won’t let me sleep.

At last, I doze, but not for long.
Woodpeckers?!  Buzzing bees?!  Wind gong?!
They join the noisefest as I weep.
What’s in my tree won’t let me sleep.

###

Metaphorest

“You can’t sit in your corner of the Forest waiting for others to come to you.  You have to go to them sometimes.” ~Winnie the Pooh

A canopy of leaves may arc
above my head.  Tree limbs and bark
may give me shelter, but I know
my friends are waiting.  Gotta go.

That old bear understood the need
which says, ‘Once anchored, then proceed
to branch out.  Life is waiting.’ So…
my friends are waiting.  Gotta go.

A forest corner’s safe…secure,
but only briefly.  Trees obscure
the view until their leaves will blow.
My friends are waiting.  Gotta go.

A metaphor can only state
the obvious, so let’s translate:
I’ve got my roots; now I must grow.
My friends are waiting.  Gotta go.

###

Notes:  Poetic Asides' PAD Challenge sported a two-fer today:  trees and forests.  Both of my poems, are you might have already figured out, are Kyrielles.