Category Poem

Haibun Monday – This is my realm

freyathewriter 26 Comments

Over at dVerse, Frank is our capable host this evening as we consider that special time of year when the veil between this world and the world beyond is at its thinnest – Hallowe’en.

Frank has invited us to craft a haibun (a piece of prose followed by a haiku) on this very theme. Whether you revel in the ‘holiday’ aspect loved by adult and children alike, whether your preference is for the inclusion of Samhain in your seasonal celebrations, or whether you just prefer a little fear and ghoulishness, why not have a go at crafting your haibun as the night draws in?

Take part, get your word on or just have a read. There’s bound to be something that will make your skin crawl…. mwahahahaaaaaa!

Here’s my offering – I hope you enjoy it!

*****

The rain spatters against the windows, reminiscent of thousands of dry, bony fingers tap, tap, tapping on the glass, demanding my attention. The curtains, ragged and thin from decades of wear, hang loosely from the rail, too short and too narrow for their supposed purpose. The pale, glowering moon menaces through the branches of the skeletal trees. Its insipid light is no match for the heavy darkness in here.

I light a candle, observing as the match is greedily consumed by the flame, cursing as the searing heat threatens to singe my flesh. Tonight is not the night for a sacrifice, much as the season might demand a burnt offering, recalling a time of witches, stakes and ducking stools. I refuse to submit, I have fought tooth and mail for the power I now possess.

Your science is no
match for me; All Hallow’s Eve
is my dark domain.

Chiaroscuro – dVerse Meeting the Bar

freyathewriter 15 Comments

It’s been a very long time (yes, I keep on saying that, I know), but I’ve been itching to get back into contributing (and therefore supporting) the wonderful dVerse Poets Pub.

Last night’s Meeting the Bar, hosted by the lovely Peter all the way from Australia, was all about sound. Let’s do a sound check, testing, testing, 1.2,3! What sounds do we hear when we write? Do they resonate, do they amplify the meaning of the words and the subject matter? I love playing with sound, whether it’s following a well-known (or less well-known) poetic patters, or by going full free-form.

Why not take part yourself? Pop over to the Meeting the Bar post, have a read, see what you think and dive in!

Here’s my contribution, which I hope you enjoy – Chiaroscuro.

He fell foul of the rule
the fool
he drooled over her –
slender, tall, willowy
of the opposite gender.

Taking advantage
of the gloom in the room,
the shade and the shadow, 
the gap

the break

the chance he would take to
throw his fate to the wind

The wind that ruffled his
waiting wife’s feathers
arousing the rage
unleashing the tiger – 
the cage
was no match
for the scratch of his nails 
marking 
his paramour’s back.

Illicit
Complicit
Guilty as charged.

Now, I know – dVerse Meet the Bar

freyathewriter 11 Comments

How many times do you turn tangled memories

over and over in your mind?

How many half-heard conversations

do you decide were just concoctions of a wishful-thinking

wondering?

Images advance and recede, side-step and sway

out of your vision – and the faces, oh the faces,

they are wreathed in wraith-like wisps of mist,

tantalisingly out of reach.

You fear that you are merely fanciful, creating a castle of cards –

oh, no, not a house! – of four feuding families

that will collapse under the weight of your expectation.

‘Where did I come from?’

‘What blood runs like rivulets in my veins?’

Now, I know. Now, I know.

 

The lovely Björn was this week’s host over at dVerse, the poet’s pub, where he asked us to use alliteration and consonance in our poems. I used this opportunity to reflect on some news I received this week about a certain part of my family’s history. It answered a great deal of questions that have been floating around in my head for a long time.

If you feel like putting pen to paper, so to speak, head on over to dVerse and join in!

Aleksander_Gierymski,_Żydówka_z_pomarańczami

This is “Jewess with Oranges” painted by Aleksander Gierymski.