Dead-Line

With my word-weaver
clasped tightly,
fingers sweat with effort to complete
the task laid before me.
I lasso the thoughts
pouring from imagination-central
knowing all the while that
the hands of the space-marker
sweep too fast –
there is no leeway,
I cannot knee-bend for
grace and favour.
‘Tsk! Tsk!’
bony digits admonish,
epithet-hurlers curl
ready to strike.
‘Axe-wield afore clock-strike!’
Is all they will say.

Dead-Line

*****

This week, Bjorn, our host at dVerse Meeting the Bar has introduced us to the concept of kennings. To quote Bjorn, ‘a kenning is a very brief metaphoric phrase or compound word and it means “to know”‘. It comes originally from Icelandic, but also exists in other languages such as Swedish and German. I can also tell you that ‘I ken’ is also used in Scots dialect in the same way! So, in brief, it is a way of using a compound phrase in place of the normal word in use.

I really enjoyed this – although it was quite tough to get my brain into the right gear! I hope my offering has worked – do let me know what you think.

Tendrils

In my room –
when velvet black undulates in the depths of night
I am secure, cosseted, nurtured.
Encased in my duvet cloud
toes peeking out, stretching towards the radiator as it clinks and clangs, expanding and contracting
I listen for the background ‘hisssshhhh’ as water rushes through the pipes, molecules racing along in their H2O hamster wheel.
The French door is open behind the blackout blind –

Aeons earlier I had pressed the smooth metal handle, turned the angular key (I can still feel the impression its cold corners left on my fingers), sensed the bolts shudder and slide in casings worn smooth.
Night air clamoured, grappling to fill the void as indoor warmth sighed to the heavens in almost mute supplication
The damp breath of Nature caressed me, gooseflesh prickled and tiny hairs stood to attention –

Creeping-creature sounds surround me now as I recline, supine, feline.
I taste the earth in the air as the world relaxes into its darkest hours –
the delicate tip-toe of the urban fox, an owl screech to wake the slumber-bound
and the frantic flutter of a moth, searching for a shaft of light around which to dance her dance of the mad.

In my room, in the depths of night, all of this can be found.

Tendrils

———–

This week on dVerse Meeting the Bar, our bar-keep Brian urges us to create using all of our senses, except sight. Challenging, or not?  Well, I really enjoyed this inspiration, since I love the fact that my new bedroom isn’t infiltrated by the sound of traffic or street lighting. It feels like a womb (I imagine!). And at night, it is utterly black. Glorious for sleeping!

I hope you enjoy my offering – and do take the chance to dip your toe in the world of darkness, or pick up your own figurative pen, why not!

Dragon Gagger

The option of silence is not an option
Binary selection is no choice at all
On or off, yes or no, right or wrong
To speak, or to be gagged
To write, or be hand-bound
I have found my voice and I WILL FUCKING USE IT.
Because keeping quiet, repressing my voice
Has done nothing for me but cut me through and through.
I am the commander of my ship
Defiant, charting new courses
Navigating where there be dragons –
Reptilian enforcers who have kept me quiet all these years
With fear, mistrust, self-doubt eating at my soul.
See the writing-covered wall and touch the sleeves dripping with my love’s desires.
This is what I offer – life in all its filth-encrusted glory
Blood, guts, dark corners and momentary shafts of light to illuminate the shadows.
So here it is, my statement of intent –
Write from the heart
Write with the soul
But above all,
Write.

Dragon Gagger

*****

This week, Gay, our host at dVerse Meeting the Bar wants us to write our personal manifestos – why we write, what threatens our writing and why we will continue to write against the odds.

I am the Dragon Gagger and so this is the name I have given my personal manifesto. Audio will follow later…

I hope you enjoy my offering – and please do join us! The hosts all work extremely hard to make the community a success.