‘It wasn’t meant to be like this’ she thought Raging at the injustice sent her way ‘I worked hard, worked long, worked all the damned hours These office workers have no clue, walk past, I deserve all I get, that’s what they think’
It only takes a moment to connect Minuscule moments, a sliver of time To open your heart, reach souls of others Be the human in humanity, now Don’t waste the opportunity – give joy.
This week on dVerse Meeting the Bar, our bar-keep Tony is taking us back to basics, with blank verse. Don’t worry about rhyming, don’t worry about anything except going with the flow!
Today’s offering from me is based on the lady that sells the Big Issue on my way to work – she always has a ready smile, a cheery face and never looks miserable. She’s studying at college, trying to make her way in life – but I wonder if she sometimes wishes she could change places with the people who stride past her, most of whom probably don’t even notice her, or look down on her. I admire her commitment.
I hope you enjoy my offering – and do take the time to read the other blank verses on dVerse.
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.
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.
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.
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!
