Tag dVerse Poetics

Grounded – dVerse

freyathewriter 39 Comments

photo(1)

nailers, brewers and
butchers; artists, hoofers and
railway platemakers

Titanic, double-
booked, third class overflowing
what a stroke of luck!

photo

———-

This week, on dVerse Poetics, Grace has asked us to delve into our family history – what makes us, where have we come from, who are our ancestors? As I get older, as life changes, I feel more of an urge to answer these questions. Recently I spent a lovely long weekend with my family up in Worcestershire, investigating old photos and luxuriating in tales of what happened way back when. This knowledge is to be treasured, no?

I have decided to be short and sweet this week. Two haiku-form stanzas and two photos – one of me as a little girl, and one of my scribbles during a quick coffee break. You’ll see the second stanza didn’t really sit well with me… hence it got the chop. Ancestors in both my mum’s family and in my step-dad’s family almost made it on to the Titanic… strange, but true!

 

 

Mercury

freyathewriter 42 Comments

They say that we worshipped the sun once –

bared our skin and lay for hours, motionless

except to turn and baste, baste, baste

like hog-roasts rotating on spits,

English rose complexions transformed to copper.

 

They say that we feared the winter then –

covered our bodies in chemically engineered layers,

refusing to let the crisp air penetrate,

wishing the dark days away,

as if time was ours to discard

with no consequences.

 

They say all this.

The world must have been different then.

———

Inspiration

‘Snow can lift my heart in a way that sunshine never could.‘

I have waited, and you have come
Martine McDonagh

———-

This week, on dVerse Poetics, Mary asks us to write poetry inspired by quotations – or by a photo, or by a headline in a newspaper, or, or, or… let’s get inspired!

I have used a quotation from one of my favourite dystopian novels, ‘I have waited, and you have come’ by Martine McDonagh. I highly recommend it! My poem is set in a future where the sun is to be feared, not welcomed…

Please pop over to dVerse to see how others have risen to the challenge!

 

 

Refraction

freyathewriter 41 Comments

When I look in the mirror

I am generally disappointed.

 

In my mind’s eye

I envisage a colourful character,

rainbow-hued, vibrant, sparkling with light.

And then my critical eyes

find the silver streaks wiring through my hair

(which I had imagined to be luxurious

but my elephantine memory reminds me that

somebody once told me was thin and fine and somewhat limp)

and I add to that let-down the bags under my eyes

and the slightly receding chin

and the crooked front teeth

and the wide hips

and the thighs too sturdy for the skin-tight jeans I would love to wear

(the kind my younger, more svelte sister suits so well)

– and I am disappointed.

 

It’s a good job I don’t own a full-length mirror

and even better that I only see the top to toe me

when in the Ladies loos at work

and really, that doesn’t count, because it is only work.

I come to life after 6pm and at weekends

when my imagination runs riot.

 

And then, then, I am not disappointed.

No, I am not disappointed at all.

oh-the-stories-she-could-tell

 

———-

Tonight, in dVerse Poetics, Grace introduces us to the juicily, vibrant art of Cheryl Kellar. Cheryl has kindly allowed us to use some of her art as inspiration for our work this evening – aren’t we lucky!Herbiography gives me heart and hope – she was a court reporter by day, her artist-soul hidden underneath the precise (and I imagine) serious demeanour required for such a responsible job. Please do rifle through her website and also her blog for joyous and uplifting art.

So, here’s my response to the glorious work above, which is actually titled ‘Oh, the stories she could tell’ – oh couldn’t we, couldn’t we all?! Please do pop along to the dVerse bar and see what the other twice-weekly drinkers (err, I mean poets!) have been up to!