Tag Poem

Weaponised

freyathewriter 13 Comments

Image – author’s own

bitter you are, with your lemon sharp teeth,
spouting cruel words from far beneath 
the rasp of your tongue and the knife of your smile,
you may possess beauty, but your character is vile,
your acidic ways are a corrosive salt crown,
your thorns drawing blood from the hearts that you’ve found
and cast aside, they’re so obsolete 
watching you fall from your high horse is delectably sweet 

attack you I must for your arrogant ways,
your character is rotting, there is a malaise
in the depths of your soul (if you have one left),
you may be quite empty, utterly bereft
of love, life and laughter, of joy and delight,
I see there is nothing, something’s not right, 
the source of your venom is just a pretence
it’s a shield, not a sword – it’s all a defence 

*****

Through taking part in the dVerse Open Link Night, I discovered a new-to-me poetry prompt – W3. Organised by David over at The Skeptic’s Kaddish, each week a different poet is Poet of the Week, who’s poem each participant reads before submitting their poem in response to the prompt. The poems are then read by the Poet of the Week who selects the next week’s Poet of the Week.

W3 Prompt #85: Wea’ve Written Weekly’s poet of the week, ladysighs, has prompted us to compose two verses according to the following specifications:

  • “Opposites”:The first and last word of each stanza must be opposites of one another;
    • The two stanzas must use different opposites.
  • No restrictions on form, length, meter, or rhyme;
  • Thematic: Write about emotions, attitudes, and/or moods;

This was fun! I hope you enjoy reading this poem – do hop on over to the link above on The Skeptic’s Kaddish blog to read more of the wonderful poems. You could even take part yourself!

dVerse Quadrille Monday – Nameless

freyathewriter 18 Comments

Image – author’s own

London salivated
over our fresh meat

tabloid hacks
prostituted for pennies
with sketches of our demise
making his name
making their name
off our benighted backs

Name us:

Polly Nicholls
Annie Chapman
Elizabeth Stride
Kate Eddowes
Mary Jane Kelly

He shall not be named 

*****

This week in dVerse Quadrille Monday, our welcoming host Mish asked to mull draw with words a poem based on the word, ‘in any way we feel, as long as the word ‘sketch’ is included somewhere, in some related form. Of course, it being a quadrille, there absolutely must be 44 words in the poem, no more and no less. I’ve counted my offering several times, so I hope I’ve managed to count correctly!

My poem is inspired by the women, the ‘canonical five’ who were brutally murdered at the hands of Jack the Ripper in Victorian London. They were incorrectly much maligned as prostitutes, with this role being looked down on and criticised for decades. Instead, they were poor, working class women, trying to make a life in an extraordinarily tough environment. If you want to find out more about them as women and not just victims, I can highly recommend Hallie Rubenhold’s book The Five. They deserve to be known.

Do head on over to read the imaginative offerings of the poets who make up this wonderful dVerse poetry community – and why not take part yourself?!

In swirling snow – W3 Prompt

freyathewriter 21 Comments

You disappear, in swirling snow
I whisper ‘Daddy, please don’t go’
You nod and wave to say goodbye
You turn away, I wonder why
Watching from a misty window

I turn away, I mutter ‘No’
This world scares me, I want to go
Shy and frightened, I start to cry
you disappear

Hiding tears, I hang my head low
I want you here to say ‘I know’
Your gentle hand, a light, soft sigh
Be with me now, you have to try
I’ve come this far, don’t let me go
You disappear

*****

Through taking part in Open Link Night, I discovered a new-to-me poetry prompt – W3. Organised by David over at The Skeptic’s Kaddish, each week a different poet is Poet of the Week, who’s poem each participant reads before submitting their poem in response to the prompt. The poems are then read by the Poet of the Week who selects the next week’s Poet of the Week.

W3 Prompt #82: Wea’ve Written Weekly’s poet of the week, Sarah, prompted us to write a rondeau inspired by a childhood memory. I have never written a rondeau before so this was challenging and fun. It has a unique stanza and rhyme pattern that means you do need to dig around in your brain to find the right words, all while remaining true to your chosen theme.

My childhood memory is more reminiscent of a running theme – an intermittent father. This theme runs behind a lot of my work, sometimes overtly, most often not.

I hope you enjoy reading it – do hop on over to the link above on The Skeptic’s Kaddish blog to read more of the wonderful poems. You could even take part yourself!