Day 20 PAD 2023

 

This poem is presented in its rough draft form for the PAD 2023 challenge and will be revised.

“A Fox’s Answer”

The sun draws back the blanket
of the night from a banquet
of flowers in a field still
with dew, until a bandit

robs the morning of silence.
A flash of red in violets’
purple, strikes a joyful chord.
A fox lord, in defiance

of the questions I have come
to ask the sun. An outcome
that is now in doubt. I’m lost
in the softness, yet still numb

from fate’s decisions for my
life. The fox stops, looks, its eyes
answers questions I do not
ask. It trots back toward the sky.

Poetic Form: Englyn Cyrch

PAD 2022 Day 12: Counting

 This poem is presented in its rough draft form for the PAD 2022 challenge and will be revised. 

PAD Prompt: Counting

Poetic Form: Descort

“Fall Sky”

I 

am looking at the stars on a clear fall night. 

A thought, like a comet 

crosses my mind… then my heart. 

I was seeing more stars than I had days left to watch them. 

I rotate on 

a tilting axis. 

There will be a time that my children 

will gaze at the constellations 

without me 

Time, a meteorite that survives our desires, 

crashes 

through my mind, burning up all my beliefs of forever after.

Poetic Form 85: Haiku Sonnet

Shoveling

February storm --

Snow, white and knee-deep calls to

be cleared from the drive.

Sirius watching

daughter and me disturb the

calm of the snow cover.

Sun falls silently --

Shovels grind against concrete

gathering piles.

Snow like sweet sugar

turns to cirrus clouds when I

launch it to the sky.

The constellations join the

street lamp to light our smiles.

Poetic Form #85: Haiku Sonnet

The rules of the haiku sonnet are four 3-liner haiku plus a couplet of 

either 5 or 7 syllables adds up to 14 lines, the number of lines found 

in a sonnet. For this poem, I used the 5-7-5 syllable structure (more like a Senryu).

Poetic Form 79: Interlocking Rubaiyat

 Another Storm

Another storm, my hands become

numb. The wind cuts like a bass drum

along the street, angry with us.

Eyes closing I shy away from

Mother Nature’s judgment. Night plus

time reveals a clearing sky, thus

I can see Orion standing, 

shield ready as if he mistrusts

the oncoming day. Commanding

the horizon from expanding.

I wonder if he can save me,

from the storm I am withstanding.

My breath, white and dense, show the degree

the night has fallen. The grey trees

whisper over my head, “No, he

will not step from the stars for thee.”

Poetic Form #79: Interlocking Rubaiyat

The Interlocking Rubaiyat is composed of quatrains following 

an aaba rhyme pattern. The successive quatrain uses the 

unrhymed line as the rhyme for that stanza. A three-stanza 

rubaiyat rhyme scheme would be: aaba/bbcb/ccdc. Sometimes 

the final stanza rhymes all four lines. The lines are usually tetrameter 

and pentameter. Robert Frost’s "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” 

is a classic example.

Poetic Form 75: Roundabout

 Still in Love

In the soft light she moved, beauty.

I fell fast to the ground,

losing my heart.

Her kiss a dart.

I fell fast to the ground

making my tongue confound.

She laughs, whispers abstract

words on starlight;

words that delight.

She laughs, whispers abstract

ideas that color the track

of scars unseen. A rite

left with cruelty.

An old movie

of scars unseen, a rite.

She lifts me to the starry night.

Hands soft, full lips ruby.

Arms closed around

beauty profound.

Hands soft, full lips ruby.

Poetic Form #75: Roundabout

The Roundabout form was created by Sara Diane Doyle. The form 

is a four stanza poem. Each stanza consists of 5 lines. The poem 

is written in iambic and the lines have 4 feet, 3 feet, 2 feet, 2 feet 

and 3 feet respectively. The second line of each stanza is the last line 

of that stanza. The rhyme scheme looks like this:

aBccB

bCddC

cDaaD

dAbbA

A Shire Morning

A Shire Morning

Early morning, late July in the year of vision

Sun just leaving the horizon

Morning chill mixes with the symphony of birds

Corn a deep green fence sitting across the road

White clouds mixing with the changing hues of blue

I stand at the end of my driveway

Breathing in the new air

Exhaling the fear of troubled sleep

The neighborhood goes quiet as my soul spins

into an eternal moment

I feel how all directions 

lead back to where I am standing

No matter where my story leads

or the adventures my children grow into

Home is here

The sun warms my neck while the breeze cools my face

I close my eyes

At least for a moment

I felt that all was good in the world

Poetry Challenge Day 28: Looking Back

Like Stars

We all are walking portraits of our past

Decisions etched in the lines on our brow

Thoughts collected at the edges of our lips

One can view the storms we have endured 

In the rhythm of our gaits

Scars record the pain of violence

The slope of our shoulders reveal the weight

Of our dreams and the acceptance of others

We are like stars

Each our own unique constellation in the life sky

Moving from dawn to dusk

Remember that

When we meet face-to-face

You are gazing back in history

My past shining in front of you

Just like a star

Poetry Challenge Day 27: Massive

Believe Again

It’s early in the morning

    but the sun has beat me to the sidewalk

The neighborhood is up

    Figures move in kitchen windows

A jogger ahead of me

    A new puppy taking its owner on a sporadic walk on the road to the left 

Music playing from my earbuds

Water trickling down the curb ways

    to storm drains

    from last night's rain

and sprinkler systems

I enjoy the morning

    like I have for 42 days now

Each day new but the same as yesterday

Ahead I see a massive puddle

    at the T-junction 

        of Elm Drive and Sycamore

The reflection of

trees

    mailboxes

    and houses

move across the surface as I approach

Until I am standing at the edge

    and all I see is the endless blue sky 

The world I’m in is now below

I pause the music

I wonder

    Is this a puddle from the Wood Between Worlds?

    Can Aslan see me standing there?

Like a child I become dizzy with the possibility of magic

    Suddenly the wind pushes at my back

        as if to say

        “Believe

            and jump in”

Is this like platform 9 and 3/4 at King's Cross Station?

The water seems to hold a parallel world

Can I call the Goblin King like Sarah did?

Is the choice between a red and blue pill just in the heart?

For a minute I stand at the cusp

    of reality and childhood belief

I bend my knees, just a little

    The wind

    again, strong at my shoulders,

    speaks 

Instead of pushing me

    It brings white petals down from a nearby

    Bradford Pear tree

Like little clouds

    they populate the puddle

    Crushing my own blossoming childhood view of the magical world

    reflecting at my feet

I turn to face the wind

I am surrounded by the petals

    Like a swarm of fairies, they bombard me

        covering my shirt

    One sticking to my glasses

I feel something inside my chest crack

    Another gust of wind

        Surrounded again in a wave of white petals

        I faintly hear a lion’s roar

            I bow my head in reverence of the moment

I turn back to the path I was on

    I hit play

        Music fills my head

But my heart takes flight as I step into the puddle

    heading home

Fade to Nowhere

I’ll just fade into nowhere

my past like a flare into the night

I don't dare

because of the fear I feel

that no one saw

the brief burst of color

in a night sky filled with satellites

broadcasting another game

another 80’s movie

or rerunning a game show

I’ll just fade into nowhere

this moment like a flare into the sky

Stranded on an island

searching for a rescue unit

in an endless blue of

ocean and sky

not a cloud to be seen

or rain to come still

my thirst for something

more than all this space

I’ll just fade into nowhere

my future like a flare that won’t ignite

The wick wet from

tears I’ve tried to

dry with your love letters

and mail from the strangers

who seem to know

nothing of me

but want everything

I’ve built this life with

I’ll just fade into nowhere

I’ll just fade

Fade

I’ll just fade into nowhere