Fourth Day MVICW Conference

 

The morning session for Martha's Vineyard Institute of Creative Writing Writers' Conference was titled, "Who's on First? The Persona Poem at Play". The session was parallel to yesterday's session, but had unique aspects that expanded my understanding of the persona poem.  Again, these poems were done during the open writing time, so they will probably be revised later.

 The first writing prompt was centered on a fictional character. I chose the very hungry caterpillar on Saturday morning.

“In the Park”

Hmmm,

There should be a song about Saturdays and parks

What a lovely day

I almost don’t feel the fear of why

I am so ravished with this hunger

It seems as if my very soul is empty

For days I’ve been searching

Enjoying delicious fruits

Walking in your rays

But each night, I fall into a troubled sleep

Stomach hurting

Feeling myself expanding

Each morning

When I see you

This hunger drives me farther from my home

I need more

Huhhh

What is this red and white thing on the ground?

 

 

The second writing prompt was centered on a historical event before we were born or during our lives.We were asked to take the perspective of someone at the event that wasn't a main figure. In the Love Poetry session yesterday we read the first ever recorded love poem, "The Love Song of Shu-Sin". I considered how a servant might have been there.

 

“The Love Poem”

I remember how much time it took

    Sun moving through the sky

I would bring her food and drink

She barely touched them

Her hands working the sharp reeds into the wet clay

The pile growing smaller as the edges became dull

I could see her mouth move

    Repeating words

    Verbal kisses she transcribed onto the clay

I don’t remember what she wrote

I was assigned to prepare for the wedding feast

Before she was done

The next time I served her

    She was queen

 

The afternoon session was focused on prose poetry, "The Pliable Prose Poem".  We had a number of writing activities that helped the attendees understand the form. With one of the exercises, our instructor shared info on the Blue Lake Rhino Cave.

“Blue Lake”

We’ve lost more than our names in the waters of today. The echo of us is in the caves formed in our lives by time and trouble. We must take a deeper breath than ever before. Dive into the lake that once created a cave from the death of a rhino.

April Poetry Challenge 2021: Day Fifteen

 

Day 15 Prompt: (Blank) Story

Form: Clogyrnach

“This is not a love story”

The sun is still hours away.

I am trying to keep at bay,

the memory of 

that day you let love,

like suede gloves,

start to fray.

Goodbyes start before you say them.

You can hear it, like a red drum,

during the day, off

beat, a stifled cough,

a standoff,

a hem,

when you expect to hear I love

you. Instead you feel disposed of.

The ring tight against

the knuckle. Looks tense.

Now a sense

of unloved.

April Poetry Challenge 2021: Day Eight

 

Day 8 Prompt: Metaphor

Form: Free Verse

“Winter Coat”

Early April day

    Forecast calls for sun

        And 78 degrees

But I am taking my winter coat off the hanger

It is dark blue

     Thick with grey fur you can see alone the edges of the collar

    and the cuffs

I grunt at the weight as I fling it behind me

    Frustration swells as my left hand blindly searches for the sleeve

    My heart calms as I feel the lining meet my arm

        A sense of comforting despair encloses me while 

I shimmy the coat until it fits on my shoulders

    Like an old friend

        Who you know tells your secrets

            But no one else picks up the phone

when you call late at night

The sun is bright

    as I open the door to the day

I stuff my hands into the pockets

    That feel as deep as the Mariana Trench

    I have lost countless scraps of paper

With love poems scratched on them

        I’ve lost handfuls of change

            Both money and personal

        in the depths of those pockets

    My finders have never felt the seems

        at the bottom

        no matter how far I reach inside of them

I step outside

Pause at the top step to button up

    I know it is going to be one of those beautiful spring days

        For others

The buttons are worn smooth from the years

    Small scratches of regret,

 The thread barely holding on

One angry tug and they would be gone

I pull the collar up around my neck

    protection against the warmth that awaits on the sidewalk

The fur is thick

    Musty from the sweat of panic 

        that collects behind my ears

    A friend would not be able to recognize me

        if I walked past them

    No exchange of hellos

        or stopping to catch up on lost time

I know everyone will simply walk by

    Eyes averted by a screen

        or discomfort

 from the site of me

Wearing my winter coat 

    in 78 degrees

        on a sunny April day

Poetic Form 68: Awdl Gywydd

 The Last Storm of 2020

As we slept, the snow fell from

clouds humming secrets. The night

kept the sun down an extra

minute. Electric the sight

of metal clouds, snow and rays

of light brazed across morning

routines. Plows beeping, a call

to arms. To all, a warning.

The year will not go gently

into twenty-one. A last

reminder of its death grip

on our kinship or love’s cast.

Poetic Form #68: Awdl Gywydd

The Welsh form, Awdl Gywydd, is interesting because of the internal

rhyme scheme. A stanza is four lines, with seven syllables per line. 

The final syllable of the first and third lines rhyme with the 3rd through

5th syllable of the following lines, while the second and fourth lines

rhyme. Here is a visual look at a stanza:

xxxxxxa

xxaxxxb

xxxxxxc

xxxxcxb

Poetic Form 56: Imayo

 

I fear the day will retreat - like a broken line

Letting the enemy through - giving into fear

A sun sets on more than time - our hopes have color

Shining through the hues of light - night brings falling dreams

Poetic Form #56: Imayo

The imayo form originates from Japan and has four lines with 12 syllables in each line. 

There is a planned caesura (or pause) between the first seven syllables and the final 

five syllables of each line.

 

Poetic Form 50: Sestina

Main Street

When we sale no more lies

posted on lamp poles in the light of the sun,

maybe then we will be able to find

the strength to walk together with love

on these crowded streets.

A better future needs a truer vision.

Nothing corrupts one’s vision

more than the belief of our own lies.

Jaywalking across unmarked streets

watching our shadow move with the sun.

Our steps in a hurry, because we love

to be seen for more than we find

in our coat pockets. We never find

the right keys to unlock our true vision

of the way we want to share love

with the world. Instead we write lies

on our phones. Never noticing the sun

going down while the lights of the street

illuminate the storefronts on main street.

Crowds pass us, all face down, finding

it is easier to get lost when the sun

goes down on their dreams. Cracked visions

of past moments flicker like lies

across lips that manipulated their love.

The pain of heartbreak darkens the love

we share with the pedestrians on the street.

We wave them across with a smile, polite lies

we combine with emotional Molotov cocktails we find

stored behind our eyes. Fire and destruction is the vision

we hold in darkness, truth pierces us in the sun.

At a crosswalk, traffic lights hard to see in the sun.

We crave a seat at a cafe with the ones we love.

A better day, less traffic, a simple vision

but a more meaningful life. A map with street

names clearly marked. We would finally find

our way past the boarded up lies.

The murmur of traffic lies in the ears, away from the sun,

confusing the soul. Hard to find peace and love

in a life that shares streets with strangers without a vision.

Poetic Form #50: Sestina

The sestina form is a complicated form, so I am linking to the guidelines presented
by Writer’s Digest, “Sestina Form”.

Poetic Form 28: Kimo

July afternoon, sun warm on the neck

Everyone in the water

Reflecting happiness

Poetic Form #28: Kimo

The kimo form (Israeli version of haiku) has 3 lines, no rhymes,

and follows a syllable pattern: 10 syllables in the first line, 7 in the 

second, and 6 in the third. The kimo focuses on a single frozen image. 

It is uncommon to have any movement happening in the poem.

Poetic Form 13: List Poem

I Still Believe

Even when the world is screaming outside the door

Testing my resolve

Challenging my faith of this world

Expressing an ideology that is disheartening

I still believe in the beauty of this life

Because I see it

    in the faded photos and concert tickets in my wallet

    in the blooms of flowers in the park

    in the wave from a stranger as I drive

I still believe in the beauty of this life

Because I hear it

    in the laughter at the dinner table

    in the new music suggested by a friend

    in the bedtime stories I read to my children

I still believe in the beauty of this life

Because I feel it

    in the grasp of my wife’s hand

    in the sun’s heat in the afternoon

    in my head as a poem unfolds onto the page

I still believe in the beauty of this life

Because I smell it

    in the aroma of blueberry muffins

    in the storm early in the morning

    in the new pair of shoes for my growing children

I still believe in the beauty of this life

Because I taste it

    in the ice cream my daughter shares with me
in my morning cup of coffee

    in the sweat from losing another game of one-on-one

   

I still believe

It allows me to open my front door

to the the beauty of this world

Poetic Form #13: List Poem

A list poem has a list as the foundation of its structure. There are no other hard rules to the form.