Day 6 PAD 2023

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

“Winter’s Exit”

The rot of winter folds into
the wind, warm and wet with renew.
My bones ache. Weight of dreams pulling muscles
like memories screaming.

The song of robins are not loud
enough to drown out the rain clouds.
My skin tingles from the lightning strike,
godlike in wrath and spite.

Burning of my sin fills the air
with the darkness found in nightmares.
The sun scratches the ground, a single stem,
a gem for spring’s new crown.


Poetic Form: Byr a Thoddaid

April Poetry Challenge 2021: Day Sixteen

 

Day 16 Prompt: City

Form: Cascade

 

 "Winter in the City"

The street lights are pearls.

Bright against a winter night,

dressing up the city’s skyline

I’m walking fast, head down.

Hurrying through life, until I notice

the street lights are pearls.

Soft orbs of tinted yellow.

Streets busy below the lamps shining

bright against a winter night.

The cold wind sets me in motion.

Walking head down below the street lights

dressing up the city’s skyline.

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 90: Rondeau

 Snow-blind

Knuckles white, he is driving south on snow

covered roads he hopes brings him home. Light low

causes him to be snow-blind. Center line

lost, the shoulder fades into fields. The signs

covered in ice as the north wind still blows.

Knowing traveling is risky, he slows

the wheels as headlights appear. “Don’t let go,”

he whispers. A truck’s light fills the skyline,

knuckles white. 

The rush like spirits burning. His elbows

bent to pour and drink for the afterglow.

The truck’s trailer, so white, makes him snow-blind.

The sound of rumbling, wheels find the decline,

and up is now down, shot glass overflowed,

knuckles white.

Poetic Form #90: Rondeau

The rondeau form is composed of 15 lines in three stanzas with the 

first word or phrase from the first line as the refrain (R). All the lines 

are 8 or 10 syllables, except the refrain. The rhyme scheme is two 

rhymes throughout (A and B). The poem would look like this: 

A (R)

A

B

B

A

A

A

B

R

A

A

B

B

A

R

 

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 80: Kyrielle

 

Doesn't Know

Late on a January night,

blizzard conditions are in sight.

Bitter cold drops to stake a claim.

The winter wind doesn’t know my name.

The snap hooks on a flagpole keep

uneven time for those asleep.

I hear Mother Nature’s fierce claim.

The winter wind doesn’t know my name.

The rumble of long vowels tells me

I am an outcast to these trees,

swaying outside my window frame.

The winter wind doesn’t know my name.

It is darker on the other

side of the window. The covers

no shield against this dark night’s aim.

The winter wind doesn’t know my name.

Poetic Form #80: Kyrielle

The kyrielle is a French four-line stanza form that uses a refrain in the fourth line.

Each line contains 8 syllables. Traditional kyrielle poems are written in iambic

tetrameter. The rhyme scheme is flexible and really up to the poet. Some common

schemes are (B is the refrain): 

• aabB

• abaB

• aaaB

• abcB

The poem can also be as long as the poet wants. 

Poetic Form 69: Triversen

 Sledding

A winter day

filled with sun

too bright to see.

My daughters

small bundled colors

fly down a slope.

At times

I follow them

even at my age.

We fly 

together at times

crashing in joy.

Snow in boots

on gloves

melting on cheeks.

This is a moment

forever now

in our hearts.

Poetic Form #69: Triversen

The poetic form, Triversen, was developed by William Carlos Williams.

Each stanza equals one sentence. The sentence (stanza) breaks into 

three lines (each line is a phrase for the sentence). There is a variable 

2-4 beats per line. The poem is 18 lines (or 6 stanzas).

 

It's Been a Long Winter

It’s been a long winter

  And another storm is raging outside

The power is out this Christmas morning

  No wrapping paper litters the floor this year

  No tree fills the window view

As a family we slept huddled together in the living room

To silence our hunger we eat Pop-Tarts and dry cereal

The drifts block the doors

Cell phones are on low battery mode

  But it doesn’t matter

  No service blinks at the top

I see the fear in my little ones’ eyes

My wife sends a question with a look,

 “What do we do?”

It’s been a long winter

  And another storm is raging outside

There are small flames in our neighbor's windows

The battery operated radio is just static

  Until we find a voice on an a.m. station

He tells us that this is the worst storm in years

  As if we didn’t know

I wonder if I have the Faith to wait it out

 Or should I grab a shovel and a scarf?

My wife produces a cassette tape

The joyful music feels like a scream in the grey sunshine

I see a small wisp as I breathe out

My oldest daughter has a book

Everyone has a blanket

Then our heads snap up in shock

  As a howl fills the space

There is a pack of wolves running between the houses

  Snipping at each other

  Sniffing the wind

  On sits atop the drift in front of our patio doors

I shrug in amazement toward my family

It’s been a long winter

It is Christmas morning

Another storm is raging outside

Instead of wrapping paper on the floor

We have wolves at the door

A March Day

I feel the sun against my face

     warm and bright
The wind of winter caresses my back

Both elements vying for my attention
     future and past
     mixing with the weather

The aching shiver of past regrets
     move with the breeze
          against my arms

I grasp them
    trying to keep them warm
As the sun’s rays makes me squint into the future
    dreams so big
    it hurts to look at them
        even as I feel my face drawn to the light

Today the past and future vie for my attention

I smile
     as I notice the direction of the winter wind
It is moving me toward the sun