Love

Presque Isle Pilgrimage

/ Ken Gierke / rivrvlogr / 11 Comments

Presque Isle Pilgrimage

Ever drawn by the rewards
offered by blue water,
to float upon its surface
or venture down below,

to walk along its banks in
sight of herons and cormorants,
to answer the call of lapping waves,
whether current-fed

by a mighty river or windswept
on pebbled shores with
the added gift of frosted glass,
would I not be compelled

to divert my course along the shore
of that Great Lake, Erie,
to take in a spit of land
that holds all of these, and more?

The trails of green that pass
sedate, hidden coves that,
in turn, lead out to Erie’s harbor.
The lighthouses, vital aids

to navigation, most notably the tower
that gazes out onto the lake from
a miles-long sandy shore. The same
tower that was witness to vows

that will live forever in my heart.
I might divert my course
every time I pass between
Cleveland and Buffalo, but

it is not a diversion. It is
a destination, one I seek
willingly, so strong is the hold
it has on this heart of mine.

 

This is my response to dVerse Poetics – Pilgrimage, Wandering, and Walkabout, the prompt from Lisa at dVerse ~ Poets Pub, which is to write a poem that is about either a pilgrimage, wandering, or a walkabout.

Image
Presque Isle Lighthouse, Erie, Pennsylvania

Our Blue Nebula~ quadrille

/ Ken Gierke / rivrvlogr / 21 Comments

Our Blue Nebula

Not the stars with their tributes
that map the night sky,
nor the moon with its pale glow.
Not even the sun’s fiery blaze
can outshine my love for you.
With your brilliance by my side,
we are the brightest light in the heavens.

 

This is my response to Quadrille #200, the prompt from Mish at dVerse Poets Pub, which is to use a form of the word blaze in a Quadrille – a 44-word poem (excluding title), with no required meter or rhyme.

Off prompt for Day Thirty of National/Global Poetry Writing Month 2024 at napowrimo.net.

Image
NGC 7023 – The Iris Nebula
© Tony Hallas via Astronomy Picture of the Day

Beyond Words

/ Ken Gierke / rivrvlogr / 27 Comments

Beyond Words

How would you describe that which
holds all that I’ve given to you?
Would it be the space between the stars or
between the notes of your heartfelt song
for me? Or my words of longing for you
in response to your own words for me?

For those are the words that it holds,
my vision of the stars in your eyes, thoughts
that fill the space between the lyrics
you share with me, a space that would be
ours as told to you in my lyrics
of how we would become inseparable.

If it were a box, it would be full of words,
overflowing with my love for you.
And it was, framed by the pixels that traveled
between us in separation and the words
I wrapped around that separation. The words
continued until no box could hold them, so that
they are now found in your heart and mine.

 This my response to A Box of Poems, the prompt from Kim at dVerse ~ Poets Pub, which is to write a poem about a metaphorical box, to be autobiographical, free verse, and in three stanzas. The first is to describe the box; the second what is in it; and the third where its kept.

This is off-prompt for Day 9 at National/Global Poetry Writing Month at napowrimo.net, and it may lead to a break in for me in Poetry Month, as I will be traveling for the next eight days. I’ll try to keep up with comments, and perhaps drop a poem or two while I am gone.

 

a heart reborn ~ gogyohka

/ Ken Gierke / rivrvlogr / 29 Comments

a heart reborn

past eclipsed
to reveal the present
with unmistakable intensity
a heart reborn
a phoenix rising

This is my response to Reena’s Exploration Challenge #302

Image: Total solar eclipse, 21 August 2017, Jefferson City, Missouri

Gogyohka (pronounced go-gee-yoh-kuh) is 5-line poetry, similar to tanka but with no fixed syllable count and no conventions regarding content. Here is a link discussing gogyohka.

Shared with OpenLinkNight #348 (LIVE) at dVerse ~ Poets Pub

A Pocket of Moonlight ~ prosery

/ Ken Gierke / rivrvlogr / 8 Comments

A Pocket of Moonlight

The heavens have always been ours to share. The stars seem to speak to us, even in all their distance. And the full moon? With you by my side, its luster is the love we share reflected back upon us. It is a light that cannot be dimmed, even when we are apart.

Evenings spent with you gazing skyward make me wonder what you see when I’m not with you. The stars seem farther away, their light fainter. But not the moon. There must be some way to know if it shines as bright for you. I would ask you to gather stardust for me on your return, but you cannot. Pluck moonlight to bring in your pocket. You have said it seems so close at times that we could touch it. Do that, and we will know how the moon truly joins us.

This is my response to Prosery: The Voice of Helen Hoyt, the prompt from Mish at dVerse ~ Poets Pub, where the challenge is to write a prosery, flash fiction or creative nonfiction, with a 144-word limit (here, exactly 144 words). Included in the bit of prose is to be a complete line from a poem. For this prompt, the line is from October Letter, by Helen Hoyt:

“You cannot pluck moonlight to bring in your pocket!”

The challenge is to write prose without writing a prose poem. If this were a prose poem, it might look like this:

The heavens have always been ours to share. The stars speak to us, even in all their distance. With you by my side, the luster of the moon is the love we share reflected back upon us, a light that cannot be dimmed.

When you are away, the stars seem more distant, their light fainter. But not the moon. When we are apart, I would ask you to gather stardust for your return, but you cannot. Pluck moonlight to bring in your pocket. It has often felt close enough to touch. Do that, and we will see how the moon truly joins us.

Image: (Super) Harvest Moon 28 Sept 2023

One In a Thousand ~ imayo

/ Ken Gierke / rivrvlogr / 26 Comments

One In a Thousand

Waves roll gently on the lake, softly kiss the shore
while I, at the water’s edge, sift a thousand stones,
watch for that tiny sparkle, the light of beach glass,
when a heart-shaped stone appears, and you flood my thoughts.

Traveling last week, I missed the prompt from Laura Bloomsbury at dVerse ~ Poets Pub – MTB: Rocking the Imayo.

The imayo is a poem form from 12th century Japan that was originally intended for song. It has since been adapted into a poem with four 12-syllable lines, each divided up into sections of seven and five syllables by a caesura.

The structure of the imayo:

4 lines (8 lines permissible
12 syllable per line
each line has a pause between the 7th and 8th syllables
with a comma, caesura, or kireji (cutting word)
no rhyme or meter
flows as one long sentence, beginning to end

Shared with OpenLinkNight LIVE at dVerse ~ Poets Pub.

By the Stars ~ quadrille

/ Ken Gierke / rivrvlogr / 27 Comments

By the Stars

No map exists for the course
that brought me to you. Yet,
with the stars as my guide,
there was but one path.
Once a heart knows the way,
it cannot be denied.
Mine would not stop
until it found its way to you.

 

This is my response to Quadrille #155 – Mapping out our poems, the prompt from De Jackson at dVerse ~ Poets Pub, which is to use a form of the word map in a Quadrille – a 44-word poem (excluding title), with no required meter or rhyme.

Image source: freeimages.com

Moon and Sun, Together

/ Ken Gierke / rivrvlogr / 6 Comments

Moon and Sun, Together

In our early days,
I was not your secret lover,
nor were you mine.
But when the moon, sun,
and stars seemed to revolve
around one person, some
wondered who could be
the center of my love poems.

Poetry connected us
when we had to be satisfied
with the distance that separated us
and all I wanted was to be in
or at the edge of your atmosphere.
You responded to my poetry
with your own, but broadened it
with music by sharing your favorites,
reflecting the moon and sun back to me.

You may have to coax me
onto the dance floor,
but our song will always be
When the Day Met the Night,
by Panic! At the Disco.
Music continues to be
one of our strongest connections.

 

This is my response to Poetics: Let music speak, the prompt from Punam at dVerse ~ Poets Pub, which is write a poem about music that uses two titles from a list of songs from Linda Perry’s albums. I have used “Edge of Your Atmosphere” and “Secret Lover.”

Shared with Day Twenty-six at napowrimo.net (off prompt)

One Brief Look ~ sijo

/ Ken Gierke / rivrvlogr / 4 Comments

One Brief Look

Comfort and ease are found
       within the light of a full moon.

The stars that grace the night sky
       hold a brilliance without equal.

One brief look into your eyes,
       and all else is meaningless.

This is my response to Ronovan Writes Sijo Challenge #55: Distraction.

Shared with Day Four at napowrimo.net. (off prompt)

Image source: Astronomy Picture of the Day
~ The Cat’s Eye Nebula in Optical and X-ray ~
NASA, ESA, Hubble Legacy Archive; Chandra X-ray Obs.;
Processing & Copyright: Rudy Pohl

Sijo (a Korean verse form related to haiku and tanka)
~ three lines of 14-16 syllables each
~ a total of 44-46 syllables
~ a pause near the middle of each line
~ first half of the line contains six to nine syllables
~ the second half should contain no fewer than five
Originally intended as songs, sijo can treat romantic, metaphysical, or spiritual themes. Whatever the subject, the first line introduces an idea or story, the second supplies a “turn,” and the third provides closure.
Modern Sijo are sometimes printed in six lines.
Read more here: Wikipedia