Quadrille

Nebulous ~ quadrille

/ Ken Gierke / rivrvlogr / 47 Comments

Nebulous

No more, yet no less, sensitive
than those around her.
In tune with her emotions.
          A siren calls
from an interstellar cloud,
her song          familiar notes.
          Then and now.
Her voice          imploring,
          know this truth.
This star          my heart
is meant only for you.

This is my response to Quadrille #169: A Star (Poem) is Born,
the prompt from De Jackson at dVerse ~ Poets Pub,
which is to use a form of the word star in a Quadrille – a 44-word poem
(excluding title), with no required meter or rhyme.

Image source: Astronomy Picture of the Day ~ The Heart of the Rosette Nebula (© Lyman Insley)

 

Cold Shoulder ~ quadrille

/ Ken Gierke / rivrvlogr / 32 Comments

Cold Shoulder

What separates us
does not make us better.
Even the thinnest
layer of ice threatens
to shatter all that we’ve built.

Words left unspoken,
never allowed
to reach the surface,
only serve to strengthen
the divide, remove
the chance to heal.

Speak to me.

 

This is my response to Quadrille #168,
the prompt from Mish at dVerse ~ Poets Pub,
which is to use a form of the word ice in a Quadrille – a 44-word poem
(excluding title), with no required meter or rhyme.

 

How a Heart Heals ~ quadrille

/ Ken Gierke / rivrvlogr / 16 Comments

How a Heart Heals

Long held in self-imposed darkness,
removed from all past pain,
a heart boldly wills itself to open
to possibilities, that light of day
might reveal a world open to it,
return to it a joy long lost,
that it might once more know love.

 

This is my response to Q44 #167 – To BOLD-ly Go,
the prompt from De Jackson at dVerse ~ Poets Pub,
which is to use a form of the word bold in a Quadrille – a 44-word poem
(excluding title), with no required meter or rhyme.

 

Ice Castle ~ quadrille

/ Ken Gierke / rivrvlogr / 21 Comments

Ice Castle

You fight with fire yet refuse to warm to me.
Years and years of fabrication
after fabrication, building
and rebuilding higher and higher
walls, by a princess in an ice castle,
precarious and perilous,
leave me with no desire
to see those walls melt.

 

 This is my response to dVerse Quadrille 165 – Warmly,
the prompt from Lisa at dVerse ~ Poets Pub,
which is to use a form of the word warm in a 44-word poem
(excluding title), with no required meter or rhyme.

 

Winged Vigilance ~ quadrille

/ Ken Gierke / rivrvlogr / 17 Comments

Winged Vigilance

Floating sixty feet from your sycamore perch,
I sit against the bank, marveling
at the beauty captured by my lens.
Camera stowed, I drift beneath your stately form.
Your white head turns to track my progress
before you take wing, satisfied with my intent.

 This is my response to Quadrille #161: Staying on Track, the prompt from Merril at dVerse ~ Poets Pub, which is to use a form of the word track in a 44-word poem (excluding title),
with no required meter or rhyme.

 When I originally responded with Winged Sentinel earlier this afternoon, I got so carried away with the image in my mind that I completely forgot that it’s supposed to be quadrille. I hope I’ve captured the same imagery with this version.

Private Audience ~ quadrille

/ Ken Gierke / rivrvlogr / 27 Comments

Private Audience

Tucked out of sight beneath a rock ledge,
my kayak motionless on water
smooth as glass, I gaze from shadow
into light, spellbound by an aerial ballet
of swallows weaving around each other
as if choreographed in a performance
for an audience of one.

 This is my response to Quadrille #154: Casting a Poetic Spell, the prompt from Sanaa at dVerse ~ Poets Pub, which is to use a form of the word spell in a 44-word poem (excluding title), with no required meter or rhyme.

Selling Out ~ quadrille

/ Ken Gierke / rivrvlogr / 34 Comments

Selling Out

I browse,
read the news feed,
but I’m not buying it.

The words that fall
out of their mouths express
concern for the loss of life.
Of course it’s senseless.

Even more senseless
is their insistence
that more guns
will make it go away.

 This is my response to Quadrille #153: Out of the Meadow’s Browse, the prompt from Sarah at dVerse ~ Poets Pub, which is to use a form of the word browse in a 44-word poem (excluding title), with no required meter or rhyme.

Image: a 16 May 2022 tweet (now deleted) posted by Daniel Defense,
manufacturer of the gun used to kill 19 children and 2 teachers in Uvalde, Texas.
The tweet also quoted Proverbs 22:6
“Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”

Giraffe Dreams ~ quadrille

/ Ken Gierke / rivrvlogr / 33 Comments

Giraffe Dreams

Come lay your head on my shoulder
and I will tell you all the things
you can look forward to as you sleep

All of the leaves in the trees
will hang low for you
and be as many as stars in the night

This is my response to Quadrille night! Sleepy times, the prompt from Sarah at dVerse ~ Poets Pub, which s to use a form of the word sleep in a 44-word poem (excluding title), with no required meter or rhyme. This poem uses 2 stanzas (slightly revised from my poem Giraffe Lullaby, which was written years ago for my daughter.

Image: Griffis Sculpture Park, East Otto, New York

Chalk It up to Love ~ quadrille

/ Ken Gierke / rivrvlogr / 36 Comments

Chalk It up to Love

Moments that were stellar?
Of course.
I have three beautiful souls in my life.
Life without them?
Unimaginable.

Moments that were not?
Unfortunately.

This time,  I am getting it right.
Some might chalk it up to experience,
but another beautiful soul is the key.

This poem is my response to Quadrille #150 – Chalk it up to Poetry, the prompt from Lillian at dVerse ~ Poets Pub, which is to use a form of the word chalk in a 44-word poem (excluding title), with no required meter or rhyme.

Image source: peakpx.com

Savor the Moment ~ quadrille

/ Ken Gierke / rivrvlogr / 38 Comments

Savor the Moment

Given the chance, would I season our time
any differently, remove sweetness
in the quiet moments, or add spice,
raise the heat, in those moments
when two souls are so tightly wound?
Why tamper with a love
as fine as ours with a recipe?

This poem is my response to dVerse – Monday Quadrille #149 – ‘Tis the Season, the prompt from Lisa at dVerse ~ Poets Pub, which is to use a form of the word season in a 44-word poem (excluding title), with no required meter or rhyme.

This is off prompt, but I’m sharing it with Day 5 at napowrimo.net.

Image source: clipartkey.com