Quadrille

So Blue ~ quadrille

/ rivrvlogr / 16 Comments

So Blue

On her first visit,
I took her to the lake
and the river, of course,
and she marveled.

How could they be so blue?

That river, those lakes,
both great and small,
were my home, and so simply
how they were meant to be.

This is my response to Quadrille #107 – Blue Monday —
the prompt from Kim at dVersePoets Pub, which is to use the word blue
in a 44-word poem, with no required meter or rhyme.

Images
Lake Erie at Buffalo, New York
The Whirlpool in the Niagara River Gorge
(click each to see larger image in new tab)

The More They Stay the Same ~ quadrille

/ rivrvlogr / 25 Comments

The More They Stay the Same

Centuries of segregation
Legalized discrimination
Human rights violations

Racial inequality
Standard public policy

Finally recognized
Civil rights realized

As the decades slip away
Generations feel betrayed

Living still with bigotry
And police brutality

Dressed up in the guise of justice
Citizens deprived of justice

This is my response to Quadrille #105: Cry Havoc and Let SLIP the Dogs of War —
the prompt from Linda at dVersePoets Pub, which is to use the word slip
in a 44-word poem, with no required meter or rhyme.

This started as a simple, spare poem that I decided could be a quadrille:

A year slips away

A decade

A generation

Two

Bigotry and hatred
Remain

In the guise of justice
Belying justice

 

Image: screenshot of George Floyd dying as he’s choked by Derek Chauvin (25 May 2020)

Another Fine Fix ~ quadrille

/ rivrvlogr / 29 Comments

Another Fine Fix

What can fix this fouled up fix
we sadly find ourselves in?

Could it be a time to be
thankful that we’re trapped within?

Considering that everything
that’s out there is a danger,

the safest place, in any case,
is far away from strangers.

This is my response to Quadrille #104: Oh, We’re in a Fix! —
the prompt from De Jackson at dVersePoets Pub, which is to use the word fix
in a 44-word poem, with no required meter or rhyme.

Image source: Wikimedia Commons (Harold Lloyd in Safety Last!)

Don’t Forget To… ~ quadrille

/ rivrvlogr / 40 Comments

Don’t Forget To…

Flush this memory from your mind,
this bomb shelter moment
when anyone at your door could be
a threat, the very air you breathe
the one thing you may not want
to breathe but must, when toilet paper
is the measure of your wealth.

This is my response to Quadrille #102: Don’t Forget To… —
the prompt from Mish at dVerse, which is to use the word flush
in a 44-word poem, with no required meter or rhyme.

Image source: netclipart.com

Lasting Impressions ~ video poem

/ rivrvlogr / 33 Comments

Lasting Impressions

Footsteps on the shore, your hand in mine.

Water welcomed by sand, welcoming us,
the warmth of waves washing over heart and soul.

The impression of each step taken
where then meets now, but always now.

Once stirred, these emotions will not abandon me.

This is my response to Quadrille #99 – Poems Stirred, Not Shaken
– the prompt from De Jackson at dVerse, which is to use the word stir
in a 44-word poem that does not require meter or rhyme. 

Known, All Along ~ quadrille

/ rivrvlogr / 45 Comments

Known, All Along

Would I peel back the layers,
only to find what I’ve known
all along? Never, the need for that,
when knowing your many sides
is what makes you so dear to me.
To have my heart held within
those layers is more than enough

This is my response to Quadrille #98: Peelings… Nothing More —
the prompt from Mish at dVerse, which is to use the word peel
in a 44-word poem that does not require meter or rhyme.

Image source: teepublic.com

Shaming ~ quadrille

/ rivrvlogr / 21 Comments

Shaming

Within the lies that tell of wonders wild
there lies the truth that wonder stolen
at the cost of freedom is nothing more
than a false face placed on the truly noble
as we don a face of false bravado
and our true shame.

This quadrille is inspired by, and a response to, Taming, from erbiage.
The prompt for Quadrille #96: Wild Monday is to use the word wild
in a 44-word poem that does not require meter or rhyme.

Image source: DailyMail.com (© Nina Zotina – east2west news)

Placid Waters ~ quadrille

/ rivrvlogr / 65 Comments

Placid Waters

Wild only in its freedom,
there is no white water here,
just a paddle caressing
its surface, a stillness
marred only by ripples
of trees dancing as they reach
from the bow of a kayak
to the shore that holds
steadfast their stately canopy.

This is my response to Quadrille #96: Wild Monday — the prompt from Kim at dVerse, which is to use the word wild in a 44-word poem that does not require meter or rhyme.

Image: Ellicott Creek, Amherst New York
(click image for larger view in new tab)

Despair ~ quadrille ~ prose poem

/ rivrvlogr / 23 Comments

Despair

This spirit that holds me, this answer to my trials, answers to no one, its unremitting darkness consuming all desire to seek a way out of its depths, no light strong enough to wrest me from a grip that drags me ever further down.

This prose poem is my response to Quadrille #93: Spirited Poems
— the prompt from Kim at dVerse, which is to use the word spirit
in a 44-word poem that does not require meter or rhyme.

 

Lost Keepsakes ~ quadrille

/ rivrvlogr / 42 Comments

Lost Keepsakes

Do you still keep those memories
we once held dear, now that we have
nothing else to share? The one thing
we could not divide between us
dwindled away for me, once we went
our separate ways, leaving nothing
but faint memories of memories.

This is my response to Quadrille #91 – Keep — the prompt from Kim at dVerse, which is to use the word keep in a 44-word poem that does not require meter or rhyme.