The Sweetest Wine ~ quadrille

April 5, 2021 / Ken / rivrvlogr / 30 Comments

The Sweetest Wine

Together, our horizon knows no bounds.

The nearest rose and the most distant star
could not be closer to this truth.

Yet the scent of a rose,
the beauty in a star, cannot compare.

One kiss from you, and I know the sweetest wine.

This poem (off-prompt for Day 5 of napowrimo.net) is my response to Quadrille #125 – In Praise of the Grape, the prompt from Linda Lee Lyberg at dVerse ~ Poets Pub, which is to use a form of the word wine in a 44-word poem, with no required meter or rhyme.

~ Day 5 ~

Images
Wikimedia Commons – Rosette Nebula surrounding star cluster NGC2244
Astronomy Picture of the Day – “cluster galaxies and cluster dark matter, analogous to the many points of light one would see while looking through a wine glass at a street light”

wrestlution ~ quadrille

March 22, 2021 / Ken / rivrvlogr / 33 Comments

wrestlution

I walk these paths
life’s threads
never simple, often tangled
beyond recognition

finding what matters
most, resolution
no simple matter

getting here filled with vexations
complications, estimations
taking stock of situations
convoluted permutations
constant need of calibration
causing me consternation

I wrestle with knots

This poem is my response to Quadrille #124, the prompt from Mish at dVerse ~ Poets Pub, which is to use a form of the word knot in a 44-word poem, with no required meter or rhyme.

Image source: clipground.com

Mistaken Freedom ~ quadrille

March 8, 2021 / Ken / rivrvlogr / 48 Comments

Mistaken Freedom

Swift, this death
sweeping across the globe
catching unawares
those most susceptible,
the frail and compromised,
the aged with defenses down.

Just as swift, the defiance
by those mistaking freedom
from regulation to be
the right to subject others
to the risk of death.

This is my response to Quadrille: swift,
the prompt from Sarah at dVerse ~ Poets Pub, which is to use
a form of the word swift in a 44-word poem, with no required meter or rhyme.

Image source: Johns Hopkins University & Medicine Coronavirus Resource Center
(click image for larger view in new tab)

Socially Distant ~ quadrille

February 8, 2021 / Ken / rivrvlogr / 38 Comments

Socially Distant

No embrace will cure these ills.
A distance prescribed by those who know,
scorned by those who cry for freedom
when the freedom they deliver
for some is from this earthly plane,
is the place to start when the end
is masked in uncertainties.

This is my response to Quadrille 121: Let’s Embrace,
the prompt from Merril at dVerse ~ Poets Pub, which is to use
a form of the word embrace in a 44-word poem, with no required meter or rhyme.

Image source: Chicago Tribune

Unknown ~ quadrille

January 25, 2021 / Ken / rivrvlogr / 42 Comments

Unknown

While ours to consider,
haunting or blessing, the past
will not foretell the future.

Riddled with unknowns, both
darkness and light, the path
before us is ours to discern.

Neither granting advantage
nor taking it for granted,
our challenge is to find the way.

This is my response to dVerse – Quadrille 120 (aka 119 part 2) – No way! Way!,
the prompt from Lisa at dVerse ~ Poets Pub, which is to use
a form of the word way in a 44-word poem, with no required meter or rhyme.

The Great Divide – quadrille

November 30, 2020November 30, 2020 / Ken / rivrvlogr / 36 Comments

The Great Divide

There is an ethical chasm
carved across this great land.
Should any man
abide by these standards,
the principles so clearly expressed
by the one some would call president,
pray that he sees the error of his ways
and follows a more righteous path.

This is my response to dVerse – Quadrille 117 – The Dude Abides,
the prompt from Lisa at dVerse ~ Poets Pub, which is to use a form of the word
abide in a 44-word poem, with no required meter or rhyme.

Image source: Britannica
(edited here)

Infinite Possibilities ~ quadrille

November 16, 2020November 16, 2020 / Ken / rivrvlogr / 38 Comments

Infinite Possibilities

Love at first sight is unforgettable
Brings joy unquantifiable
Pleasure immeasurable
Like a calling supersensible

An attraction irresistible
Is absolutely unmistakable
Its effect indisputable
The memory indelible

No alternative seems possible
Separation is unbearable
A life without is incomprehensible
For our love most immutable

This is my response to Quadrille #116: Poem Those Possibles,
the prompt from De Jackson at dVerse Poets Pub,
which is to use a form of the word possible in a 44-word poem,
with no required meter or rhyme.

True North ~ quadrille

October 19, 2020October 20, 2020 / Ken / rivrvlogr / 26 Comments

True North

I was fading to nothing,
all reason and purpose gone,
when my eyes found hers
and I was instantly drawn.

As the needle in my heart turned,
I knew I had found my true north,
her heart the magnet
that would lead me there.

This is my response to Quadrille #114 – Poetic Magnetism,
the prompt from De Jackson at dVerse Poets Pub,
which is to use a form of the word magnet in a 44-word poem,
with no required meter or rhyme.

Image
(background) Astronomy Picture of the Day
Cygnus: Bubble and Crescent © Wissam Ayoub
~~
(foreground) Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
Qibla compass, from Iran

Just as Bright ~ quadrille

October 5, 2020October 5, 2020 / Ken / rivrvlogr / 43 Comments

Just as Bright

Who could know the blanket of stars
wrapt round us on our first night together,
so tight they shone in your eyes and mine
as we strolled through Millennium Park,
would bind us, still, these many years later?
Shine they do, just as bright.

This is my response to Quadrille #113: Blanket Us,
the prompt from Merril at dVerse Poets Pub,
which is to use a form of the word blanket in a 44-word poem,
with no required meter or rhyme.

Image: Jay Pritzker Pavilion, Millennium Park, Chicago, Illinois
photo taken 02 September 2012

As the Stars Would Have It ~ quadrille

September 21, 2020 / Ken / rivrvlogr / 54 Comments

As the Stars Would Have It

The sky has been ours
from the moment we met

Whispered words of light
in vision and dreams

Blue nebulae in the dark of night
Embrace of sun and moon

I in your orbit, you in mine,
just as the stars would have it

This is my response to Quadrille #112: The Sky’s the Limit,
the prompt from De Jackson at dVerse Poets Pub,
which is to use a form of the word sky in a 44-word poem,
with no required meter or rhyme.

Image: the banner from our wedding,
held on the lawn of the lighthouse at Presque Isle, Erie, Pennsylvania