Taking Note
I stop for a moment,
even as I begin, fingers pressing
strings, and fret over the possibilities,
take note of the heartbeat sounding
through the delicate wood
pressed closely against me.
What better music could come
from a beginner with a life already lived?
This is a response to Quadrille #82 – Fretboard of Poetry, the prompt from Kim at dVerse, which is to use the word fret in a 44-word poem that does not require meter or rhyme.
Two Hearts
Theirs is a flaming brilliance.
Not wildfires, nor dragons.
Two stars blazing. Embracing,
yet orbiting each other.
Two hearts bathing
in the warmth of their passion.
Each heart knowing, needing,
the pull of the other.
Their love burning without
consuming, yet quenching their desire.
This is a response to Quadrille #81 – Here there be dragons, the prompt from De Jackson at dVerse, which is to use the word dragon in a 44-word poem that does not require meter or rhyme.
Image source: Astronomy Picture of the Day – (cropped here)
Unknown Horizon
I once thought it was the separation
of distance that magnifies
this richness I find in family.
Now I understand it is age,
with reflections on the past
replaced by a wistfulness
for future lives I will never know,
as they continue without me.
This is my response for Quadrille #80 – Eat the Rich, the prompt from Kim at dVerse, which is to use the word rich in a 44-word poem that does not require meter or rhyme.
You Know I’m Right
Look it up, and see
if you don’t agree. We may
see what we want to see,
but there’s no denying
the truth is there. Where
would we be if facts were
lies, lies were facts,
and the President lived
in the Black House?
This is my response to Quadrille #79: Up with Poems, People,
the prompt from De Jackson at dVerse, which is to use the word up in a quadrille,
a 44-word poem that does not require meter or rhyme.
Image source: wikimedia.org (edited here)
Graceful Exit
A quick glance my way,
the only sudden movement
in this stop action scene,
and the heron’s neck moves
forward, its legs bending
to launch that tall frame
as wide wings spread wider
in seemingly slow motion,
rising and falling in a graceful exit.
This is my response to Quadrille #78: Rise, the prompt from Merril at dVerse, which is to use any form of the word rise in a quadrille, a 44-word poem that does not require meter or rhyme.
(click any image to open larger view in new tab)
Well Being
All it took was one look
into your eyes, and my heartbeat
spiked, like nothing
meant a thing before that
moment. I just fell into
those dark wells leading
to your soul, my whole being
fleeing before me
to be a part of you.
This is my response to Quadrille #75: Spike Up a Poem, the prompt from De Jackson at dVerse, which is to use any form of the word spike in a quadrille, a 44-word poem that does not require meter or rhyme.
Love
(revisited)
As if they were one,
the rhythm of our hearts,
consumed by a spark shared
by two souls in love,
swells with each beat.
In our kiss lie words
unspoken, their meaning
intoxicating, like the beauty
of the stars, known
but uncounted, above us.
This could be a distillation of Love, the nonet/tanka/senryū I wrote for Colleen Chesebro’s Tanka Tuesday Challenge, but it’s still my response to the prompt from De Jackson for Quadrille #73: A Prelude to a Kiss at dVerse, which is to use the word kiss in a quadrille, a 44-word poem that does not require meter or rhyme.
