Response

Aware of Darkness

/ rivrvlogr / 41 Comments

Aware of Darkness

Who is to say one’s grief
is greater than that of another?
Never really gone,
all exist in all they touch,
yet some are touched
in ways that cannot be equaled.

Who is to measure a loss,
if not the one whose heart
cannot find a way to fill a space
that already holds something
that can no longer be touched?

One who sees the darkness
that would consume
the light that fills that space.
One who lives with that grief.

These are my thoughts after reading Beware of Darkness, by Kerfe Roig.

Linked to Open Link Night at dVerse Poets Pub

Somnambulant Questioned

/ rivrvlogr / 11 Comments

Somnambulant Questioned

While I, the night before determined
not to rise before the sun, wake instead before
the moon sets to read your words. Or do I?

Does light from a screen exist, are motions
of zoom and focus by a somnambulant
real if not documented, captured?

Must I wait until I truly rise to learn
your words do remain, that the moon
kissed the horizon before my eyes?

Or will I wake to find nothing has changed
as I break the skin to peel back in segments
what was only a dream all along?

This poem was inspired by “somnambulant,” by grapeling.

Images: super moon, 5:00am CST, 07 May 2020
(click images for larger view in new tab)

No Way

/ rivrvlogr / 11 Comments

No Way

We walk in place,
pace a fiction we place
upon ourselves. No collective
intended here, intentions
of isolation our recourse
when we have everywhere to go
and nowhere to accept us,
except as carriers of contagion,
contained out of necessity.

This poem is inspired by (Poet Girl Em) Emily’s Way.
Although she has been posting less often, Em always provides thought provoking poetry.

As one of the last states to do so, Missouri’s governor finally issued a statewide stay-at-home order, yesterday. Our city and county have been “stay-at-home” for more than a week, with “limited gatherings” in place before that. The governor had hesitated to issue a statewide order, instead relying on localities to better gauge the needs of their communities. An example of how well that was working could be found around Lake of the Ozarks, a resort area in mid-Missouri, where cities waited until 4 days ago to limit gatherings to no more than 10 people.

Today is Day 4 of National/Global Poetry Writing Month.
While this poem is off-prompt, but I’m sharing it at napowrimo.net.

Image source: morguefile.com

The Obvious Truth ~ inspired by Disciple’s Dilemma (Tritina)

/ rivrvlogr / 4 Comments

The Obvious Truth

It wasn’t till I looked
that I finally saw
the truism in your words.

For hidden in your words,
discovered when I looked,
there was a welcome saw.

Socially distant, I saw,
there within your words,
the answer, once I looked.

Overlooked, until I saw your words: I’ve got nothing but time.

If anyone can have fun with a poetry form it’s Ron. Lavalette, and, in so doing, offer further tritina inspiration.

Scrambled, Not Fried

No, it’s cool; I can wait.
I’ve got nothing but time…..
……………See?

As far as I can see
it’ll be worth the wait
(at least this time).

I mean, last time
I couldn’t get you to see;
but now…um…I can wait

No. It can’t wait. Time’s up!  See, dammit!!! See!!!

—————[|||]—————

My blogger friend Ken Gierke (rivrvlogr) introduced me to the TRITINA form, which uses repeated end words in three tercets as follows: ABC / CAB / BCA and a closing line that includes all 3: ABC.  You can read about the form at The Poets CollectiveHERE, and you can see Ken’s Tritina, The Color of Rain, HERE.

Thanks, Ken!

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Know Your Real Truth

/ rivrvlogr / 25 Comments

Know Your Real Truth

Wisdom in hindsight?
Who determines the blessing of that mantle?
Wisdom exploited is simply a commodity,
with complexity a factor multiplied,
consequence the product of a distorted truth.

Mature wisdom lies outside
echo chambers of parroting masses.
True unity lies in having the presence
of expression in an open exchange.
Only then is there true unity.

This poem is inspired by thoughts in Stephen Tanham’s Wisdom Breathes Out?,
also seen at The Silent Eye.

The Flickering Present

/ rivrvlogr / 8 Comments

The Flickering Present

Seamless, our projections,
the beacons we cast with each glance,
a cinematic marvel evident
to those gifted with such perception.

The knowledge of what has been,
the potential for what may be,
the defining moment known
only to ourselves, yet offered freely.

Taken in part, they imply
a puzzle, absent key pieces,
but when recognized as a whole
provide the answer to those of keen eye.

This poem is inspired by Stephen Tanham’s words in
The Flickering Present… at SUN IN GEMINI.

“ Imagine that each of us is a lighthouse, and our beams of light
rotate, not to be seen by ships at sea, but to light up a landscape
that is our world. Our brains assemble the flickering images
and create something apparently seamless – our lives – from
what is seen. Things that are dangerous or very beautiful require
us to spend time studying the landscape so that we can spot their patterns in the future.”

His post also appears at The Silent Eye

Photo by Robert Wiedmann on Unsplash

Also shared with Open Link Night at dVerse Poets Pub.

Night Wind ~ gogyohka

/ rivrvlogr / 9 Comments

Night Wind

The unmistakable voices of the trees
calling out to the hidden moon,
seeking the caress of its light,
the end of their unease.
A midnight susseration.

This gogyohka is inspired by Merril Smith’s gogyohka, Night Wind.
Please read her original here.

Image: full moon, 22 December 2018
(right click image for larger view in new tab)

Intervention

/ rivrvlogr / 27 Comments

Intervention

When the reminders of presence are strong
enough to keep one present and not seeking
the destruction of all that came before,
and the understanding of effect,
separate from cause, is firmly grasped,

the strength to accept the potential
of the current moment will awaken,
the path forward no easier
than that already taken, yet
taken out of the darkness.

This poem was inspired by Margaret Bednar’s Intervention, a flash fiction written as a response to “Prosery #1” at dVerse. I suggest you read her post. You’ll also find an audio of her piece there, as well.

Even (or especially) with this poem in mind, it’s important to understand that the complexities of depression dictate that there is no one-solution.

Ken G.

Never Knowing

/ rivrvlogr / 8 Comments

it’s the alone in
the dance that makes the never
knowing so complete
               Kerfe Roig

Never Knowing

Your absence the loss
of a scale to measure
all that comes after.

What steps to take
in the loss of moments.
Whether to lead. Or follow.

Whether to acquiesce, be carried
away by a tune, or resent it
for the memories it holds.

The dance of never knowing
is a dark reflection of the dance
of enjoyment that came before.

Both the senryū and the watercolor are by Kerfe Roig,
from her post (nowhere) to be found.

Ken G.

Magic of the Oracle ~ magnetic poetry

/ rivrvlogr / 5 Comments

Magic of the Oracle

The light in a breeze.
The perfume of the stars.
With her many voices,
breathing her soft laugh,
she dazzles as she celebrates.
Always, if we listen.

With help from The Oracle at Magnetic Poetry, this poem
is inspired by Merril Smith’s All the Questions.

If you want to try magnetic poetry, you can do it online, here.

Background image: Wikimedia Commons
Consulting the Oracle, by John William Waterhouse