life

Lessons Learned ~ sijo

/ Ken Gierke / rivrvlogr / Leave a comment

Lessons Learned

Each moment in your path
          offers an opportunity.

The wisest decisions come from
          recognizing the potential.

Lessons learned with each turn taken
          bring you closer to your goal.

 

This is my response to Day 28 of National/Global Poetry Writing Month 2024 at napowrimo.net, where we are asked to write a sijo.

Sijo (a Korean verse form related to haiku and tanka)
~ three lines of 14-16 syllables each
~ a total of 44-46 syllables
~ a pause near the middle of each line
~ first half of the line contains six to nine syllables
~ the second half should contain no fewer than five
Originally intended as songs, sijo can treat romantic, metaphysical, or spiritual themes. Whatever the subject, the first line introduces an idea or story, the second supplies a “turn,” and the third provides closure.
Modern Sijo are sometimes printed in six lines.
Read more here: Wikipedia

 

Dissonance

/ Ken Gierke / rivrvlogr / 2 Comments

Dissonance

Far from poetic,
his words were filled
with discord and discontent,
riffs of repetition railing on
malfeasance and malevolence,
the hypocrisy of do unto others,
do unto the environment,
do whatever the hell you want.
Forget what others fear and others feel,
because it’s a me-first world made
to be used until there’s nothing left
for anyone. All he really wants to do is rant.

This is my response to Day 26 of National/Global Poetry Writing Month 2024 at napowrimo.net, where we’re asked to write a poem that involves alliteration, consonance and assonance. I think I’ve covered all three aspects, even if the assonance in lines 3 & 9 is part of the alliteration.

Alliteration
     – the repetition of a particular consonant sound at the beginning of multiple words
Consonance
     – the repetition of consonant sounds elsewhere in multiple words
Assonance
     – the repetition of vowel sounds

Perspective

/ Ken Gierke / rivrvlogr / 1 Comment

Perspective

You have one life,
yet each moment stands alone,
regardless of the past,
regardless of the future.
In each moment,
there is one chance to get it right.
Be honest with yourself.
There is virtue in perspective.
Decide, or don’t.
Not making a choice is a decision.
Live without regret. Do not
let others make that decision for you.
TANSTAAFL*

This is my response to Day 25 of National/Global Poetry Writing Month 2024 at napowrimo.net, where we are asked to write a poem based on the “Proust Questionnaire,” using a provided variation of the questions.

*There ain’t no such thing as a free lunch

November’s haze ~ cherita

/ Ken Gierke / rivrvlogr / 41 Comments

[untitled]

November’s haze

foreshadows
December’s darkness

a sense of loss
weighing heavy
on my soul

memories
little compensation
for lost company

embracing
those still close

we survive

 

This is my response to MTB: Cherishing the Cherita, the prompt from Laura Bloomsbury, which is to write a reflected Cherita.

Cherita (the Malay word for story or tale) (pronounced CHAIR-rita)
          ~ [1 — 2 — 3] – a single stanza of a one-line verse, followed by a two-line verse, and then finishing with a three-line verse
          ~ written with no descriptive title
          ~ written solo or with up to three partners

all the difference

/ Ken Gierke / rivrvlogr / 32 Comments

all the difference

your expectations and mine
never really the same
i gave it all i could
the same for you
neither of us believing
the other understood
both of us keeping score
nearly two score years
but what are numbers
when the one number
that matters is three
they were, and are,
my gift to you
your gift to me

 

This is my response to Poetics: It’s a Given, the prompt from Merril at dVerse ~ Poets Pub, which is to write a poem about giving.

moment to moment ~ quadrille

/ Ken Gierke / rivrvlogr / 19 Comments

 

moment to moment

this life
each moment
a play on words
a sketch that fades
even as the next appears
moves on without
a script, my will
but a small factor,
considering that
of all who surround me
and elements, both
anticipated and unforeseen,
beyond my control

 

This is my response to Quadrille #190, the prompt from Michelle Beauchamp at dVerse ~ Poets Pub, which is to use a form of the word shelter in a Quadrille – a 44-word poem (excluding title), with no required meter or rhyme.

Image source: Pixabay

In Need of Natural Order

/ Ken Gierke / rivrvlogr / 5 Comments

In Need of Natural Order

Grass blades stir,
barely move
beneath the weight
of morning’s dew,
that false promise
of shelter in a world
of unforeseen circumstance,
where natural order
faces disorder, this time
in the flash of a wing
and descending darkness.
Another time,
the appearance of purple
and red at the birdfeeder
brings a smile, but
does little to ease
the darkness of events
that words struggle
to capture.

 

This poem is my response to In the Footsteps of Our Feathers from Brendan at desperate poets.

Photo by Srinivasan Venkataraman on Unsplash

Trompe-l’œil

/ Ken Gierke / rivrvlogr / 17 Comments

Trompe-l’œil

Brief, this window.
Birth to death.
So much to do.
So little time.

 

This is my response to Poetics: Window Gazing,
the prompt from Merril at dVerse ~ Poets Pub.

Shared with Day Eighteen at napowrimo.net (off prompt)

Trompe-l’œil (per Wikipedia) is an artistic term for the highly realistic optical illusion of three-dimensional space and objects on a two-dimensional surface.

Image source: Wikimedia Commons ~ “Escaping Criticism” by Pere Borrell del Caso

Forward ~ sijo

/ Ken Gierke / rivrvlogr / 14 Comments

Forward

Experience is woven
       into the fabric of our lives.

Understanding our mistakes
       gives us the strength to move forward.

The things we fear will follow us
       until we let them go.

This is my response to Ronovan Writes Sijo Challenge #47: Escape.

Sijo (a Korean verse form related to haiku and tanka)
~ three lines of 14-16 syllables each
~ a total of 44-46 syllables
~ a pause near the middle of each line
~ first half of the line contains six to nine syllables
~ the second half should contain no fewer than five
Originally intended as songs, sijo can treat romantic, metaphysical, or spiritual themes. Whatever the subject, the first line introduces an idea or story, the second supplies a “turn,” and the third provides closure.
Modern Sijo are sometimes printed in six lines.
Read more here: Wikipedia