poetry

Orbital Car Park

/ rivrvlogr / 9 Comments

Orbital Car Park

Meant to leave without a trace
Elon’s car sat parked in space
Driven by a dummy crew
Spellbound by an earthly view

Set to orbit just past Mars
Standards set for future cars
Paused for just one final look
Posing for history books

Little did that Roadster know
Once they saw that red gizmo
Scientists would spend their days
Looking out for cars in space

Today is Day 7 of National/Global Poetry Writing Month, and the prompt from napowrimo.net is to write a poem based on a news article, with a handful of suggestions, including “Earth Has Acquired a Brand New Moon That’s About the Size of a Car.”

It can’t be a coincidence that this story follows
the launch into space of Elon Musk’s Tesla Roadster.

Image source: Wikimedia Commons – Elon Musk’s Tesla Roadster

one poem a day ~ senryū

/ rivrvlogr / 13 Comments

one poem a day
without internet access
poet’s frustration

Bandwidth issues today meant more time battling technology than reading or writing.
At least it gave me a senryū.

Today is Day 5 of National/Global Poetry Writing Month.
While this poem is off-prompt, but I’m sharing it at napowrimo.net.

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

Fresh Air Walk During a Pandemic

/ rivrvlogr / 46 Comments

Fresh Air Walk During a Pandemic

There was rain that would not touch me,
followed by sunlight that surrounded me
but kept a respectful distance.

Even pollen seemed deferential.
Skirting the edge of the trail,
passing hikers offered a simple hello.

The birds treated it like any other day,
their distance a product of instinct,
mine a matter of discretion.

Cedar branches swayed in the breeze,
flinging leftover rain droplets,
a reminder that things could be normal again.

This is my poem for Day 2 of National/Global Poetry Writing Month.
It’s off-prompt, but I’m sharing it at napowrimo.net.

Also shared with Open Link Night #263 at dVerse Poets Pub.

Traveling Again (visiting Tu Fu)

/ rivrvlogr / 20 Comments

Mountain Travel (visiting Tu Fu)

I return to the temple once seen in my travels,
remembering the bridge as I cross it.
This mountain and its river have been waiting.
I see the flowering willow and become like nothing.
All in this country is vivid, shining in a thin mist.
The sand is soft, colored by the late day’s sun.
I wonder why I have not returned sooner.

Literal translations of classic Chinese poetry can be found at chinese-poems.com. This is my interpretation of a poem by Tu Fu. The literal translation, as provided at chinese-poems.com, is as follows:

Travelling Again

Temple remember once travel place
Bridge remember again cross time
River mountain like waiting
Flower willow become selfless
Country vivid mist shine thin
Sand soft sun colour late
Traveller sorrow all become decrease
Stay here again what this

Image source: ukiyo-e.org – Red Temple Gate, by Fujishima Takeji

More Chinese interpretations can be found here.

Today is Day 1 of National/Global Poetry Writing Month, and, though off-prompt, I’m sharing this at napowrimo.net.