On Call

Waiting for the phone to ring
Watching on-line videos and jumping
At every noise
One eye is always on the mobile screen
Whatever else I'm doing
Every nerve on high alert
Though I'm fighting sleep
Both excited and terrified
By the prospect of a phone call


So, I'm a First Responder and this is pretty much what it feels like whenever I'm on call. Just sitting, waiting for the phone to ring...

Waiting...

Staring at the phone...

Both daring it to ring and hoping it doesn't...

Waiting...

Memories of Space

What does space remember?
I remember when all this was fields
Of darkness
Nothing as far as the eye could see which, 
As both eyes and distance did not exist yet
Was not far


I remember a beginning
The end of nothing
And the birth of everything else
In a great pulsing labour
Spreading matter
And creating the universe


I remember, back in the day
When everything was young
And new
And fresh.
They grow up so fast


I remember when you first came to visit
And the way everything still seemed so new
And exciting
To your eyes


I remember the ideas you had
Most of which were best forgotten
But the rest
Were the searing novas to rival those
That birthed you


I remember love
I remember fighting
But, in the end, without a voice
I remember nothing


Prompt: Write a poem of space.


Originally the prompt was meant to refer to the space, say in a room, but why not write about space as in outer? :D

Summer Swift

A flying scythe
In summer skies
Black speck above


It flits, it swoops
On air it floats
The sky it loves


It screams defiance
In the blue
Black speck above


Nothing could tie it
To the ground
The sky it loves


A flying scythe
Black speck above
The sky it loves.


Saw my first swallow of this year today. Apart from geese flying overhead twice a year swallows and swifts are  my indicator birds for the changing of the seasons. It's nice to see them back again.

Elegy To The BMW

You carried us around
For a couple years
But now your time is over


Safely we were carted
Cradled in your insides
Encased in steel


Your under seat heating
Kept us warm
Even in the coldest weather


And though you had nothing wrong
You weren't right for us
We had to let you go


I'm sorry
We've got a Honda CRV now
And we are really happy.


We got a new car!!!! A Honda CRV and it's really awesome. Still have to read the book to find out how to use the sat nav and stuff properly but much happier with this now. The BMW was really low and a pain to get in and out sometimes. We had a landrover before and the CRV has better fuel economy while still having the 4x4 capabilities. And so many hidey-holes! And the back seats can recline!

Love Cento

What is love?

This terrifying miracle

You’d better run away fast.

As we wait for it to make sense.

The travel’s hard but still keep going strong

And bright as molten copper

As if it doesn't happen indefinitely

But flowers are blooming

Hands stretched to give.

It pulls me in

Fire singed I dragged I filled

And I sigh and close my eyes

I've just misplaced the world. 

She saves us going astray

Everything we have worked for

I do

Go deeper still till nothing left but thought

And you’re done.

Forget don’t and can’t, those heavy words

Though not unexpected

The world would not be shattered.

Eyes fixed

Inspiration was coming my way

Where nothing is quite what it may seem

But one with much fascination

And that is not to be missed

Prompt: Write a cento. A poem made up entirely of lines from other poems. 

All these lines come from my NaPo poems from last year. Hopefully it actually makes sense. It's not actually 30 lines long because I missed days last year, but anyway.

Sick

To think that
I was raring to go
On the 1st
When now
Only 23 days later
I'm sick of this whole
Poetry thing
(Although
That may 
Be partly due
To this headache
Pounding away
Behind my eyes)
I wrote a whole book
I think
In 30 days
And yet
I cannot write 30 poems
In the same time frame.

Procrastination

I'm meant to be writing a poem
But procrastinating is easier
Building in Minecraft
Placing block
After block
Mind growing numb

Bag

My
Bag squeaks
On my shoulder


Careful
Adjustment and
Bag still squeaks


Consider 
Throwing bag
Down on ground


Screaming
To air
And at bag


But
No. I
Don't do that


Instead
Adjust again
Bag stops squeaking!


Yay!
Now can
Walk in peace.


Prompt: Write a hay(na)ku.

True story that.

Train Journey

Waiting for the train
The day sunnier than it has any right to be 
Busy train 
The buzz of someone else's music 
How can they stand it that loud? 
High banks of grass 
So all that you can see is the sky 
Roads snaking beside 
And under 
The track 
Racing cars to their destination 
Murmur of voices 
Excited children 
And the sky slowly turning grey 
Small villages and golden fields 
Whiz past 
In tunnels I stare at my reflection 
And reflect 
Until the sun returns and has me squinting 
Travelling on 
Followed by flying wires 
And crawling roads.

 Sitting in a bar with my family drinking Cosmo's. Life is good!
EDIT: Used my brother's iphone to upload at first which was shy the format was screwed. Fixed now!

Drop

A 

drop 

falls from

 the sky. Sus-

pended for a mom-

ent from the tip of a leaf,

it hangs motionless before

letting go and continuing

to the ground far 

below.

Surprisingly pleased at how this poem has turned out.

Deceit

The only freedom is truth
But lies come so easily
Fear pulling us down
Fear of rejection
Of punishment
It drones in our ears
Drowning out reality
The sound of our anxiety
The only thing we listen to
Why do lies trip so freely off our tongues
While we choke on what is real?
Spiralling into the echoing depths
Darkness of our own creation

Lullaby

Sun has gone
Flown ahead
Lay down and rest your weary head


'Til the light
Hits the pane
Telling you it's day again

Miles Away

And the radio plays "Paradise"
But we aren't listening
It's merely the background to this World War
In it's locality
Striking with whispers
To keep an open-secret closed
And public knowledge under-wraps
We're standing so close together
But you feel miles away.

Diamonds

A hundred thousand diamonds
Sprinkled in the water at our feet
All I would give to you


There is no more we need
No more that we could ever want
Than this


I've not really been doing a blog any more have I? I've just really been uploading a poem and leaving it at that. Probably because by the time I've actually written a poem it's pretty late. I procrastinate...

Love Sonnet

Most famous sonnets tell about the love
Their authors felt for someone that they knew
Wax lyrical, their beauty undreamed of
Their lips, their eyes, their hair heaven to view


Some, they do not speak about perfection
Their love is only human, with the faults
But they feel an unrivalled connection
And in their love's proximity exalts


The first sight seared the eye and stole the air
From lungs, whether perfect or with flaws
They felt as if their soul had been laid bare
When initial time their love they saw


But me, I cannot write about such things
Because I lack a love of which to sing

Phoenix Burn

Rising from the ashes of despair
Love is a phoenix burn
The pain of new beginnings and the end
Of all you knew.
It is a bitter-sweet sensation, born again
With a new world in your heart
And the old one lost to cinders

Recycle

I thought about recycling
But then I remembered
That is not the point of this exercise
And anyway
I did that on Tuesday.

Sometimes my brain just doesn't want to work and create a poem. It's funny because I spent today writing snippets from a new story I'm starting to come up with and now, when I sit to write a poem, it decides to freeze up on me.

DDR

Dancing by himself
One hundred and eighty three perfects
How did he do that?


A haiku about this video. Go check it out.

Dive In

The boat bobs as we sit at rest
Salty splashes wetting faces
Warm sun beats down on us
Ready to go
Tank a dead wait pulling, pulling
"Remember" He says.
"Remember your buddy."
Final check,
Mask, reg, weights
Then
Go
Rush of air and water
Bubbles roar as the world tips then rights itself
Darth vader rasp of the regulator
As you take your first breath
Cold water rushes under the suit
Chilling your skin
The tang of salt on each breath
And the glittering surface
Now far over head
Another world away

Prompt: Write a poem of the five senses. I love scuba diving but I haven't done it in SOOOOOOOOO long. The problem is I'm a warm water diver. I can dive in a drysuit but I much prefer using a wetsuit and unfortunately, where I live (the UK) unless I'm in a pool it has to be a drysuit unless I want to freeze to death... Literally. I could dive on holiday but because it would only be once a year I would have to take a refresher course each year before I dove. I kind of miss it actually, it's something that I really love doing. Oh well, I'll just have to move somewhere warmer.

Oops

I'd apologise until I'm blue in the face
If I thought it would make any difference
I'd wish that everything was back the way it was
Before
If it would help


But the chance has passed
And with it, hope
They say that time heals all wounds
But what if the thing you've lost
Is time?


Aaaaaaargh! I missed a day!! NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! To make up for it the poem above is an extra one, on to today's:

Don't Stop

Half a league, half a league,
And then, a little further
Don't stop
Not for thought or breath
Surrounded by the screams of dying men
And horses
Not for the hope of reprieve
The knowledge of mistakes made
Both past and present
Don't stop
Don't stop.

Prompt: Write a poem with the first line lifted from another poem. The first line is from Tennyson's Charge Of The Light Brigade, which is one of my favourite poems.

Travel

Travel through the forest of your mind

Where constant thought has dug a well worn path

Or peek between the trees to find the new

And dangerous

Castles built from wispy air and cotton

Darker corners hiding fear and pain

Ideas all

Ready for the chance

To be brought alive

Green

Light filtered through the canopy
On the long walks we used to take


The lizard we watched, entranced
Running across the wall


The stone in the pendant you gave me
For my birthday


Surprising hue of the ocean
As we sat that night, entwined together


Colour of the monsters eyes
That takes me over when I see you now

Prompt: Write a poem in which everything is that colour.

I really, really want a tail, and wings. I don't know why but I wish (maybe crave is a better word for the feeling) that I had a tail and wings. Actually, the wings are an easy one, I wish I could fly. It's funny because I don't like flying in a plane but I would love to have my own wings. Proper feathery one's, of course...and they would also keep me warm at work, it's freaking cold there! As for the tail (a long bushy one, like a cat's, slightly prehensile so I could wrap it around my leg if I needed to get it out of the way) I have no idea. Maybe I secretly want to be a catgirl. I did have this dream once where I was a green and black striped catburgler catgirl called The Jester, it was cool. You probably all think I'm really weird now, but I don't care.

While we're on the subject I also wish I had a dragon or firelizard or a dæmon. Mostly for the company.

Glass and Clockwork

A fragile existence

Of glass and clockwork

Small wheels keep spinning

Spinning

In a cage at once both

Frighteningly crowded

And surprisingly open

Intricate

Gears and cogs

That can move mountains

Can't talk, watching Crash Course.

Seeking

Time flees 
And night finds me abandoned
Alone without the sun to find my way
Left searching for distraction
A warm body
A spark of life
Dance with me?


It's never lasted
But I'll take the chance
If you do

Prompt: Write a poem inspiried by the song that was number one on the day you were born. For me, that was "I Wanna Dance With Somebody" by Whitney Houston.

Someone guy came in to work today wearing a made of awesome Minecraft t-shirt. It was a periodic table but with Minecraft blocks in it. It was kind of an "Oh my god! There are other Minecraft players in the real world!" moment. Pretty awesome. Left me wondering, as I wouldn't want a t-shirt, if I could get a pickaxe pin or something. That would be cool.

The Wind Blows

The wind blows
Rattling roofs and bending branches
Sweeping a swathe of snow before it
Trees and people both are moved by the attack
And drenched in moments by the frosty deluge


Last week we bathed in the sun
Today we get soaked by a biting blizzard
Stay inside, wrap up
This is not a day to go out.

An accurate description of yesterday's weather I think.

In other news, I worry about mind readers. You know how they say that guys think about sex every seven seconds? Well my mind is probably comparable. So I worry about mind readers...

Play Again The Card Of Fate

Play again the card of fate
Watch again the face it shows
And try to change it
Play again the card of fate
Reject the path that it displays
Forge your own route through
Play again the card of fate
Watch again the face it shows

Prompt: Write a triolet.


You would have thought this would be easy. It's only eight lines after all and five of those are repeated but finding a lines to repeat that sound right was hard, and then I had to find lines for in between them.


I have realised that I should probably not add commentary for the poem because 1) it's boring, (I find it boring and I'm the one who wrote it) and 2) it'll just be about how hard I found writing the above poem. Instead, why not go check out Penguin Prison, a group I just found out about today. Kinda synth poppy music. Pretty cool.

Carpe Diem

As rising sun above horizon peeks
And rosy glow the countryside enfolds
Small birds awake to pour songs from their beaks
And flowers bloom, their colours bright and bold


Woodland creatures scamper 'cross the lawn
The sky a growing shade of peacock blue
A brand new day is herald by the dawn
The promise fresh and clear as morning dew


Carpe diem! Take life by the helm!
Who knows what could be found, or yet thought of
The last grand treasures of forgotten realms
Excitement and adventure, hope, or love!


But with vile poisons pounding in my head
Screw 'seize the day', I'll seize some sleep instead.

Prompt: Write a “carpe diem” poem.


Simple enough. I thought and then realised I had no idea how I was going to go about this. The last line was the first to form itself to my questing mind and I seized upon it as a blessing and a starting block. I decided on a sonnet as I am quite fond of the 'twist' at the end and it meant I could write an almost sardonic poem about seizing the day, especially if you don't feel like it.

Blank Slate

National Poetry Writing Month
And this time I'm here on day one
With the road stretching clear
And inviting
In front of me
And my creative fingers flexing
To the task.

A small simple poem to get me started.

Welcome To April!

Today is April 1st and the first day of NaPoWriMo! Welcome to all those new poets just feeling their way into this wondrous world!

Today's poem will be uploaded later, after work.