The Voice of Wisdom

Her little voice reached my ears,

“I wish we never had bad things happen;

I’d be happy all the time.”

“But little one,” I replied,

“How would you know you were happy?

If you knew no discontent, what

would make you learn new things

and try to improve yourself?

Pain and adversity help us grow.”

***

This is my contribution to G-Man’s Friday Flash 55.  I’m also linking this to d’Verse Poets challenge to write a poem addressing balance.

Brevity in Poetry

I love the challenge Mama Zen has given us a Read Toads today.  It’s quite simply to cut through all the excessive wordy crap and describe our lives poetically in thirty-five words or less.  Luckily my prose is where I generally ramble, rather than my poetry, so this was a fun quick write.

 

down on the farm

working away

tired and beat

from eight hours away

never far from my hand

does the trusty Nikon stray

documenting life with the animals

laughing, loving, cussing

and crying every day.

 

Be sure to visit Real Toads for brief poems on other people’s lives.

Shoveling Shit

It’s my favorite poetic night of the week.  Write a story in exactly 55 words and let G-Man know about it.  He truly is the most gracious host from coast to coast!  It’s Friday Flash 55!

I find that I would rather shovel shit than go to my day job.

That might seem strange, but here’s why.

You know what you’re getting into right from the start.

It’s equal~everybody shits and nobody smells good.

You can see you are making progress

and feel good about a job well done.

It’s honest.

Huitain

The Sunday challenge at Real Toads is to write a huitain.  It is an eight line poem with each line containing eight or ten syllables.  The rhyme scheme is: ababbcbc.  This makes it similar to the ballade.

***

 

I keep my heart sealed in a jar;

Seal’d safely, I am free from care.

No worries I’ll leave it afar,

Never another painful tear.

With anyone I’ll never share

I won’t allow myself to love

This fake smile on my face I wear

Until I meet with God above.

 

For more information on the form or other poems written for today’s challenge, be sure to visit Real Toads.

Lay Me Down

The challenge at Real Toads today is an homage to Friday the 13th!  Luckily, I’ve no fear of the day, and I enjoyed the challenge of writing a rondeau (a thirteen line poem).  The form is aabba aabc aabbac.  The first half of the first line forms a refrain that is repeated as the 9th and 13th lines.

Lay me down and watch me die.

Beneath the old oak I will lie.

Dense leaves allow not a single ray

of sunshine through the whole day

no matter how brightly they might try.

~

My life has been harvested like rye.

Though my journey is done, do not cry.

Fall to your knees and for me do pray.

Lay me down.

~

I’ll join the angels on high

residing with my gods in the sky.

Forever with them I will stay,

but into your dreams I will foray.

Lay me down.

Beaverfest 2012

I am so happy to have our wonderful host of Friday Flash 55 back in the blogosphere and healthy!  Be sure to write a story in exactly 55 words and then tell G-man about it!  Here’s my humble non-fiction flash 55.

Isobelle Golightly‘s lady, Mimi Foxmorton and me

The universe approves;

the stars align;

the miles fly by and

Goat Sisters meet~

three crones bonded

by goats and faith.

The Fates bless the event

known only as Beaverfest

(figure it out).

The trio meandered

to a quiet rock garden.

Who should be waiting

but the great goat god Pan~

a silent stone statue.

Beavie and Pan

Truly I just returned from a road trip to New York to meet blogging friends and Goat Sisters.  It was a wonderful time.  Really how often can you drive a thousand miles to stay with someone you’ve never met and spend time with another stranger and not be killed by an axe murderer and really enjoy each other’s company?  If only we’d also found a pirate, I think it would have been a perfect weekend!

A Poem

joyous song of my heart

sung to nature’s tune

light, airy and melodic

~

escape valve of emotions

ready to overflow or burst

from the shattered core

~

the gentle tear hitting a

white piece of paper,

a  dusty trail of words

~

feeling of a forgotten dream

freed by pencil etched words

fanciful and fantastic

~

a memory relived and revered

and shared with others

a reflective expression

~

energy and intent to heal

starting with the soul

ending in salvation

~

 creativity flows freely into

form with each stroke

of fingers on a keyboard.

I am linking to d’Verse Poets where the challenge is to write a poem explaining what poetry means to you.  What a great challenge for the first anniversary of d’Verse Poets.

Heat

The perfect theme for a summertime haiku!

all throughout July

summer’s hot sun glaring

dancing in its flames

heat from the pavement

rising through the car floor boards

burning through the miles

***

For more haiku inspired by heat, visit Sensational Haiku Wednesday.