Three little gogyohka: Ice cream, light, and letters

Image made by Lee Jordan for Flickr.com

Churning like warm butter

Churning like ice cream

hands quicken

my fragile

breath…

*

A day, an hour

drew fine points of light

in a fine memory

of

Wedding Bells ’08

*

Cutting deeper

are your words

no longer pensive

sharp pencils

jabbing your forgive me letters

*

Feedback on this blog enables me to be sure I am putting out the right stuff for you, so comment, share, email, whatever. Let’s chat.

‘Tomoe’s Whimper’: A poem for ‘Kamisama Kiss’

*Kind of difficult writing from a male perspective, but Tomoe’s character is so mysterious…here goes:

And she tickles my logic with her babbling

lips and those coy eyes

And I a yokai  who sips

from the red light  district

Is pulled in

Her longing is my whimper

from her cries and echoes,

frail under her strength

strong in her gentleness and

Her longing is my whimper

To have a human goddess

right under my clutches

right under my killing aura and 

powers of fire, I want only one

fire to possess her.

And her longing is my whimper

my secret worship of her

and her tiny voice, long hands and

her shrill scream when I catch her

in a lie or sighing because she loves me

but I am yokai- I can not be loved

a human can not be trusted.

I long to make her whimper

She is me I am her.

She needs me- I want her.

But oh, the longing in her eyes when we fight together

When we tear down walls of pride by shamelessly

baring all unspoken words

of what we wanted before we were…

I know I’m already hers.

Is she mine?

‘A Noiseless Patient Spider’; Whitman flings his soul somewhere

phototini.deviantart.com

‘A Noiseless Patient Spider’ (1881) delivers a powerful, two stanza poem comparing the body and soul to a spider and its web. The speaker of the poem. After two readings it appears that the Spider=Speaker’s Body and its web=Speaker’s Soul. We will also look at language, symbols, and tone/mood. Check out the poem below:

A noiseless, patient spider,
I mark’d, where, on a little promontory, it stood, isolated;
Mark’d how, to explore the vacant, vast surrounding,
It launch’d forth filament, filament, filament, out of itself;
Ever unreeling them—ever tirelessly speeding them.

And you, O my Soul, where you stand,
Surrounded, surrounded, in measureless oceans of space,
Ceaselessly musing, venturing, throwing,—seeking the spheres, to connect them;
Till the bridge you will need, be form’d—till the ductile anchor hold;
Till the gossamer thread you fling, catch somewhere, O my Soul(by Walt Whitman 1819-1892)

***

Objects and Symbols

*A Spider

*The Soul

*A Bridge

There may be more objects you spot, but the poem’s title mentions a spider and the Speaker seems to be observing this little creature closely. The Speaker then says, “Oh my Soul…” in the second stanza which has some significance which we’ll explore later and finally there is the mention of a bridge being needed which will be formed in due time.

*Language/Rhyme

Here is where we get to more meat and potatoes of the poem, where they flow of the words and their positioning gives juicy meaning. Remember, this is what I gleaned from my reading, it may not necessarily be what you discover.

*”Noiseless, Patient”(line 1-slant rhyme)

*Mar’d…mark’d(lines 2-3; repetition)

*Vacant, Vast(line 3-alliteration)

*Filament, filament, filament(line 4-repetition)

*measureless oceans(line 7- slant rhyme)

*”Ceaseless musing, venturing, throwing, seeking the spheres to connect with”(line 8-9- ‘ing’ sounds-slant rhyme)

Plenty of slant rhyme and repetition. Slant rhymes are families of words that are not “whole rhymes(like “cat”-”hat”) but have endings that almost rhyme in sound. Like noiseless and patient- hear the “ent” sound? Also the repetition have a particular wave to it. Think of what a spider does. A spider throws out its thread, seeming never-ending and so of course there will be repetition here as the Speaker tries to establish a rhythm similar to a spider sitting and tossing its thread.

Then we come to the Speaker’s comparison of his/her body to a spider and its web. Lines 6-7 mirrors line 4.  Check it out:

Ceaselessly musing, venturing, throwing,—seeking the spheres, to connect them;(line 8)

It launch’d forth filament, filament, filament, out of itself;(line 4)

Tone/Mood

In Line 8 the human being has its soul tossed from it and it seeks its source. This could be Heaven. In line 4, the spider throws out filament after filament, seeking what it may catch and hold on it. Now, this poem can have double meaning. I am speaking of the afterlife but what if it’s about venturing out on one’s own to discover what is out there?

The speaker seems to moan, “Oh my soul” a couple of times in this poem. The Speaker cares about this unseen property in the body and the Spider is an object he/she can properly compare it to. I can’t say the poem is sad, but the Speaker is seeking something.

After your reading, is the Speaker sad? Ambivalent? Joyous? Or other?

I love responses!

*Key Terms*

Promontory-a high piece or point of land

Filament-a single thread or flexible thread

Gossamer- film of cobwebs

Ductile-capable of being drawn into wires

Grab a book, start a poem: Some thoughts on beginning poeming

Image from Microsoft Office

 

I have been revisiting poetry again, and as you well know I enjoy poetry and whatever way I can help others with the struggle of poeming, I am more than happy to do so.

Grabbing up books on poetry is one of the best ways to get a better look at how other poets do it before you dive in. Or, if you’re like me, you just dive right in and after the fact you learn about little things like “form, style. rhyme and rhythm, and chapbooks”- you know, important stuff like that. Again, I am happy to have been on that fault line of confusion and am trying to find my way back. In fact, I am thinking of getting a book I checked out before at the library to assist me again in poeming

Right now, all of my focus is on  poetry, but am way too shy to give public readings. The last public speech I gave was a an elegy for my father December 2012 and even that was hard. But I know that people will only realize you exist if you speak to them.

Any helpful tips on poetry reading is welcome~ Truly!

Next order of business is learning some traditional forms. I am a free verse type of gal which allows me to spill words on the page without restraints, but lately I am seeing some really great patterns and traditions I’d like to challenge myself more with: specifically Gogyohka and Haiku as well as some Sestinas and Sonnets. Learning to break free sometimes involve learning how your shackles work, no?

Haiku…a struggle for a poet who says too much

Windy Day by Irina Baldina, Image courtesy of wikipedia.org

It is always okay to present yourself with a challenge. This season, I have been challenging myself with Haiku. Something that seems so simple to make, but has multiple interpretations, elements of surprise, and takes time and meditation to create.

I will say right now, that haiku for me can be difficult but it doesn’t have to be. As a storyteller and free verse poet, it does present its problems because Haiku only takes a the briefest snapshot of life and you must present it well enough for it to make an impact on reading.

For example, here is one I worked on recently…

 

Hurried turquoise kites…

Blue wind

Slaps bargain hats

It appears the haiku is not making sense but if you can visualize whats happening, you can see that it must be a windy Spring day and people are flying kites everywhere while a strong gust of wind blows men’s hats off. Pretty simple, right?

But what is the emotion you get? Does it trigger a memory? A future? Either way it seems the message is folks are gathered together in the strongest winds, fighting nature and enjoying it at the same time.

This is what I have so far. Stay tuned for more on my challenges with haiku, a little background on its origins and some masters of the haiku we can all learn from.

“Unclean spirits at the top”, poem based off of an exercise

*There are unclean spirits

and they don’t trust you

your name is amongst the

feared and it dirties

the talk, it cramps

their walk and they drive

The low and the downtrodden,

the saddened, the broken

hearts and those who work

at the bottom of hell

and come up streaked and hot

bloodied nails and sharpened

wit on wisdom is washed away

from the news and there is no mention of them

in politics

There is no mention of them

among the rich

no mention of them amongst their

own families and churches

I am talking about the poor.

A debate featured middle class woes who have

homes and their worst problem

is taxes and if their kids will get jobs

after college

What about you who want to get to college

or you who needs a job yesterday?

Did they mention you?

Perhaps they think its your fault

for not forcing them to give you

work but then that is illegal.

Or manipulating to get the job

but then that’s pawn shop bargaining.

The 99 are poor and can storm the doors

let’s not forgot who sweeps the floors

and those who need a little more

*************************************************

 

Here are words  in bold  I used for above poem:(this is based off of a poem exercise involving conversations and snatches of words I heard)

It works

is it clean

evil spirits

it’s not them

they don’t trust you

scared

she ignored me

middle class

Poetry Exercise: “Audible pictures”, a bit intrusive but neccessary

There is another experiment I’d like to try, and it concerns fiction and poetry.

On our daily run ins with work, church, meetings- life, we hear a lot. We hear frustrations in other’s voices. We hear people make plans. We hear someone crying, laughing, shouting.

Here’s an exercise to get your mind in the realm of writing and creating:(This may seem intrusive, but writers typically are)

1. Pay attention this week to all that you hear. If you cannot hear, pay attention to all you see.
2. Take notes on the pieces of conversations you hear. Listen to characters on television, maybe a song you hear playing in the street, whatever it is, take notes of what you hear in a notebook.
3. Once you have your “audible pictures” take them and transfer them onto index cards or any blank card(s).
4. Is there a pattern? Can you create a story or poem based off your exploration?
5. Mix up the cards(conversations)  and see what happens.
6. For those who are concentrating on a fiction piece: How do you think the conversation began? Ended? Whats the subject matter? Poets can use this part too-Have fun with it!

As you know, I always participate in these exercises. I will be carrying my notebook with me as well and taking notes. I wonder what I will find. Let me know how it goes, writers!

‘Pilfering Hearts’- a hot box poem

Image courtesy of 4freephotos.com

*before the fragrant odor of

his rose slip away into

history and leave the

pot boiling over-

before the dancing shoes are put up

and the legs filet around

his slim ones and the gift

of movement rocks me

and the techno grooves

the DJ ministers over the air

says “Goodnight”

here we stand, twin souls

that could have happened

should have but

I called him from her

and he took me from Him

we shake the sheets together

smooth skins and bruise lips

philandering other human’s hearts.

I sit alone.

*This poem arrived to my mind after the exercise in post on poetry exercises and invoking the muse. The words seem to be coming from a place of sensuality adulterated(and yes, I am happily married- don’t confuse me with the speaker of the poem-I blame the creative process) Anyhow towards the end of the poem, it became more spiritual for me and less about the physicalities between the speaker and her lover.

What do you think?

A simple poetry exercise can reveal more about you than you know

Image courtesy of istockphoto

Quick. Think of at least 10 words, or ideas(its okay if its sentences and its okay if you have more words pop into your mind).

Write them down.

What do you see? What are the connections? What do they say about yourself?

Here’s the good part. These are the words and ideas that will be birthed in your brand new poem! The other day some terms just came into my mind. Here’s what the muse gave me:

• charlatan
• harlot
• hot box
• pilfer
• double rose
• techno groove
• fire
• progessive heat

Okay so maybe I think I’m a hot mama-LOL. It wasn’t the material I was reading, but perhaps a song? Movie? Either way, I’m sure it’ll at least spark an idea for a poem. In some cases you may not need all or any of your muse’s words but the theme could be great foundation.

Try it out and let me know how you do

Its her heart on the line- poem inspired by “Samurai Champloo’

Image of Mugen from samuraichamploocorner.blogspot.com

Daylight catches

your hair

like a wildfire

in your-

wild ebony tresses

and the lock upon my

heart is greased

and loosened,

you look at me

and then not see

you pretend not

to see the

bird you

just set

free

*If any of you have seen Samurai Champloo then you may guess(maybe not) that this poem is from the heart of Fuu,15 to Mugen,19. Mugen: infinity, loose and carefree with no answer to no one is the opposite of Fuu but he plays with her heart without playing. I love the anime so far and invite you to see it too on Netlfix or grab from Amazon.