nBlog

The 30 Days of Text project is over… and I am really proud I made it.

It was quite a task to discipline myself to write each and every single day, and what’s more, write poetry. But I did it (yay to all of us who made it through!) and I am glad I did. I went through a tough time recently, and focusing my mind on the required form of rhyme and rhythm helped me.

After all these texts, you deserve something to please the eye. I’ve got a new project.

Flora and Fauna September.

As you know, I like to take photos, and animals and nature are among my favorite subjects. I’ll give you pictures of these, not necessarily once a day, but on a regular basis, throughout September.

I hope you’ll enjoy.

word: courageous
form: Epic ballad in iambic pentameter

Fifteen they were, a gang from stories old,
The maidens fair, soft spoken, sharp and bright,
The men were daring, dashing, it is told.

Their souls, they say, were deep and dark as night.
So they set out on this stupendous quest,
Their minds were humming with utmost delight.

And so they went, the fifteen, blithe and blessed,
To do what they were meant to do, and do it right.
To dare what none had dared before, at the behest

Of Flaming Molly, Queen of Pen and Light.
For thirty days, the challenge was quite clear:
“Now go ahead, and take a word – and WRITE!”

And that they did, and now we want to hear
Their stories all. And please – give them a cheer.

word: misogynist
form: cascade

My father.

Did you ever really see me?
Petty excuses and pretty words
That was the only legacy I got from you.

So quick with mild contempt and scorn
And yet, so high your expectations.
Did you ever really see me?

My biggest failure: I was only a girl.
I found out that I’d never get anything but
Petty excuses and pretty words.

But I grew to be strong, to fight back.
I learned to shake off the chains of disdain.
That was the only legacy I got from you.

—

tomorrow’s word: courageous

Word: mindless
Form: ponderette (a new poetic form invented by me )

—

Tomorrow’s word: misogynist

Word: replicas
Form: Tanka

replica of life

do you see the sun
rising in the east, alone
no birds are singing

each day begins without song
while the sun rises, alone

(for you, Dalaruan)

—
tomorrow’s word: mindless

Word: impermeable
Form: Septolet

your soul
impermeable
hidden behind
a wall of ice

but then
suddenly
we’re melting

—

Tomorrow’s word: replicas

Word: din
Form: Lento

A Teacher’s Lament

Din is roaring through my head,
Thin and thinner grows my mind
Akin to mayhem, lost, misled -
Twin feelings of deaf and blind.

Where can a safe haven be?
Lair of ghouls that I abhor!
Despair prevails – I have to flee:
There it is: The classroom door!

—

Tomorrow’s word: impermeable

Word: forgo
Form: epigram

When all life’s perils you forgo
You forgo any chance to grow.

—

tomorrow’s word: din

Word: Mayday
Form: Oddquain

may
it be so
that you find calmness
and inner beauty, one fine
day

—

Tomorrow’s word: forgo

Word: vacuity
Form: La’libertas

What can I do to fill the void?
Have I forgotten how to feel?
How can I even know it’s real?
Is this the life I once enjoyed?

the vacuity
can be a chance
can be filled
with dance
with chant, with glee
with me

What if these wounds will never heal?
What if I really am destroyed?
What if this life had only toyed
With me, and it was never real?

the vacuity
is free space
a blank paper
I can write
with courage, I can face
the night

Und wenn ich’s wage, kann ich meine Dunkelheiten
Wie einen leeren Raum, ganz unverzagt und still, durchschreiten.

—

(The required foreign language couplet is, of course, German. The lines mean, more or less:
And if I dare, I can stride through my own darknesses
like through an empty chamber, undismayed and silently.

(It sounds better in German. )

Tomorrow’s word: mayday!