1 haunting...

i'm not sure what possessed me when i thought including an image per week was a good idea--at least not when i was the one taking the photo.  i am no photographer, far from it.  i just point and shoot and mostly delete (love the power of digital photographs).  so aside from the one week i missed, i have been laboring over images i've taken in the past to find ones that were semi-decent.  and low and behold, as i rush to get one up before the week is out and i miss yet another week, i review my rule and realize it says nothing about the image being my own.  which technically means i'm free and clear because i already have two up this week.  but i'm certain, if i look back through my posts (some time in January or February) i'll find the one that talks about my new rule and that the images must be by none other than me to count.  i suppose this means i should update the rule so i can't use its lack of clarity as an excuse later on.

normally, i embed my images as small as they go.  but today, i decided to keep it a bit bigger so as to see if you see what i see.  (i almost feel like i'm in the eye doctor's office and they're asking me what number i see.)

a bit of background...someone mentioned that the moon tonight was extra special, not because it is a full moon, but apparently it is a super moon...the biggest it has been in 20 years.  now if i was a photographer, i might be able to capture this lovely moon in all of its glory so that it looks like a moon instead of tiny ball of light in the midst of blackness.  the only have way decent picture i got was probably because the view was obstructed, which probably altered the camera focus or whatnot (i mentioned i am far from being a photographer).  in the end, it looked a bit spooky and kind of cool.

Super Moonlit Branches
(image by rmp, that's me)

1 kiss anew

please help! my love has gone astray
he promised me here he would stay
so hurry I did, straight away
without delay, without delay

his note I read said he would be
just waiting here beneath this tree
until my kiss should set him free
where can he be, where can he be

oh grandmother please tell me dear
my knight was not he sitting here
"ah sweet young child, you must not fear
he must be near, he must be near"

about the willow she did spin
then looked at me and fear set in
her words she spoke with much chagrin
"he's here within, he's here within"

but oh! this can't be as you say
his note just came but yesterday
and hurry I did, straight away
without delay, without delay

"oh my sweet girl did you not know
in fairy land this tree does grow
and grow it did around your beau
quite long ago, quite long ago"

is there not something I can do
"sweet girl he did give you a clue
his note my dear, read it anew
and kiss him true, and kiss him true"

Photo by Brian Miller

---

it's been a long day, but finally i found my way here.  One Stop Poetry's Friday Poetically set up a challenge, which i decided to explore while toying with another form of poetry, monotetra.  oh, and what fun it has been!

3 about him

The silence permeated the air between them growing thick and heavy on her mind.  She raised the coffee cup slowly to her lips trying not to focus on his presence there beside her.  Leisurely she took a sip, breathing in the intoxicating aroma of the delicious beverage and savoring these few moments of reprieve.  Her indecisiveness was moot.  Lowering the cup, she fortified herself and turned in her seat to better face him.  His head turned in her direction, lips kissing his own coffee cup, and she couldn't stop herself from wondering what that kiss might feel like on her own lips.

She pushed the thought quickly from her mind with a huff of a sigh.  "Tell me about yourself," she inquired in a matter of fact tone.

James slowly smiled at her over the mouth of the cup and again her thoughts turned back to how those lips might taste.  She pulled her gaze away from his mouth fearful that he might be able to read her thoughts.  "What do you want to know?"

She sighed loudly and shook her head.  "I don't know.  Anything.  Everything.  I feel like all of our encounters have involved you badgered me with questions.  All I really know about you is what I gleaned from having dinner with you and your friends.  And that really wasn't much."

His left brow turned inward and his mouth curved on the left into a intoxicating grin.  He broke into a full smile with a soundless laugh just before he opened his mouth to speak.  "Badgered?"

Jaycie could not help but return his smile.  "Yes," she began with a lightheartedness to her voice.  "Badgered.  I made it perfectly clear that I was not particularly comfortable or good at the whole small talk, getting to know you conversation. And you proceeded to ask question after question until I was fully exhausted.  So, I think badgered is a perfect term."

Silence lingered in the car as his gazed stared her down.  Then he shrugged, smiled and nodded.  "Okay, I'll give that to you."  He looked out of the front windshield and took another drink of his coffee.  Jaycie followed suit afraid of where her thoughts would take her if she continued to watch him.  "So, where to begin?"  Jaycie adjusted her position turning more toward James and schooching a little so that she could comfortable rest her head on the back of her chair while she faced him.

He smiled.  "Comfy?" She nodded her response.  "Good."  James adjusted himself slightly in his seat to match her.  "I'm 32.  Born and bread right here.  I have two brothers and one sister.  I am number three.  In high school I was an oxymoron.  A smart jock."  She hid her smile behind a sip of coffee.  "I graduated magna cum laude from NYU and was hired right out of college and spent the next six years making a name for myself on Wall Street."  He paused to take a sip of his coffee.  As he lowered the cup he inquired, "is that what you're looking for."

"It's a beginning," was her response.  "So, what happened next?  Why'd you leave Wall Street?"

The silence again seemed to grow heavy between them as he studied her face.  As his gaze lingered on her lips, she itched to skin to skin and discover what thoughts were running through his head.  He sighed and shook his head.  "I quit."

11 ripe for the tasting

breezy kisses
tickle
her neck

she's ripe
for the picking
like a mellow
fruit

---

i decided to once again open myself up to a new form of poetry.  on Monday i went with a mirrored refrain; today i decided to try my hand at a septolet.  Seven lines (check), separated into two related parts (check), fourteen words (check), construct a picture/image (i think i tickled the senses of touch and taste more so than sight...so...check).  there does not seem to be any specifications on the break up of the lines, though most were three and four (or vise versa...four and three), their seemed to be no set rule about the number of words per line (though one, two, three seemed to be the combinations).  so i suppose the above poem fits the criteria.


inspiration for this poem came from Three Word Wednesday [3WW=>breeze(-e+y), mellow, tickle].  as i rolled the words around in my mouth like a mellow wine over the course of the day, i found myself with little bursts of thoughts and no computer to type with.  so i pulled out my phone and tweeted it, easy breezy.  this would count as #tweetoetry number 20 (@rmpWritings).  a septolet is a much easier fit to the 140 limit than a tanka.

7 Sweet Promises

when the world crashes in
there is but one way to make things right
decadent sweets do beckon me
with promises of a heavenly delight

in times of great despair
my heavy heart is set free
with promises of a heavenly delight
decadent sweets do beckon me

when loneliness set in
in the wee hours of the night
decadent sweets do beckon me
with promises of a heavenly delight

i find solace in simple pleasures
that dance on my taste buds full of glee
with promises of a heavenly delight
decadent sweets do beckon me

---

thought i'd toy with a new form of poetry...go figure i'd pick something which includes repetition.  looking at some of my usual (free verse) writes, i have definitely found that i favor repetition, though it's not quite so easy to do when following a specific form.  anyway, the form above is known as 'mirrored refrain'.  and this particular piece was inspired by Jingle Poetry's Poetry Potluck [food, drink, and indulgence].

10 Full Bloom

Before the proof can disappear,
come see this precious flower bloom.
The world must know what I hold dear
for soon the proof shall disappear.
I must present my findings here.
He gave this bud to dull my gloom;
a vow, his love won't disappear.
Come see!  My heart is in full bloom.

---

all it took was a little down time, i suppose.  for here it is, as complete as it was meant to be.  my original thoughts for a triolet (One Stop Poetry's Form Monday prompt) manage to finally bloom.  i toyed a bit with the repeating lines (a bit more than my earlier attempt); i almost changed disappear in the second to last line to near, but after a bit more tinkering, i found a way to maintain that original word.  i also would have preferred to use "wouldn't" in the second to last line, but i couldn't wrap my head around it only being counted as one syllable, so i went with "won't" instead.


Since I already posted up a triolet earlier for OSP Form Monday, this will make it way to OSP's One Shot Wednesday. 

2 beneath starlit skies

she twirls beneath the starlit sky.
as laughter bubbles in my heart,
I watch her dance with gaze held high.
she twirls beneath the starlit sky,
her arms outstretched so she can fly
with fairies as her counterpart.
she twirls beneath the starlit sky;
her laughter echoing her heart.

---

so after reading this week's insight on triolets from One Stop Poetry's Form Monday, i toyed a bit with the repeating lines...well technically one of the repeating lines...  it was not the poem i set out to write.  i started with a line that lead to two other rhyming lines; the trouble was finding the other internal rhyme and the first repeating lines counterpart...  below you'll find the start...maybe i'll revisit it...maybe you have an idea on where it could lead...maybe it will float away and disappear though the proof of its existence will remain forever here...

---

before the proof can disappear
~B~
I must present my findings here
before the proof does disappear
the world must know what I hold dear
~b~
before the proof should disappear
~B~

1 Batch #4

Bursting with Pom Seeds
(image by rmp, that's me)

truth be told, there is not much to report on the Pom Seed front.  since Batch #3, i think i have only managed to add one more potentially tasty treat.  instead, i have manage to inundate my twitter account with tweetoetry.  and if that wasn't bad enough, ramblings have managed to make an appearance as well.  i suppose that these ramblings have the potential to turn into something more and thus could be considered a pom seed, but that was not the intent upon writing them.

not only have pom seeds been scarce, but i have yet to swirl the tasty treats and inhale their fragrance to discover if they have ripened to perfection yet.   anyway, here goes...

---

Pom Seeds Batch #4

• I will live forever like this; in shadows of who I long to be

Ramblings

• ~ why do I live like this? one pill...many pills...I need to find an answer (thoughts of a poem lingered in my head upon writing this, With Every Word... In Every Action...)
• I don't have any thoughts lingering in my head ~ Is that what peace feels like? 
• ~ her giggles are like candy ~ 
• anxiety's peace ~ tastes like profanity ~ on virgin lips (thoughts of calling this a poem in its own right still lingers)
• forgive my lack of social graces... (part of a recent ramblings post, social-less soul)

Leftovers

• Information overload
• I woke with rose colored glasses and the world was as only I could dream it to be
• we were never friends; not really; how could we be; when all we did; was dance around each other
• my mom use to day; we're never lost; we're just misplaced
• i hate days like today; where i'm blindsided; punched in the chest; days when all i want to do is curl up into a little ball and disappear
• "you're growing."; am I? I don't think I'm growing; maybe just walking outside myself
• my heart aches for what was; as the world crashes in on me; ripping through me; as though I were a speck of dust; I weep for you (realized shortly after the Batch #3 post that this was not intended to be a pom seed, but rather a tweetoetry, so it will be joining my tweetoetries in this update.)
• love is pain and sorrow; wrapped in disguise; it laughs at me; with its sweet intoxicating lies
• I woke this evening to a dream; and found myself the real me (i tried to expand this one, but i don't think it has fermented as much as it needs to)
• I see myself in black & white; brilliant colors surround me; poke at me; eager to caress me with their warmth; but they bounce off of me

Tweetoetry

#0
~Missing You

my heart aches for what was
as the world crashes in on me
ripping through me
as though I were a speck of dust
I weep for you


#3 (senryu)
~Pointed Words

words tear straight through me
though pointed at another
tears swell at their jest


#4 (tanka)
~Content Warning

this tweet was removed
due to insightful content
meant to provoke thought
brains were not made for such work
as to think outside the box


#5 (haiku)
~Goodnight Sweet Moon

face turned toward the light
basking in lunar glory
my eyes long to close


#6
~Paper Portal

there's a magic portal
on this paper
if it should suck you in
you shall not return the same


#7
~From the Sole

to sing with soul
I feel I must
sing
form the soles'
of my feet


#8 (tanka)
~Tempting Taste

succulent fragrance
oozes from your luscious neck
awakening me
the sweet nectar in your veins
dares me to savor a bite


#9 (tanka)
~Stay

I wish I could speak
the words you so long to hear
will you stay with me
hold me near 'til I break thru
my pain and words flow like tears


#10 (tanka)
~So Tired

my heart cannot breath
while tears threaten to pour out
so tired am I
this burden weighs heavily
tearing thru my very soul


#11 (haiku)
~Beautiful Creature

she laughed
like butterfly wings
I cried


#12
~Heavy with Fear

dark rainy night
fear burns deep
like the breath in my lungs
as i walk uphill


#13
~Social Isolation

do they notice
my self-imposed segregation
am I a blip on their radar
or a tree in the forest
no one hears fall


#14, 15, 16
~Will You

if I cover my mouth
will you kiss me elsewhere
until I relinquish
my lips
if I cover my ears
will you hold me up a sign
telling me I'm beautiful
until I'm desensitized enough
to hear its truth
if I close my eyes
(will you disappear
or) will you hold me
in your warm embrace
until the fear releases me
and I can see you
in all
of my days

upon transcribing the last tweetoetry, i realized i missed a line.  i added it in denoting it for the time being with parentheses.  i don't think i truly comprehended the number of them until just now.  unlike the last batch, i'm not going to notate each one, but i did include if it fit a particular form of poetry.  one thing i did learn is that tankas are quite tricky to write while maintaining the 140 character rule of a tweet.

2 threes

Obsessed
she has been
since first
she discovered the lie
broke her teeth on it
and cried

you wouldn't know it
to look at her
she conceals it well
her unruly main
hides the three earrings
her painted face
covers her third eye
which she makes a fortune
telling off of

Obsessed
she has been
since first
she uncovered the lie
wrote an epitaph to it
and laughed

some say she's gifted
blessed in threes
only she knows the truth
scoffs at it
dares it to strike
the only future
she knows for certain
she'll meet head first
three times before anyone else

---

Photo by Fee Easton

i blanked...i looked at the image and one might think, i'd be taken by the ghostly white painted face, the unruly mop of hair, the nonchalant yet daring tilt of her head, or the cigarettes that protruded from her lips, but no, i found myself quite taken by the number three.  she faded into the background almost disappearing as the number jumped forth and took over.  the first poem to come forth had absolutely nothing to do with her.  yet she haunted me, and after a while the short poem i wrote became hers as did the obsession.  i'm not sure about the poem those two things birthed, but i'll let you make of it what you will.

---

her epitaph...

the owl lied
it takes far more
than just three

---

inspiration for the poems above comes from One Stop Poetry's One Shoot Sunday [interview with Fee Easton].