5 Rite of Passage

The sun does favor you today.
By casting you in brilliant light,
your masculinity shines bright.

A warrior you well portray
with head held high. My heart does sigh
as thoughts of mine do go astray.

I blush to think of such a night.
The sun does favor you this day.

The wind does favor you today.
So young and brave our fledgling knight,
to stand before us all with might.

The catching breeze gives naught away;
it billows red to frame your head
and hides the rest to my dismay.

Yet still you are a tasty sight.
The wind does favor you this day.

---

Photo by Walter Parada

so i missed yesterday's One Stop Poetry's One Shoot Sunday [interview with Walter Parada]...missed might be a bit off.  i saw the image in the morning, let some ideas roll around in my head as i often do, settled on a concept and well never managed to find time to put it all together.  while a little disappointed (with myself for allowing myself to get waylaid), i thought to move on...that and figured i might be able to incorporate it into One Stop Poetry's Form Monday.  when i saw today's form was about the octain again, i didn't think i could fit my concept into eight lines...but low and behold today expanded the octain into a high octain (double octain)...and after some thought...this was a plausible possibility.  so alas, while it is the same concept, i did take it from a slightly different direction, leaving out some of my original thoughts (the snickering old biddies would definitely have been a treat)...but i think in the end it worked out okay...maybe...

6 beneath the lies

I'm tired of living these lies,
but breaking free's too hard a task
and help is more than I can ask.

my illness weakens me with "whys"
and fears so strong.  yet still I long
to see beneath my sad disguise.

it's time to rip away my mask.
I'm tired of living these lies!

---

i feel in order to give a new form (new to me--not necessarily new) a real chance, it needs to be explored/attempted at least three times.  i can't say why exactly three, but i think it provides me with a better feel for how the form works and how well if fits me.  that's not to say that every new form i have explored i've tried at least three times, but i have not made any judgments on the form and its potential for joining my arsenal.  anyway...


...after being introduced to the octain yesterday at One Stop Poetry's Form Monday, i thought i'd give it another go.  i was a bit more awake for the writing of this one...that doesn't mean this one will be any better than the last, but one can hope...


the above octain is being shared via One Stop Poetry's One Shot Wednesday.


side note #1:  the last three lines came to me last night (in the reverse order), but i felt their potential then for turning (ha...get it...turning...) into an octain.


side note #2:  i really think i need to stop writing about masks...

8 toying with octain

on top of this being my first ever octain...it's been a long and tiring day...i can hear my bed calling me as i type...so please forgive me the octain i have attempted after reading One Stop Poetry's Form Monday introduction to this form. (note:  my first thought was to use the refrain line "when death comes knocking on your door," but my brain could not seem to handle it quite yet...)

---

Piercing Round

the bullet pierced his heart straight through
a snipers mark he did not see
did bring him down upon his knees

deceived by love he thought was true
did leave a hole within his soul
to love again he would not do

the words declared finality
her bullet pierced his heart straight through