1 unravel me

just because i've been in hiding, does not mean i have abondoned my creative self...mearly trying to rediscover it.

anyway, quite awhile ago i wrote to tweetoetry that had a similar feel.  a bit after that, i thought it would be neat to see if i could turn them into a bit of a series.  thus far, i have only added one additional tweetoetry (poem) to the mix.  for the fun of it, i decided to turn all three into a word cloud.  it seemed like a fun idea.  i tried wordle first, but while i was able to keep phrases together, it is limited in placing specific line near each other.  while i wasn't so picky about the poems flowing in order, some lines just really felt like they needed to be together.  so, i made my own (using MS Word).  so here it is...a bit blurry/pixelated...but still kind of neat...

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1 Tale of Love and Woe: The Decision

Check out the first six parts of the ballad in Act I - VI.


Act VII – The Decision

It happened quite some time ago
when dragons roamed the land
where chivalry was in the heart
and valor close at hand

we find our princess with her knight
her heavy heart so frail
for should she share with him her ploy
their love might still prevail

to tell him now might save his pride
and help her win her cause
but fear does bind her words within
this angst does give her pause

she looks into her sweet’s kind gaze
and finds her heart set free
so swept away by all she feels
she says to him, “let’s flee!”

his grin does speak the truth she knows
the two of them hold dear
to run away would not be right
their honor they would smear

he takes her hands in both of his
her gaze he does demand
to let her know all will be fine
their love shall guide his hand

she pulls him in to her embrace
and preys he’ll understand
her heart is his but hers to give
she must proceed as planned

At last with her decision made
she’ll fight with all her will
and let the chips fall where they may
and prey her love be still

And so moves forth our tale of love
in shadows filled with woe
our princess knows what she will do
yet fears she’ll loose her beau

0 Tale of Love and Woe: The Tournament

Check out the first five parts of the ballad in Act I - V.


Act VI - The Tournament

It happened quite some time ago
when dragons roamed the land
where tournaments were common place
and fought with sword in hand

we find our knight with new resolve
his loss is in the past
he's ready now to take all down
to hold his love at last

with heart so pure he knows he'll win
yet still he'll face that one
who stole his pride and marred his heart
(hmmm) a rematch might be fun

And thus the tournament begins
divided into rounds
that will encompass four long days
upon the battlegrounds

our knight gains marks with every bout
and by the second night
a favorite he has become
to everyone's delight

he's careful not to let his wins
go straight up to his head
he keeps his eyes upon the prize
his sweet he hopes to wed

each blow he strikes he does for love
as fear begins to swell
for anxiously he notices
his foe moves forth as well

so thus goes on our tale of love
in shadows filled with woe
our knight moves to the final bout
to face--once more--his foe

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technically, i'm still in hiding...that doesn't mean i can't come out and play once in awhile.


about three weeks ago, i wrote Act V.  upon doing so, i set a deadline for myself to finish my ballad which i began back at the start of February.  Friday i realized that my deadline was less than a week away.  and i still had three more acts to write.  so Friday, i worked on Act VI, on Saturday i laid out the final acts:  VII, VIII, and XI.  yeah, that's nine.  what should have been one small adventure into toying with ballads turned into something far more.  at first i thought three was going to do it.  when i hit Act II, i realized that i was probably looking at a total of five.  with Act IV, i realized i might have to extend things to eight acts.  alas yesterday, i managed to lay things out.  i even wrote two different possible endings for Act IX.  i'm not yet sure which i'm going with, but after i finalize Act VIII, i'll make a decision.  either way, i have a feeling they will be a bit of a disappointing end (not necessarily unhappy, just disappointing).  


so above is Act VI, tomorrow i'll put the finishing touches on Act VII and post it up.  by Tuesday, Act VIII should be up...and on Wednesday my ballad will finally see its end.

7 out of sync

my mind is a mosaic
of jumbled thoughts
and erratic emotions
disjointed and thrown about
mismatched and piece mealed

my body is a rag doll
warn out lifeless limbs
a numbness is setting in
at odds with my mind
a foreboding omen
telling me the luminous tunnel
may not be as far off
as i might like it to be

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i apologize...not really in the best frame of mind today...almost opted out of today's Three Word Wednesday [3WW=>erratic, luminous, omen]...as it was, the words seemed to draw me in even farther into my funk..

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i mentioned this yesterday, but i'll mention it again....(maybe this funk is about more than today...)

i think i'm going to disappear for awhile...go into hiding...i made myself a nice little cozy happy place...will see if i can resist the pull of OSP's One Shoot Sunday and Form Monday or the pull of Three Word Wednesday (hmmm...  i might have to wait until after tomorrow's post to go into hiding...).  i have talked about doing something like this for awhile, but thus far it has all been talk...but a nice peaceful hiding spot sounds good...i'd tell you were it was, but then it wouldn't be a hiding place anymore....  
see you on the flip side...

6 devil's laugh

he laughs the bitter taste out past his lips
then turns the remnants over on his tongue
to savor them as if a robust wine
this dance will take but one or two small sips

he'll spin you 'til your last full breath is wrung
and soak up every morsel you possess
then turn your essence over on his tongue

he'll savor you as if a robust wine
and drink you in with every coy caress
misguiding you to think him quite devine

this dance will take but one or two small sips
he'll spin you 'til your last full breath is wrung
misguiding you to think him quite devine
he laughs your luscious taste in through is lips

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the above not-a-form form (i should probably come up with a name for it...and/or do some research to see if something like it actually already exists) is my third attempt at writing within this structure A1-B1-C1-A2 / B2-d-B1 / C1-d-C2 / A2-B2-C2-A1 (letters denote ending rhyme, capitals denote repeating lines, numbers assist in identifying where line will repeat--minor variations on repeating lines allowed as long as the final word remains intact) with each line having exactly 10 syllables.  i was toying with the idea of varying the placement of the repeating line within the middle two stanzas (B1-d-B2 / C2-d-C1), but for now i'll let it lie.  prior exploration includes "idefinitely delayed" and "music man." 


crazy me decided to make it a bit more fun this time...i decided to give iambic pentameter a go for this little ditty.


this construction is being linked into this week's OSP One Shot Wednesday.

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i think i'm going to disappear for awhile...go into hiding...i made myself a nice little cozy happy place...will see if i can resist the pull of OSP's One Shoot Sunday and Form Monday or the pull of Three Word Wednesday (hmmm...  i might have to wait until after tomorrow's post to go into hiding...).  i have talked about doing something like this for awhile, but thus far it has all been talk...but a nice peaceful hiding spot sounds good...i'd tell you were it was, but then it wouldn't be a hiding place anymore....  


see you on the flip side...

3 tear stained healing

I wish I had the words to heal this hurt--
to drive away the stinging pain you feel-
the world is stained with many tear-filled shirts;
so cry my darling cry--begin to heal.
where words do little more than just divert
allow my touch to soothe, so you might peel
this scab--unearth new skin--be whole again--
take back your world and wield your mighty pen.

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i admit i struggled today--not so much in working with the ottava rima form presented today at OSP's Form Monday, but in finding inspiration.  why you might ask.  it's probably better not to follow my logic...thought that will not stop me from offering it up.


after following the #ospchat yesterday lead by @iamEPanthony, who posed the question "what emotions inspire you to write the most,"  i got to thinking later on my drive home about form poetry.  i find more often than not, writing in form takes me outside of my emotions.  its rules and structure scintillate my left brain allowing me to push aside emotions and use reason and logic.  that doesn't mean i don't tug at my emotions when writing in form, but simply that it allows me to leave it behind.  whether that is a good thing or not, i cannot say.  and so, maybe because the thoughts of emotions were rolling round in my head...maybe because i felt the need to push them aside...maybe...i don't know...whatever it may have been inspiration was not swift or friendly.


so anyway, i know not from where this came or how it managed to weave itself--for surely it did just that.  i only know it came to be--however uncertain i might feel about its existence.

4 it's a long way down

she is at the precipice of her life

standing on the edge of the world

seeing no other way 

than the shadowy depths

of the water she gazes into

a portal ready to carry her away

far from pain and torment

there was no one to save her

no hand to reach out 

pull her back from the edge

no one notices her standing here

even as the sun begins to rise

even as the world wakes up

no one notices her 

feet skirting the ledge

thoughts drowning in the water

closing her eyes

she tears her gaze from the water

turns to feel the brightness of the world

longing to feel it envelope her

wrap her in its warmth

her patience runs dry

defeated and deflated

her eyes open

and with them her heart rises

a halo of light 

cascading around a building

across the water

a beacon drawing her

sending up bubbles of hope

she never knew were in her

everything she was feeling disappears

into the rays of light

what the building holds for her

she knows not

but somehow she knows

it holds the answers

and so she must go

without a second thought

she takes a step forward and

                                             .

                                              .

                                              .

                                              .

                                              .

                                              .

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Photo by Scott Wyden

was it wrong of me to end things like this?  i don't know...maybe...  especially with such a beautiful picture for inspiration...  but what can i say...


i always seem to find myself in unusual places when facing a photo prompt...  thanks to OSP One Shoot Sunday [interview with Scott Wyden] for their knack at finding such thought inspiring images and photographers.


okay, so i was just getting ready to decide on a title for the poem and the song "Ice Cream" by Sarah McLachlan that i barely noticed playing in the background goes and says..."it's a long way down."  it seemed so fitting...