Shawn L. Bird

Original poetry, commentary, and fiction. All copyrights reserved.

Poem- Easter Monday aubade April 6, 2015

Filed under: Poetry — Shawn L. Bird @ 5:13 pm
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Last night

you woke in horror.

“What is it?” I asked.

You shivered, “A nightmare,

one of the worst I’ve had.”

“Can you tell me about it?”

I asked sleepily.

“No,” you said.  “I can’t think about it.”

“Am I ever in your nightmares?”

You pondered for a long time.

“No,” you finally said.  “Never.”

“Then come closer,” I said,

“I will protect you.”

In the morning, you are gone,

but you have left behind

the sighs of your security

in my arms.

.

.

Today http://www.napowrimo.net prompt is to write an aubade.  I am particularly fond of aubades.  They are the opposite of a serenade.  In a serenade, the lover is trying to entice into the beloved’s bed; in an aubade the morning has come, and the lover must depart.  I wrote one last year (or before?) that I’m sure WordPress will link to beneath this post.  You may enjoy that one, too.  I was quite proud of it.

 

haiku- dwelling April 5, 2015

Filed under: Poetry — Shawn L. Bird @ 9:08 pm
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A further spin off from Emily Dickinson’s “I Dwell is Possibility” is today’s haiku:

 

.

“What if?” is a question

that unravels worlds of

possibility

 

NaPoWriMo- Dwelling with Emily

Filed under: Poetry — Shawn L. Bird @ 12:18 pm
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Today’s prompt on http://www.napowrimo.net is to take a poem of Emily Dickinson’s, remove all the dashes, and find my own breaks and pauses.  I chose “I Dwell in Possibility,” because I have a plaque with the ‘I’ missing, that makes it a command in my bathroom.  I had it for several years before I thought of looking up the originating poem to see its context (which really, is quite out of character for me as a curious English teacher/librarian!)  Anyway, here’s Emily’s original:

I dwell in Possibility – (466)

I dwell in Possibility –
A fairer House than Prose –
More numerous of Windows –
Superior – for Doors –
Of Chambers as the Cedars –
Impregnable of eye –
And for an everlasting Roof
The Gambrels of the Sky –
Of Visitors – the fairest –
For Occupation – This –
The spreading wide my narrow Hands
To gather Paradise –
.
And here’s my re-interpretation of it, after removing her dashes.
 .

I dwell in Possibility – (466)

I dwell in Possibility,
a fairer House than
Prose more numerous,
of Windows Superior,
for Doors Of Chambers,
as the Cedars Impregnable,
of eye And
for an everlasting Roof
The Gambrels
of the Sky Of Visitors,
the fairest For Occupation.
This The spreading wide,
my narrow Hands To gather
Paradise
 .
That’s not really very exciting, so I felt the need to mix it up a little more, so here is a re-working of it altogether, using the components as a found poem:
 .
Possibility,
I dwell in
Prose
a fairer House
numerous Windows
Superior Doors
Impregnable Chambers,
 everlasting Roof:
The Gambrels.
the Sky Of Visitors,

the Cedars  fairest of eye And
for my narrow Hands an
Occupation To gather
Paradise
spreading This wide,
In possibility.
.
.
It was an interesting exercise, but not very inspiring creatively, so I will probably post another poem later today.  Keep an eye out!
 

poem-loveless April 4, 2015

Filed under: Poetry — Shawn L. Bird @ 11:42 pm
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Oh, you said the words

“This one appreciates me for me!”

and I wonder what you call

that twenty-five years of steadfast devotion

that you tossed.

The weasel face beside you now

does not look like a fair trade

for the pain you caused.

You said those words once before,

if I recall, so perhaps he’ll taste the bitter tang

of your boredom someday.

In the meantime,

we really should just let you go,

and welcome the joy that’s possible

now the wounds have healed.

.

.

http://www.napowrimo.net prompt for Day 4- a love poem without the cliches or a break up poem.

 

poem for #napowrimo- fourteener April 3, 2015

Filed under: Poetry — Shawn L. Bird @ 11:00 pm
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So, I was asked how marriage lasts, how years flow into years?

Oh, I was asked how marriage lasts, how do you move past fears?

Yes, I was asked how marriage lasts, how can you trust that long?

When I was asked how marriage lasts, I pondered what goes wrong.

I think how long a marriage lasts is not about romance

It’s much more: it’s faith and trust and determined acceptance.

It’s about having the faith that no matter what fate brings

You’re sticking together like the promise made on those rings

.

.

http://www.napowrimo.net/day-three/

This prompt was for a poem with lines of fourteen syllables, ideally in iambic heptameter.  My iambs are a complete mess, but here’s what I’ve got! 🙂

 

poem-nesting April 2, 2015

Filed under: Poetry — Shawn L. Bird @ 5:33 pm
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The nest is empty

and without the chicks holding them together

some birds fly in different directions.

Job done.

So sad,

for others find the absence of young

brings far more joy in one another

than they could find while struggling

to satisfy the demands of youth.

The empty nest is the next gentle chapter

where romance can thrive again,

when laughing songs of

swooping lovers twitter through

the afternoon air and soft whispers

fill the nights.

 

 

poem-dreaming April 1, 2015

Filed under: Poetry,poodles — Shawn L. Bird @ 12:47 pm
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Last night,

I wept over your broken body,

watching bloody pools expanding

beneath your feet.

Today,

you needed seven anti-anxiety pills

and still paced and cried,

your heart throbbing.

Were we dreaming side by side?

Did you see my vision?

Were you scared by day

from mother dreams

of death?

.

.

.

(The dog again.  Sigh.  Put him in the Gentle Leader halter after dinner and he calmed down.  Might try that during the day tomorrow.)

 

 

poem-deep March 31, 2015

Filed under: Poetry — Shawn L. Bird @ 9:15 am
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He sleeps

breathing deeply,

heavily,

his back steaming

against hers.

She is wishing for his embrace,

longing for his arm across her breast,

his breath tangling in her hair.

She wishes.

He sighs with weighty somulance

then rolls away, settling on the far edge,

of the king sized bed.

His breath comes in rumbling groans and mutterings.

She sighs,

wishing for his embrace

but finding sleep’s instead.

 

poem-bone bling March 30, 2015

Filed under: Poetry,Teaching — Shawn L. Bird @ 11:51 pm
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“So what happened exactly?”

the students asked,

and I told them about the fall,

casts, surgery, plate, and screws.

“Ha!” one laughed, “That’s perfect for you!”

“Why?” I asked

“Because now

even your skeleton

has bling!”

.

.

True story.

I love my students.

🙂

 

micropoem-taxes March 29, 2015

Filed under: Poetry,Teaching — Shawn L. Bird @ 8:48 pm
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Doing the taxes hurts my synapses.

All the receipts for exemptions

I will greet (sweet redemption!)

as brilliant sun, shining to my refund!

.

.

.

POETRY LESSON:

Playing with rhyme today.

Internal rhyme occurs two ways, either inside one line (taxes/synapses, greet/sweet) or inside two consecutive lines (receipts/greet).  

End rhyme: exemption/redemption.

Imperfect rhyme: taxes/synapses, receipts/greet, sun/refund.  

Feminine rhyme: exemption/redemption.  (Rhyme over 2+ syllables, ’cause women are more complex, of course) 🙂

Masculine rhyme: greet/sweet.  (Rhyme on a single syllable).