poem | Shawn L. Bird

Poem- Cold Comfort pantoum August 24, 2022

Filed under: poem,Poetry — Shawn L. Bird @ 2:34 pm
Tags: alliteration, class, consonance, end rhyme, metaphor, pantoum, poem, poetry, poetry friday, rhyme, school, student, teacher, winter

COLD COMFORT

(by Shawn Bird and the 2021 En 11-A class)

.

Something burns on a winter night

I smell the smoke and see the fire

Reflections on the snow are bright

The dreams to which I aspire

.

I smell the smoke and see the fire

What hopes linger in the dark

The dreams to which I aspire

Rise to the sky in flickering sparks

.

What hopes linger in the dark

Cradling cocoa in my hands

Rise to the sky in flickering sparks

My heart longs to dance

.

Cradling cocoa in my hands

Warm steam tickling my nose

My heart longs to dance

And waken my frost-bitten toes

.

Warm steam tickling my nose

The family encircles the flames

And waken my frost-bitten toes

Relaxing after winter games

.

The family encircles the flames

Reflections on the snow are bright

Relaxing after winter games

Something burns on a winter night

.

A pantoum is written in quatrain stanzas with lines 2 and 4 of each stanza repeating as lines 1 and 3 of the subsequent stanza until the last stanza, which circles back to the beginning, with line 2 being line 3 of the first stanza and line 4 being the first line of the poem. There are no rhythm rules so line lengths can vary. It is amazing how impactful this repetition proves to be.

If you try it, do post a link to your pantoum in the comment section!

Comments (5)

Poem- A potato fork poem August 23, 2022

Filed under: poem,Poetry — Shawn L. Bird @ 1:35 pm
Tags: ABCCBA, apostrophe, end rhyme, humor, humour, poem, poetry, rhyme, rhyme scheme, wordplay

A POTATO FORK POEM

(for Brenda)

.

Fellow forks, beware!

Do stay away from here!

Brenda takes us

then she breaks us.

Oh tremble! Feel fear!

Come only if you dare!

.

Digging rocks and boulders

(Putting bodies in the ground?)

Brenda will abuse you

Aggressively use you

Your handle’s snapping sound

Means you won’t get older.

.

Forks, do NOT come near!

Get the fork out of here!

Found poem- Feedback August 22, 2022

Filed under: poem,Poetry — Shawn L. Bird @ 11:03 pm
Tags: collage, found poetry, poem, poetry, song lyrics

Song lyric found poem.

Comments (1)

Poem- Teacher Woe Ottava Rima August 21, 2022

Filed under: poem,Poetry — Shawn L. Bird @ 11:59 pm
Tags: Ottava Rima, poem, poetry, school, students, teacher, writing

I’ve been working on a book of high school poetry units this summer. I’ve been adapting lessons I’ve used for years. I had to write a lot of poems as examples for all the poetry forms (since I don’t have permissions to publish other people’s work). I wrote this Ottava Rima, but decided its tone was too negative to include in the book. I wrote a second Ottava Rima using all the same rhymes that is poetry positive, but I thought you might enjoy this one. 🙂

Ottava Rima form requires:

8 lines
iambic pentameter
rhyme scheme ABABABCC

Teacher Woe
Some get to choose if they should write a poem

While others do not get to have a say

They write when teacher says and so they moan

“I do not want to write a poem today.”

They talk in class, but do not work at home.

The assignment’s ignored so they can play

When poems are handed in, then some will cry,

“I didn’t write. Why-oh-why didn’t I?”

Comments (1)

poem- O My Cron January 5, 2022

Filed under: poem,Poetry — Shawn L. Bird @ 12:54 pm
Tags: Covid, Covid-19 pandemic, Omicron, poem, poetry, satire, stress, trauma, triversen, work

“We don’t know
what we’re doing next,”
they said.

“Just expect
that you’ll catch the virus,
so leave instructions at your desk.

“There may be no one
to cover your job;
sorry about that.

“Don’t let uncertainty (or fear of death)
dull your passion
for the work.

“We so appreciate
everything
you do.

“Don’t worry, just relax;
what doesn’t kill you
makes you stronger.”

.

(This is a triversen poem. Each stanza is three lines that make a complete sentence)

Comments (4)

poem- Daddy’s sweater December 17, 2021

Filed under: poem,Poetry — Shawn L. Bird @ 2:29 pm
Tags: daddy, elegy, father, grief, loss, love, memory, metaphor, poem, poetry, sweater, symbol

I am zipped up in Daddy’s green sweater.
Mom knitted, purled, cabled together
some semblance of love.
He wore it with joy almost every day,
telling all admirers how it was made with love.
It’s wrapped around me,
but it’s not his firm arms,
not his smell (which wasn’t peppermint
or aftershave, but just him),
not his whisper in my ears,
Love you so much.
How can another year have past
without him? How can a sweater
be both so full
and so bereft of him?

Comments (2)

Crushed December 15, 2021

Filed under: poem,Poetry — Shawn L. Bird @ 1:55 pm
Tags: consonance, Covid, exhaustion, extended metaphor, mental health, metaphor, pandemic, stress, struggle

Beneath the rock slide
I lie gasping.
So many stones squashing
the life out of me,
Covid, isolation, tension,
anxiety in others,
illness, recent deaths,
responsibility, each a
pebble piled
until breathing seems
an impossibility.
Where is the safety crew
to clear the debris
so we can be well,
be free of despair,
be who we used
to be.

Comments (1)

poem-gone August 3, 2021

Filed under: poem,Poetry — Shawn L. Bird @ 1:53 pm
Tags: bc wildfire, forest fire, poem, poetry, smoke, summer, wildfire

Beyond us

the world has gone

swallowed in grey

a haze that glows orange

at night, around the edges that once

were mountains.

We cannot breathe.

Beyond us

the world has gone.
.

.

Purpleair.com reports our air quality has improved today. We’re down to 389 from 450s (out of 500) earlier in the week. Still “extremely hazardous.” Wildfires are most unpleasant, particularly where valleys converge and smoke from several fires gathers. The smoke is visible in the street and yards. 254 active fires in our province, over 40% of them out of control. 4 large fires in our local region. Thousands of people evacuated or on alert. Hoping for a weekend of lightning-less rain to wash the sky and allow for deep breaths again! Our lovely 30 degree Celsius summer is wasted when one can’t be outside.

Comments (1)

poem-what’s falling July 29, 2021

Filed under: poem,Poetry — Shawn L. Bird @ 1:12 pm
Tags: bc wildfire, disaster, fire, forest fire, poem, poetry, trauma

In the porch light

ash is illuminated

specks of falling sky

pieces of evergreen needles

drop onto my arm

leave lines of black.

It hurts to breathe this grey air;

forests blazing hurt the heart.

Pray for rain, or better, snow.

(because, you know, snow

doesn’t bring lightning
or more fire).

Comments (4)

Poem-Independence June 14, 2021

Filed under: poem,Poetry — Shawn L. Bird @ 3:10 pm
Tags: independent women, matriarchy, misogyny, patriarchy, poem, poetry, rondelet, witches

Related to a current meme about why people were more afraid of the women labelled as witches than of the slanderers and murders who killed them…

(Another rondelet. I’m having fun with them).

That witching vibe
Independent thought? Dangerous!
That witching vibe.
Patriarchy’s foul diatribe
Thrills at the thought to injure us
Has not a fear of killing us
That witching vibe.

Comments (2)

Shawn L. Bird

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