Shawn L. Bird

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

poem- Sapphic underwear April 11, 2015

Filed under: Poetry — Shawn L. Bird @ 8:28 pm
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A real challenge today from http://www.napowrimo.net to”compose a poem in Sapphics. These are quatrains whose first three lines have eleven syllables, and the fourth, just five. There is also a very strict meter that alternates trochees (a two-syllable foot, with the first syllable stressed, and the second unstressed) and dactyls (a three-syllable foot, with the first syllable stressed and the remainder unstressed). The first three lines consist of two trochees, a dactyl, and two more trochees. The fourth line is a dactyl, followed by a trochee.”  Well then, here’s my effort!  (Just the one quatrain. I was in a grad school class from 9 am to 4 pm today, and my brain is unwilling to do more work tonight!)

.

There is nothing underwear can help, although

Lace and satin brassieres up-standing bestow

dignity of private pleasure, of secret

slitherings below.

.

(This theme is completely because ‘underwear’ is such a nice dactyl, lol)

 

poem-abecedarian April 10, 2015

Filed under: Poetry — Shawn L. Bird @ 2:00 pm
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A brief calamity

dissolving,

excites feeling:

growing hope.

Intrigued, just knowing

lifts my newly omnipresent peace,

quietens restless spirit.

Triumph unfolds,

venturing with xenophilia’s youthful zeal.

.

.

Today’s napowrimo.net prompt is to write an abecedarian poem, which works through the alphabet, either word by work, or line by line.  

April 12- just noticed my typo ‘ word by work’ in my comment above.  lol.  Sub-conscience speaking truth?  😉

 

poem- hurry April 9, 2015

Filed under: Poetry — Shawn L. Bird @ 6:38 pm
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I forgot

you.

Your name was not penned into the appointment book.

The niggling feeling that there was ‘something’ was dismissed,

and I escaped for a while.

You came for me, but I was gone.

They had to call me back to you.

Can ‘I’m sorry ‘ ever be appeasement

for

forgetting?

.

.

Today’s NaPoWriMo.net prompt was for a visual poem.   The person forgotten above was female.  Is that close enough? (Can you see the figure?)

 

Here’s a link to an old one, perhaps you’ll like this one better: https://shawnbird.com/2013/09/24/poem-the-transcanada-highway-in-vancouver/

 

#napowrimo- switch April 8, 2015

Filed under: Poetry — Shawn L. Bird @ 7:07 pm
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There is nothing more

he said.

This is the end.

While they watch the line

vanish into mist,

the curlicue twists

and something more

ensues.

 

 

 

Today’s napowrimo.net prompt is to write a palinode: a reversal of opinion, essentially.

 

Napowrimo- $ April 7, 2015

Filed under: Poetry — Shawn L. Bird @ 8:55 pm
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Last year, between his job and his side business

he pulled in one point four million.

A satisfying tax return

for the kid who lived on oatmeal

and bathed in the creek before school,

who hunted down bottles for recycling money.

bouncing the rambunctious energy that drove people crazy,

oh that kid who knew the value of a dime,

and wasn’t afraid to work for it,

or to convince other people to pay him well for it.

Skill is one thing, but charm really pays the bills.

.

.

True story.

Kids with ADHD grow up to be adults who are bored with only one job, and have the willingness to risk time and money on entrepreneurial ventures!

Prompt from http://www.napowrimo.net today was to write about money.

 

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! 🙂