When Pluto was a planet
You cleared your neighbourhood
Scooped all the negativity
Flung it to far reaches
You spun in yoru orbit
So well rounded.
We wanted to come along
But your journey is long
and oh, so cold.
Where you are looking
impacts what you see.
I’m looking at you.
You’re not looking at me.
Now Pluto’s a dwarf planetoid
because it doesn’t bring friends
on its journey,
like staying along is what a
far out, cold planet wants.
Remember when Pluto was a planet
and there was a we.
poem-cold memories January 16, 2024
poem-Checking my Privilege November 27, 2023
Some shriek to preserve history
But ah! Consider the mystery
of that illusion of one side’s victory.
What happened to the voices
silenced by the cruel choices
of the victors? Can we rejoice
that now we all should see
language impacts democracy?
We can create a society
where majority
respects minority
and lifts us to meliority.
poem- When I met his eyes November 4, 2022
(Sometimes the breakdown of a relationship is not a surprise to folks watching from the outside).
.
When I met his eyes
.
I saw into the depths
saw his emptiness
unfaithfulness.
He knew I knew
His fake jokes couldn’t mask
the pain he’d cause.
He looked away,
alarms his charms didn’t sway me.
I could see.
They believed
his false smile
piled on adoration
while he crafted
mutual ruination.
She
has strength beyond
will rebuild,
move along.
poem- What wind brings September 20, 2022
What wind brings
Don’t wrap this silence in your memory
Gather the fallen
leaves
Your departure: a beginning.
Going means coming to understand
Summer wildfires
Sometimes ashes fall
Sometimes rains wash everything
away
Sometimes snow rises to the eaves
Don’t wrap this silence in your memory.
There’s something new on the breeze.
poem-less anxious September 16, 2022
Dark dusky sky
Gulls cry
Gliding by, wings wiping at air
Diving down to thieve
Thoughts of tomorrow
Wasting no worries
On what might not be.
poem- change in the wind August 28, 2022
Perhaps, this may be
the last back to school autumn
With next year’s falling leaves,
will I too be leaving
on the breeze ?
Poem- Cold Comfort pantoum August 24, 2022
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!
Poem- A potato fork poem August 23, 2022
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!
poem-releasing June 10, 2021
I heard your name
calling to me from long ago.
I heard your name,
(Oh, that melancholy refrain!)
whispering words so soft and low,
memories I need to let go.
I heard your name.
This poetry form is called a ‘rondelet’ and plays with an A/B rhyme, lines of 4/8 syllables, and a repeated refrain (as you can see!).
poem-double words April 21, 2021
NaPoWriMo prompt for Day 21 was to use repetition modelled after http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/poem/2008/11/there_was_a_man_of_double_deed.html.
There was a girl who spoke the words
That wrapped the world, but went unheard
When the girl began to dream
T’was like the universal scheme
When the scheming came to naught
T’was like a void that time forgot
When the void it opened wide
T’was like a cave with home inside
When home called loudly, she went in
T’was like relief flooding within.
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Shawn L. Bird 