Circling rain from hurricane
Leaks through the wrecked roof.
Only hope can drain:
Up comes wavy proof
Drowning the dry place
In torrential waste.
Nightmares blocking bliss
End with fear and pain.
Sink with thoughts of only this.
Sink in wet of wider rain.
Linked to dVerse Quadrille Monday hosted by Bjorn using the word “bliss”. I am thinking of Hurricane Harvey. The poem also represents the “acrostic” form which I plan to use for this Thursday’s dVerse form prompt.
Photo: “Cloudiness” by the author linked to K’lee and Dale’s Cosmic Photo Challenge with theme “A Cloudy Configuration”.
Love the way you managed to get the bliss into something so lacking bliss… if anyone is living in Texas I wish them well.
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I wish them well as well. Thanks, Bjorn!
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An excellent poem, Frank. I have been reading a fair bit about Hurricane Harvey today.
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I saw a few videos last night. It looks like it was an unusual storm for that area. Thanks, Robbie!
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Fantastic poem, Frank! Like many, my thoughts and prayers are with many in Texas dealing with the remnants of the hurricane.
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Thanks, K’lee, and thanks for the prompt. It took my mind right to Texas.
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I know what you mean… our prayers continue…
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A great quadrille Frank and a powerful photograph – I hope you are all OK.
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I live in the Chicago area outside of the range of the hurricane. I am glad you enjoyed the poem and photograph. Thanks, Xenia!
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Guess what I’m listing to. Thank you for this reminder.
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Thank you!
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A clever acrostic and an ominous looking cloud formation, what a great combination.
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I suspect what they saw in Texas was far worse than that, but it did seem ominous when we had a major rain storm here a few weeks ago. Thanks, Dale!
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Terrific poem. Particularly liked the last two lines and the incantation of ‘sink’. Thank you
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Thanks, Peter! I was hoping the repetition of “sink” would have such an effect.
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Wow, you outdid yourself, Frank! I especially love the final line–very descriptive and poetically finished.
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Thank you, Jael! I do need to get bliss back into the situation. Eventually the rains stop.
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Yes…if we have the fortitude to wait them out 🙂
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PS–as that final line inspires me, would you mind if I used it for a poem, as long as I attribute it to you and link to your poem? If you’d rather not, I’ll respect your wishes.
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I would be honored if you used it, Jael! Thank you!
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Oh good–thanks much, Frank…I’ll see if I can work up something to do it justice 🙂
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Here you go:
https://godschair.wordpress.com/2017/09/01/shiver-of-shifting-rain/
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Very nice poem, Jael! And thank you for using that line! I am glad it resonated with you.
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It was very fun to borrow your line–now and then other poets say “just the right thing”, what I call the “wish I’d written that” lines. So, I thank you again for allowing me to use it! Perhaps we’ll do this again sometime 🙂
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This reminds me very much of Poe. Excellent rhythm and rhyme. Love it.
Especially here: “Up comes wavy proof”
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I am glad you liked that line, Shawna! Thank you!
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Excellent triple use for this well thought out, well done poem. We have family on the Gulf Coast; familiar with every town & city hit by disaster–relatives OK for now.
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I am glad to hear your family is safe. I worked in the area when I was much younger. Thanks, Glenn!
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As always, love your use of rhyme, Frank.
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Thanks, De! I am glad you liked the rhyme!
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“…only hope can drain…” I’m afraid this is true for many who have been so devastated by the hurricane these past few days. Thank you for writing this, and lets pray for hope and better days, for all those touched by this disaster.
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I expect the rain will drain eventually and hope will return, but at the moment it may not seem like it is possible. Thank you, Barbara!
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That’s a nightmare and disaster ~ Love the acoustic format Frank and praying for the safety of all those affected by the hurricane ~
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Thank you, Grace! I was surprised how bad it was. Things will recover.
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The people affected by Harvey are in such deep need. There is so much loss. I’ve noticed on Facebook that there are a few of our poetry friends who are dealing with this right now. A difficult subject for the word bliss but you handled it well.
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Thank you, Victoria!
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Amazing photo to go with this well-crafted poem, Frank. Only hope can drain: – says it all.
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Eventually hope returns–I hope. Thanks, Jilly!
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Frank, you managed, by your choice of wording, to impart a piece of the menace that comes when the tropical beast climbs out of his… or her, depending upon the name game… lair. It is unlike any other storm… because it is many storms playing a devilish game of crack-the-whip. You wrote enough of that to raise the hairs on the back of my neck.
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From the news, I heard it was a very unusual storm, at least nothing like they experienced in recent memory. Thanks, Charley!
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Every one worth mentiong has had its own signature.
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Nice use of the form and rhyme. Especially like ‘only hope can drain’.
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Thanks, Lynn! I think you used to live in Texas. Some of the area may be familiar to you, but Texas is quite large.
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I do live in Texas. In the Dallas area. Texas is quite large, indeed.
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We were blissed nonetheless Frank. The outermost rain band just barely grazed us. We are thankful, and praying for Houston and East Texas, thankfully
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Blissed and Blessed. In Illinois, the storm did not affect us except through the news. Thanks, Walter!
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I was also thinking and praying for Texas.
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I hope these kinds of storm stay a rarity. Thank you, Mary!
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Excellent write -you included the word, you used cloudiness as the acrostic word, and you wrote a killer poem that deeply tells of the pain and loss in that area of our country.
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Thanks, Toni! My second acrostic poem.
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Nicely rhymed and timed, something which weather frequently is not, but, we live in nature’s world.
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Thank you, Roslyn! We do live in nature’s world and from some perspective it is all beautiful.
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“Nightmares blocking bliss / End with fear and pain.”….There’s a kind of release here so similar like the process of tragedy. A wonderful acrostic.
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There is a surrender and a release and hopefully better days to come. Thank you, Sumana!
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Wonderfully written….may the nightmare be soon over…
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I hope it will be. It took weeks for a heavy storm here to drain all the water, but it did drain. Thanks, Sreeja!
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Wow Frank,what a great poem
Thank you
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Thank you, Ben!
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You’ve captured the essence of a hurricane in your Quadrille, Frank. I particularly liked:
‘Nightmares blocking bliss
End with fear and pain.
Sink with thoughts of only this.
Sink in wet of wider rain’.
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Thanks, Kim! We once lived in an area that flooded, but only the back yard was affected. That was nothing like what people experience who can’t leave their homes without a boat.
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Our only flood was a burst pipe but it did so much damage.
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you gave hope in a storm of hopeless havoc. bless those souls.
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There is always hope but it doesn’t always seem like there is. Thank you!
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i agree. life can kick as really hard sometimes.
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Last week, we too had a hurricane (one of the worst in years), followed by a blustery cyclone. With a death toll also. Climate change is here and now. Sadness aside, great poem, Frank. The acrostic fits perfectly. Nice work!
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Thank you, Colin! The increased severity of these storms may be due to climate change whether we caused the change or it is natural change. We get floods here as well, but nothing like what happened in Texas. However, more than a few days of heavy rain may prevent water from draining fast enough. I hope you and your family were not severely impacted by the hurricane you experienced recently.
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Thanks, Frank. We’re blessed to reside by the hillside, although I would add that sleeping by a windswept window on the 11th-floor was quite a scary ordeal too.
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A friend wrote that her 3 grown children live in Houston. Two have lost their homes, and the third has a designated time of day to go to get groceries and designated amount he can spend. Truly a disaster. And still raining!
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I can imagine that rationing would be necessary since resources are scarce. I hope insurance provides some relief for the home loss. Thanks, Sarah!
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You also saw the clouds that might hide bliss.
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The clouds may hide bliss, but there should be bliss everywhere even in the clouds although it may not be easy to see.
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Captures the hurricane well, Frank. These two lines really stood out for me:
‘Up comes wavy proof’
‘Sink in wet of wider rain.’
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I can imagine the terror of people stuck in their homes on the second floor and able to see the water rising on the first floor. Thanks, Sara!
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This feels so real that I thought you might be in the midst of it. Glad you’re far away from it all.
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We watched some news coverage of it. Although we’ve been in floods, they were minor compared to what we saw in those videos.
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There is so much destruction in the path of the storm. I imagine bliss might be hard to find hidden in the chaos.
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Sometimes one gets so exhausted with the stress one relaxes. Eventually such disasters end and bliss can reappear. Thanks, Trudessa!
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I’m sure many in Harvey’s path can barely imagine bliss right now – but then I see all the volunteers and pulling together and that has to be a bit of what bliss is about…
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I would find it hard to see any bliss either. I can imagine the terror of being trapped in a building with rising water. Thanks, Margaret!
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A terror truly was unleashed in hurricane Harvey. Most of the people did survive this terror. It would seem that God only gets credit for the ones that were killed not so much for the ones that were saved.
God is hope, God is life, only the living have the ability to rebuild here on this earth. And only God can give any heart Of hope to rebuild in the face of such tragedy. Property and things to a point can be replaced, people and their souls are the valuable commodity in all situations good and bad.
I truly pray that God will touch each and every life that was touched by awful storms the ability to heal, adapt to a new normal, and rebuild their lives. This prayer includes believers and nonbelievers for the recovery. Now that the shock is subsiding and reality is setting in, on these displaced and battered people. Please continue to pray!
Many thanks to the volunteers and agencies who have done everything they can to help in this recovery effort. My niece survived by evacuating, she lost her vehicle and many belongings. Pray for strength for each and every person who believes in Jesus that they will be the beacons of hope that is needed for such a tragedy.
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God is hope and life. He gets the credit since no one else can claim it. Thank you, Denny!
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I really appreciate your rhythm and rhyme, Frank! It’s whimsical and full of positive energy. 🙂
Blessings, Debbie
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Thank you, Debbie! I am glad you enjoyed the sounds in the poem. I try to be positive overall since I believe that is most realistic position to take.
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What can I say? This is awesome. The acrostic is elegant, the rhythm is good, and the words of the poem are thoughtful.
I hope all will be well in Texas soon.
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Thank you, Imelda! I am glad you enjoyed the poem!
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A great poem to denote Hurricane Harvey. I pray for all those affected by hurricane..those far away from bliss..
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Life will improve and bliss return. Thank you!
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Appropriate sentiments for people in Harvey’s wake now…bliss may not return soon.
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It will take a while to get back to normal. Thanks, Lynn!
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We have friends north of Houston…thankfully they’re ok, but sad for those hit hard.
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Soooo late to the reading, Frank. Apologies. Had our grandkids with us Sunday through yesterday.
Interesting to read your post about Hurricane Harvey here….antithetical to bliss….I just posted my acrostic and used the hurricane for it! Our minds are channeling 🙂
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We were surprised at the video coverage of the hurricane. It is antithetical to bliss, but it was what was on my mind at the moment. Thanks, Lillian!
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SMiLes.. after experiencing historically first
hand the Devastation of Infrastructure
Loss from Hurricane Ivan in ’04 and
Many River Floods in Youth
Growing up there iN
stank
muck
from Black
Water River
on walls on floors
changing even the climate
of human smells and emotions too..
what is perhaps most amazing is how
humanity steps up when needed most
as predictable weather changes
the course of human politics
most as human politics boil
up and
drown
down
to mostly
haves and have nots..
And the empathy and sympathy compassions
that come more when the haves becomes nots
other than that it’s nice not to see the head
clown on TV and hear his bird tweets from
the Computer Bedroom while the
Katrina checks NoW iN
oN Weather Channel
TVCNN..SMiLes..
aGaiN Frank
Running a
little
behind
this week as our
HVAC system broke
in tandem with Harvey’s Winds
And Rains although all we got is a tale end arm..
anyWay.. we have a new ‘Trane’ and all is cool now..
as the best news of all this morning is it looks like Irma may go lost out to sea..
as
19.2
Trillion
Gallons of Rain Water is enough…
to change the course of politics forevernow….
perhaps ‘just enough’ to prevent a much more deadly war….
on
other
Blood of SeOULs…
Silver linings and all of that
that applies to all in apples and orange.
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In the south I suspect you need an air conditioning system more that I do in the Chicago area. The hurricane may have some positive political benefits as you suggest. It might “prevent a much more deadly war”. Thanks, Fred!
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Ironically
And sadly
This
Potential
Silver Lining
Of
Gold..:)
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