Tag: dVerse Poetics

Peaceful Soil

Good roots avoid the sunbeams.
They much prefer the dark
Away from light and sources bright.
They love the mysteries of night.
That’s where they leave their mark.

But leaves prefer the sunlight.
That’s where they dream to toil
And offer all until the Fall
To help their Whole stand true and tall
Then rest on peaceful soil.

“The roots are also incredibly light-sensitive; but in contrast to the leaves, they don’t like light at all.” Stefano Mancuso and Alessandra Viola, Brilliant Green: The Surprising History and Science of Plant Intelligence, Island Press, translated by Joan Benham, 2015, page 50. If you think plants are vegetables, this book is worth reading.

Linked to dVerse Poetics hosted by Björn Rudberg with “soil” as the prompt.
Linked to Imaginary Garden with Real Toads for their Tuesday Platform imagined by Marian.
Photo: “The Details of Blooming” by the author. The scene is from the Chicago Botanic Garden.

Mountain Castle

In my mountainous castle well hidden away
There’s my beast getting restless for lightness of day
And the blood that I seek must be innocent, sweet,
So delight feeds the brain and my rapture’s complete.

How I long that the travelers wandering by
Are so pure that they capture my sensitive eye.
How I long that they tarry so I’ll taste a bite
Of the glory of goodness lost deep in the night.

Ah, look! There’s a traveler coming toward me
To my mountainous castle all lost by the sea,
To the doom that awaits him whose way seems so sure
With a heart pumping love and excessively pure.

He is knocking! Let’s open the door to his death.
He is breathing but soon he will not take a breath
And then at the table aged wine I will drink
And the meat, raw and bloody, may finally stink.

But wait! My hand moves but it can’t free the door.
The traveler turns. He won’t knock anymore!
Have I grown out so ghostly my body has gone?
Have I nothing but fantasies I can put on?

Linked to dVerse Poetics hosted by Kim with the prompt “to write a modern dramatic monologue about a plot to do away with someone (or something)”.

Photo: “Fantasy Forest” by the author.  The scene is part of a bonsai forest at the Chicago Botanic Garden.

Postcard From Some Destination

These words are silly shadows.
Wonders disappear
When darkened ground forgets bright sky
And hints but it does not know why.
There’s something missing here.

Linked to dVerse Poetics hosted by De aka WhimsyGizmo asking us to write a postcard poem.
Linked to NaPoWriMo2017 Day Eighteen.
Photo: “Shadows of Reality” by the author.

Crows Talking about Humans Experimenting on Them

“Those humans think our brains are for the birds.”

“They think they’re talking but they just use words.”

“Those idiots drove poor, old Jeb insane.”

“They trapped him once and monkeyed with his brain.”

“They’re uglier than humans often get.”

“Let’s have fun. They ain’t seen nothing yet.”

Linked to dVerse Poetics hosted by Lillian with the theme of “anthropomorphism”.
Linked to imaginary garden with real toads hosted by Marian with an open theme.
Linked to NaPoWriMo2017 Day 4 and I almost didn’t get it finished today.

The topic was motivated by imagining what crows might have thought of John Marzluff’s research on crows which I find fascinating.  Given this research, I wonder just how far off I am from what they’re really thinking.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfI5-RWC-QQ

Flood

I’d rather be up here somewhere
Than in that river rushing on,
Dissolving tears without a care
And draining hope till it has gone.

With hope removed, sent off to sea,
The body stumbles far behind,
Soon mindless without misery,
A plaything for some nymph to find.

Linked to dVerse Poetics hosted by Paul Dear with the theme “The River”.

Right Sized for Just Enough

The house I’m building in my head
Is either very small
Or big so it excludes no one,
An ark that holds us all.

But since I don’t know everything
And others would build, too,
That fancy house would have to be
Quite small–just what will do.

Linked to dVerse Poetics hosted by Sara McNulty with the prompt “DIY building”.

Photo by the author, “All of us fish in one pond”

Four Feet From My Desk

We’ve thrown so many things away
And lost so many, too,
But this one’s hanging on the wall
Reminding us when she was small
And what she used to do.

She drew a smiling figure
With ears and big, orange eyes.
With care she knew that she could dance
And lovers knew fulfilled romance.
We watched with proud surprise.

Linked to dVerse Poetics One Momento hosted by Mish.

Photo by the author

Suburban

This was a field not long ago.
Patterned houses face a street
With quarter-acre lawns or so
And landscaped trees make it complete.

The mailman stops at every home.
You’ll need a car to get somewhere.
Like stars out there we shine alone
In tiny castles all our own
But love will find friends waiting there.

Linked to dVerse Poetics – suburb poetry hosted by Oloriel.