Patchwork Prose and Verse
Susan Ahlbrand is our host today for the third day of the June Open Write at http://www.ethicalela.com, inspiring us to write poems about graduation. You can read her full prompt here. I’ve chosen a nonet, a nine-line syllabic countdown poem.
Graduation Nonet
Teachers all worried about airhorns
beach balls should have been their concern
we learned how to inflate them
under our gowns, then how
to launch them at once
on secret cue
skyward dreams
island
style
toasted Gregg’s Peach Bread
fresh from the orchard nearby
slathered with butter
untitled painting
strolling through the museum
white grape sour on glass
in left hand, merlot
in right, pinot grigio
blending portmanteaus
I was mad since you
were late so I fed turtles
all your marshmallows
no roasting for you
our discussion was our campfire
spark, flame, sizzle, blaze
they smiled and thanked me
reminded me to tell you
to keep slowing down.
we could take lessons
from chickens in a dust bath
shaking it all off
instead dwell in mud
wallowing unforgiveness
pig kin bickering
get out of the mire
unstuck from the yucky muck
before it’s too late!
*inspired by a recent sermon heard on YouTube
The Main Character
he seeks center stage
he knows his lines, his music
his orchestration
but music changes
suddenly the stage lights dim
spotlights shift elsewhere
When God Winks Haiku
When God winks on love
You can feel His eyelashes
Fluttering your heart
Our host today at http://www.ethialela.com for Day 10 of #VerseLove2024 is Joanne Emery, who inspires us to borrow ideas and lines from another poem to inspire our own. You can read her full prompt here, along with the poems and comments of others.
She explains her process: Find a line in the poem that stands out to you, expresses something about yourself. Then continue the poem while reflecting how you live your life.Â
We used Jane Hirschfield’s poem My Life Was the Size of My Life, and I borrowed this line from hers:
and closed its hands, its windows
I also chose one from Joanne’s poem Larger than My Life
with perfect white teeth, smiling
Keystones
our house with keystones
with perfect white teeth, smiling
to raise our children
you pulled all its teeth
and closed its hands, its windows
we bloomed in the dark
Katrina Morrison is our host today at http://www.ethicalela.com for the sixth day of #VerseLove2024. Her prompt inspires writers to share a photo and write a poem from our photo stream on our phones.
She explains how: Select a photo from your photostream or capture an image of a photo you have on hand. Ideally, you should appear in the photo. If you remember what was going on in the photo, draw from your memories to recreate the scene. If you do not remember what was happening when the photo was taken, use your imagination to create a scene.Â
I chose a photo from yesterday’s wedding rehearsal. My baby brother is getting married today at 4:30 on St. Simon’s Island, Georgia, and we could not be happier for him and his bride.
They Do
these two join hands, hearts
forever as one today
my brother, his bride
their blind date restored
hope, led to love, commitment ~
two become one flesh
Today, Jennifer Jowett of Michigan is our host at http://www.ethicalela.com for our fourth day of #VerseLove 2024. She offers a spectacular Alphabeticals prompt, using letters of the alphabet to create a poem. You can read her full prompt and the poems of others here.
My mind went straight to the farm as I looked at the letters on the keyboard. There’s a whole world of things to see if you let your eyes see what is held in each letter. Donkeys belonging to someone in our area keep getting loose, and my sister in law and I helped some other neighbors for two hours on Tuesday trying to trailer them, finally herding them into another neighbor’s fenced pasture. When they turned up in her yard again Wednesday, we decided to just make friends with them – they’re not halter trained, and we think they are lonely and seeking the companionship of humans.
They know they’ve found folks who are friendly. They’d rather live here on the Funny Farm, where things are amusingly quirky.
RELAXing on the Funny Farm
R hangs out in the
barn, his back against the wall
relaxing cowboy
E stalls two horses
or goats or donkeys or mules
safe from elements
L stands firm, holds reins
hitching post for keeping us
right where we belong
A swing for sweethearts
porch side sunset views, sweet tea
two-strawed Mason jar
X makes a manger
to feed all of God’s creatures
