Take an eye-catching line from one of the poems posted ahead of you at Poetic Bloomings, and use it as the title of a totally new poem. Be sure to credit the poet and poem it is from. Have fun!
Marie Elena’s Attempt:
I’M A POET, AND AS SUCH AM TOUGH
Pointless notions
seep, leak, drip, drain
flee the brain, launch campaign
to wreck the reputation.
Raw-emotions
scored, pared, sliced, peeled
spread open, core revealed
displayed for summation.
In the line of fire,
Gutsy versifier.
(From S.E. Ingraham’s Rime Couée, “Undergoing a Sea-Change”)
Walt’s Example:
THE DEADLINE CAME; THE DEADLINE WENT
I have no need to berate or vent. The deadline came,
the deadline went and all my offerings are meant as stated.
And if I am elated alone, it will be mine to own.
(From Marie Elena’s “Crash and Burn” – her prompt # 36 example)
January 15th, 2012 at 1:39 AM
[...] for Poetic Bloomings prompt #38 to write a poem using a line from another poet’s poem (in the poem above ours on their site). The [...]
January 16th, 2012 at 5:26 PM
What a cool idea for a prompt – hope this is in the right place to thank Marie Elena for using one of my lines as the title of her piece; I am honoured to see it up there … and I love the poem as well.
Yours too Walt – I try to have that attitude towards deadlines; not always successfully, I admit, but I really like it.
January 16th, 2012 at 8:39 PM
Sharon, that line startled me when I read it, and stuck with me. When Walt suggested this cool prompt, I knew exactly what line I wanted to use. The poem that ensued is very different from my usual style and feel, which in itself rather suits the line, I think. I’m relieved that you like it.
meg
January 15th, 2012 at 1:41 AM
ALONE
(a shadorma)
time has passed
with no hand to hold
and no one
following;
in receding rays of sun
I’m walking alone
2012-01-14
P. Wanken
“in receding rays of sun” was taken from Sara McNulty’s haiku written to prompt #37.
January 15th, 2012 at 3:02 AM
Oh Paula, don’t be sad – you’ve written such a lovely poem.
January 15th, 2012 at 6:17 AM
Yes, a lovely poem…
January 15th, 2012 at 8:55 AM
Thanks, ViV and Hen.
ViV, I’m not so sad as this makes me sound. My time at the zoo yesterday was just a magnifying glass to my reality: single & no kids. So it was on my mind as I read the prompt. <3
~Paula
January 15th, 2012 at 1:05 PM
Beautiful, Paula.
January 16th, 2012 at 4:41 PM
I’m honored, Paula. Your creation is beautiful.
January 17th, 2012 at 5:23 PM
Sara:
I just realized that I misread the directions…your line should have been my title…whoops!
~Paula
January 17th, 2012 at 1:05 AM
so few lines, so much sadness
January 15th, 2012 at 1:55 AM
‘Ungraceful Love’
I tear to shreds my peaceful existence,
I create storms with hot angry tears,
Suffocating in harmony,
I long to see you rising
In your primal glory,
A bubbling, bumbling
Ungraceful love,
But the tide
Is low.
Calm.
The line ‘A bubbling, bumbling ungraceful love’ is taken from the poem ‘Bubbling up’ by Kimiko Martinez
January 15th, 2012 at 6:19 AM
…..I am still contemplating “ungraceful Love”….. I like your poem, Happy. Hen
January 15th, 2012 at 9:27 AM
Thanks, Hen.
January 17th, 2012 at 1:04 AM
“ungraceful love” is such a vivid image – it will stay with me for a long time … I think, actually, love is often just that – ungraceful, I mean
January 17th, 2012 at 5:34 AM
‘Ungraceful Love’
Is it…..like having
a big, tangled head of hair
spilling on our face?
LOL!!!!?
January 21st, 2012 at 5:37 PM
I agree that “ungraceful love” is quite the inspirational phrase.
Marie Elena
January 15th, 2012 at 3:05 AM
Nice poem, the form fits the words so well. Can love really be ungraceful? I wonder.
January 15th, 2012 at 9:30 AM
Thank you, Viv. Yes, I believe love can be ungraceful. Love can be so many things, I think.
January 15th, 2012 at 6:30 AM
Sorry to be trivial but I couldn’t help myself! And I’m longing to see which of my immortal lines is used by the poet following me! Please forgive me ruining your sensitive poem ‘Happy Amateur’! I’ve desecrated one of your lines by using it as my opening one.
FLOP IN THE KITCHEN
I long to see you rising
Reacting to the yeast;
I long to make
The sort of cake
That others think a feast.
But there you lie, inactive,
Just a great big soggy blob;
I have no power
Over fat and flour.
I’m no good at this job.
While friends of mine are bakers
Who bake with great panache,
And sell their wares
At local fairs
To make a bit of cash,
I’m just a hopeless failure!
My drop-scones simply drop.
So I’ll never make
Another cake.
You, like me, are just a flop!
*
January 15th, 2012 at 9:36 AM
Rinkly Rimes, I’m honored you used my line, and your poem is not ‘flat’!
January 15th, 2012 at 9:36 AM
Love this! So cute, clever, and funny!
January 15th, 2012 at 11:23 AM
Oh how I feel for you. My last batch of 5 loaves was like that – they just would not rise (old yeast, I think) so the texture of the bread was close and heavy. Great fun poem, talking to the cake. I often swear at my baking!
January 16th, 2012 at 11:19 AM
LOL!!!
January 15th, 2012 at 2:17 PM
Just love this…the reality for many a “baker”
January 16th, 2012 at 7:42 AM
Oh, what a fun take on a kitchen disaster…!
January 16th, 2012 at 9:18 PM
Love this! Great laugh, thanks!
January 17th, 2012 at 1:02 AM
A woman after my own heart – at least in the kitchen by the sounds of it – a domestic goddess I’m not … loved this!
January 15th, 2012 at 6:51 AM
“…TO START IN THE EYES…”
It begins
with
soft, round, trusting.
(From Kelly’s, “Sweet Lips”, Prompt Rime Couee. Thank you, Kelly.)
January 15th, 2012 at 8:30 AM
Oh yes. So simple, and yet says so much. Love it!
January 15th, 2012 at 12:18 PM
Thank you, Andrew….. I so love that I think you “read what I meant”! Hen
January 15th, 2012 at 9:33 AM
I LONG TO MAKE
by Linda Swenski
(title taken from A FLOP IN THE KITCHEN by Rinkly Rimes)
I long to make my family happy; myself as well at work and home.
I long to make a contribution to this world and maybe to the next.
I long to help the starving people: the sick, the sad, the downtrodden.
I long to help children learn the skills they will need to be successful.
I long to fulfill the promise of my birth, to make my presence known.
I long to honor my parents, my children, my friends, and my country.
I long for the strength to do and be and make all these things.
January 15th, 2012 at 11:25 AM
What wonderful longings: I hope they come true.
January 15th, 2012 at 12:21 PM
Oh, such beautiful longings…..! May you receive the strength…
January 15th, 2012 at 3:09 PM
lovely, wonderful aspirations!
January 17th, 2012 at 1:01 AM
This reminds me of something Emerson once wrote … along these lines anyhow – such worthwhile wishes … very nice
January 15th, 2012 at 9:39 AM
What a fabulous start! Isn’t it amazing the different directions we can take with someone’s line?
Walt is the one who creates the prompts, and I think this is going to be one of the best.
January 16th, 2012 at 6:16 AM
It is a good one! May have to take another stab at it.
January 15th, 2012 at 10:47 AM
Hugs and Funny Faces Are My Fuel to Make Tomorrow Run
Mornings, I say, “Party’s started.”
“It’s off to the races.”
What keeps me going so strong? It’s
Hugs and funny faces
All day long, they lighten my load
In various places
Jokes, teasing and deep belly laughs
Hugs and smiley faces
Evenings, they lend a helping hand
Keeping with the paces
A little rough, but source of strength
Hugs and bearded faces
At night, they sit upon my lap
Seeking my embraces
Purring very contentedly
Hugs and furry faces
Endings by Purplepeninportland Prompt #36
January 15th, 2012 at 11:52 AM
I love this. Very vivid imagery makes it come alive!
January 15th, 2012 at 12:23 PM
Oh, always such a tender glimpse of your loving home life!
January 15th, 2012 at 3:15 PM
Enjoyed this pleasant look at a “day in the life” of you. Thanks.
January 16th, 2012 at 4:44 PM
This poem makes me giggle with joy. Thank you.
January 17th, 2012 at 1:00 AM
This poem is so “you” Connie – it’s perfect …
January 17th, 2012 at 11:33 AM
Thanks Puplepeninportland for the great line, and thanks all for the comments.
January 15th, 2012 at 11:46 AM
Weave flowers in his beard they say
Please don’t, is my reply -
his hugs are rare and scratchy
as is he today – God knows quite why
or what I’ve done that’s wrong,
to make him quite so grouchy.
Sunshine reigned all day outside
and more to come tomorrow
so cheer him up for goodness sake
or I’ll join him in his sorrow
Weave flowers in his beard is from Viking Funeral by Michele Brenton , with a sideways look at Connie Peters’s Hugs and Funny Faces.
January 15th, 2012 at 11:55 AM
I very much like the subtle emotion this evokes in me. Nicely crafted!
January 15th, 2012 at 12:29 PM
Subtle lol here….. it is best to make the best of things, I found….. good luck, Viv!
January 15th, 2012 at 1:09 PM
Enjoy the sunshine, Viv, the grouchiness will take care of itself eventually
January 15th, 2012 at 3:16 PM
moods…thankfully they can be changed! enjoyed this.
January 16th, 2012 at 6:13 AM
Thanks, Viv, for this. Funny idea! Weaving flowers in the beard of the grumpy husband. It’s like a Thurber cartoon.
January 16th, 2012 at 7:02 AM
Hee, hee, our daughter used to put pink, cushy rollers in his hair… (you know, in that long strand…)…
January 16th, 2012 at 4:48 PM
Gee, you must be familiar with someone I live with. Great poem.
January 17th, 2012 at 12:59 AM
pretty much what everyone else has said Viv – a well-crafted poem!
January 15th, 2012 at 1:10 PM
Sunshine Reigned
Snow covered and slippery.
Sunshine reigned all day.
Outside in the bright light
he wanted just to stay.
He didn’t want to lay down.
He wouldn’t go to sleep.
He wanted one more boat ride.
The snow was much too deep.
The lake was frozen over.
He couldn’t swim or wade.
Sunshine reigned over it all.
Such contrast in the shade.
The trees were covered lightly
in a blanket of pure white.
I wish I had my camera,
to capture this great sight.
I ponder the deep questions.
I wonder if he knows,
that time is not his best friend.
How quickly it now goes.
The choo choo clock upon the wall
startled him at first.
The food and drink were out of place
Yet, still they quenched his thirst.
The train will soon take over
I’ll have to make the call.
It doesn’t seem like that is right.
No, it does not at all.
Sunshine reigned all day outside.
The air was crisp and clean.
He didn’t want to be inside,
approaching mark fifteen.
That good ‘ole boy would not lay down.
He had to find a way
to see and smell everything,
on that sunny Winter day.
So, I would let him outside
where he could move around
as sunshine reigned over it all
and peace of mind was found.
By Michael Grove
The line “Sunshine reigned all day outside” from the Vivinfrance poem “Weave flowers in his beard they say.”
January 15th, 2012 at 3:48 PM
Michael, this is so very beautiful! Hen
January 16th, 2012 at 4:46 PM
Beautiful poem from a beautiful poem!
January 17th, 2012 at 12:57 AM
This is lovely Mike;is it also as heart-breaking as it seems? I felt this foreboding throughout as if you were getting ready to have an animal put down or something …
January 21st, 2012 at 2:13 AM
You are on the right track. Not getting ready, but my nearly 15 year old dog is nearing the end and I have to start thinking of these things.
January 15th, 2012 at 1:56 PM
Praying with One Eye Open
Faith was not as blind as he let on
depending on belief with its eyes closed,
understanding without knowledge,
ears closed with palms
and voices raised
to stifle honest questions that
God can surely see.
Belief for her embodied studying,
asking and seeking,
sometimes finding,
always knocking and waiting,
reaching and waiting,
craving openings, vision and revision,
and praying from the deepest heart
for clear and useful answers,
still with one knee bent,
with one eye open
to see
the world.
From Mary Mansfield’s “Splash”
Prompt 37
Thanks, Mary
January 15th, 2012 at 3:50 PM
This is very interesting, Jane; I feel this need to keep rereading it…
January 15th, 2012 at 3:52 PM
Wow, Jane, amazing poem! I’m so thankful that one of my lines led you to this
January 16th, 2012 at 11:12 PM
Wow..love the voice in this, Jane. So personal, truthful, beautiful.
January 17th, 2012 at 12:53 AM
Not much to add to what has been said – a truly exceptional poem – poignant and lovely …
January 17th, 2012 at 11:59 PM
Thanks, friends, for the kind words.
January 15th, 2012 at 2:52 PM
I’m No Good At This Job
I had no training, no class,
no book.
My crash course started with
that first look.
Your big brown eyes and
open mouth
Sent all my confidence
diving South.
To follow you, there were
three more.
I had no idea what was
in store.
Questions, needs, lessons
to learn
Am I doing any good was my
constant concern.
Rough spots, bewilderment, doubts,
some tears
Happiness, memories, applause
and cheers.
I’ve done my best, I’ll keep
working through,
I passed on-the-job training becasue
of you!
(From: Flop in the Kitchen by Rinky Rimes)
January 15th, 2012 at 3:36 PM
(From: Flop in the Kitchen by Rinky Rimes)
I’m No Good At This Job
I had no training, no class,
no book.
My crash course started with
that first look.
Your big brown eyes and
open mouth
Sent all my confidence
diving South.
To follow you, there were
three more.
I had no idea what was
in store.
Questions, needs, lessons
to learn
Am I doing any good was my
constant concern.
Rough spots, bewilderment, doubts,
some tears
Happiness, memories, applause
and cheers.
I’ve done my best, I’ll keep
working through,
I passed on-the-job training becasue
of you!
January 16th, 2012 at 7:37 AM
Lovely, Kelly…..
January 17th, 2012 at 12:51 AM
Sounds like true love Kelly and a choice well made; nice poem … just realized I’ve been spelling your name incorrectly (thought it was with an “ie” for some reason – sorry)
January 21st, 2012 at 5:38 PM
Kelly, Olivia is most welcome to post poetry here!
ME
January 15th, 2012 at 3:41 PM
Sorry if I have duplicate posts…something seems awry. I am able to see my comments but not my poems.
January 16th, 2012 at 8:37 AM
Kelly: Every once in a while, our site dunks our Bloomers into the spam tank.
January 17th, 2012 at 9:26 AM
Feel free to delete one, if possible!
My firstborn (for whom this poem was written) just tried her hand at a “Romanticism” poem for World Studies class…I do hope she lets me post it sometime.
January 15th, 2012 at 4:35 PM
Barbara wrote a stunner recently titled “come-to-life.” I took this line from her poem: “this astonishment in human bones, blue jeans and baby oil.”
Thanks, Barbara – this one doesn’t hold a candle to your work!
life-to-come
This astonishment in human bones,
blue jeans and baby oil,
tiger eyes of the spirit, bright stones
glistening in the soil,
uncovered as if by accident –
all these are calling me
awake now, with a mystery meant
for just these eyes to see.
Pull wide the curtain on this morning,
brush off the sun-bleached sand
caking your eyes and then… come dancing
with this salty band
below the bluff, laughing in a line
that cannot help but go
where blue jeans, bones and oil combine,
fast in the morning glow.
January 15th, 2012 at 5:58 PM
Andrew!!! You just took my breath away….. COME BACK HERE AND WRITE SOME MORE!!! LOL, Thank you!!! Hen
January 16th, 2012 at 6:05 AM
I don’t know. I think I like yours better.
January 16th, 2012 at 4:49 PM
Andrew, this is stunning!
January 16th, 2012 at 11:05 PM
Much enjoyed!!!
January 17th, 2012 at 12:49 AM
I agree with Henrietta Andrew – this is magic, just stunning – you are really too modest …
January 15th, 2012 at 5:06 PM
Oh, this is such a neat prompt.
January 15th, 2012 at 5:49 PM
Amber Smooth
Blinding rays of golden
light eclipsed the deed,
the bootlegger’s hurried
heaving of amber bottles
filled with nectar into the lake,
FBI agents one step
behind. Some bottles
floated upon drifting
logs, glass art gleaming,
contents unconsumed.
(from picture prompt, “Day’s End”
by Patricia Anne McGoldrick)
What Fun!
January 15th, 2012 at 6:01 PM
Sara….. are you still reading those detective novels?!!! LOL!!! Great take! Hen
January 16th, 2012 at 4:40 PM
I am always knee deep in murder mysteries from ever country. Thanks.
January 17th, 2012 at 12:47 AM
an unexpected twist here – very cool – love anything to do with amber or gold and you’ve done a nice job of incorporating both …
January 17th, 2012 at 5:44 PM
Thanks, Sharon. I even love the sound of the word `amber’
January 15th, 2012 at 6:08 PM
What Keeps Me Going so Strong
When chronic pain rears it head
and makes mine feel like it might just burst,
you hold me close in your arms
and in your love I am immersed.
When the day is full of challenges
which steal my last ray of hope,
your love brings it back to me,
and once again I can cope.
When my shoulders are weighed down
by reminders of past mistakes,,
you lighten the load by highlighting my good
and soon my sadness breaks.
When time isn’t kind to me and
everything seems to go wrong,
you’re always there to comfort me,
you’re what keeps me going strong.
(title is taken from Connie Peter’s “Hugs and Funny Faces are My Fuel to Make Tomorrow Run)
January 16th, 2012 at 7:06 AM
…..Oh yes, to be loved so truly in this beautiful way!!!
January 18th, 2012 at 3:16 PM
January 17th, 2012 at 12:46 AM
“you’re what keeps me going strong” – a lovely tribute to a wonderful love; this is very nice Linda, truly.
January 18th, 2012 at 3:16 PM
Thanks, Sharon.
January 17th, 2012 at 7:45 PM
I loved this, Linda. Reminded me so much of the sweet love of my life… “lighten the load by highlighting my good” is a great line and one I will use at some point when thanking my hubby for doing just that.
January 18th, 2012 at 3:18 PM
go right ahead and use that line…and never forget how lucky you are to have such a great guy
January 15th, 2012 at 7:27 PM
‘Cooled’
Her love was running deep,
Brewing – slow, but steady -
Like an underwater volcano.
His was all flames and sparks,
And just as quickly cooled,
And reduced to ashes of silver.
She will forever yearn,
Burning low and lonely,
For the untamed fire they could have shared.
The line ‘And just as quickly cooled’ was taken from the poem ‘Come-to-life’ by Barbara
January 16th, 2012 at 7:09 AM
…..oh my….. Beautifully spoken, friend Alexandra! Hen
January 16th, 2012 at 4:51 PM
“the untamed fire they could have shared” – how lovely!
January 16th, 2012 at 6:02 PM
Thank you, Hen, Sara!
January 16th, 2012 at 11:03 PM
Beautifully written, Happy!
January 17th, 2012 at 12:44 AM
I like how you’ve contrasted the two loves here; nicely done …
January 17th, 2012 at 11:35 AM
Thanks!
January 17th, 2012 at 7:47 PM
Captivating!
January 18th, 2012 at 10:46 AM
Thank you, Kelly!
January 15th, 2012 at 8:44 PM
‘Gold’
Not
All gold
Needs to be
Rushed,
Your day
Will come to
Harvest
The sparkling
grains of life’s
Riches,
It will,
In good time.
‘Not all gold needs to be rushed’ – a one-line poem by Paula.
January 16th, 2012 at 7:10 AM
Beautiful…..
January 16th, 2012 at 10:47 PM
Sparkling grains of life’s riches…beautiful poem, Happy!
January 16th, 2012 at 11:05 PM
Thank you, Hannah!
January 17th, 2012 at 12:43 AM
nice use of the original …
January 17th, 2012 at 11:36 AM
Thank you, Sharon!
January 18th, 2012 at 12:07 AM
LOVE this! <3
January 18th, 2012 at 10:48 AM
I am so so glad! That was a beautiful line-poem.
January 15th, 2012 at 10:50 PM
I promise this is the last one (at least for today!) For some reason ‘a pie in the sky’ got stuck in my head, so I wrote this. I used Michael’s line ‘Why, oh why, oh why?’ from his poem ‘Splash.’ I hope you don’t mind, Michael, because my poem is rather silly.
My, oh my, oh my!
One delicious pie,
Heaven of a pie,
Pinned right to the sky.
Why, oh why, oh why?
Chirping you and I,
Can’t like birds we fly?
Land atop that pie?
Oh that pie, that pie…
Why, oh why, oh why?
And that’s it for today for me! Thank you so much for this prompt.
January 16th, 2012 at 7:12 AM
Sooooo sweet and charming!!!
January 16th, 2012 at 10:48 AM
Thank you, Hen, for all your sweet comments!
January 16th, 2012 at 5:36 PM
Of course I don’t mind. Nice use of the line.
January 16th, 2012 at 5:59 PM
January 17th, 2012 at 12:42 AM
You’re on a Dr.Seuss roll here; loads of fun …
January 17th, 2012 at 5:44 AM
hee, hee, I love Dr. Seuss!
January 17th, 2012 at 11:37 AM
It must be subconscious!
January 17th, 2012 at 11:14 AM
I forgot to add the title:
‘Why, oh why, oh why?’
Thanks, Michael!
January 16th, 2012 at 6:00 AM
I misread the prompt, and made the line part of the first line of my poem. Duh. Well. I woke up at 2:30 and left my glasses beside the bed. That’s my excuse, and I’m sticking to it.
poem from a line by *Andrew Kreider:
The Couch Potato Considers a Call to Action
Are we– not like stones, which have no options–
dense? Are we cast-iron fast? Are we inert
from dumb fear, from some assinine notion
that to change our minds means we betray the heart
of what we are?
Okay. Look. You’re standing
on the sidewalk, minding your own business. Out
of nowhere there’s a house, falling, landing
right on the you-mark-the-spot. You’re not about
to say: this is impossible, I ain’t moving
for the mirage of a house. No. You get
the hell out of Dodge. Now. You can disprove
the house phenomenon later. Yet
you, me, we are dead certain
what we think we see is nothing.
* Ripples
“Are we not like stones”
January 16th, 2012 at 6:02 AM
Thanks for the line, Andrew. My apologies for taking your poetry and turning it prose-y.
January 16th, 2012 at 7:18 AM
…..a real brain teaser, this one….. I need to think about this one not for minutes or hours or days, but, for weeks and weeks….. Thanks b-y, I like this….. Hen
January 16th, 2012 at 10:44 PM
Written in true Barbara style!! I so enjoy!
January 17th, 2012 at 12:40 AM
This is phantasmagorical – I love it! Made me read and re-read and think about it lots … very cool
January 17th, 2012 at 3:41 PM
Barbara, you are awesome! I love this one. Written with vibrant panache peppered with wisdom and served with a smile. Much appreciation from one who is still learning the wisdom of occasionally just getting the hell out of Dodge.
January 16th, 2012 at 5:20 PM
ON HOW BEST TO SAY IT
There are times when I wonder
If my time might be better spent
Painting or taking photographs perhaps
Making permanent, concrete reminders
Of things seen or remembered – actual
Literal bits of what’s gone on or where I’ve
Been, what I’ve glimpsed… tactile objects
To hold, or hang onto, or nail up on walls
Because words can’t describe, at least
Not adequately, or at least so it seems
At times, the wonder and the horror
That is life; cannot express the sound
A breaking heart makes or illustrate
The despair involved when death
Sneaks up and snatches someone dear
All too soon – and it’s always too soon,
Is it not …
But then – staring at a photo or an oil
Painting I find myself groping for meaning
Pondering what the back-story was – what
I was thinking when I took the picture
What had gone on that interested me
Enough to prompt an actual painting
And searching through notes made
At the time, the phrases I find
Inevitably show me the way to …
A poem – because words can describe
It seems – almost everything …
S.E.Ingraham
(with thanks to RJ Clarken for the words “because words can’t describe” from her Rime Couee, “Poquessing Creek”)
January 16th, 2012 at 6:42 PM
Oh, yes, Sharon!!! Exclusively, elusively, intricately, mesmerizingly, richly…what else could we ask for in life…..?! I LOVE this!!! Hen
January 16th, 2012 at 10:39 PM
I love where this took me and it is so true. Strong closing lines, I agree, Sharon. <3
January 17th, 2012 at 9:17 AM
Perfectly stated! Nothing expresses better than poetry!
January 16th, 2012 at 7:38 PM
Oh Hen – thank you … blush … your words are too kind
January 16th, 2012 at 8:20 PM
Thanks, Mike Grove, for the loan of your line. I took it with a slight twist.
“That good ‘ole boy would not stay down.”
There was one summer three kids drowned
at the base of Devil’s Drop Falls.
We kids got warned, “Don’t horse around.
Though the stream in August looks small
the force is like a thousand pounds.
Play in the spray, but listen ya’ll:
Don’t get near where the water hits.”
Well, Sean was the wildest of all
us colts. He gave our teachers fits
with his stunning smile, pushing bounds.
One steaming day, Sean climbed a bit
higher than our jumping-off spot—
and then higher still—holy shit!
Sean scaled to the forty-foot top—
and then he leapt. The whole world stalled
and every earthbound heart stopped. Stopped.
He was lost in the mist——then, pop!
January 17th, 2012 at 12:38 AM
Wonderful Daniel! And such good use of the form … love the end especially …
January 17th, 2012 at 5:50 AM
There’s usually at least “one in every family”! Great adventure…..
January 17th, 2012 at 5:46 PM
Wonderful, Daniel. You have used the form well.
January 21st, 2012 at 2:17 AM
Very Nice Daniel!!! Great twist.
January 16th, 2012 at 9:51 PM
Rinkly Rimes’ “FLOP IN THE KITCHEN.”
~I LONG TO SEE YOU RISING~
Each step you take
I see you rising.
Carefully you
Ponder your path,
Exquisitely
And with purpose
You place each footfall;
Always, always rising.
I follow you
mimicking each step.
Stone by stone
We gather ourselves
Up the side of this
Majestic mountain.
I see you breathing
Easily, peacefully
And I see you rising
Spiritually.
This is your home,
I also feel the welcome here.
Rise, brother…
Rise.
Written with love for my baby brother… <3
January 17th, 2012 at 12:37 AM
What a heartfelt, poignant poem – your way with words continues to astound me …
January 17th, 2012 at 5:58 PM
Wow, Sharon, thank you so much!! <3
January 17th, 2012 at 5:52 AM
Beautiful, Hannah!
January 17th, 2012 at 5:59 PM
Hen!! Thank you for your kindness!
January 16th, 2012 at 9:52 PM
What a great prompt idea! Thank you guys!
January 16th, 2012 at 11:01 PM
Happy’s “Cooled.” Thank you!
~AND REDUCED TO ASHES OF SILVER~
So many molten words
Pooled, smooth,
Oozing of emotion.
Spilling, a verbal filling
Universal crucible.
Collecting, surface reflecting
An instant of the true poet’s heart…
Then reduced to ashes of silver.
January 16th, 2012 at 11:07 PM
You are so very welcome!
January 16th, 2012 at 11:10 PM
January 17th, 2012 at 12:36 AM
how beautiful this is – “ashes of silver” indeed – I am such a sucker for ashes of any type and this is so lovely Hannah … really nice
January 17th, 2012 at 6:01 PM
I so appreciate the comment, Sharon, thank you!
January 21st, 2012 at 5:40 PM
I SO agree.
ME
January 17th, 2012 at 5:48 PM
Love this, Hannah. It really flows!
January 17th, 2012 at 6:02 PM
Thanks a bunch, Sara!!
January 16th, 2012 at 11:04 PM
Urgent Clocks
Our insistent alarms
And the first rays of sunlight
Send us scatterings like cockroaches,
Chasing the who
the where
the when,
Propelling us forward
In our agitated race for survival.
We forget our need to
S l o w D o w n,
Breathe,
Enjoy the now.
The title to this one was taken from a line in Mark Windham’s poem Autumn Escape, which was posted for the Rime Couee form challenge.
January 16th, 2012 at 11:06 PM
And of course the formatting didn’t translate well to the comment mode here, I played around a bit with the form, it can be seen at my blog the way I actually intended it.
http://marybmansfield.blogspot.com/2012/01/urgent-clocks.html
January 16th, 2012 at 11:09 PM
I like how that turned out, Mary!
January 17th, 2012 at 12:34 AM
“the scattering like cockroaches” is a particularly effective image in this one … captures urgency very well …
January 17th, 2012 at 6:03 AM
I wonder….. is that where the idea of the CUCKOO CLOCK originated?!
January 16th, 2012 at 11:07 PM
I had to bail before I had my fill of reading, my friends. Perhaps before Sunday I will stop and have my fill! Thank you to everyone for making this place so enjoyable!
January 17th, 2012 at 6:05 AM
Bye, Hannah…. I will miss you! Hen
January 16th, 2012 at 11:16 PM
OK, I just had to do a second one because the posting right above mine on prompt #37 had a line I just could not resist. I’m talking about Mike Maher’s poem Ode to Marie, Ode to Walt. Just hope I can do the original poem some justice.
The Ability to Dance on Water
The first blush of love
Can set aside our rational minds,
Voiding the laws of physics.
We float through the heavens
And dance across the waters
With no sense of consequences.
However, when reality intrudes,
It often brings gravity along as well,
Sending us crashing back to earth,
Leaving us drowning in heartache.
January 17th, 2012 at 12:32 AM
This is lovely Mary and with Mike’s line, “the ability to dance on water” encapsulates that heady mixture of falling in love before the reality of crashing back to earth – nicely done.
January 17th, 2012 at 6:08 AM
Yes, lovely….. for me, it rarely happens….. but, boy when it does…..
January 18th, 2012 at 3:39 PM
Well done.
January 17th, 2012 at 12:30 AM
I didn’t misread the prompt but did forget to use the other poet’s line as the title of my poem … so my poem should actually be titled, “Because Words Can’t Describe” which is a perfectly good title …
January 17th, 2012 at 5:22 PM
Whoops! I did the same thing! I just re-used the line within my poem. So much for attention to detail.
January 17th, 2012 at 8:06 AM
“Time has passed”
– from P. Wanken’s “Alone”
I long
for blinding sun
reflecting
off of white snows.
A sweet agony
to the eyes
soon to be followed
by muffled steps
and heavy breaths
frosting before my eyes
in cold air.
Time has passed
but still
falls rain.
January 17th, 2012 at 10:58 AM
Loved the feel of this. So descriptive of the climate in my “neck of the woods” this year.
January 17th, 2012 at 12:30 PM
Me too, Jerry.
January 17th, 2012 at 5:51 PM
I can close my eyes and feel this one, Jerry. Beautiful.
January 18th, 2012 at 12:10 AM
Love the use of this line of mine…and, having lived in the North for most of my life, I do miss the snow now that I’m deep in the heart of Texas. I’m lucky if there’s a little frost on the windshield now and then!
~Paula
January 18th, 2012 at 6:18 AM
Oh yes, having lived for several years in Austin, Texas, we always missed cooler weather….. but, I must say that there’s just something about Texas that stays with you for the rest of your life!
January 18th, 2012 at 3:43 PM
Very nice.
January 17th, 2012 at 8:40 PM
What stirred in me when I read this line in Sara’s poem, seemed quite out of character for me, but I followed it…
Heaving of Amber Bottles
Silent sirens whisk you away.
Muffled voices, can’t hear what they say
Numbers dropping, syringes drip
Charts notated, pill bottles tip.
No one could prepare for a moment like this
Your clothes in a bag, no time for a kiss
Abrasive white lights, rumbling carts in the hall
A nightmare for loved ones, the two a-m call.
(From: Amber Smooth by Purplepeninportland)
January 17th, 2012 at 9:23 PM
This gave me shivers, Kelly. I liked it a lot.
January 18th, 2012 at 5:47 AM
Yes, a nightmare for loved ones….
January 17th, 2012 at 10:42 PM
Another silly one from me. Dedicated to my first crush.
‘A Sweet Agony To The Eyes’
(from Jerry Walraven’s ‘Time Has Passed’)
A sweet agony to the eyes he was,
With hair the color of rye, skin of bronze,
Dark long eyelashes – the talk of the town,
And eyes…I forget…Gray? Brown? I think brown.
A sweet melody to the ears he was,
He just had no mercy on us, poor girls,
Every girl hoped to be picked as his queen,
How old were we then?…I believe, fourteen.
No sweet agony to the eyes he is,
You won’t know it’s him, that’s how bad it is,
But in my mind’s eye he’s always fourteen,
And he is my king, and I am his queen.
January 17th, 2012 at 11:01 PM
I want to change the ending a bit (just to get even with him for breaking my heart many years ago!):
A sheer agony to the eyes he is
January 18th, 2012 at 5:50 AM
Oh Happy, I think that you, too, fall hard….. Hen
January 18th, 2012 at 8:23 AM
Love the direction you took with that. I can remember a sweet agony or two from my past as well.
January 18th, 2012 at 8:34 AM
I’m so glad you liked it, Jerry! The line described so well what I was feeling when I was a kid, my agonizing over nothing really, but it meant so much way back then. Still a silly, but sweet memory.
January 18th, 2012 at 6:29 AM
I knew, Hen, you’d understand…:-)
January 18th, 2012 at 12:21 PM
Yes, friend, Alexandra, you seem to know my heart….. thank you for all of your lovely contributions our lives!!! Hen
January 18th, 2012 at 12:42 PM
Oh Hen…thanks
January 18th, 2012 at 1:07 PM
BREATHE
Worried sighs draw lines across your brow,
tears of stress caress your wearied face,
shouldered cares slow down your pace-
just stop! strike out those worries,
wipe off those clinging tears, slow down
and shrug away those shouldered cares-
raise your head up high and breathe,
enjoy the now while it is still today,
this too will pass away- so breathe.
(“Breathe/enjoy the now” – from “Urgent Clocks” by Mary Mansfield)
January 18th, 2012 at 4:56 PM
Very nice Elizabeth!
January 18th, 2012 at 5:23 PM
Lovely.
January 18th, 2012 at 3:27 PM
From Elizabeth Johnson’s “Breathe”
A LONG HOLD
His days were long.
Hers was too.
His was filled with
factory work, which
stuck to his face.
Hers was filled with
five children who
stuck to her legs.
Worried sighs drew
across his brow
as he sat at the dinner
table and whispered
to my mother about
bills and layoffs.
Worried eyes met
his as she held his
hands across the dinner
table and whispered
that everything would
be just fine.
Their talks were long.
But their kisses were too.
January 18th, 2012 at 5:24 PM
Oh, how beautiful!
January 18th, 2012 at 7:30 PM
Aw, I love it, Kimiko!
January 19th, 2012 at 1:45 PM
Thanks!
January 18th, 2012 at 4:15 PM
for blinding sun reflecting off of white snows
- from Jerry Walraven’s “Time has passed”
for once, and for the stark blank
whiteness of it all,
for the lonely call and the lost Fall
and the scattered tall
branches of us;
for the cold that numbs
our fingers and
lulls our frozen hearts
for the start and
for the fragile, fleeting end
for the things we
forget to see and cannot unsee
for this burning light
the wrong and right
and the places in between
for you
for me
and the way time
melts us,
clean.
January 18th, 2012 at 5:27 PM
Profoundly beautiful!
January 20th, 2012 at 7:20 PM
Thank you, Henrietta.
January 19th, 2012 at 7:23 AM
Just stunning, De.
January 20th, 2012 at 7:20 PM
Thank you, Jerry. That line of yours got to me. Easy flow from there. Thank you!
January 20th, 2012 at 10:27 AM
[...] week on Poetic Bloomings Marie Elena and Walt ask us to: Take an eye-catching line from one of the poems posted ahead of you [...]
January 21st, 2012 at 3:55 PM
Marie/Walt: I had an email for your poetic bloomings chosen poems to this prompt, but the link didn’t work – error “Not found”. I hope that WP isn’t playing up.
January 21st, 2012 at 5:15 PM
Viv, that was a premature posting. It was to be put into draft mode until Marie and I could co-ordinate our picks. I hit publish by mistake. When we get it together, it will be published correctly. Sorry for the tease.
January 21st, 2012 at 5:21 PM
And now it’s up!
ME