Poetry – Page 6 – Susan Joy Clark

Creative Life, Poetry

Poetry in Motion

Like a ship’s maidenhead

reimagined

for a machine on wheels,

she is poised

for action,

knees bent like those

of a diver,

gracefully streamlined

in art nouveau design.

She is, seemingly,

a type of female Mercury,

a goddess of speed,

wings tilted upwards

as well as her chin,

holding forth a

wheel

as though the wind

will turn it.

Though frozen

and still

in sculpted metal,

she is full

of motion.

This poem was written for a dVerse Poetics challenge, where we were challenged to choose one of 12 minimalistic photos by Glenn A. Buttkus for poetic inspiration. Glenn is a poet who contributes to dVerse challenge and also has a site for his minimalistic photography.

Creative Life, Poetry

A Map of Stars #Tanka Tuesday, #Tanka, #Ekphrastic Poem

paddling my canoe

under the light of the full moon,

while guided by stars

and wisdom of forefathers,

while kingfishers fly above.

This was written for Colleen M. Chesebro’s Tanka Tuesday challenge. We were challenged to write a syllabic poem inspired by the artistic photo shown. I was inspired both by the photo and this bit of information I found on http://www.ancient-wisdom.com, “The ancient Polynesians navigated their canoes by the stars and other signs that came from the ocean and sky. Navigation was a precise science, a learned art that was passed on verbally from one navigator to another for countless generations.” I decided then to make reference to a Polynesian bird.

Creative Life, Poetry

Fumble Bumble

I did a fumble

And then a stumble,

And followed this with

A forward tumble,

I think I’ll rest here

Now on my bumble.

Yesterday, I was carrying a puppy down my deck stairs and tripped on the final step onto concrete. I seem to be okay other than some “road rash” and bruising, but it is more painful than I expected. I wrote this little ditty for you. At least, my sense of humor seems to be intact.

Creative Life, Poetry

What Do I See?

Hermann Rorschach, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

I think I only see a smudge

Or aliens guzzling down fudge,

Seahorses kissing sea urchins

or seaweed undersea lurking,

Eiffel Tower by Picasso,

An odd man with green mustachios,

Strange one-clawed acrobatic crabs

With ostentatious derby hats,

What malady’s inflicting me?

Imagination’s all I see.

This is for dVerse’s Monday quadrille challenge. By their definition, a quadrille is a poem with exactly 44 words. Our poems had to include the word “smudge.”

Creative Life, Poetry

Cabin in the Woods, #Paint Chip Poetry Rondelet

Cabin in the Woods

Sweet cabin mine,

Hidden among the forest trees,

Sweet cabin mine,

Surrounded by divine design,

By day, I observe honeybees,

By night, a firefly’s light I see,

Sweet cabin mine.

The challenge from Linda Kruschke of Another Fearless Year this week is to write a rondelet, using one (or more) of the pictured paint chip colors, and using “cabin in the woods” as a title.

According to The Poetry Dictionary by John Drury, a rondelet is …

RONDELET (ron-deh-lay’; French, “little rondel”) A form consisting of seven lines, with a refrain and only two rhymes. The rhyme and refrain scheme is AbAabbA (capital A = refrain). The refrain lines (A) each contain four syllables; the other lines (a and b) each contain eight syllables.