dverse poetry challenge – Susan Joy Clark

Creative Life, Poetry

Monster in My Head, #Chant Poetry

There’s a little monster in my head,

He’s a one-man percussion band,

beating his bongos and grinning —

maliciously.

There’s a little monster in my head,

who doesn’t like to go to bed.

When it’s time to sleep,

the little monster in my head

plays bongos and castanets and

vuvuzelas, jumping up and down inside my

cranium — that little monster in my head.

There’s a little monster in my head,

with a trampoline and a mallet

and — perhaps — a chisel,

and he’s doing unwelcomed and

random refurbishments —

that little monster in my head.

There’s a little monster in my head,

and he likes to play with the lights,

strobe lights and

disco lights

to go with the beat of the bongos,

to go with the beat of his mallet —

that little monster in my head.

There’s a little monster in my head,

doing the conga with his monster friends,

doing gymnastics with dangerous

objects — far worse than running

with scissors — that little monster in my head.

There’s a little monster in my head,

and I have no love for him.

I’d really like to evict him

and make him vacate —

that little monster in my head.

There’s a little monster in my head,

but I can not make him go —

that nasty wasty monster in my head.

There’s a little monster in my head,

and you might know his name.

Do you want to know it?

That little monster in my head?

His name is …

Migraine.

This was written — a little late again — for dVerse’s chant poetry challenge. I started out with a completely different poetry idea, but the migraine continues (a little bit reduced by medicine maybe) and has been quite distracting. So, I decided to write about it. There was once a commercial for some sort of migraine medication that presented the “migraine” like a cartoonized monster. In an abstract way, it kind of made sense to me (not scientifically,) but in the sense of how it feels. It’s too bad I didn’t make this coincide with Migraine Awareness Month which was in June.

Creative Life, Poetry

Waves, #Trimeric

Waves roll into shore,

Stirring up cool, white foam,

Then recede back into the ocean

To hit the shore once more.

Stirring up cool, white foam,

Frothing milky white,

Trailing bubbles across the sand.

Then recede back into the ocean,

Like bathwater flowing down the drain,

As sands shift underfoot.

To roll into shore once more,

Rolling, gathering momentum from afar

Impacting the shore with its power.

This was written for dVerse’s trimeric poetry challenge. Their page defines the trimeric form this way:

1. Trimeric has 4 stanzas
2. The first stanza has 4 lines
3. The other three stanzas have 3 lines each
4. The first line of each stanza is a refrain of the corresponding line in the first stanza (so 2nd stanza starts with the second line, third stanza starts with the third line, etc.).
5. The sequence of lines, then, is abcd, b – -, c – -, d – -.

Here is a little background behind my creative process for this one. I wasn’t sure of a subject at first, so I thought I’d do my own “photo prompt” and perused unsplash.com for a photo I liked. I selected the ocean pic above. As I thought about it, I realized the form really suited the subject of waves, as the repetitions seemed to suit that in and out feeling.

Creative Life, Poetry

The Reluctant Adventurer

I would really like to travel,

And I would like to stay at home.

I would like to have adventures

But don’t want to do them alone.

I would like to go exploring,

But I don’t like getting lost.

I would risk a business venture,

But I am fearful of the cost.

I relate to Bilbo Baggins,

Reluctant adventurers we.

A little worried of troubles

That I can or can not foresee.

In spite of all these worries,

In fresh waters, I dip a toe,

While stretching my parameters

As far and wide as they will go.

Just as I was ready to post, I noticed this quote and image in my WordPress Reader feed from Elena of Short Wisdom. It seemed so appropriate. Check out Elena’s site for other quotes.

This poem was written for the dVerse Poetics challenge, with the requirement that it had to include the word “risk.”

Creative Life, Poetry

Conquering the Dragon(fruit)

Photo by Alexander Schimmeck on Unsplash

who

would have

guessed that past

your unfriendly

exterior was

a sweet reward for those

who adventured? who was the

first to make the discovery?

bright and beautiful, your scaly hide

suits the fierce creature for whom you were named,

even the plant which yields you is prickly,

unwelcoming, dangling and serpent-like,

was it a wanderer sick from thirst

who was the first to conquer you?

who knew cactus could produce

a sweet fruit, gorgeous in

fuschia pink color,

with juices that

dye your skin,

purply

red?

This poem was written for the dVerse Poetics challenge. We were challenged to describe a fruit’s exterior and interior in a form of our choosing. I chose a double etheree. Dragonfruit (pitaya) seems to be getting trendy in the U.S., but I have only tried it recently. I bought some frozen cubes of the fruit to use in a fruit punch at Easter, and it did dye my hands with its juice. It seems it can also be white on the interior as well.

Creative Life, Poetry

Roads? Who Needs Them?

We will soar, and we will fly,

We will skateboard in the sky,

Land down and then soar again,

In a swift Delorean.

And to those stuck back in time,

We will recite in our rhyme,

As through air, we are flowing

Ha! “Roads? Where we are going

we don’t need roads.” So, we fly,

As we wave the past goodbye.

This was a fun assignment. Mish of dVerse asked us to write poetry that incorporated one of several famous movie quotes she picked out. Seeing a line from Back to the Future, I had to pick this one. 🙂