Tag: W3

Life · poetry

Personal Creed

Sally39 Comments

Life is hard for ev’ryone
Stumbling. Deaf. Dumb. Blind
Focus NOT on Number-One
Be thoughtful. Be kind.

Humans can be inhumane-
Ground up by the grind
Bearing Christ or Mark of Cain
Be thoughtful. Be kind.

Weary, weary, so exhausted
Brawn, might — must I find?
No! None should feel accosted!
Be thoughtful. Be kind.

God, let me be supportive –
Let me know Your mind
Not strong-armed or extortive
Be thoughtful. Be kind.

This is my response to this week’s W3 challenge. The Poet of the Week, Murisopsis (Val — congrats!!) challenged us to write a poem using the theme of our Creed or Spirituality. The poem must include a refrain.

I opted to keep trying Celtic forms. This one is the Cro Cumaisc Etir Casbairdni Ocus Lethrannaigecht.(Try saying that three times fast!) Below are the rules

  • Quatrain (or four-line) stanzas
  • Seven syllables in lines one and three; five syllables in lines two and four
  • Lines one and three end with a three-syllable word
  • Lines two and four end with a one-syllable word
  • Rhyme scheme in each stanza: abab

poetry

Boo!

Sally11 Comments

He presses
Himself to the wall. Guesses
She won’t see him out of view —
Boo!

So surpised!
You! she yells, giggling disguised
As annoyance, but she’s not
Hot

She’s laughing!
The fun is telegraphing
A bond they share. It’s such prime
Time.

’cause sometimes
I think being scared (oft-times)
Is half the fun… More than half!
Laugh!

This is my response to this week’s W3 prompt. POW, Violet, gave us three quotes to choose from to incorporate into our poem — all having to do with “The Human Condition.” I chose a quote from Krystal Sutherland, House of Hollow: “Sometimes I think being scared is half the fun.”

I used a Celtic form called Deibide Baise Fri Toin. Syllable counts per line are 3-7-7-1. Lines 1 and 2 rhymes on 2 syllables. Lines 3 and 4 rhyme on one.

poetry

Listening

Sally12 Comments

The truest love involves more than giddy peaks,
It’s listening, really listening, when the other speaks

Words are words are words. Heck, anyone could say them
When there’s honest listening – that’s where love comes from

Words hit heart, hit home, when one looks between
Beyond simple listening we sees what words can mean

To listen we must step aside and hear with more than ears
Listening in that way leads to love that lasts for years

A sally is a jaunt off the beaten track
And love is really listening even when words lack

This is my submission to the W3 challenge this week. The challenge was to write a Ghazal on the theme of Love. Here are the instructions for a Ghazal:

  • Made up of a chain of couplets, where each couplet is an independent poem;
    • It should be natural to put a comma at the end of the first line of each couplet;
  • The Ghazal has a refrain of one to three words that repeat, and an inline rhyme that precedes the refrain;
    • Lines 1 and 2, then every second line, have this refrain and inline rhyme;
  • The last couplet should refer to the author’s name;
  • The rhyming scheme is AA bA cA dA eA etc.

I read and read and read the instructions and, in the end, did only half of them. I wrote couplets, I had a refrain (though not at the end of the line), and the last couplet refers to my name. But the internal rhyme and the rhyme scheme? – Meh.

poetry

I thought about trashing this…

Sally13 Comments
Art by Glen Martin Taylor

So shattered
Everything that mattered
Broken, unfixable, trashed
Dashed

One person
Opts to better, not worsen
Fashion, build, construct, un-break
Make

When you might think all is lost
That all pieces should be tossed
Giving up has higher cost

This is my response to this week’s W3 Challenge. Here are the guidelines given by the Poet of the Week:

  • THEME: Write a poem to encourage someone not to give up—urging them to persevere, try again, or push forward for just one more time or day;
  • STRUCTURE: Use no more than 11 lines;
    • Choose any form or rhyme scheme you prefer;
  • Optional Inspiration: Consider drawing inspiration from the image and/or statement by artist Glen Martin Taylor above;
    • If you do include Glen Martin Taylor’s statement or repost the image, please give proper credit to the artist.

There’s an unpronounceable Celtic form called Deibide Baise Fri Toin. Syllable counts per line are 3-7-7-1. Lines 1 and 2 rhymes on 2 syllables. Lines 3 and 4 rhyme on one. So I wrote two of those plus three more 7-syllable lines that all rhyme with each other. Total lines = 11.

poetry

Longing for the window seat

Sally17 Comments

From the window seat on the plane, plain
Stretches out. And sometimes I see sea.
Sometimes it is a sandy beach. Beech
Trees with maple, birch, hemlock wood would
Populate my view. Back row aisle, I’ll
Say that my view is, of course, coarse
Economy class — deaf to my pleas: Please,
I need the window but I know no
One cares! [sigh] Be there in a few. Phew!

This is my submission to the W3 Challenge. This week we are challenged to write an “Echo Verse” which means the last syllable is repeated at the end of each line. It was a fun challenge.

When I fly, which isn’t often, I truly am a window seat person all the way.

poetry

Introvert

Sally12 Comments

In the shadow of the forest
In the shadow of this wood
In the shadow of one maple
In the shadow there I stood
In the shadow am I hiding?
In the shadow I’m abiding
In the shadow, in the shadow – all is good

The W3 prompt for this week is as follows:

  • THEME: Explore the contrast between light and darkness;
    • Use metaphor to reveal hidden truths or surprising insights;
  • FORM: Each line must begin with the phrase “In the shadow of…”
  • LENGTH: Exactly 7 lines;
  • TONE/IMAGERY: Create vivid imagery that evokes a sense of mystery or revelation;
    • Aim for a narrative arc that transitions or oscillates between themes of obscurity and clarity.

I got the 7-line part right, so I should get partial credit for that — but no metaphors or vivid imagery. Sorry. Just the thoughts of an introvert who has had a rough week.

Can I go hide somewhere now? In the shadow?

Faith · Grief · poetry · Random Photo Monday

When he died

Sally12 Comments

When he died,
Oh, I tried
To decide

What came next —
So perplexed.
The subtext

Of my grief,
My belief,
Brought relief

This is my submission for the W3 Challenge this week:

  • Theme: The bittersweet, painful, or unsettling aspects of the past and its hold on the present;
    • Optional Challenge: Use imagery of shadows, cracks, or reflections to add depth to the theme;
  • Form: A “square” (e.g., 2×2, 3×3, 4×4, or any other pattern you choose);
    • “Rows” represent stanzas;
    • “Columns” represent the number of lines in each stanza;
      • For example: 3×3 = 3 stanzas of 3 lines each; and 4×4 = 4 stanzas of 4 lines each.

The idea of a “square” poem intrigued me. I wrote 3 stanzas of 3 lines each. I went a step further, though, and made each line 3 syllables — does that make it a cube?

poetry

Phoenix

Sally16 Comments

(Ph)lying up higher and higher
Hole-ness comes amidst the fire
Once upon a time, to cope
Every child learned the myth, the trope
New the stories of death, loss, hope
Icarus failed and fell to earth
xineohP rose from ashes in rebirth

This week on W3 the poet of the week (PoW) Sarah David challenged us to write a poem of up to 12 lines on the theme of hope or renewal. Poets can use this image (or another one) of a phoenix for inspiration if they like.

I decided to write an Acrostic, but, darn it all, the words wouldn’t cooperate. If Phoenix can begin with a ph, I gave flying permission to do the same. And that wholeness of life rising from ashes? Well, the w just wouldn’t work! New/knew — whatever. And X? Fuhgeddaboudit!

It’s a quirky poem, I admit.

poetry

Elbowroom

Sally8 Comments

Go into a crowd
The hustle-bustle-jostle
Of people – no – not for me

Sit beside a lake
Alone – a loon dives for fish
Eagle circles high – I sigh

This is my submission for the W3 prompt this week. POW Suzanne challenged us to write a poem in a Japanese form with the theme of Yutori — a Japanese word that means, among other things, elbowroom.

I have to confess that I don’t really feel confident about Japanese forms, so I read through the book: Japanese Poetry Forms by James P. Wagner (Ishwa) and Nick Hale that Suzanne included and settled on The Sedoka. Here’s the explanation of the form:

The Sedoka
Sometimes known as a whirling head poem is
similar to a later form of Japanese poetry called the
mondo from the Zen practice of rapid question-answer
between a master and a student or, more frequently,
between two lovers. Often the answer would be in
nonverbal form such as pointing to a natural object.
The sedoka can often be considered the combination of
two or three katuata. A sedoka is written by only 1
poet and rather than question-answer, the 2 stanzas are
often parallels, sometimes taking the form of an
internal dialogue or contemplative dilemma. This verse
can be found as far back as the 6th century.
The sedoka is:
 2 stanzas of 3 lines each
 19 syllables or less
 often 5-7-7, sometimes 5-7-5 is used for each
stanza.
 the stanzas should be parallel to each other, or
in some ways opposites without being directly
contradictory.

You can see that I am a little partial to the Celtic forms that like internal rhyme and alliteration.

poetry

Ode to a New Daily Planner

Sally11 Comments

Oh 2025
You stretch before me
On unwritten pages
Clean
Fresh
Full of hope

I wrote a prayer in you
To start things off
Opening you
Pressing you flat

Birthdays and
Other reminders
Are scattered throughout
But I know
(as do you)
There is more to come

By December 31
You will be full
Of occasions
Good
Bad
Happy
Sad
Momentous
Minute

Life
In a book
Written by me

Dear 2025 planner
Come with me on my travels
Bear witness to my events
Remind me
Always
Of what is important

This is my response to this week’s W3 prompt: write an ode.