3WW: Frieze

The prompts for this week’s Three Word Wednesday are

incubate ~ nightmare ~ vanity

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Frieze

music played….
the sweet thrum of the guitar
the gentle sigh of the violin
the lilting lightness of the flute

but he didn’t listen
encouraging silence to incubate

music played….
the sensual wail of the saxophone
the full stridency of the trumpet
the rhythmic beat of the bass drum

but he didn’t listen
with a vanity that shunned pleasure

in a city pulsing with music
he didn’t listen

and the nightmare that
was his spirit turned
to stone

 

~~~

The photo is a close up I took of a frieze on a pavilion in Audubon Park, New Orleans. More photo’s here.

RWP #97: ReX

The ReadWritePoem #97 prompt is to use the “cut up” technique, that is to cut words or phrases from a text and transform them into a poem. I didn’t literally “cut out each word, drop the words into a container, shake the container vigorously, then write down each word as you draw it from the container” as suggested but, instead, cut and pasted phrases from NoLA Rising’s Facebook Information Page, a local non-profit I support, to recreate their creed into my poetic interpretation.

Text is as follows:

NoLA Rising is a non-profit art campaign that promotes accessibility to art regardless of socio-economic status and aims to broaden perspective and opinion on public art. The organization encourages and helps artists and residents to publicly display works of art for the purpose of rebuilding and restoring the human spirit.

It is our belief that participation in the visual arts not only helps to re-beautify our vibrant community, but also empowers the individual by fostering creativity and the discovery of personal potential. New Orleans is a unique and beautiful city that has historically embraced the spirit of individual freedom, and supports the growth of the artist, musician and writer … the goal of NoLA Rising is to showcase that spirit.

My reconstructed poem from that text:

ReX

accessibility to art,
regardless of socio-economic status,
helps to re-beautify our vibrant community.
accessibility to art
supports the growth of the artist,
musician and writer
but also empowers
the individual
by fostering creativity and
the discovery of personal potential
for the purpose of rebuilding and restoring
the human spirit.
NoLA Rising!

~~~~~

Visit ReadWritePoem for more poetry from this prompt.

3WW: Bourbon

Today’s prompts at Three Word Wednesday are
heartache ~ tangle ~ restless

Bourbon

the street is restless
with throngs of people
drunk and sober
ecstatic and depressed
weaving, intermingling in
a tangle of movement like
tree branches whipped
in a tropical wind, anticipating

we are voyeurs in our
own tangle of arms and
legs and sheets, watching
the passing bodies outside
our bedroom window, hidden

the muffled street noise drifts
on the breeze and the setting
sun casts shades of pinkness
through the transom, onto
our love-slicked bodies

the moments stretch within
the heartache of everything
that is this street we live on
and the love we share in
this miraculous life

Slaying Giants

the brisk breeze off
the river
with the clear brightness of
the sun
tempts us into staying in and
cuddling nekked
under our blanket this Sunday
afternoon to watch the black
and gold slay giants
~
Geaux Saints!
Giant killers: Saints crush New York 48-27

I’m To Be Published!

I’ve been a dabbler in writing poetry off and on since I was a kid. Recently, on a whim, I was inspired to submit two poems to an online literary ezine and, much to my shock, they were accepted for publication. Submitting my work anywhere for the first time was a bit scary for me and I never would have done it without the encouragement of one online friend and the inspiration of another on & offline friend.

Nathan Moore, who blogs on Exhaust Fumes and French Fries, has been a constant and encouraging supporter of my poetry for over a year now. He’s also a Community Director for ReadWritePoem, an online “gathering place for those who love poetry — and for those who suspect that, with a little nurturing, they could grow to love poetry.” But I first came to know Nathan through Three Word Wednesday where he first commented on my work. This is also a wonderful site with weekly prompts to stimulate your writing juices and where I first waded into the unknown waters of online writing, so I want to say a big THANKS to 3WW too.

I also want to give a shout-out to Mark at Poems Before Breakfast for inspiring me to submit. If it weren’t for reading about the ezine on his blog I never would have know about it. Thanks, dawlin’. Ironically, my poems will be in the same February 2010 issue as his on The Dead Mule School of Southern Literature. Ummmm, a bit intimidating for me, I must say, because his poetry is seriously da bomb.

So I had to take down the two poems from Zouxzoux, “Delaronde Street” and “Purple, Green, Gold” but they’ll be back up after publication.

ReadWritePoem #96: Spam

This prompt on ReadWritePoem challenged us to write a poem comprised of any or all of a set of words taken from email spam.  I wrote the words randomly on a sheet of paper, began  putting them together by two’s (kinda like a puzzle) and the poem ended up writing  itself. This was really fun and I ended up using all 15 words of the prompt and only 9 others.

Those Damn Kids
Insolent progeny

exploded language into a

vehement croak with

vowelized chelations, exulting

cosmoramic & irresistable.

Alas, their investment beget

a thrasher of a

capricious reprobate.

3 Word Wednesday: Frustrate

The prompts for today’s 3WW are

frustrate ~ indecent ~ understand

Frustrate

She waited an indecent amount

of time in a world where consideration

used to matter called

~Planet Earth~

still inhabited by (as far as she knew)

humans with the ability to reason who

could understand that a question expects

an answer,  even the most

obtuse human could relate to her

feeling of being pushed down

and down

and down

his to-do list until tomorrow

or tomorrow

or tomorrow

as she waited for her answer while

his IP address skipped all over

the damn cyber-world Finally

she decided to forward him this:

Regarding the question I emailed

to you six weeks ago, please reply by

checking one of the following:

__ yes

__ no

__I don’t know

__ Fuck off

solar plexis

Photo by Thomas Hawk

Read Write Poem prompt #94’s challenge is to create a piece based on the above photo. We were also asked to leave a reflection or idea in the comment section of what the photo might signify to us. This was my comment:

I’m intrigued by the dark spot on the solar plexis of the vague white figure. The solar plexis chakra signifies psychic intuition or a sense of “knowing”. The fact that the spot is black instead of yellow might indicate the red figure – which is sharply focused – is attempting to “bleed” or suck the psychic energy from the white figure.

This is my poem.

solar plexis

It was the knowing that

drew them inexorably together

she possessed and he needed

she was centered and he, twisted

his spirit had shriveled from the

strength of his bitterness, from

years of obsession and suspicion

that depleted his strength, rendering

his knowing impotent

but in her he sensed a fullness

a deep intuition and true spirit

in a calculated ploy, he moved

in for the pillage