Tuesday, March 12, 2024

1599 - Whispers in the Gloaming

 


The Sunday Whirl presents the following words for us to use:

Wonder, stained, gloaming, emerge, prayer, hours, grateful,
seeds, chances, whispered, smudge, conjuring


Whispers in the Gloaming

In the twilight hours that end the day
My loss, most sharp, appears.
Demons emerge in shades of grey
And conjure heartfelt tears.

I miss you so, you filled my space,
More than I thought you could,
Your love, your laugh, your warm embrace,
Your sense of right and good.

You added wonder to my life,
Tempered my prosaic bent,
I’m so glad you chanced to be my wife,
An adventure, with consent.

What does the future hold for me?
The crystal ball is smudged.
What seeds will now unfold for me?
How will my prayers be judged?

I have so much to be grateful for,
That I had you for so long.
I thought I would cope that fateful hour,
Clearly, I was wrong.



Tuesday, March 05, 2024

1598 - The Reset

 

The Sunday Whirl presents the following words for us to use:
sober bees urgent lunges angel swirls water mind frenzied scream light sunset

The Reset

I

The sun went through its cycle: from sunrise to sunset, warming the earth.
Bees went soberly about their business in the gentle morning light.
Moths and butterflies too, though more haphazard, less sober.
Birds flitted, animals grazed, the jungles and savannahs grew.
The waters burbled and swirled.  Fish did what fishes do.
There was no urgency to the world.


II

Somewhere, on the savannah, an ape stood erect.
Other apes too.  Confrontation.  Battle.
A rock crushed a skull.  A stick pierced skin.
Frenzied fighting.  Lunges.  Screams.
Tribal cries of triumph reverberated.
Technology.  Better weapons.
Arrows.
Swords.
Guns.
Cannons.
Rockets.
Missiles.
Slaughter and mayhem.
Greed and Envy.
A world had lost its mind.


III

ENOUGH! Impatience echoed through the clouds.
Birds took to the air, animals looked up.  Time stood still.
The angels screamed.


IV

The sun went through its cycle: from sunrise to sunset, warming the earth.
Bees went soberly about their business in the gentle morning light.
Moths and butterflies too, though more haphazard, less sober.
Birds flitted, animals grazed, the jungles and savannahs grew.
The waters burbled and swirled.  Fish did what fishes do.
There was no urgency to the world.


Saturday, December 30, 2023

1597 - Will Stars Still Twinkle

 

The Sunday Whirl posted a list of words to use.  
I got stuck on just one: Twinkle.

Will stars still twinkle?

Will stars still twinkle when you’re gone?
Will sunsets entrance me once again?
Will birds add a chorus to the dawn?
Will any pleasures still remain?

I lie and listen to the nearby breathing
Knowing what is soon in store.
The beast is not of a mind for leaving
It too once slept but now no more.

So as I lie there, sadly resigned
To the future as it currently seems,
Stray thoughts wander through my mind
And rob me of my sleep.  And dreams.

Will stars still twinkle when you’re gone?
Will I enjoy listening to the rain?
Will I lie in the sun upon the lawn?
Will any pleasures still remain?

--- ◊ ---

Sunday, October 15, 2023

1596 - Post Your Own Bail



 

Post Your Own Bail

You had a troubled childhood?
Your parents weren’t supportive?
You only had dogs for company?  
Well, at least you had company.

You had a troubled childhood? 
Your brother and sister still treat you as the little sister?
Their partners annoy you?  Some extremely? 
That’s life.  Suck it up, darling.

You had a troubled childhood?
You feel that you cannot trust people.
You feel unsupported and isolated
But are spiky and cold—your choice.

You had a troubled childhood?
You feel that this is a ‘get out of jail free’ card?
A licence to be passive aggressive?
To be openly hurtful?  You are wrong.

You had a troubled childhood?
Is that a reason to not grow up?



Monday, August 07, 2023

1595 - Two Handles

 


Two Handles

There are two handles.
We can choose which one we grasp.
One rough and one smooth.
Some people choose rough.
They are itching for a fight:
Fractious and feisty.
The wise will choose smooth.
Life's a battle already,
Why make it harder?
.
---
© 2023  J Cosmo Newbery
---




Sunday, August 06, 2023

1594 - Together

 


A log-fire burning.
Two people are sitting there.
Reading, side by side.
.
---
© 2023  J Cosmo Newbery
---   

Monday, July 24, 2023

1593 - Trim Thoughts

 


The Sunday Whirl presents the following words for us to use:

pain stay trapped brave cry shine crafty stray drain run settle trim


Trim Thoughts

I
In a world of pain
You bring kindness—
A priceless gift.

II
We are all trapped.
Most stay.
Some stray.
The truly brave run.

III
The sun shines.
The sky, clear and blue.
The air is crisp.
I want to cry.

IV
Crafty hobbies
Distract the mind,
Drain the cares.
Settle.
Relax.
.
---
© 2023  J Cosmo Newbery
---   

Thursday, July 13, 2023

1592 - Through a Glass Darkly

 


The Sunday Whirl presents the following words for us to use: (I didn't use them all)
 
mingled dim damp shallow spell gaze drifts shattered call twitch words split

 

Through a glass darkly

Emotions tumble through my mind,
Mingled love and fear and hope
What does the future hold?
And will I really cope?

“Write it down”, I’m told:
“Dump your shattered heart
Onto the private pages 
Of a journal, if you’re smart.”

But in the dim light of the morning
I struggle with the words;
Whichever way in which I gaze,
The view is bleak and blurred.

That the beast is in abeyance,
Gives relief but not elation.
It’s been halted for the moment:
Suspended animation.

When will it spring back to life?
When will my wife be dead?
The pointed sword of Damocles
Suspended by a thread.

And so I write as best I can
Of the now and present past
Embracing love where I can;
Only memories will last.

The reality is quite brutal,
To end then then begin.
A solitary life awaits me.
Damp tissues in the bin.
.
---
© 2023  J Cosmo Newbery
    ---   


Thursday, June 29, 2023

1591 - Drink



Mad Kane poses a regular limerick challenge.
The key word this week is ‘drink’.


The neighbours all love to assess
How proper your grief and distress
But forget what they think
And have a good drink,
They're not there for you to impress.

---

I'm fond of a red, I confess,
Favouring more rather than less.
And I do love the chink 
Of a celebratory drink
Knowing nothing exceeds like excess.
.
---
© 2023  J Cosmo Newbery
---   

Please note: This is a writing exercise: the neighbours are really lovely.

Sunday, June 25, 2023

1590 - The Playlist

 


 The Sunday Whirl presents the following words for us to use:

ascending morning head dreams between hand road storytellers poem potion feather three


The Playlist

A common theme displayed,
Poems of love and longing;
Laments of unrequited dreams,
Prayers for warm belonging.

The storytellers bare their hearts,
Asking for compassion;
Can we head down that road
In a truly honest fashion?

Emotions ascend to dizzy heights
To rescue from the rubble,
These singers of the sad laments:
But morning bursts the bubble.

The recipient of this playlist
Few can understand
The dark, foreboding shadow
Of its cold malignant hand.

We are, as they say, caught between,
With no answers so to speak.
We close our eyes and bow our heads
And tears run down our cheek.
.
---
© 2023  J Cosmo Newbery
---   

Sunday, June 18, 2023

1589 - The Flight of the Cuckoo


 The Sunday Whirl presents the following words for us to use:
hope feathers flight sight guise desire chime beyond spinning open springs drive


The Flight of the Cuckoo

The chimes punctuate the passage,
Of time and life and flock.
Only death knows what lies beyond
And each day tends the clock.

We think we are important,
That we’re all made of steel,
But the world will keep on spinning 
With no-one at the wheel.

The question is an open one, 
That humans will survive?
Are we cuckoos in the earthly nest,
Consuming to deprive?

So what drives us on?  Desire, I guess,
Just some immortal twist:
To know we made a difference,
To know we will be missed.

Ego in the guise of caring
Will reluctantly admit:
It no-one’s there to miss us,
What is the point of it?

The chimes punctuate the passage,
Of time and life and flock.
Only death knows what lies beyond
And each day tends the clock.
.
---
© 2023  J Cosmo Newbery
---   

Tuesday, June 13, 2023

1588 - Finding Roses

 


The Sunday Whirl presents the following words for us to use:

mist creek belt shadows forest summer still rising crow filters time sentinel*


Finding Roses

“I am a forest, and a night of dark trees: 
but he who is not afraid of my darkness, 
will find banks full of roses under my cypresses.”  
-– Nietzche


The forest is quite still and dark,
Or so at first it seems.
But wait. And hear the rustling trees,
And burbling mountain steams.

Cypresses watch upon the woods,
Sentinels in the midst.
While shadows from what light there is
Play games upon the mist.

There is a clearing in this forest,
Where cypresses ease their grip;
You’ll discover banks of roses there,
That well reward the trip.
.
---
© 2023  J Cosmo Newbery
---   

*I confess that I didn't use them all.

Tuesday, January 24, 2023

1587 - Running out

 

Running Out

They said that it would—
The system is shutting down.
No miracles here.
 .
---
© 2023  J Cosmo Newbery
---   

Sunday, January 22, 2023

1586 - That much

 

That much.

Does your mother drink?
Just half a glass when I do.
Oh.  Really?  That much.
 .
---
© 2023  J Cosmo Newbery
---   

Monday, January 16, 2023

1585 - Relative appointment

 


Relative appointment

Doctor's waiting rooms.
Time is different there.
Einstein understood.

 .
---
© 2023  J Cosmo Newbery
---   

Sunday, January 15, 2023

1584 - Demons


 
Those recurring thoughts,
The demons of the darkness,
Rob me of my sleep.

 .
---
© 2023  J Cosmo Newbery
---   


Wednesday, January 11, 2023

1583 - Check the Feet

 

Check the Feet

How am I doing?
There are no easy answers—
I really don't know.
 .
---
© 2023  J Cosmo Newbery
---   


Monday, January 09, 2023

1581 - A young fellow called Shawn

 


Poets & Storytellers United invite us to create poetry or
prose inspired by the words Reclaim, Rekindle, Rebirth.



There once was a young fellow called Shawn,
Who claimed to be Jesus, reborn.
When decried as a fake
He strode to the lake
Stepped in, gave a scream and was gorn.
 .
---
© 2023  J Cosmo Newbery
---   



Sunday, January 08, 2023

1580 - Didn't skip a beat

 



Before & After

The normal treatment,
Chemo and radiation—
Didn't skip a beat.
 .
---
© 2023  J Cosmo Newbery
---   



Saturday, January 07, 2023

1579 - Cheese

 

Mad Kane had a limerick challenge using the word 'blue'.

Cheeses

They can be soft, hard or quite blue.
They can be smelly or oozing white goo.
They are often a winner
And the end of the dinner,
And cheese can be like that, too.

 .
---
© 2023  J Cosmo Newbery
---   

Friday, January 06, 2023

1578 - The Matter is Serious

 

The Sunday Whirl presents the following words for us to use:

boat preserve speak resist oil fire drive fly shoot matter close right


The Matter is Serious.

Why are people afraid to speak up?
The right believe they are indeed right,
A god-given, there’s a quote somewhere in the bible, right
(No, not the one about the meek.  Another one.)
Something about oil. About the right to money too.
And something about shooting.  Guns, yes, guns, it says you can shoot people.
Ok, the quotes may be a bit obscure and need a careful interpretation
But I am assured that they are there.  
I’ll check with the church’s Chief Financial Officer, he’ll know, I’m sure.
It might not be exact but I pretty sure it is close to the meaning.
I mean it sounds right.  Don't read it myself.

And so they go on these entitled few,
Resisting the obvious, proud of their electric cars
Powered by coal-fired electricity.
I can’t see it ending well.
It’s said that we are all in the same boat.
No, we are all in the same storm.
Vastly different boats.
The ending will not be pretty.
Oh, to be a fly on the wall..

---
© 2023  J Cosmo Newbery
---   

Thursday, June 02, 2022

1577 - Missed


 

Missed.

A deathbed request:
"Some of your oatcakes please..."
But she couldn't wait.
 .
---
© 2022  J Cosmo Newbery
---  

Sunday, April 17, 2022

1576 - The Circus Comes to Town

 

The Circus Comes to Town

Lock up your babies, while there’s time,
The candidates are a-coming;
Photo ops are a pantomime—
The spin will be mind-numbing.

Those dubious bits of nonsense, the polls,
Excite or make us fretting.
As reliable as pinning voodoo dolls,
But each time we keep forgetting.

The facts become superfluous
When intent is clearly to mislead;
They tell us they want what’s best for us
But merely sell us fear and greed.

Then be not shy, but use your vote,
And, while you can, go cast it.
We cannot sink the gravy boat,
But with luck we can outlast it.
 .
---
© 2022  J Cosmo Newbery
---   




Sunday, January 02, 2022

1575 - Why should they care?


The Sunday Whirl has a set of words, for a Wordle:

signal drive plaid lone life joke
club ice fire merry join fly



Why should they care?

I wonder what drives them.
These well fed, well paid, members of The Club?
Rhetorical question.
Fly in, fly out,
Make merry around fires or pools,
Sipping drinks chilled with imported glacier ice,
While it’s still there,
Why should they care?
That’s the life!
The signals drip entitlement.
Pillage while you can,
Because you can,
All you can.
Joke about the poor lone pathetic fools
Who lament your actions.
Your media buddies ridicule them
With cheap shots and phone taps,
Headlines, all in bold caps.
“Well played!” they chortle.
Well, plaid is Gaelic for blanket—
Covered up.  Hidden.  Smothered.
The truth.  Justice.  Equity.
Just the scars are visible. 

They've gone.
Why should they care?
 .
---

© 2022  J Cosmo Newbery
---  

Monday, September 06, 2021

1574 - Off One's Tree



 The Sunday Whirl has a set of words, for a Wordle:
flutter, cage, hanger, cold, try, tree,
deny, womb, wish, finish, stray, eager.



Off one's tree.

When bold opportunity knocked
And offered to grant them their wish
Their hearts denied them a flutter,
Cold and rather brutish:
From womb—
The next stop is tomb.

They mutter
But most prefer it that way.
While their chosen cage is not locked
Few are eager to stray.

When bold opportunity knocked
And offered to grant them their dreams
They pulled the hanger door shut—
Caution hates extremes.
Why try?
Just to finish thereby?

Clear cut—
And most prefer it that way.
While their chosen cage is not locked
Few are eager to stray.
 .
---

© 2021  J Cosmo Newbery
---  

Monday, May 24, 2021

1573 - Don't mention the Page 3 girls

 

The Sunday Whirl has a set of words, for a Wordle:
fun, Florida, girls, unify, news, middle,
scandal, hard, lie, run second, spray.


Don't mention the Page 3 girls

The news runs lies,
Broadcast at all hours;
Anger, shock and scandal.
No middle ground to unify,
The morals of a vandal.
A venomous spray
Is no fun way to start the day.
But it titillates the flock—
I really wonder why.



A second try—
Good news is still hard to see...
But wait!  "Florida" means full of flowers.
Well, that was news to me!

 .
---

© 2021  J Cosmo Newbery
---  

Sunday, April 18, 2021

1572 - Sign in, Clock off.


 

The Sunday Whirl has a set of words, for a Wordle;

sign, lame, chime, tethered shine, game, erotic, card, tame, soft, found.

 

Sign in, Clock off.

Pick a card!  Go on, any card!
Did you win?  Of course not.
The game is fixed.
What starts as a sweaty coupling,
Erotic or cold, functional,
Has its own rules, I’ve found.
Nothing you can anticipate,
Nothing tethered to logic.
It’s a racket.  It’s a con.
It’s barely here before it’s gone.
The fates roll the dice, it’s loaded,
Spin the wheel, it’s rigged,
Shuffle the deck and stack it.
Nothing matches, nothing rhymes.
Sitting, lordly, the Gods, watching, amused.
Visiting their whim upon the fit and lame,
The wild and tame,
The timid and game.
Soft option, or hard, it’s all the same.
Daily, the rise, the shine and set.
People live and die, eat and work, beget.
Time marches, relentlessly forward,
Until it strikes the hour.  Your hour.
Can you hear the chimes?
 .
---

© 2021  J Cosmo Newbery
---  

Sunday, February 07, 2021

1571 - Through a Glass, Darkly.

 

Sunday Wordle prompt:
Fiery, color, hand, catwalk, casualty, glass
rhythm, flow, blow, three, unity, furnace.

 

Through a glass, darkly.

The response is immediate:
The clenched hands,
The face’s fiery colour too,
The temple’s rhythmic flow
That beats out the base tattoo
Of raw intent.

A red veil descends,
The unity of reason and passion ends
In a furnace of anger and pride.
Intent to return pain for pain,
Hurt for hurt (if the past is any guide).

They strut, as on a catwalk,
Openly displaying their mission,
Unwilling to concede or even talk.
Base emotions drive them to strike a blow,
A three-pronged spear of retribution:
Revenge, vengeance, hurt, willing slaves.

In these heated moments
Reason is the first casualty.
Consequences, the second.

Best dig two graves.
 .
---

© 2021  J Cosmo Newbery
--- 

Wednesday, February 03, 2021

1570 - A Sailor from Spain



 Mad Kane's limerick prompt: main.

 A Sailor from Spain

 Pedro was a sailor from Spain
And, while quite discrete on the main,
An indecent passion
For bondage and lashin'
Got him keelhauled again and again.
 .
---

© 2021  J Cosmo Newbery
--- 

 

Sunday, January 31, 2021

1569 - Or Not



 

Or not.

Life is a series of turns
where we choose a direction
Often unconscious of the eddies
and turmoil that follow.
Chaos theory.  Butterflies.
The slightly delayed trip that resulted in a chance meeting.
Or not.
The battle valiantly fought.
Or not.
The offense taken.
Or not.
Where would the alternative path have gone?
Or not.
Sitting on the fence.
Or not.
We make a choice and can never know
What we miss.
Or not.
Ignorance is bliss.
Or not.
 .
---

© 2021  J Cosmo Newbery
---

Tuesday, January 26, 2021

1568 - Terra Nullius


A wordle, using 

world, play, plan, divided, untethered, clothes, hurt, travellers, fresh, future, speak, text.


 Terra Nullius

Can the world, will the world, survive untethered greed?
How will constant growth play out
If we don’t heed the warnings plainly given?
How much can we hurt the planet and still be forgiven?
How do you plan a survival package if the people are divided
Into rival tribes on just about everything?

Freshly scented politicians in their smart new clothes
Tell us it will be just fine, that our future is rosy.
But here is the subtext:
Re-elect us, we don’t care,
We won’t be there.

What if time travellers were really possible?
But no-one has come back to speak to us
Because there is no-one there in the future to return?
 .
---

© 2021  J Cosmo Newbery
---

Monday, January 25, 2021

1567 - Of Distant Lands


 

My first Wordle for a long time; the words provided are
Vicious, justice, cheers, settle, sway, shelf, chain, tell, call, web, send, month.

 

Of Distant Lands.

She is a fluid,
A liquid expression of power and grace
Contained in a vessel, not with chains
But with walls, and ditches and shelves.
There are cheers when she moves
Pacing the enclosure, watching and yet not really there.
Unformed, phantom images fill her mind:
Grasslands on a sweeping Savannah.  
Gazelles.  
The hot west wind.  
The cooling wells.
The images send a shiver and yet she knows not what they are.
Or why.
She stands, looking at the jeering faces, puzzled.
They too watch and wait,
Posting never to be viewed photos to the web,
Hoping for a snarl or a growl.
The sign, after all, says ‘vicious’
And so they express their wishes, a primal need for fear,
And yet her heart aches for a primal justice, unclear and undelivered.
She watches, swaying.  They watch, praying.  God knows why.
By and by she settles in the shade and the crowd murmurs its disappointment.
Some call out to get her to move about.
Months pass.  She paces, lies, dreams of places she can’t quite understand,
Cannot tell why or what are these troubling images
Of distant lands.
 .
---

© 2021  J Cosmo Newbery
---



Saturday, December 26, 2020

1566 The Red and the Yellow



 

The Red & the Yellow

They are more than just supporters,
They cheer the circus on;
Cowards or just stupid?  They crow
The madness of King Don.
He tweets—
They leap up from their seats.
They know
The carnage he can bring
To the democratic quarters
But, yellow, they just stand and sing.
 .
---

© 2012   J Cosmo Newbery
---

Saturday, October 31, 2020

1565 - Lack of proficiency

 Tossed a job to do.
Not given any support—
An awkward meeting.
 .
---

© 2012   J Cosmo Newbery
---

1564 - Not my job

 Push back on Spanky.
Why should I write the letter?
Not doing her job.
 .
---

© 2012   J Cosmo Newbery
---

1563 - Follow the Crowds

Against the odds
I won the football tipping.
With the odds, perhaps.
 .
---

© 2012   J Cosmo Newbery
---