Repost - The Letter

Poetry Jam has a prompt "Letters".

Here's one I wrote earlier.

The Letter

I got a letter yesterday
Handwritten by a friend;
On crisp and starchy paper,
A signature at the end.

No, not a love letter
But lovely, none the less,
For the surprise of its arrival
And the thoughts expressed.

I can see her in my mind -
Sitting at an escritoire;
A coffee at her elbow,
Some flowers in a jar.

Caring, tangible thoughts
From someone, far away.
I put it carefully in a drawer,
To reread another day.

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© J Cosmo Newbery 2012
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CCCLXVIII - The T-Rex & The Lamp

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Trifecta had the prompt to use the word dinosaur and the third dictionary

definition of dinosaur ('one that is impracticably large') in a work of between 33 and 333 words.

The T-Rex & The Lamp

The dinosaur known as T Rex
Pined for arms with bulging biceps.
The original pair
Just hung in mid-air
And were useless for eating or sex.

Though he went to the gym and the staff
Worked at building his arms by a half,
The results just annoyed
And he became paranoid,
As little mammals would see him and laugh.

But three wishes there to be hadin’.
When he chanced on the lamp of Aladdin
But his arms were too teeny
To awaken the genie,
A tale most certain to sadden.

.

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© 2012   J Cosmo Newbery

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CCCLXVII - Peeved

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Mad Kane has a regular limerick challenge.

She provides the first line, the rest is up to us.

A fellow was peeved at his mate

When she said that he wasn’t so great.

While the harsh truth annoyed,

It was the method employed:

He found out in a Facebook update.

A woman was peeved at her mate

Who thought that foreplay negates

The masculine control

Of the ultimate goal,

And went at it like a bull at a gate.

.

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© 2012   J Cosmo Newbery

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CCCLXVI - The High Country

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Sunday Scribblings has the prompt 'Explore'.

I thought I would try something a little different to my usual:

The High Country.

Grazing lazily on the silky pastures,
with lips, gently pulling at the growth.

Moving, untended, along the ridges and glens,
Up to the tree line and down again,
To the shoulders of the savannahs, extended. 

Working the meadow.  Rhythmically. 

Nibbling.

Slowly.

Somewhere, a flank trembles.

.

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© 2012   J Cosmo Newbery

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CCCLXV - An Obsession

  Mad Kane has a regular limerick challenge.

She provides the first line, the rest is up to us.

A fellow was very obsessed,
With women, and how they got dressed.
They handed him in, though,
When caught at their window;
Charges, I’m told, will be pressed.

.

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© 2012   J Cosmo Newbery

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CCCLXIV - Sonnet to a Young Niece

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Caz, aged about 25 in 2002, with Colin the Camel.
She had the degenerative disease, MELAS and died in 2006.
Don’t talk to me about ‘intelligent design’.

dVerse  had the prompt 'beautiful sadness'.

Sonnet to a young Niece.

She was a sweet and chirpy young kid,
As normal as any you’d find.
She found delight in all she did
She was happy and bouncy and kind.

Once the hormonal tides started flowing
They triggered a relentless decay;
At the time we weren’t to be knowing
Of the calamity coming her way.

She endured her lot, with good heart,
As her systems fell to the fault;
She knew pretty much from the start
There could be no other result.

She smiled as the malaise dragged on
And then, one sad day, she was gone.

.

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© 2012   J Cosmo Newbery

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CCCLXIII - These are a few of my favorite things.

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Carry On Tuesday has provided the line "These are a few of my favorite things"

from The Sound of Music and asked us to run with it, in our own way.  Well, here goes:

The Politician

Party-room deals and passing new laws,
Kissing small babies and knocking on doors,
Marginal seats with positive swings
These are a few of my favorite things

When the shit hits
When the poll swings
When I'm feeling sad
I simply remember my favorite things
And then I don't feel so bad

◊◊◊

The Media

Gathering gossip and crafting a tale
Hacking a phone and rifling the mail
Misleading stories that pull on heart-strings
These are a few of my favorite things

When the sales fall
When the boss rings
When I'm feeling sad
I simply remember my favorite things
And then I don't feel so bad

◊◊◊

The Average Bloke

An afternoon barbie and a woman half bare
Footie on the telly and asleep in a chair
Long weekends where I don’t do a thing
These are a few of my favorite things

When the rain comes
When the boss rings
When I'm feeling sad
I simply remember my favorite things
And then I don't feel so bad

◊◊◊

The Minister

Promising them heaven or eternal hellfire
Dressing in gowns and small boys from the choir
Low genuflecting and the kissing of rings
These are a few of my favorite things

When the flock leave
When the cops ring
When I'm feeling sad
I simply remember my favorite things
And then I don't feel so bad

.

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© 2012   J Cosmo Newbery

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CCCLXII - The Lady in the Green Chair

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dVerse invited us to write an 'impressionist' poem.

Using a photo from The Box of Erotic I attempted to capture

the spirit, an impression, of the photo without actually describing it.

The Lady in the Green Chair

Green leather, lightly marked,
Part a barrier and part a chair.

Floral fabric, green and sleeveless,
A creamy thigh, purposely bare.

A stocking suggests a sensuality
A hand invites you to compare.

Half hidden and yet with intent,
She watches, teasing and aware.

.

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© 2012   J Cosmo Newbery

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CCCLXI - The First Coffee

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Poetry Jam had the prompt "What do you value?"

Now, I pushed a few ideas around - love, trust, humour, frienship, logic...

All valuable, to be sure, but one thing stood out:

The First Coffee.

There are things that will display
An intrinsic value, in their way.
But none of this batch
Can hope to match
The first sweet coffee of the day.

.

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© 2012   J Cosmo Newbery

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CCCLX - The Mouse

Three Word Wednesday posed the challenge:

write something using the three words "crumble", "drawn" and "uneasy".

The words suggested something vulnerable, like a mouse facing a cobra.

I have used the limerick form but it has a haiku staccato to it.

The Mouse

As the prey feels the pressure begin,
Uneasy voices warn from within,
But resistance falls away,
Crumbles, in disarray,
And he’s drawn relentlessly in.

.

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© 2012   J Cosmo Newbery

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CCCLIX - The Dinner

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Magpie Tales has the above photo as a prompt.

The Dinner

The table was set in a formal array

They sat together in a remote sort of way.

“Nice forks” she said “I do like a nice fork”.

But if he heard her he didn’t show it.

Chorus
Poor, poor lady, what’s she going to do?
She burns with a fire
Of passionate desire
But the message is not getting through,
Getting through,
The message is not getting through.

Protocol said she could not speak her mind

This left her tied in an emotional bind.

“Nice roll” she said “I do like a nice roll”.

But if he heard her he didn’t show it.

Chorus

Asparagus was served in a sauce Hollandaise

It did little to help relieve her malaise.

“Nice stalks” she said “I do like a nice stalk”.

But if he heard her he didn’t show it.

Chorus

Then came a roast with gravy and crackling

It failed to easy the emotions she was tackling.

“Nice pork” she said “I do like a nice pork”.

But if he heard her he didn’t show it.

Chorus

The butler place the dessert on the table

And passed her a note, to meet in the stable.

“Nice trifle” she said “I do like a nice trifle”.

But if he heard her he didn’t show it.

Chorus

Her cheeks had developed a rosy bloom

She said goodnight and slipped from the room.

“Nice butler” she said “I do like a nice butler”.

But if he heard her he didn’t show it.

.

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© 2012   J Cosmo Newbery

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CCCLVIII - A Mistake

Mad Kane has a regular limerick challenge.

She provides the first line, the rest is up to us.

A fellow had made a mistake

And wed a young girl on the ‘make’

Though she left him quite poor

What annoyed him much more

Was that even her breasts had been fake.

.

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© 2012   J Cosmo Newbery

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CCCLVII - Strings

Carry On Tuesday asked us to start with Shakespeare's line

"All the world's a stage" and take it where we will.

Strings

All the world’s a stage

For an odd performing art;

There is a cast of millions

But few real leading parts.

Who runs this global playhouse?

Who drives the show?  And how?

If we were to shout out ‘Author!”

Who would rise to take a bow?

Who manipulates the scenery?

Who provides the props and things?

Who drives the major storyline,

As we improvise in the wings?

“All the world’s a stage”

The Bard most famously said;

But are we really actors?

Or have we been misled?

.

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© 2012   J Cosmo Newbery

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CCCLVI - Homeopathic Farming

Bought some yoghurt today.  Organic.  Broke my heart but

it was the only one that was full fat and pot set.

The label, amongst other things, declared:

"Cows requiring treatment receive vitamins, herbs and homeopathic remedies."

Oh wow!  Hunger is a medical condition, so...

 

Homeopathic Farming

The global food shortage is past!
Homeopathy has saved us, at last!
Pass ‘round the word:
We can feed the entire herd
On a drop of infinitely diluted grass.

.

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© 2012   J Cosmo Newbery

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CCCLV - The Wren

dVerse had the prompt to write a Pantoum, a cascading verse.

Separately a friend posed the prompt 'territory'.

This is what the combination produced:

The Wren.

What she surveys is her own.

The range of her realm extends

To the trees and fields she has flown

And embraces her family and friends.

The range of her realm extends

To both inner and outer extremes

And embraces her family and friends

As part of the world of her dreams.

To both inner and outer extremes

She is honest, and lovingly so.

As part of the world of her dreams

The privileged are welcomed also.

She is honest, and lovingly so.

To the trees and fields she has flown

The privileged are welcomed also

But what she surveys is her own.

.

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© 2012   J Cosmo Newbery

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CCCLIV - Gum

The first commercial chewing gum appeared in 1871,

after Thomas Adams (1818-1905) had previously failed

to make car tyres from the same ingredients.

Gum

The fellow invented the mastic
That’s neither a food nor a plastic.
It's now sold as a gum
But considered by some
To be rebranded Goodyear elastic. 

.

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© 2012   J Cosmo Newbery

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CCCLIII - The Compass Metaphor

Poets United has the prompt 'Compass', moral or otherwise.

And yes, I know penguins are at the south pole, not the north.

It's a simile, OK?

The Compass Metaphor

Honestly, the needle swings

And shows the way to head;

Through bad lands or the oceans,

To bring you home to bed.

But unbeknownst to the traveller

There is a shocking inner plot:

The needle doesn’t point to north

But to a more attractive spot.

And there’s worse to come

With this little swinging guide:

We almost never go where it says

But go, tangentially, to the side.

If we always followed the needle

We’d have just one place to go

And see little groups of sailors,

Clumped like penguins in the snow.

This is where that much loved metaphor

Begins to get in strife;

When they talk of a ‘moral compass’

To lead you through your life.

We each develop our values

From the soil in which we’re grown.

True morality’s a pure fiction

And the magnetic pole’s our own.

By looking at our needle

We can sense where danger flowers;

The compass gives us bearings

But the course we plot is ours.

.

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© 2012   J Cosmo Newbery

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CCCLII - Distance

Sunday Scribblings had the prompt "Distance".

I feel sad for the athletes who have spent years training but don't win.

Actually, I also feel sad for the ones that win; but for different reasons.

Distance

Olympic gold shined and beckoned,

“Certain winners” the media reckoned.

Even though the best’s produced,

Self-worth is now reduced

To mere fractions of a second.

.

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© 2012   J Cosmo Newbery

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CCCLI - The Threshold

Illustration: Leah Pearlman

Three Word Wednesday posed the challenge:

write something using the three words "emotion", "falter" and "touch".

The Threshold.

We are emotional beings,

And certain joys are clutched:

To give and to receive,

To share and to be touched,

To engage at a deeper level

Than that of social needs

Is one of life’s rare treasures,

A flower amongst life’s weeds.

Many, though, will falter,

Not knowing how to start;

That for things for them to alter

They must open up their heart.

.

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© 2012   J Cosmo Newbery

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CCCL - The Muses

The Muses

To the lovely ladies of my life

Who give me reason to be writing,

As a stone can edge a knife,

I find your influence delighting.

Some of you know who you are

Others may but guess;

Some are near and some quite far

But each of you impress.

You are the focus of my thoughts,

In the topic or the refinement.

You are the buttress and supports

Of my creative self-alignment.

Approval warms me like the sun

And can temper indiscretion.

“Will you like what I have done?”

Is the ever present question.

O, lovely ladies, hear my praise,

As in my heart, I hold your hand.

I love you all, in different ways;

I know that you will understand.

..

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© 2012   J Cosmo Newbery

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