568 : Rhapsody, in Sky Blue

Imaginary Garden with Real Toads has the prompt 'Rhapsody'.

Rhapsody, in Sky Blue.

It is a lovely day!

The sky is clear and blue.

Past the solstice;

It is cold,

Frosty and, in its own way,

The essence of mid-winter.

The trees have lost or

Are belatedly,

Reluctantly,

Losing their chequered garb.

And the first bulbs bravely push 

Through the cold soil

Into the pallid sun.

The cherry trees 

Are in blossom.

It is lovely to be out,

To be walking without care,

To watch others, with dogs,

Or strollers or wired for sound

As they, as if unaware of the 

Beauty around them, walk 

Through the midst of,

Through the mist of,

The mid-winter day,

Oblivious.

They are missing so much.

And yet, in their own way,

They are happy.

.

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© J Cosmo Newbery 2013

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567 : The Trawler

Mary, at Poetry Jam, put up 

the prompt ‘A Bird’s Eye View’.

The Trawler.

Old, ugly, lumbering.

The trawler drags its nets

Over already fished waters,

In search of yet smaller fish.

Above, the gulls circle, 

Watching, crying indignantly.

The catch is mixed:

Fish, certainly, of various sizes,

Old bottles that once held perfume

Or wines from the sunny hills

Or perhaps letters from the marooned.

Above, the gulls circle, 

Watching, crying indignantly.

Plastic, less endearing,

Old netting, bits of ships,

Lost and long forgotten.

Flotsam and jetsam.

Like all vessels of this type

It smells.

Above, the gulls circle, 

Watching, crying indignantly.

.

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© J Cosmo Newbery 2013

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566 : Smoke & Mirrors

Sunday Whirl (Wordle #116) presents a list of words

that we must incorporate in a writing piece.  

The words this week are:  

voices, impossible, scare, climb, risk, listen,

where, smoke, happens, pressure, might, orders

Smoke & Mirrors

The voices in the night,

Nagging, 

Teasing,

Hinting at what might 

Or might not, 

Happen.

It is impossible

Not to listen,

Not to succumb to the pressure 

Of the ceaseless 

Chattering.

And then, 

Come the morning,

Come the dawning of the day,

The light does not scare them away.

They still linger, 

Nagging,

Teasing, 

As you drive, 

As you climb the stairs or 

Almost anywhere.

They catch you unawares.

Ambush you.  

Scare you.

Order you to listen

As if they are the only ones 

That matter.

There is no smoke 

Without fire,

Or so they say, 

But in this fragmented

Kaleidoscope of the fanciful,

There is a risk that you 

Are just fighting

Smoke and mirrors.

.

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© J Cosmo Newbery 2013

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565 : The Sand Dragon

Haiku Heights has the prompt 'Sand'.

Fears are built on sand.

Even dragons wash away

With the swelling tide.

.

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© J Cosmo Newbery 2013

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564 : Merlot, the Magician

A little ditty to clear the brain,

Even if the wine doesn't.

Written after a long day,

Also long after the witching hour.

Merlot, the Magician

When the brown stuff hits the fan

And is flung around the room,

When the storm clouds fill the sky

And the sense is one of gloom,

Never mind.

Even though you are inclined

To cry.

Something learnt over time:

Nothing so sets it right again

As a glass of good red wine.

.

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© J Cosmo Newbery 2013

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563 : Bring It On!

One Single Impression has the prompt 'Fragile'.

I took the fiesty view.

Bring it on!

Just because I’m rather gentle

Please don’t think I cannot fight.

It’s a mistake to think I’m fragile,

And will not turn and bite.

Beware.  The fight is never fair.

And, while the future is opaque,

Politeness is detrimental

When survival is at stake.

.

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© J Cosmo Newbery 2013

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562 : The Open Can

The Open can

A warning to those who would undo

The lid on private issues;

Once they’re loose you never know

If you have sufficient tissues

To dry 

The teary, teary eye.

Things go perhaps not on your terms—

You quickly lose control when you

Open a can of worms.

.

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© J Cosmo Newbery 2013

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561 : Simple Pleasures

Sunday Whirl (Wordle #115) presents a list of words

that we must incorporate in a writing piece.  

The words this week are:  

bird, bridge, unstable, wild, bend, rock, 

retreat, bear, lane, fallen, meadow, island

Simple Pleasures.

No man is an island, entire of itself,

- John Donne

Shady lanes can skirt the meadow,

Flowers can dot the track;

Birds can flit from copse to copse,

The wind be at your back.

With bridges span the burbling brook

Or step from rock to rock,

We can sit upon a fallen branch,

Not bending to the clock.

Such are the beauties of the wild,

Of the warm and fragrant land,

Where we retreat and can absorb

The serenity, first hand.

That said, it can be a load to bear,

Unstable and pretend—

The joy is multiplied many-fold

When you share it with a friend. 

.

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© J Cosmo Newbery 2013

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560 : The Phantom

Mad Kane has a regular limerick challenge.

She provides the first line,

the rest is up to us.

The Phantom, who slept on a board

In the space where the organ was stored,

Would sing from his heart

The whole villain’s part,

For Christine, the girl he adored.

.

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© J Cosmo Newbery 2013

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559 : Weight for it! Weight for it!

Weight for it! Weight for it!

A little Sunday morning rant.

Have you lost weight?

No, damn it!

I haven’t ‘lost’ any weight.

I’ve thrown it away,

Pushed it away,

Told it to leave

When it begged at my door

Disguised as a nice cheese

Or a profiterole

In search of a home 

And a place to rest, 

On me,

For a long time.

Losing weight?

Sounds a rather 

Careless thing to do.

No, this is a premeditated act.

Callous, hardhearted, in fact.

I have learnt

To ignore the pathetic pleas

From the whining and dining 

Little shitake in butter sauce

To take it back,

To take it in.

Like Sisyphus, pushing a cupcake

To the top of the food pyramid,

This may go on for a while.

But have I lost any weight?  

No, I know exactly

Where it has gone.

.

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© J Cosmo Newbery 2013

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558 : Table for Two.

Prompted by, but not entirely in keeping with,

Imaginary Garden with Real Toad’s prompt “Love after Love”.

Written largely, but not entirely, for my mother

Who will be ambushed by “So Far, So Close”.

Table for Two

Memories of all those we’ve loved

Will never truly fade;

They may recede from daily view

But are poised to reinvade.

Well meant but a word, a song, a scent—

And you, 

Ambushed by this refresher,

Are, without any warning, shoved

Backwards through a thresher.

.

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© J Cosmo Newbery 2013

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557 : A Regret

A Regret

The position was an honorary one,

The pay, at best, was lean.

With time, you had to to sever

The bonds that ran between.

And yet, I will not forget,

Never regret, 

The smooth and, too, the rough.

Sadly, I realise, now it’s done,

I never thanked you enough.

.

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© J Cosmo Newbery 2013

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556 : Vacant.

Vacant.

The door is unlocked

And swings open noiselessly.

The house seems empty.

No carpets.

No curtains.

No furniture.

Footsteps are hard

And echo as you enter.

Hello?  No answer.

Is anyone here?  Silence.

No signs of life.

No signs of former life.

Except for one thing,

On the sink,

An empty yoghurt container,

And a plastic spoon.

The gravel crunches,

As if mocking me,

As I leave.

.

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© J Cosmo Newbery 2013

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555 : Creature of Habit.

The alarm is off.

It is Saturday morning.

Why am I awake?

.

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© J Cosmo Newbery 2013

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554 : So Far, So Close.

Imaginary Garden with Real Toads has the prompt "Loss".

So Far, So Close.

I couldn’t have been much further away,

Up a volcano in Ecuador,

If it hadn’t have been raining

I wouldn’t have known at all.

A spare moment to fill, 

A chance checking of the email,

Yes, even up a volcano in Ecuador,

And the world turned upside down.

The stomach tightening ride to Quito,

The frantic efforts to retrieve our passports 

Despite tales to the contrary 

The Cubans were very helpful.

The eighteen hour transit at Santiago

That seemed like it would never end.

The dash from the airport to the hospital.

And there you were.

Plumbed.  

Drugged.  

Unconscious.

And so you remained until the machines

Told us that you had left the room.

I so wish you could read my poems.

.

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© J Cosmo Newbery 2013

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553 : I Don't Understand

dVerse Poets challenges us to use an Anaphora in a poem.

Anaphora is the repeated use of a starting rhyme.

Amateur psychologists may be tempted to analyse this work.

Put down your inkblots.  It is just a fictional work, 

in response to the prompt.

I Don’t Understand.

Why do you behave this way?

Why do you refuse to say?

Why is every day so grey?

Why do you so want to flay?

Sigh in dismay, I don’t understand.

Why have you become so cold?

Why have the grudges you hold?

Why are your emotions so controlled?

Why is there pain you haven’t told?

Cry every day, I don’t understand.

Why have all the pent up malice?

Why hide away in the icy palace?

Why do you seem so very callous?

(Why is the only other rhyme phallus?)

Try as I may, I don’t understand.

.

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© J Cosmo Newbery 2013

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552 : Don't Press Me.

Three Word Wednesday requires participants

to use the three words of the week in a composition.

The words this week were Garbage, Imperative and Traction.

Don’t Press Me
"Koko!  Bring me my list!"

Oh my God!

They speak such garbage!

Journalists I mean.

Everything is imperative,

Indignant or Obscene.

They rail,

They rant,

They hound,

They trail.

They give traction to the lobbyist.

These merchants of cheap verbiage

I'm sure they'd not be missed.

.

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© J Cosmo Newbery 2013

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551 : Crescendo

Haiku Heights has the prompt "Crescendo"

The pressure mounts up,

And, reaching a crescendo,

Denouement follows.

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© J Cosmo Newbery 2013

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550 : Step Back.

Step Back 

Take a step back now faults are seen

On what had seemed so white and clean,

Had seemed to be the nicest kind

Of its type that you could find.

Alas, a mirage lies past the screen,

The grass beyond is a faded green.

The world becomes much less serene

As troubling doubts creep into your mind—

Take a step back.

Reality is cruel and mean,

It makes you see what was unseen,

To see a world that's misaligned,

And realize that you have been blind.

As you teeter on the ravine,

Take a step back.

.

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© J Cosmo Newbery 2013

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549 : A Tectonic Relationship

A Tectonic Relationship

The plates only have sex every few years,

Things are tense whenever they’re too near.

“But, tell me”, said the gent,

After a seismic event,

“Did the earth move for you too, my dear?”

.

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© J Cosmo Newbery 2013

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548 : A Piece of his Mind

Mad Kane has a regular limerick challenge.

She provides the first line,

the rest is up to us.

A guy was annoyed to be fined

For giving a piece of his mind

To the arresting cop

Who told him to stop—

He didn’t, so now he’s confined.

.

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© J Cosmo Newbery 2013

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