Month: December 2019 (Page 3 of 4)

Today I found a reference to a Japanese form called “Imayo”. I understand the the form is a four line poem with each line having 12 syllables. Each line is broken into two parts by a deliberate caesura, the first part is seven syllables and the second part is five syllables (that feels a little more haiku like, eh?) Apparently this form was meant to be sung… As I am not writing music for this project, I shall leave that to someone slightly more ambitious than I.

Here’s what I came up with…

Before the Storm

She prepares the loaves to rise - rain falls on the porch
The soup begins to simmer - leaves line the front walk
Spoons and bowls ready for use - all the birds have gone
She breathes before guests arrive - day gives way to night.

Copyright ©2019 Tim Geoghegan, all rights reserved.

Something to note… if you look at the lines before and after the caesura, you might find that you get a couple of different poems here. It sort of sets up a nifty little juxtaposition of sorts. In the case of this poem, the seven syllable sections, by themselves, give you a glimpse at the woman preparing for company. The five syllable sections give you a look at what’s happening outside. Depending on how you arrange the sections you could get three or four different poems out of this exercise.

She prepares the loaves to rise
The soup begins to simmer
Spoons and bowls ready for use
She breathes before guests arrive. 

Rain falls on the porch
leaves line the front walk
all the birds have gone
day gives way to night. 

In and of themselves they possess a poetic quality which makes this form especially interesting to me and gives me pause to consider that while this is a compact form, it really has a lot of potential for powerful comparisons and contrasts. It may need to be a form I hold on to for a deeper dive. Thoughts?

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Cheers!

Today I really just wanted to get this done. I wasn’t going for awesome, I was just going for finished.

I picked a straight forward form, Tri-Cubes, to noodle with. The tri-cube is a three stanza poem with three lines per stanza and three syllables per line.

So here’s what I came up with:

Coffee shop

I see you
 sitting there
 drinking tea.
 
 Steam rises
 from the cup
 as you read, 
 
 and it’s like
 you don’t know
 I exist. 

Copyright ©2019 Tim Geoghegan, all rights reserved.

Sometimes when I’m standing in Starbucks waiting for coffee I look around and see all sorts of interesting people doing interesting things. Sometimes I imagine interactions that “could be”… this was one of them.

Cheers!

Yep. That is it. The Gogyohka is literally a five line poem with each line being a phrase unto itself. These seem easy to write I suppose, but I am pretty certain they are not as easy to write WELL. Here’s an example… you decide if it was done well.. I’m not judging.

Spring Morning

The roses bloom
 when the sun shines.
 She watches silently
 as bees gather
 in the golden light.

Copyright ©2019 Tim Geoghegan, all rights reserved.

Cheers!

This poem is a prayer of sorts. To God, to a muse, to a lover… You decide.

Missing Piece

Seems like there’s 
 a part of me
 hidden from me...
 
 ...you are there
 apart from me
 and I can’t see.
 
 Long I’ve tried
 to find my way
 just to find you...
 
 ...Yet you remain
 veiled from me,
 hidden away.
 
Copyright ©2019 Tim Geoghegan, all rights reserved.

Cheers!

It was a great day and I actively avoided writing all day! I know! What an inspiration, right? Well… here’s a last minute Dodoitsu which is a four line poem. Each of the first three lines have seven syllables and the fourth line has five syllables. I couldn’t find any requirement for rhyme or meter, other than the syllable counts. I love the police activity page that they put in the paper, there are lots of interesting things to spark creativity there.

Visitor

I just wanted to see you
 so I thought I would stop by.
 I knocked… you didn’t answer.
 Why’d you call the cops?

Copyright ©2019 Tim Geoghegan, all rights reserved.

Well… that’s one week down.

Cheers!

This is one of those days where I couldn’t think of anything to write so I looked for a a framework to fill in… and I found the cywdd llosgyrnog… I have no idea what that even means, but it’s kind of interesting as a poetic form.

My attempt… (that took way longer than I wanted it to and I really don’t like it but I don’t have anything else to print and I need to get some sleep…)

coo wid lo seer nock
 

 Melancholy dreams without you
 waking not knowing what to do
 more than a few lonely nights
 spent walking alone in the dark
 outlook to the future is stark. 
 Sleep in the park ’til daylight. 

Copyright ©2019 Tim Geoghegan, all rights reserved.

I don’t know about you but there are times I find it rather difficult to get to sleep. If I do get to sleep I find it nearly impossible to get more than a couple hours of sleep. Three or four hours if I am lucky. Sometimes I just lay awake and wonder how I will function the next day. Sometimes I meditate. Sometimes I try nature sounds to sooth the savage soul. Sometimes it all seems fairly hopeless, I look at the clock and wish, pray, beg the universe to let me sleep.

This is a quatern… a four stanza poem with four lines per stanza, each line consisting of 8 syllables. The poem incorporates a refrain in each stanza. The refrain originates in line one and you can see how it plays out.

For the insomniacs like me… love and peace… a lullaby.

Lullaby
 
 Sunset fire in the western sky
 draw the blinds and turn down the sheets
 open a book to calm your mind
 take a breath and let it all go.
 
 This day is drawing to a close...
 sunset fire in the western sky
 no more struggles no more worries
 yes, everything will be just fine
 
 Something in you wants to sleep now,
 one last look out through the window...
 sunset fire in the western sky.
 Close your eyes now, breathing slowly,
 
 embrace the silence of your room,
 feel the cool upon your bare skin,
 let tomorrow care for itself...
 sunset fire in the western sky.

Copyright ©2019 Tim Geoghegan, all rights reserved.

Tell me (and everyone else) your favorite method for getting to sleep in the comments.

Cheers!

Today I arrived home with this sort of irritating tingle in the back of my mind. It was my inner voice telling me that I had no good ideas and that I should just quit while I am ahead. So, I ignored it and went to get the mail.

Isn’t it funny when your brain tells you one thing and the universe says… “No, that’s not right! Let me help you”. So, there it was, a whole scad of junk mail… and perfectly intertwined in the midst of the pile were a credit offer from SINcrony Bank and McDunghill’s coupons. Yes, I changed names to… I dunno, to make fun of two companies I don’t particularly like. (Why are they even sending me mail? What a waste!) But WAIT! I can use this…

So for your reading amusement… I present a “found mashup poem”. A found poem is where you borrow the words from one, or in this case two, works and create something new. I hope you enjoy the found mashup. I counted and I used less than 10% of the words from either of the mailings so no harm, no foul… right?

McSynchronuts
Found in my junk mail…
 
 When it comes to 
 holiday cheer,
 you’re pre-qualified
 subject to credit approval.
 
 Celebrate sweet
 chocolate and fries
 for a limited time
 everywhere you go.
 
 earn more donut sticks
 on every purchase
 with no limits…
 Go anywhere...
 
 ...with a 
 29.99% Cinnamon
 $39 cookie
 2% latte. 

_________________
Copyright ©2019 Tim Geoghegan, all rights reserved.
Special thanks to McDonald's and Synchrony Bank for sending me junk mail.

Who wants to make a “found mashup” of your own and post it in the comments?

Cheers!

I have been under the weather. I actually snoozed away much of the day so you get what you get.

Sick Day - haiku
 
Now the day winds down-
Moving slowly into bed.
Resting is hard work.

Copyright ©2019 Tim Geoghegan, all rights reserved.

Hopefully tomorrow brings new inspiration and less blah.

Cheers!

Day 2 has me feeling kinda crummy and under the weather. This poem is not about anyone in particular… it was just there in a dark corner of the spare room at the back of my brain.

The thing I hope you remember is that these poems are written on the day they are published. As such, they are not meant to be GREAT or SPECTACULAR or even GOOD. They are a practice in writing things down in some way that makes sense to me. I have not workshopped them. In most cases I have set a time limit to even work on the poem so you are seeing very rough drafts here.

I am sharing these bits, not for your adoration or praise, not to make a point, or make a statement on society, or eviscerate people, but simply to keep myself working. If you wish to comment, I invite it. Just be nice. 😉

Castaway

You think you know
what she likes to do
on those off days
when no-one’s around.
 

But if you knew
that she runs away
into her books
you might wonder why.
 

She has it all,
so you like to think,
but it’s not true…
as she would tell you.
 

If you would ask
without assuming 
that everything
has to go your way.
 

She wants the life
she finds in her books,
without losing
what is real and true. 
 

So she pretends…
to keep you happy, 
and finds herself
alive in stories.

Copyright ©2019 Tim Geoghegan, all rights reserved.

I am going to try giving my poems titles this year. The titles are “working” titles and should I choose to refine any of these bits at some point in the future, the titles may change. I just like a poem to have a title… if it seems appropriate that it should.

Cheers!