d’Verse OLN/MTB; Remember This!

/ D. Avery @shiftnshake / 26 Comments

At last Thursday’s Meeting the Bar challenge at dVerse Poets’ Pub, hosted by Laura Bloomsbury, twenty poets managed to write to the theme of holiday or anniversary in the Memento poetry style. I was not among that number, but have finally come up with a memento and have linked it at the Pub’s Open Link Night. Our OLN(#388) host this evening is Grace . Go to the Pub for a hearty helping of poetry and good poetic company.

Another Birthday Rolls Around  by D. Avery

another future to conceive
this newborn child wanders
shame-less 
sixty years now, young as can be
waxes as she ponders
ageless

yet led by curiosity
fed by life’s great richness
changing
pathways through dreams and memories
her life clearly gibbous
waning

#SixSentenceStories; Patch

/ D. Avery @shiftnshake / 20 Comments

What?! Two in a row? Yep, Denise, aka GirlieontheEdge, has posted, as she does every Sunday, the latest Six Sentence Stories prompt, this week with the simple yet rich, “patch“. A character who has showed up for a couple Carrot Ranch prompts stepped up for this prompt. As an homage, these (two!) Six Sentence Stories are also in 99 words, no more no less.The link up time for these and your own Six Sentence Story(ies) will be Wednesday at 6:00 PM. See you in Sixville!

Patchwork, by D.Avery

“Great Aunt Fannie, this is a big deal, they want to hear your life story. Couldn’t you wear something nicer than those rags?”

“What rags, these clothes are patched, just the opposite of raggedy; patches show care, pride; resilience and resourcefulness. My life story is the work that wore out these once new clothes; it’s the memories held in the material used to patch them; it’s the know-how and patience required to stitch ruin back into usefulness. These clothes are reinforced, stronger than when they were new, still functional, and in my opinion, more beautiful.”

“Like you, Aunt Fannie.”

The two women, one young, the other old, sank into either end of the worn sofa.

“Phew, thank you, Aunt Fannie, for sharing your stories today.”

“Mine’s been a patchwork life,” the old woman said, picking up a throw pillow.

“Wow, even the pillow has a patch, a valentine heart cut out of hunter plaid wool, but what’s this, the other side is only half a heart— what’s the story here?”

“One I’m not telling, but I will say this, some things can’t be patched, but you have to at least try.”

“Okay,” her niece sighed, “I’ll call him.”

#SixSentenceStories; Tone

/ D. Avery @shiftnshake / 18 Comments

Every week Denise, aka GirlieontheEdge, puts out a prompt to inspire writing. Some too few weeks I participate. This prompted writing can be any form as long as it is in units of Six . Here is my effort with this week’s Six Sentence Stories prompt, which is “Tone“. Link your six sentences and read others HERE.

Tone Deaf by D. Avery

It seemed to be a nice enough house but over time she began to suspect that there was something wrong with the acoustics in their home.

Voices were either too loud or too soft, hard to understand either way, so that they invariably responded to the other, if at all, with, “What?”, even though both tested normal for hearing at the doctor’s.

More and more she focused on this matter of acoustics, trying to pinpoint the problem so that she might find a solution. There was the blare of his devices, but also a persistent silence that echoed throughout the rooms, throughout their days and their nights.

She finally spoke with him about it, and the tone of his response made her solution clear.

She would leave, find a place where she was heard.

d’Verse Poetics; Ode to a Shark

/ D. Avery @shiftnshake / 24 Comments

Tuesday Poetics at d’Verse Pub for Poets this week is hosted by Melissa from Mom With a Blog. She is looking forward to Shark Week and so would have us write a poem about sharks. I recommend going over to the Pub because the example poems she shared there are wonderful. And now I see I am too late to link up there so will link this shark poem at the Pub’s Open Link Night #387, hosted tonight by Sanaa.

I Might Never Swim Again

I was ten when

disgorged from the theater into the dark

summer night, telling ourselves it was

just a story, all fake

the blood, the floating limbs, the shark—

Yet on the drive home I tensed as we drove past the lake.

Even now it’s hard to shake

a lonesome whirlpool feel

out of my depth

uncertain of what is real

treading tired in the dark

the circling, the closing in

hunted, helpless

the shore so far away.

Everywhere are sharks

have always been.

d’Verse Quadrille; Turn

/ D. Avery @shiftnshake / 33 Comments

This week’s Quadrille (#227) at d’Verse , the Pub for poets, is hosted by Lisa. She has prompted us to write a quadrille (a poem of EXACTLY 44 words, not including the title) that includes “turn” within the body of the poem. The line that got me started was “When I’m in the flow I turn/ into a wolf”. That no longer fit once the poem was written, but I kept the anagramic word play. Go to the Pub to celebrate the ReTurn of prompts and poets.

listen, silent

the universe serves one song

bear the hurt laid bare in truth

dare touch the scar that lies in scared

embrace the sacred

draw words instead of sword

to ward off evils in our lives

love solves

evolve

turn to an other

listen

silent

#WWP #423; Grotto

/ D. Avery @shiftnshake / 12 Comments

Every Saturday Sammi Cox puts out the Weekend Writing Prompt. Some rare Saturdays I try to meet the challenge, which is to write a poem, story or what have you in exactly a certain number of words. This week the word is “Grotto” and the word count is 17. Go on over to Sammi’s site to leave your response and to read and comment on others’ writing. It’s a fun crowd!

She Sheds by D. Avery

To a nunnery, go?
—t’hell with that script
I’ll retreat to a grotto
my sanctum, my crypt

W3 Prompt #163; Playful Exploration

/ D. Avery @shiftnshake / 33 Comments

Wea’ve Written Weekly

There’s a very interesting challenge at W3 Wea’ve Written Weekly. This week’s Poet of the Week, Kim Whysall-Hammond, gives two-stage directions. “First, write a poem full of images, things – perhaps a descriptive poem. You can use any form or no form.  My hint is, make sure there are lots of nouns in your poem, ready for part 2!” The second step is to put the text of that poem into the N+7 Machine and “it will gift you your poem back, but with 14 different versions. It does so via a dictionary and it simply replaces the nouns with another one a bit further on in the dictionary. No AI involved. After you submit your text, scroll down and you will see 15 versions of your poem. Now, you could use one of these whole, or you can take phrases or words from several versions and use them in your original poem to strengthen it. Or maybe one of those altered poems will inspire you to write another completely different poem.” I chose from a few versions and used cut and paste to piece together the following poem. Neither the original text or the result below is something I ever would have written without these directions to play in this way. Go to The Skeptic’s Kaddish to read other responses and to find out more about this unique weekly poetry prompt.

Curious Nouns by D. Avery

Once a teacher told me about nouns
persons, places, things 

More recently a teapot told me about 
phones, planes, threats and also
fevers and idiots

Then a telephone told me about 
phosphorus, planets, thresholds and also
fictions and ignorance

Finally a temptation told me about 
pianos, plates, tickets and also
figures and impacts

That teacher said nouns are
persons, places, things 
and also feelings and ideas for
nouns can be that which you cannot pick up or toss around
not literally or concretely 
(but metaphorically you can)

Yes, let’s can curiosity
put it in a can, if you will
not to contain it against its will
but to preserve it, shelf it
shelter it then
serve it with a side of wonder
with a signal of word 
with a sin of works
with a sign of wool
and awe for dessert
in this desert of marvel
in this desire of marvel
hardly a marvelous desire

In this detachment of marvel
shake things up
shake that can of curiosity 
shake threats up
shake thresholds up
shake thunders up—
shake that canopy of cut
shake that capital of damage
open it up, option it up
pour it out, mixed up 
reactions occur, receptions occur, reassurances occur as a
miracle of rain, misery of rate 
mixture of reality served by 
mistress of readiness, mama of rainbows

Spectacle of sunlight superior supply 
of sprouting seeds
all growing into green
into gratitude
into grace

Now that is some thing.

#TankaTuesday no. 16; Full Moon Magic

/ D. Avery @shiftnshake / 17 Comments

Photo by Tom Fisk on Pexels.com

Colleen’s challenge this week at #TankaTuesday is to write a tanka puente that celebrates the full moon and features a quote to use as the bridge between the tankas. Colleen provides a list of moon quotes to choose from but I went with a poem by Mizuta Masahide. That poem reads, Barn’s burnt down — now I can see the moon. But now, having been reminded by balroop singh that we all have poetic license, I have edited this post and have changed that poem to fit better with my tanka. So I’m not exactly following the rules, but I am glad to have written a tanka puente. Check out #TankaTuesday for a fuller description of the challenge and to see what others have written.

spring tides turn to neap
time’s steady hand on the helm
still we are adrift
ebbs and flows build and erode
storm surges surely bring change

~Busted spar, tattered sails— unobstructed moon~

roiling seas subside
wreckage swept upon the strand
awash in moonlight
my purpose finally clear
I salvage just what I need

Summer, In Time; #TankaTuesday & #SeasonWords

/ D. Avery @shiftnshake / 30 Comments

There’s a joke in Vermont where someone wonders when summer is supposed to fall this year. Colleen Chesebro’s The Beauty of Peonies inspired me to leave my woodstove and go outside on this chilly day to see how my peony is doing. As you can see, it is not as far along as hers, but if all the little buds bloom I’ll have lots of color. Eventually. At least Colleen and the peonies inspired me to try a seox, as recommended by  Willow at #TankaTuesday.

                      peony
                      stands tall beside my doorstep
                      helmeted heads nod
                      beckoning summer
                      emergent buds
                      shed rain drops

I also ventured over to Mark’s SeasonWords. It’s always a delight to read about haiku there and to read all the wonderful responses to his monthly prompts. This time around Mark would have us use birds as a kigo. He reminded me that there has indeed been a shift in bird trills and thrills, a sign of spring slipping into summer. While it has only sporadically felt like summer, I have been seeing goldfinches where the road crosses the marsh.

goldfinch flits
light at meadow’s edge
glimpse of sun


goldfinches 
glimmer in the weeds
bright jewels

Check out #TankaTuesday and SeasonWords for more haiku and summery syllabic inspiration. Thank you for reading here.