A Poem a Day 2015 (10): 3 poems #MoP

Today's poems were written for the Month of Poetry Saturday Challenge. The challenge was to write an abcedarian poem, also called an alphabet poem. Each line begins with a consecutive letter of the alphabet in order until the end Z. I found it pretty hard and couldn't find my rhythm, feeling hemmed in by the ABC. I also kept starting lines with letters that had gone before - my alphabet must be darn crazy! So I ended up writing 3 cos I wasn't sure of them. Have a go and post it in the Comments if you like or sign up to the Saturday Challenge. Good luck. Here's the link - http://monthofpoetry.wordpress.com - cheers! 

The witch and the whale

At the crest of the silvery moon

Bore the eagle its babes too soon.

Calling forth mages upon her broom,

Dinah, the fiercest witch, gave chase;

Emptied of pity, she made haste.

From the moon to the earth, base

Gruesome deeds she sought to make.

Horrors rose from the bottomless lake;

In the midst hissed Liar, an artful snake.

Judged by none, all fears did he wake.

Killing and maiming was all he did;

Loved by Dinah, he obeyed as she bid –

Moving swiftly through the grass, he hid.

No one dared help the poor eagles win,

Oft frightened, except the courageous Fin;

Pure of heart, brave and mighty of kin,

Quitting a dour deed was never for him.

Roared forth the sea and the air grew thin,

Swimming, Fin made for the end of the Rim.

Towering in frame, from the water he rises

Under the nose of Dinah whom he despises;

Vying for power, of the Rim he is the wisest.

Whales all over the oceans sound his name,

Xyan, forever followed for his enduring fame

Young and strong, Dinah is a friendless dame;

Zigging o’er the sky, she leaves on her broom.

Fairy dust

Another calls his name

Blowing dust in the breeze

Crows the darkest bird

Dumbfounded as it falls

End of times begin again

Foolish stunts forgotten

Giddy is the dog that spits

Higher flies the blackbird

In this wood of splendour

Jokers play a song for all

Kings fall and the wise rise

Laughing as a jackal

Madly flown on gossamer wings

Nia of the fairies bestows

Open blessings on the natural

Playful in her artful matching

Queens envy her beauty

Ruthless in its innocence

Sailing on the morning star

These things she sees below

Unveiled to none, she studies

Verdant fine the land below

Wisely guarded by her hand

Xanthic flowers bloom and nod

Yearning for her magic touch

Zen-like, she is mother to all.

Ziggi

A moonlit dance

But a dream

Clueless this man

Devoid of sanity

Ever imagining

Flying to the stars

Growing wings

He sees eternity

In his mind’s eye

Joking in its way

Kangeroos boxing

Llamas bleating

Madness reaching

No one to listen

On this clear night

Perchance to find a

Queen in waiting

Rising, he dances

Swift in his moves

Tousled and twisting

Unveiling himself

Viewed from afar

What would you think?

X-rays alone can part

Ying and yang entwined

Zig-zagging, he sings.

copyright Vickie Johnstone

A Poem a Day 2015 (8): The freedom to be

Recent horrific events in Paris inspired me to write this.

The freedom to be

Where blind hatred breeds

It plants ignorant seeds

The desperate grab guns

Where everyone runs

Prejudice gains nothing

But the art of losing

Freedom knows its value

Above all, me and you

It flies a flag of colour

Defended by true valour

Humanity rests on this

For its unconscious bliss

Where contempt seeks to grow

We should drag it low

Valuing rights of free speech

Tolerance of all and each

Only in this way can we live

Allowing humanity to breathe  

copyright Vickie Johnstone

A Poem a Day 2015 (7): Outside of time

Outside of time

He knows not what he says

Nor the day on which he says it

All is lost, ripped from the calendar

Leaving a hook where it once hung

He claims he no longer needs it

Disconnected as he is from time

Keeping to the day will not suit

The memory he pretends to have

I cannot persuade him to alter

I cannot trick him to see clearer

The depth of passing knows no bounds

This fence cannot break his wildness

A picture bereft in its cheapness

Secured in its distance to old mortality

He who waits may not tame it here

Always falling where the light rises

All things come to pass as they end

Not with a scream but a silencing

A dark cloud of crows swallow the sky

Chasing the sun to its hiding place

This memory is but a curse in time

For when it chooses it will deceive

Stealing the now, past and future

To leave but an echo of itself

I cannot imagine how he sees things

I cannot wonder at the art of this

Sugar-coated explanations will not do

As the mirror reflects the loss of self

Emptiness stricken dumb cannot fight

This endless roar of the coming rage

He treads this never ending dark

Circling the light fading to a spark.

copyright Vickie Johnstone

A Poem a Day 2015 (6): Kid Summer

Kid Summer

Lost in days

strewn in sand

feet twitch

caressed by water

flooding in

the in between

lost on a horizon

pinkly lit

seagulls swirl

a dance in time

with the tide

beating a rhythm

playing to none

streaks of white

lost in the rays of

an egg-yolk yellow

summer - we played

a yodel in glee

skipping puddles

grey crab wakes

shakes a claw

laughter cracks

a dizzying spray

salty to taste

lips cracking

in the heat

scrubbed by sand

like lobsters

so red we are

smelling of the sea

and salted earth

trying to fly

this blood-red kite

it swoops and churns

scaring the gulls

squawking dismay

the wind carries

us forwards

jumping, leaping

before diving

into the blue

lost and found

as we emerge

currents drift

ebb and flow

a courtesy call

this fish swimming

an orangey speck

wiggling our feet

swooping our legs

circling our arms

we float

in the place

we cannot live

like flying almost

where the gulls dare

losing us

to the here below

earth bound

sea legged

spitting salt water

only to gulp again

the same

laughter spreads

driftwood catches

giving a rest

to weary limbs

it carries us in

back to the voices

of the sunned shore

a line of colourful

stripey towels

blowing windcheaters

our mothers wave

licking ice creams

the chocolate gone

as the first delight

waving and swimming

we laugh and play

the day fading out

in the summer’s way

an echo of pink

on the horizon’s back

towards the end

of the earth

flows the sea

til it fades to black.

copyright Vickie Johnstone

A Poem a Day 2015 (5): Hush

Hush

In the time that flows

Within this breath

This quiet as before

Welcoming in loneliness

Where he sits in silence

Hugging himself to sleep

I cannot read the signs

Cannot clasp the day

In here is where I live

In this small space of time

Hush

In the wreath I pass to you

Conceal your salty tears

Quieten the raging tide

The sickly swell of loss

I see you, walking tall

Full of feelings so small

I cry where you sit alone

Rain lighting the windowpane

Never knowing this loss

This empty void inside you

Yearning to be gone, to fly

And hush.

copyright Vickie Johnstone

A Poem a Day 2015 (4): Imagine / We are gathered here

Today's poems are on the theme of colour and were written for the Month of Poetry Saturday Challenge. Here's the link so you can read all of the gorgeous poems there - http://monthofpoetry.wordpress.com/mop15-collection/sat-3-jan-colour-poetry - cheers!

Imagine

We are but colours

Dancing in a breath of time

Mind-spinning rainbows

We are gathered here

The sumptuous white floats and curls

Moulding each and every curve

As she breezes in without a word

Beneath falling silken pink petals

Scattering upon freshly cut grass

I can smell the green

It awakens my senses

Bluest sky arches above my head

Inviting me to gaze a while

Squinting in the egg-yellow burst

Of the powerful summer sun

The white flickers and shimmers

In this crazy, hazy heat

I blink, caught by the scent

Of cut oranges being poured

The black-suited waiter turns

Carrying the cut-glass jug

Now emptied of all

Under the bower they meet

Wild roses curving all around

A flash of silver, etched upon

Rings exchanged in passion

Her red lips curve into a smile

Matching his velvet cravat

While the enrapt audience rises

In a rainbow of colour

She sweeps through light-footed

As pink confetti covers all

Falling like silken pink petals

Copyright Vickie Johnstone

A Poem a Day 2015 (3): One night, one girl and one song

I wrote this poem at about 1am this morning. Writer JD Mader runs a Friday writing day on his blog, Unemployed Imagination - you can write whatever you like in the space of 2 minutes. Being on London time, it was pretty late... or early for me! I think it's funny how your brain churns out different things, depending how tired it is, and sometimes it goes all quirky. This poem is rambling, I guess, without structure. JD's initial story contained the line 'It was one night, and one girl, and one song', and I used it as a prompt. Here is his blog if you'd like to have a go next week or have a read of all the stories written - http://www.jdmader.com/2015/01/2-minutes-go.html

So, here's my 2-minute poem...

One night, one girl and one song

the song ended

but she never did

her image etched forever

on my mind

still there

dancing in the chill rain

her windswept hair catching

the thin, white cloth

stretched, drenched

to the skin

I gazed

stuck in the moment

nothing else to do

she never saw

while the music played on

an old rock song

seldom sung

a dog barked

her head turned once

lips turning up

like a bow at the edges

just one smile

only one

yet it was enough

copyright Vickie Johnstone

A Poem a Day 2015 (1-2): As the world spins / Always

Happy New Year to you! Wishing you joy, happiness and good karma. I hope you've begun 2015 in great spirits. My resolutions, as ever, are to keep writing and use this blog more. Yep, don't laugh - I will try harder! Here are 2 poems for you - one for yesterday and one for today. Happy Friday thoughts! Remembrance and how we come full circle were on my mind, but the meaning of the poems are what you see in them :)

As the world spins

In this new year, we begin again

This tumult, this rush of splendour

Without hope of truly understanding

We wander in a steady bewilderment

Our hands outstretched

Feeling in this endless dark.

Yet we are eager to begin again

To strut this endless conveyor-belt

Seeking meaning where there is none

Finding pain while seeking cheer

Burning ourselves in our curiosity

To discover the thing we are missing

The tiny segment to make us whole

While this never-ending maze turns.

Thus we live only to begin again

Reliving this dance in new shoes

Smiling with the morning’s promise

Well meaning in our desire to know

When nothing can really be known

Except for the tip of our own selves

Balancing on board this spinning jest

Curving ourselves into endless patterns

Of colour, spilling over as water falls

Always

Within these handwritten letters, she breathes

Speaking to me of the old days, long lost

Whisperings among rain-drenched leaves

Where we took our walks in the evening time

I hear her voice as I recall each and every line

Her sparkling laughter leaping off the flat page

Remembering the creases around her eyes so fine

And the way her lips curved like an archer’s bow

I live again in these times so precious, spent now

As though a fading movie reel plays before me

Conjuring memories from the depths of the sea

Float on to paper these words that will never be

Lost in time, yet never far from my mind

She sits beside me and is never still.

Copyright Vickie Johnstone