mists swirling over a fen,
sips of wine, river wind, and spray
peace with no regret,
the touch of lost ones she dreams,
may gentle cheer come here
where she dwells trapped by disease
in this shrinking unkind world
soon to let her go.
:
©️2018 Ontheland
For dVerse Monday our quadrille must include some version of the word ‘cheer’.
To blame is to disown. My cereal curdles as California wildfires turn homes to ash and, yet again, power trumps empathy and expertise. The vitriol and forest management tales emanating from Washington threaten to spoil my breakfast.
shovelling snow:
the President’s fire fighting
philosophy
:
©️2018 Ontheland
New York Times:
Trump Says California Can Learn From Finland on Fires. Is He Right?
In response to dVerse Poets Pub Monday quadrille prompt (‘spoil’) I have written this 44-word haibun.
Closing one eye
I am not winking
I am blinded by sunlight
Posing on one leg
I am not avian
I am practicing yoga
Singing the blues
I am not downhearted
I am indigo
Closing both eyes
I am not tired
I am listening
:
©️2018 Ontheland
The Monday afternoon dVerse challenge from WhimsyGizmo is to write a quadrille (44-word poem) using the word “wink”.
Early autumn is gone,
dried leaves scattered,
marigolds dead from frost,
yet, Sun sparkles ochre colours,
pulses from behind grey clouds,
at night, waxing Moon lingers low,
two matches striking,
begging sparks of happiness
from cold bones who mourn
that what has been departs.
~
©️2018 Ontheland
A quadrille (a 44-word poem) for dVerse Poets Pub using the word ‘early’.
into the ‘fiery wind’ what would I say?
scratched dirt jams my nails to the quicks…
this heaviness of breath, this seeping energy
if I ask…
will you admit your unspoken truth?
or brush it off with a laugh?
next time, I may speak.
:
This is a quadrille (poem of 44 words) using the dVerse prompt word ‘quick’. Thanks and credit must go to Jane Dougherty whose use of the phrase ‘words in the fiery wind’ in a recent poem, inspired me to write today.
©️2018 Ontheland
I reason, Earth is short…’
~ Emily Dickinson
:
Life feels long but is quite short
We are of air,
of water, molecules,
eternity fore and aft,
knowing little
like butterflies morphed from tiny eggs
into a biosphere we call ‘Earth’
If only it were enough
to sip nectars,
to love
to fly
:
A quadrille for dVerse Poets Pub Quadrille #63
©️2018 Ontheland
Covert cycles
span generations.
We see moonrise sunset
days fade into nights
infants grow to men.
But what of a reprise
that would cage children
women and men
brand them as subhuman
where barbed lines under desert skies
cut ‘them’ from ‘us’
excising embrace?
~
©️2018 Ontheland
“This cobbled road of us”
rambled from plans of spring to summertime
checkered cloths of bread, cheese, wine
bouquets of parsley, roses, thyme.
Quarrels flared then repaired
with and not with words
to polish understanding
a chromatic weave of notes
that holds us whole.
~
©2018 Ontheland
The first line is from “We will be lost and found a thousand times along this cobbled road of us” by Atticus. Many thanks to our dVerse host, Whimsygizmo for Quadrille #58—Cobble us a Poem.
an umbrella sky
scalloped curves of blue
my empty basket
open to the day
It may rain
on our ‘parapluies’
our shelters held in hands
to lift in summer winds
to paint a second heaven
fine brushes of a town
bustling in the open air
~
©️2018 Ontheland
A quadrille for dVerse’s Quadrille #57: Don’t rain on my parade!
“How good it would be to not question.”
to glide
to just be
never minding psychic puddles
and rational muddles
to just be still
Does a dog question its tail?
Does a tree question its leaves?
Does the moon wish for a new path?
~
My quadrille is based on a poem by Dick Allen (1939-2017) published in 2016 in his book “zen master poems” . In this collection of poems Allen writes from within the persona of a Zen Master.
My first line quotes the first line of his poem and my concluding questions mimic his use of questions. To read his poem please follow this link to the Google Books preview, page 6.
For some reason I counted the words in Allen’s poem and discovered that it is exactly 44 words (in other words, it’s a quadrille). My quadrille uses the word ‘muddle’, this week’s quadrille prompt at dVerse Poets Pub.
Ontheland 