Genieve Dawkins's Blog, page 9

Who am I?

Who am I?

Who am I?

What’s special about me?

Tell me, what do you see?

Can you see my tears?

Do you discern my fears?

Do you know what makes me cry?

Who am I?

Who am I?

Wretched, poor and born in sin

Praise the Lord, He took me in

From a cold and bitter place

Placed me safe under His wings

Now my heart soars and sings

No need to ask, who am I?

Writing 101, Day 1: I write because

My All: An Ode

Writing 201, Poetry, Day 5: Map, Ode, Metaphor

My All

My Jesus, I love you

Like I love no other

You are my all in all

My Jesus you lift me

On wings of eagles

You are my all in all

When no one was with me

You cared and gave comfort

You were my all in all

To be like you, Jesus

Is my ambition

To love as you do, Lord

Is my mission

I love you, I love you, I love you Jesus

You are my all in all

The Process

I took some time coming up with this because I understand that the ode is lyrical by nature, i.e., it’s a  poem that can double as a song when not irregular. Ergo, I decided to write song lyrics instead of just a poem, which meant triple the work.

I started out with a poem. An ode is celebratory, praise or an expression of love, so it had to be about God for me. The rest needs to work for that sort of acclaim. Here’s the original poem, which was just anything that popped into my mind jotted down on paper:

Ode to Jesus

My Jesus, I love you

Like no other

No one can compare

You are my all

When no one was there

You were my all

To be like you

Is my ambition

To love as you do

Is my mission

I love you, I love you, I love you

You are my all in all

Bonus points if you get the trinity reference.

This was okay, but it wasn’t metered. I’d planned to use a metronome for metering, but a massive thunderstorm in the afternoon knocked out the electricity and after that I simply couldn’t be bothered, so it was on to plan B: I used my fingers to count the lyrical beats of songs I liked, then to count the syllables in the poem, adjusting the wording as necessary to get threes, fours and sixes. This meant I had to get out my pen and paper and rewrite the poem. Once the lyrics looked okay on paper, it was time to polish everything up: how would they sound when sung?

The electricity was back, so I used a Yahama keyboard as it doesn’t seem to care that I know next to nothing about music.

Elise waiting for me to attempt to play “Fur Elise.”

I pushed the “music database” button and started with the first thing that popped up, “Hey Jude.” I started singing (wailing?) in the rain and managed to wake up pretty much the entire neighbourhood, which ended up working to my advantage as I got lots of unsolicited feedback.

I sang and played random notes until a tune started to emerge. Any awkward lyrics became obvious and corrections were made. I added lines and made changes until the song felt smooth to my ears.

I then proceeded to turn the music selection wheel and played many different styles and keys until I finally hit what sounded like song jackpot. If you want to try it at home, I settled on music database item no. 33, “YesterBd,” and played in what I believe was the key of F (major).

Sweet.

WPC: (Extra)ordinary

In response to The Daily Post’s weekly photo challenge: “(Extra)ordinary.”

As I walked down an unassuming dirt road earlier this year, I happened upon a perfectly (extra)ordinary sight. I turned mid-step and the shadow of the person in front of me caught my eye. I had the camera on me as I was hunting rule of third shots for the Photo 101 course, so I managed to catch this tall tale on camera. We had a good laugh, but was this scene even funny?

Holding on to Hope

Writing 201, Poetry, Day 9: Cold, Concrete Poem, Anaphora/Epistrophe

Holding on to Hope

Not like them who have no hope

I’m trying not to mourn

Yet I lose you a little more each day

And I’m tempted to be sad

I want to hold on

I want to clutch you tightly

I never want to let go

But I lose you bit by bit each day

You run through my fingers

Eluding my grasp like bitter water

Still I try to hold on

My fingers are slipping

I’m losing my grasp

As I lose you a little more each day

I will hold on

Not like those who have no hope

I’m trying not to mourn

The Cry of Angels: A Sonnet

Writing 201, Poetry, Day 10: Pleasure, Sonnet, Apostrophe

The Cry of Angels

Heark! heark! A sound is in the sky!

What’s that I hear?

Redemption draweth nigh

Come hither, reader dear,

Do you hear those noises?

Answer this, I pray

Is that the sound of angels’ voices?

Are we nearing judgment day?

Are you ready for the coming

Of the eternal reigning King?

Will that sky blast find you running?

Will you lift your voice and sing?

My parting words please cherish

Repent or likewise perish!

I’ve just seen the reports of the shofar-like noises coming from the sky. Such a fun topic for a poem!

I’m so sorry to see Writing 201 end, but I haven’t done all the assignments yet, so there’s more poetry to come. Fun, fun, fun!

Tainted Roses: An Elegy

Writing 201, Poetry, Day 8: Flavor, Elegy, Enumeratio

At midday. In full sun.

Tainted Roses

The joy of letting past things be

Confining dreams to memory

My hopes and my fears

And lost love’s tears

How can I utterly let go

Of what I loved so?

The temptation is to savour

Some bygone flavour

Until the present becomes tainted

By memories rose-painted

Forgetting the past

For nothing shall last

A higher calling beckons me

No slave to memories

That shall surely fade away

But hope shall stay

Second Sight: A Ballad

Writing 201: Poetry, Day Seven — Neighborhood, Ballad, Assonance‏

Second Sight

Those eyes, those innocent eyes

Always caught me by surprise

One night I cried

Something in me died

As I lost myself in those eyes

I found a world of lies

Now these eyes, these guileless eyes

Dream of stars in distant skies

They do not cry

Now I know why

Your eyes hid those lies

I was betrayed by innocent eyes

You may not think of me at all

Someone was there to catch your fall

You never spoke her name

But a crying shame

Was always in your eyes

Your innocent, distant eyes

I soar on the wings of love

High as a lonesome dove

Don’t cry for me

My heart is free

I no longer feel pain

I dance in pouring rain

Tonight I pray for you

That your heart be true

Repent or perish

I still cherish

You enough to wish you heaven

May all your sins be forgiven

May those eyes, those innocent eyes

No longer see a world of lies

May you find favour

With the Saviour

A new heart, sweet innocent eyes

A new home beyond the skies

Faces, Found Poetry, Chiasmus‏: Poisoned Pen

Writing 201: Poetry, Day Six — Faces, Found Poetry, Chiasmus‏

Poisoned Pen

A lost note found screams, “Murder Most Foul”

There was no Space to Write

Or see your face, Tell me, How’s Your Soul?

History in Black & White

The words Play With Light

Residing In the Future where light plays

On words, they look Big at Night

Like a Force of Nature

Hear a Higher Call

Find Inspiration, go Home

Scale is all, The Bigness of the Small

Seeing Double, lost in Rotation

You Fall from Grace

I find your face for a Moment, but lose it in eMotion

A Higher Call

Writing 201, Poetry, Day 4: Imperfect, Limerick, Enjambment

I want to catch you when you fall

I want to be your all in all

I quake with desire

Smoke and ice and fire

But I heed a higher call

The Fall From Grace

I saw you fall like fire from the sky. My heart wept for you, but my eyes could not cry. Awake in a dream, nay, a vision of the night, I knew you to be something other than an angel of the light. Pathetic fallen thing, death’s pallor in your skin, you lay there broken.

I tried to be your saviour, but my thoughts remain unspoken.

How came this state upon you? Your heart was once a place so true.

I awoke in sorrow, lost in time and space, to find you here, humbled by your fall from grace.

Who pulled your down from your high place in the sky? How did you fall? And why, oh why?

What did I see in this vision of the night? Does it your end portend? Should you shake with fright? Your fate is near, I fear, but still I summon no tear.

I want to tell you I saw you fall like lightning from the sky.Though my heart weeps for you, my eyes yet fail to cry.

Writing 201, Poetry, Skin, Prose Poetry, Internal rhyme (A summary of my dream last night.)