Harmony Kent's Blog, page 25

#TANKATUESDAY Weekly #POETRYCHALLENGE #272 #TasteTheRainbow @ColleenChesebro #Diablo

Hi everyone!

Today, I’ve joined Colleen’s weekly TankaTuesday challenge, which asks for us to create a syllabic poem based on colour. 

As ever, we need to avoid ‘ing’ ending words if at all possible.

You can find Colleen’s post HERE.

 

I chose to try a Diablo. I haven’t attempted this kind of poetry before, so this is new territory for me. Diabolo is a poetry form invented by Dennis William Turner, writing on All Poetry as Dennisturner19. His specifications and an example:

A poem of two, six-line, iambic stanzas.Each stanza:Lines 1,2,4 and 5, iambic tetrameter with rhymes at syllables 6 and 8.Lines 3 and 6, iambic Dimeter with rhymes at syllables 2 and 4.Rhyme scheme:(a,b,)(a,b,)(c,d,)(e,f,)(e,f,)(c,d, )(g,h,)(g,h,)(i,j,)(k,l,)(k,l,)(i,j, )

 

Many thanks to https://poetscollective.org/poetryforms/tag/rhymed/ for their great explanation and example of a Diablo. Here’s my effort:

 

Push and Pull

 

The boaster and the braggart do

All destroy peace, and gag and spew

Hate and disdain.

Even though they do wish for love,

Their need makes them selfish and rough,

Lone, shunned, in pain.

 

Whereas those who give love and life,

Find sustenance enough and rife.

All they could wish.

Peace and empathy change the world,

Give the freedom to range unfurled,

Free, gay, affiche.

 

I followed one of Colleen’s links about the symbolism of colour, and perhaps, it’s no coincidence that Turquoise is one of my absolute favourite shades of all time. Here’s what Colour Meanings has to say about Turquoise:

“The color of calmness and clarity. Turquoise stabilizes emotions and increases empathy and compassion. It emits a cool calming peace, gives us a boost of positive mental energy that improves concentration and clarifies our mind, and creates a balance that clears the path to spiritual growth.”

 

 

 

I hope you enjoyed today’s poetry. I learnt a new word with this too: Affiche, which in its verb form, means “To parade, to advertise, publicise; to display, show.” Have a lovely day!

 

© Harmony Kent 2022

 

#NaPoWriMo: A Poem A Day – Day 30

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Hi everyone! Today is day Thirty of the national poetry month competition and the final day!

Here’s my offering >>>

DAY  THIRTY:

[Instructions:] From NaPoWriMo Day Thirty … Write a Cento. A Cento is a poem that is made up of lines taken from other poems.

Love Sublime

 

If ever two were one, then surely we

I do forgive thy robb’ry, gentle thief

The thirst that from the soul doth rise

My heart has left it’s dwelling place

And the rocks melt wi’ the sun

Struck dumb I was

After all, there’s no need to say anything

For verily love knows not ‘mine’ or ‘thine’

I thank you, kind and best beloved friend

 

Today’s poetic prompt is perfect for me to choose from among some of the great love poets on the weekend of my 3rd wedding anniversary. I hope you enjoyed what I cobbled together. Here are the poets I borrowed from … 

To My Dear and Loving Husband by Anne Bradstreet

Sonnet 40 by William Shakespeare

Song: To Celia by Ben Johnson

First Love by John Clare

A Red, Red Rose by Robert Burns

Struck Dumb by Sunday Yemi Akinbamido 

Flirtation by Rita Dove

I loved you first: but afterwards your love by Christina Rossetti

Sonnet: I Thank You by Henry Timrod

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone, and thank you from the bottom of my heart for all your support throughout the NaPoWriMo 30 Day Poetry Challenge  

 

© Harmony Kent 2022

 

#NaPoWriMo: A Poem A Day – Day 29

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Hi everyone! Today is day Twenty-Nine of the national poetry month competition and the penultimate day!

Here’s my offering >>>

DAY  TWENTY-NINE:

[Instructions:] From NaPoWriMo Day Twenty-Nine … In certain versions of the classic fairytale Sleeping Beauty, various fairies or witches are invited to a princess’s christening, and bring her gifts. One fairy/witch, however, is not invited, and in revenge for the insult, lays a curse on the princess. Today, I’d like to challenge you to write a poem in which you muse on the gifts you received at birth — whether they are actual presents, like a teddy bear, or talents – like a good singing voice – or circumstances – like a kind older brother, as well as a “curse” you’ve lived with (your grandmother’s insistence on giving you a new and completely creepy porcelain doll for every birthday, a bad singing voice, etc.). I hope you find this to be an inspiring avenue for poetic and self-exploration.

 

Choices

The cursed child

Who feels the need

To cry “Wish I were

Never born”

So forlorn

 

The parents 

Who struggle

And blame

Heap the burden on the child

Of sacrifice and a life reviled

 

The woman

Self-reliant

First weak

Now strong

Finds a place to belong

 

The blessing

Inherent in each

And every existence

Cherish this gift

With a life well lived

 

Talent

good looks

Are all well and good

Of greater import

Is how you comport

 

Succour

Kindness

Empathy 

These truest blessings

allow all to spread their wings

 

Come what may

Gifted

Or cursed

Free your soul

Live life whole

 

Today’s poetic prompt is one I struggled with hugely. I almost gave it a miss, but I’ve come this far and only have today and tomorrow to go. In the end, I went with a broader viewpoint rather than dealing with specifics. 

Have a wonderful day, everyone, and I’ll see you tomorrow with Day Thirty on the NaPoWriMo 30 Day Poetry Challenge  

 

© Harmony Kent 2022

 

#NaPoWriMo: A Poem A Day – Day 28

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Hi everyone! Today is day Twenty-Eight of the national poetry month competition. Only two more days to go!

Here’s my offering >>>

DAY  TWENTY-EIGHT:

[Instructions:] From NaPoWriMo Day Twenty-Eight … Write a concrete poem. Like acrostic poems, concrete poems are a favourite for grade-school writing assignments, so this may not be your first time at the concrete-poem rodeo. In brief, a concrete poem is one in which the lines are shaped in a way that mimics the topic of the poem. For example, May Swenson’s poem “Women” mimics curves, reinforcing the poem’s references to motion, rocking horses, and even the shape of a woman’s body. George Starbuck’s “Sonnet in the Shape of a Potted Christmas Tree” is – you guessed it – a sonnet in the shape of a potted Christmas tree. Your concrete poem could be complexly-shaped, but relatively simple strategies can also be “concrete” —  like a poem involving a staircase where the length of the lines grows or shrinks over time, like an ascending (or descending) set of stairs.

 

Image courtesy of Pixabay: https://pixabay.com/vectors/drop-rain... and CANVA

 

 

Today’s poem was inspired by a thoughtless response to yesterday’s poem and wedding picture on Twitter overnight. I should thank the guy, as he made today’s creative efforts pretty easy! If any of you are curious to see the thread, here’s the Twitter link: https://twitter.com/MathisenSteve/status/1519403298331144193. You might need to click on “show replies” to see my response under the man’s final comment of “he looks much older…”

As you’ll see, I laughed it off and made a joke about my youthful looks; however, what the guy doesn’t realise is he’s holding up the mirror of himself and showing the world his inner life, how he sees and interacts with the world around him, and that has nothing whatsoever to do with my life. A long time ago, I learnt that if people judge me, that’s their problem, not mine. I can only ever be responsible for myself, and what everyone else does is their business. I wanted to”reflect” some of that in my poem, which I hope you’ll agree is shaped like a teardrop. The teardrop is because all of this is so unutterably sad.

Thank you to Beem Weeks for answering the guy and trying to give some perspective. And thank you to all of you for your outstanding support and cheering me on this whole month!

Have a wonderful day, everyone, and I’ll see you tomorrow with Day Twenty-Nine on the NaPoWriMo 30 Day Poetry Challenge  

 

© Harmony Kent 2022

 

#BookReview: 56 Days by Catherine Ryan Howard @cathryanhoward @BorrowBox

Hi everyone! Today, I have a book review for an author I enjoy. I saw this book on my local library’s list, and I was able to download it for free, using an app called Borrowbox. I am so pleased I gave this read a go, and I shall be checking out yet more reads by Catherine Ryan Howard >>>

About the Book:

No one knew they’d moved in together. Now one of them is dead. Could this be the perfect murder?

56 DAYS AGO
Ciara and Oliver meet in a supermarket queue in Dublin the same week Covid-19 reaches Irish shores.

35 DAYS AGO
When lockdown threatens to keep them apart, Oliver suggests that Ciara move in with him. She sees a unique opportunity for a new relationship to flourish without the pressure of scrutiny of family and friends. He sees it as an opportunity to hide who – and what – he really is.

TODAY
Detectives arrive at Oliver’s apartment to discover a decomposing body inside.

Will they be able to determine what really happened, or has lockdown provided someone with the opportunity to commit the perfect crime?

My Review:

A Slow Burn but Gripping

Usually, a book that even dares to mention “Covid” once will send me running for the hills and screaming my lungs out. However, the pretext of lockdowns was used so skillfully, and the whole subject dealt with so sensitively, that I hardly realised I was reading about a time-period which bracketed the unmentionable virus. There was no belabouring the point at all, and the plot and premise most definitely took centre stage in this entertaining read. For me, this is a wonderfully imaginative take on the whole concept of lockdown and how that can be used to further your own nefarious ends. 

“It’s like one of those viral videos taken inside some swanky apartment complex, where all the slim and fit thirty-something residents are doing star jumps behind the glass railings of their balconies while the world burns.” From this lengthy yet intriguing opening line, we are dragged–quite compellingly–into the world of Ciara and Oliver, where nothing and nobody is what they seem. The world building, characterisation, and plot building were all well done, and I found myself able to believe the set-up and fall into the story.

While the pacing is at a slow burn, it’s a gripping read nonetheless, and I did not want to have to put it down. Here are some lines I loved … “

The residents are used to living above and below and beside other people’s entire lives while pretending to be utterly unaware of them; hearing each other’s TVs and smelling each other’s cooking but never learning each other’s names.” … A sad but true observation of modern-day life.

And … “Which was bad, because he couldn’t afford to feel good. That was always when bad things started to happen.”

And … “Everything he’s wearing is fit so snugly that she fears she could be committing a sex crime just by looking at him.” 

And, finally, … “The stench feels like it’s got so thick that it’s taken on a solid shape, and that shape is coiling around Lee’s neck like a deadly python, slithering and tightening, making her windpipe dangerously small.”

 As you can see, I enjoyed this book immensely. The main reason this read didn’t get five stars was due to the frequent overuse of unnecessary words such as “practically”, “literally” and “really”, which I find so totally off-putting and which detract from the enjoyment of the read. Time and again, this sort of stuff pulled me out of the fiction, and I had to work to get back into the tension of the story. As it is, I did enjoy this book and will most definitely check out the writer’s other books. 56 Days gets a solid four stars from me.

***

NOTE ON RATINGS: I consider a 3-star rating a positive review. Picky about which books I give 5 stars to, I reserve this highest rating for the stories I find stunning and which moved me.

5 STARS: IT WAS AMAZING! I COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN! — Highly Recommended.

4 STARS: I WOULD PULL AN ALL-NIGHTER — Go read this book.

3 STARS: IT WAS GOOD! — An okay read. Didn’t love it. Didn’t hate it.

2 STARS: I MAY HAVE LIKED A FEW THINGS —Lacking in some areas: writing, characterisation, and/or problematic plot lines.

1 STAR: NOT MY CUP OF TEA —Lots of issues with this book.

 

I’d love to hear what you think of this review. Thanks for stopping by

 

For anyone interested, here are the Amazon links …

 

UK … https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B08R8XRTB2/

US … https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08R8XRTB2/

#NaPoWriMo: A Poem A Day – Day 27

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Hi everyone! Today is day Twenty-Seven of the national poetry month competition. Only three more days to go!

Here’s my offering >>>

DAY  TWENTY-SEVEN:

[Instructions:] From NaPoWriMo Day Twenty-Seven …Write  a “duplex.” A “duplex” is a variation on the sonnet, developed by the poet Jericho Brown. Here’s one of his first “Duplex” poems, and here is a duplex written by the poet I.S. Jones. Like a typical sonnet, a duplex has fourteen lines. It’s organized into seven, two-line stanzas. The second line of the first stanza is echoed by (but not identical to) the first line of the second stanza, the second line of the second stanza is echoed by (but not identical to) the first line of the third stanza, and so on. The last line of the poem is the same as the first.

To start you off on my tongue-in-cheek mood today, here’s a cheeky pic from the big day …

1st job as groom!

 

Marry In May 

 

Marry in May and rue the day

We missed that bit of sage advice

 

Nobody offered that bit of sage advice

Now we’re four days from three years wed

 

With sorrows and joys we’re four days from three years wed

Surely it’s not all down to fate

 

Do we have a choice or is it all down to fate?

They say the next hurdle is the seven-year itch

 

We’d best stock up on ointment for that seven-year itch

Cos, you know, I take forever seriously

 

Forever means forever, seriously 

Or is this jest?

 

Do I joke or do I jest?

Marry in May and rue the day

I hope you enjoyed this bit of anniversary fun! Have a wonderful day, everyone, and I’ll see you tomorrow with Day Twenty-Eight on the NaPoWriMo 30 Day Poetry Challenge  

 

© Harmony Kent 2022

 

#NaPoWriMo: A Poem A Day – Day 26 and #TankaTuesday #Poetry Challenge No. 271 #Colleen’s #THEMEPROMPT #TankaProse @ColleenChesebro

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Hi everyone! Today is day twenty-six of the national poetry month competition, and also Colleen’s weekly Tanka Tuesday challenge #271. Today, I’ve combined the two challenges into one.

Here’s my offering >>>

DAY  TWENTY-SIX:

[Instructions:] From NaPoWriMo Day Twenty-Six … And now for our daily prompt (optional, as always). A couple of days ago, we played around with hard-boiled similes. Today, I’d like to challenge you to write a poem that contains at least one of a different kind of simile – an epic simile. Also known as Homeric similes, these are basically extended similes that develop over multiple lines. Perhaps unsurprisingly, they have mainly been used in epic poems, typically as decorative elements that emphasize the dramatic nature of the subject (see, by way of illustration, this example from Milton’s Paradise Lost). But you could write a complete poem that is just one lengthy, epic simile, relying on the surprising comparison of unlike things to carry the poem across. And if you’re feeling especially cheeky, you could even write a poem in which the epic simile spends lines heroically and dramatically describing something that turns out to be quite prosaic. Whatever you decide to compare, I hope you have fun extending your simile(s) to epic lengths.

And from Colleen’s Weekly Tanka Tuesday challenge … This week’s form: Theme Prompt. This challenge explores poetry based on the theme of ENDINGS & BEGINNINGS. Yvette M Calleiro provided the theme for this month’s challenge.

 

 

Scattered Like Leaves

 

leaves

scattered

in the streets

the green all gone

camouflaged beneath

the stains of life and death

that continuous cycle

of beginnings, middles, endings

are we no more than mulch of dead growth?

squishy return to that from whence we came?

once vibrant hues muted, faded to greys

not any thing as it was stays true

where gone?—promises of dances

in spring’s jade-speckled palaces

storms come, cover our land

thunder, flame, and blood

fallen bodies 

fill streets like

scattered

leaves

 

Today, I’ve chosen a double (stacked) Etheree with a syllable count of 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1. The cyclic, wave-like form of this seemed perfect for the theme. An Etheree is usually titled.

With the first blush of teasing green in our hedgerows, my mind went to when they will turn and fall, and—perhaps unsurprisingly, at the moment—to fallen heroes and loved ones.  I’ve used SodaCoffee Syllable counter so that we’re all on the same counting tool for Colleen’s Tanka Tuesday challenge.

Have a wonderful day, everyone, and I’ll see you tomorrow with Day Twenty-Seven on the NaPoWriMo 30 Day Poetry Challenge  

 

© Harmony Kent 2022

 

#NaPoWriMo: A Poem A Day – Day 25

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Hi everyone! Today is day Twenty-Five of the national poetry month competition.

Here’s my offering >>>

DAY  TWENTY-FIVE:

[Instructions:] From NaPoWriMo Day Twenty-Five … Today’s (optional) prompt is based on the aisling, a poetic form that developed in Ireland. An aislingrecounts a dream or vision featuring a woman who represents the land or country on/in which the poet lives, and who speaks to the poet about it. Today, I’d like to challenge you to write a poem that recounts a dream or vision, and in which a woman appears who represents or reflects the area in which you live. Perhaps she will be the Madonna of the Traffic Lights, or the Mysterious Spirit of Bus Stops. Or maybe you will be addressed by the Lost Lady of the Stony Coves. Whatever form your dream-visitor takes, happy writing!

Image courtesy of Pixabay: https://pixabay.com/illustrations/wom...

 

take these seeds so

when you die here

sunflowers will grow 

 

in extremis

Clytie watches near

ever golden optimist 

 

in hopes for peace

she shines her light

on wishes for war’s surcease

 

o’er fields crushed 

barren in her plight

face crumpled in disgust

 

oh but what a sight

yon sunflower goddess’s 

determined fight

 

her golden glow

seeds offered in open palm

e’en mongst mud, blood, ‘n snow

 

soft tones hide

the hard harm

when she cried

 

enemy, take these seeds so

when you die here

sunflowers will grow 

 

sunflowers will grow

 

With today’s prompt, I couldn’t write about any other than Clytie, the goddess of sunflowers, and Ukraine’s brave fight.

Have a wonderful day, everyone, and I’ll see you tomorrow with Day Twenty-Six on the NaPoWriMo 30 Day Poetry Challenge  

 

© Harmony Kent 2022

 

#NaPoWriMo: A Poem A Day – Day 24

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Hi everyone! Today is day Twenty-Four of the national poetry month competition and the last Sunday.

Here’s my offering >>>

DAY  TWENTY-FOUR:

[Instructions:] From NaPoWriMo Day Twenty-Four …

Hard-boiled detective novels are known for their use of vivid similes, often with an ironic or sarcastic tone. Novelist Raymond Chandler is particularly adept at these. Here are a few from his novels:

A few locks of dry, white hair clung to his scalp, like wild flowers fighting for life on a bare rock.Dead men are heavier than broken hearts.From 30 feet away she looked like a lot of class. From 10 feet away she looked like something made up to be seen from 30 feet away.She smelled the way the Taj Mahal looks by moonlight.He looked about as inconspicuous as a tarantula on a slice of angel food.

Today, I’d like to challenge you to channel your inner gumshoe, and write a poem in which you describe something with a hard-boiled simile. Feel free to use just one, or try to go for broke and stuff your poem with similes till it’s . . . as dense as bread baked by a plumber, as round as the eyes of a girl who wants you to think she’s never heard such language, and as easy to miss as a brass band in a cathedral.

 

He was

In the soup

Right in

The thick

Of it

Trouble was

His middle name

And first

And last

It was

No picnic

Chopping up

This stiff

It might

Have been

Better

We’re he

In a jam

Rather than 

Hot water

It might

Not have

Upset her

Quite so much

As finding

His tooth

On her saucer

Now

We’re both

In a pickle

I don’t read this kind of detective fiction, so I took a “stab in the dark” (if you’ll pardon my pun!) and came up with as many similes as I could for “being in trouble”. My muse decided to then take a rather noir turn, lols.

Have a wonderful day, everyone, and I’ll see you tomorrow with Day Twenty-Five on the NaPoWriMo 30 Day Poetry Challenge  

 

© Harmony Kent 2022

 

#NaPoWriMo: A Poem A Day – Day 23

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Hi everyone! Today is day Twenty-Three of the national poetry month competition. Only seven more days to go!

Here’s my offering >>>

DAY  TWENTY-THREE:

[Instructions:] From NaPoWriMo Day Twenty-Three …Write a poem in the style of Kay Ryan, whose poems tend to be short and snappy – with a lot of rhyme and soundplay. They also have a deceptive simplicity about them, like proverbs or aphorisms. Once you’ve read a few, you’ll see what I mean. Here’s her “Token Loss,” “Blue China Doorknob,” “Houdini,” and “Crustacean Island.”

 

keep your truth

shine your light

tell your stories

if people

wanted you

to be nice

complimentary 

they should have

reciprocated

such kind

generosity 

of spirit

let the waters

flow

from the 

stagnant pool

that marks 

the mind

of the

eternal

fool

 

Until today’s prompt, I remained in woeful ignorance of the wonderful poet, Kay Ryan. I will be taking a much closer look at her work from now on. Again, I went with free-style poetry as this prompt seemed to call for it.

My poem is inspired by a quote that Debby Kaye shared on one of her blog posts this week: “You own everything that happened to you. Tell your stories. If people wanted you to write warmly about them, they should have behaved better.” ~Anne Lamott. This resonated with me, and I’ve tried to pay homage to it today.

Have a wonderful day, everyone, and I’ll see you tomorrow with Day Twenty-Four on the NaPoWriMo 30 Day Poetry Challenge  

 

© Harmony Kent 2022