quitecontrary's Hot Air Balloon
16 posts in this topic.
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I may have started late but I'll try to see this challenge through!
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Prompt: 2.4.21 (rhyming couplet + cinquain)
Lava Lamp
Out goes the light and I fear the worst,
But Love holds me still and my gaze is reversed:
Behold
Magical light
reaching throughout my room--
A captured wind, full of new dreams
Secure. -
Ooh! I love how you combined the two forms here. The line you chose to make the switch is a turning point, too, so the form switch is really apt. I also love the lines "Behold" and "Secure". <33
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Thank you @Liminality! I wasn't sure about the last line, but I'm glad you liked it!
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Prompt: [noun] and [concept]
Sand Dollars & Inheritance
Twenty-three years of criss-crossed lines--
scalloped shell and history's pines--
The earth's too old to stay the same
Change is coming and so am I,
ready to claim this inheritance as mine.
I've no idea how all this fell to my name
The sea sweeps the shore and change commences;
as sands trickle away we sit and lament
about all that's gone of all we've claimed
But I suppose if we wait awhile, just a bit
until a storm in its chaos knits
together a sand dollar, two halves split
but still a whole--
Maybe the hope that goes in a jar
will come back in a ship,
Maybe love will stick like tar
and the cold will no longer nip
I don't know why I tried so hard to dig this hole;
as if after all this time I would still fit.
My heart spills out and my mind's ready to quit
But Time grins down, and heartily I pay its toll. -
Ooh I really love the fourth stanza of your last poem! The changes in the number of lines, rhyming scheme, and enjambment all work together so nicely and reflect the subtle shift in tone. (Also the imagery is gorgeous throughout the poem; I especially love "scalloped shell" and "chaos knits"!)
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Thank you @watchamacallit! I always start structured but sometimes it's going nowhere and I need to change it
Also I loved your last villanelle!! The subject worked so well <3 -
Prompt: Polarity(i kinda just had fun with this one)
Weather Machine
So often I have thought:
'It would be better cold,
or hot or windy or calm,'
and after chanced upon a curious thing;
an emotion, I suppose,
or maybe more intrusive dialogue,
that said: 'better as is,
than change make it not.'
But if the question is of the sky
and not of existence dry,
then I rather say that
change should come;
and if the rain drops in buckets
to wash away the sun,
then I'll say: 'That's exactly what we need!
a do-it-yourself weather machine!' -
ack I missed last week :,(
Pomegranate
everything's hot.
The concrete digs into soft palms
and crumbly dirt freckles tan skin
marble-blue eyes search the skyline
for signs of clouds, but the shade
stays resigned beneath the pepper tree
pursed lips challenge the afternoon's noise
as insects wings buzz dryly
and gentle leaves brush against each other
Tiny juice-stain fingers pinch together
methodically picking ruby jewels
covered in silky white skin
a gift--burst of bittersweet
and a splash of red passion
scents of complicated feelings
but to pry open the polished shell
and let each secret shine
is a joy to perfect to divine -
I love the sound devices in this! Especially the sneaky consonance like "pry open the polished . . . " <3
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Prompt: Primavera, Ludovico Einaudi
Rain
There's a steadily rocking rhythm
that pulls and pushes the sky,
great clouds tumble and climb
as they pass covertly by
The carpet of angels opens up
over buildings that crowd this island nation
And holding a book over our heads
is no less an attempt than a declaration
Expect the brilliant skies to amaze
to tug at souls and chasten lives
but do not fear the blessings of thunder
as they pour out an answer our weakened cries. -
Ooh I read this poem while listening to Primavera and it perfectly captures how the music moves around the 3-minute mark!! the music is definitely "tumbling and climbing" and feels very celestial/angelic for sure. Aah and "blessings of thunder" is such a beautiful phrase <3
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Prompt: Fruit Haiku
what is flesh but joy?
Fruits blush with swollen shape; see?
even as they fall -
Prompt: Recycling
Spoiler
Old Poem:
Could it be you, flapping your wings?
This early my breath lies like frost
at the cold window, but still
I am up to see you
Pressing my fingertips against the glass,
like I could touch you through this man-made atmosphere
My heart beats wildly for you,
you wild thing, untethered
and free from my grasp!
Why must I reach for you, and you dance away
like a game of mouse and cat
except out of harm's way
I'm hurting and so are you
you with your ach for the sky
and me with my ach for you
I suppose we'll never move like one
like a goldfish beneath the surface of a calm pond
Could it be you, flapping your wings?
This early the swirling arcs of mist
With sunbeams dazzle as if
To crown heaven's king.
My breath lies like frost
at the cold window, but still
I am up to see you
I press my fingertips against the glass
To touch you through this man-made atmosphere--
My heart beats wildly for you,
you wild thing, untethered
and free from my grasp!
Why must I reach for you, and you dance away
like a game of mouse and cat
except out of harm's way
I'm hurting and so are you
you with your ach for the sky
and me with my ach for you
But the early morning hours pass by
With startling serenity:
Just me watching you
As you rejoice to fly -
prompt: names, repetition + identity
I'm a perfect spiral
(and I don't mean rabbit hole)
a returning that always avoids itself
so that by shedding my own weight
I am constantly made new
I'm a perfect hyperbola
(and I don't mean comet's trail)
that shoots ever and ever closer
without knowing my physical limit
because, boy, I've already risked it
I'm a perfect fifth
(and i don't mean baseball inning)
that in favor of blissful harmony
endures life's painful dissonance
as I lean closer to the divine
I am, and I am not
not, because I think I am
and, all for the sake of naught
for my perfection cannot be measured
unless by you, whose measure fills all flaws
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