She Tells Him

Standing there by the old fence
She sure is a pretty sight
He forgot just how her eyes do shine
Under the bright sun light
He ain’t seen her in over month
Truth be told not since that night
And he knows the call bringing him here
Can’t be for something right

She tells him the baby is yours
And he knows she ain’t lying
Inside her a life slowly grows
But inside him he’s slowly dying
Being a dad at seventeen
Wasn’t part of his plan
A baby makes him a father
But it don’t make him a man

She leans against the old fence
Not enjoying the cooling breeze
The silence between them is deafening
It’s not meant for times like these
She remembers how he held her close that night
How he made her weak in the knees
Not this distance she feels now standing next to him
Like she’s got some kind of disease

She tells him the baby is yours
And he knows she ain’t lying
She should be happy about this life that grows
But she’s on the verge of crying
Being a mom at sixteen
Wasn’t part of her plan
A baby makes her a mother
But it don’t make her a woman

He’s thinking how two together
Can sometimes add another one
She’s thinking she can’t raise herself
Let alone a daughter or a son
Both want to stand their own ground
Both of them want to run
And neither wants to dare to think
What the other thinks should be done

If he offers his hand would she be his wife
And somehow together maybe make a life
Or let it be something that they just let go
The distant dreams only the two of them will know
She tells him the baby is yours
And he knows she ain’t lying
No matter what they decide
Its knot that’s never untying

Having a child in their teens
Wasn’t part of their plan
A baby makes them parents
But she’s a long way from a woman,
And he’s a long way from a man


dVerse Poets Pub | Open Link Night #291

Today Mish tends the bar for Open Link Night at dVerse Poets where there are no prompts. Post the poem you want.

National Poetry Month Day 29 in a narrative mood.

Some Shade of Blue

I would need some time, to give it its due,
It’s a daunting thing you ask of me.
The seas are more than just some shade of blue

Oh, how would I render such a vibrant hue,
When seas reach the shore at dawn? At three?
I’d need some time, to give it its due.

In colors cleaved only with God’s imbue, 
This palette of mine must try to decree.
The seas are more than just some shade of blue.

There are whitecapped curls of waves to construe 
As they crash against the rocks prettily.
I’d need some time, to give it its due.

Certainly more time than you’d think it’s true. 
Shades vaster than the horizons to see.
Yes, I’d need some time, to give it it’s due.
The seas are more than just some shade of blue.


dVerse Poets Pub graphic
dVerse Poets Pub | Open Link Night

dVerse Poets Pub | Open Link Night

Today Lillian remodels as she tends the bar for Open Link Night at dVerse Poets.

Open Link Night where there are no prompts. Everyone can post ONE poem of their choosing. No particular format, topic, etc.. Post the poem you want.

Tonight I offer a Villanelle

A Quiet Moment Passing

The
Blue skies and
Warm colors belie
The first hint of autumn days.
Pause.

Stop.
Acquire
A quiet moment.
Life encourages this soft
Path.

Time
Will again
Invoke its magic.
Next dash of eternity –
Poof!

Smile.
Wallow in
A chance to marvel
The ebb and flow of breeze; be
Touched.

Give
This its due
What will be – will be
Change is the only constant,
Breathe.

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Today’s form is a Crown Oddquain

Tonight Linda tends bar at dVerse where on this day 58 years ago The Rolling Stones released “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” and tonight happens to be Open Link Night.

dVerse Poets Pub| Open Link Night : On This Day

dVerse Poets Pub - OpenLinkNight Mic

The Final Bow

Just once more, he begged and pleaded to her
A hello and farewell tour as it were
She scoffs it’s the silliest thing she’s heard
And besides she’s now much too old a bird
For what purpose could there possibly be
To take on the burden of one like she
 
To argue money came quickly and went
Her career had made her quite affluent
Nor could he argue for awards or fame
Not with world-wide accolades in her name
Just one more stand in the glow of limelight
Doing the craft that has been her delight
 
Ten years had passed since she last graced a screen
And Broadway? Well that was a near fifteen
It goes back and forth for a little while
But he knows she’s in once he sees the smile
That smiles that stops men even as jaded as he
It was hard not to rub his hands with glee
 
Some thought she turned a new leaf in life
She brought none of the old dramas or strife
A junior diva tested this new meek
And learned from the curb that sweet is not weak
And not a step was missed as she rehearsed
Her new elegance shined as others cursed
 
The nocturne really tested her voice
Her body tired but she had no choice
Once her fire’s lit she’s in for the fight
And she was just fine come opening night
She trusted her nerves would not let her sway
As a full house harkens each word she says
 
When that solo light shines, she feels such bliss
And knows nothing, nothing will equal this
The applause thunders as the curtain falls
And she waits for the first of curtain calls
A bouquet of taffy and red roses
Greets her as she rises from her poses
 
She laughs at the joke, both ancient and sage
And waves at the giver just left of stage
Exhausted but grateful she has this chance
To act, to sing and yes a little dance
As the light faded, she fell to the floor
The diva had had her final encore
 
She was called difficult but the best
Fact to which all who knew her did attest
Eulogies told with melancholy tears
At the services filled with loved ones and peers
Every soul there agreed that it was
Fitting the last thing she heard was applause
woman on stage arms out

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Tonight Lillian tends bar at dVerse Poets Pub. It’s Open Link Night, where our words are all we’re ‘just sayin’…’ | Open Link Night : Just Sayin’ . . .

dVerse Poets Pub - OpenLinkNight Mic

Life-Chance-Death Pain-Faith

LIFE
living
existence

one day at a time
for the rest of your time
trying to be at one's best

'because the alternative sucks'

CHANCE
fortune
in fate's hand

opportunity
it's not in your control
what turns the wheel, guides the die

'life, the moment your eyes open'

DEATH
finite
infinite

it is what it is
for as long as we're here
It's not as long as we're gone

'it is the great equalizer'

PAIN
anguish
agony

in body or soul
and oftentimes in both
you bear the unbearable

'it's what lets you know you're alive'

FAITH
belief
conviction

the ultimate trust
is the substance of hope
evidence of things not seen

'all that I have left in me now'

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It’s Open Link Night at dVerse Poets Pub and a join in with a Clarity Pyramid poetry form for National Poetry Writing Month.

National Poetry Month 2020

I Just Want You To Know

And I don’t want the world to see me
Cause I don’t think that they’d understand
When everything’s made to be broken
I just want you to know who I am

“Iris” by the Goo-Goo Dolls / “City of Angels” Soundtrack

Some question my sanity year after year
That I’ m not quite right is abundantly clear
Stepping in and out of darkened lucidity
The voices in my head are mostly a minor din
But that yellow dress you wore that day did me in
It was the red cape to the bull of my insanity
And the voice gained control was full of hate
As you stepped to me smiling sealing your fate
For my mood was downright ugly
And I don’t want the world to see me

I don’t deny what I’ve done to some women is sick
But you weren’t like those yacht girls who fall so quick
All their smiling as they think I’m at their command
They dangle promises of a young love so sweet
But it’s me holding their hearts, feeling their heat
And then ripping it from them with my bare hand
But you, you disregard all concepts of my deceiving
My inner voices wondering why aren’t you leaving
Never having had an experience like this firsthand
‘Cause I don’t think that they’d understand

False yore flows from my cruel lips with ease
Yards of lies with an inch of truth to please
The truth a means of passage, merely a token
So you yawn in my face, knowing it’s unwise
And yet you laugh seeing the truth in all the lies
Behind every filthy word I’ve ever spoken
From you the truth shines bright and sure
The lightness of your heart, ywis so pure
But can I believe your heart is solid – oaken?
When everything’s made to be broken

And so you survived more than just the night
Even knowing down deep I may never be right
For goodness knows I really didn’t give a damn
If you drowned in all the tears you yield
Brought on by all these damn fears I field
‘Cause you were never part of the program
But you’re still here and nothing denies
How I yearn for the feel of your light in my eyes
But mine are the eyes of a tragedy ma’am
I just want you to know who I am

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One of my favorite poetry forms: a Glosa.

dVerse Poets Pub: Open Link Night #268

dVerse ~Poets Pub

In The Silver Night

I hear the clock ticking in the dark
It echoes my heart as I lay alone
With you in my head
Wanting you by my side
Wishing you were my own

The moon holds all my secrets
How I long to be in your heart
With words of love I’ve only said
Within my dreams there are many things
I want you to be a part

In the silver night

I did not think I could fall in love
Thought it a bother to have such
It seemed that Fate had other plans
To have you so close and yet so far
It is all just too much

Sometimes I think you could never care
For the type of man I am it’s true
Sometimes I think that you know
That I’d give you everything
And I hate myself for loving you

In the silver night…

And I’ll convince myself that I can manage
That caring is not an advantage
But now I know it’s a lie!

Loving you is a pauper’s face against the window
Wanting on that which I beseech
It’s a distance of galaxies when we’re feet apart
In my mind I know how’d your lips feel
Even though you are far out of my reach

It’s the eggshell syllables of your name
I whisper to your specter in Luna’s light
For once again I face the stars on my own
All alone

In the silver night

In the silver night…

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DVerse Poets Pub | Open Link Night #261

dVerse Poets Pub graphic

Star

We are conceived
and float to an existence
Expected to grow old

Then are returned to the earth
From whence we came
To become one with the forevermore

In between we fall and rise
We laugh and cry
And the lucky ones find love

The paths all differ
Yet is the same road tread
Some as common, some as czar

But I have come to believe
Some souls are just too beautiful
For a mere shell of flesh to hold

That some are borne of the heavens
To ride comets and meteors
Not for our ways to shape and score

For how does one contain
Sunlight and moonbeams
This is what our child was made of

Thus, we come to lay down to sleep
The one who had not the chance to wake
As into this earth we dedicate a star.
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dVerse Poets Pub | Open Link Night #233

I’m in an Enigma State of Mind

Picturesque, the dame gives name to her state
A classic beauty of the Art Deco age
That is recognized everywhere

Each day the dame shows off her golden base
While each night shines on top
Sometimes in diamond white
Most times adorned in colors
Honoring what’s dear to her

The sleepless met the dame on Valentine’s Day
The fit 86 their sanity each year to reach her
The observant see her in 102 stories

The dame is renowned the world over
Being among the first of her kind
For her stately height
And redefining animal magnetism

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For tonight’s OpenLinkNight at dVerse Poets Pub I give some love to the enigma that is The Empire State Building.

The Empire State Building at night awash in multiple pastel colors

dVerse Poets Pub graphic

dVerse Poets OpenLinkNight #221

Let Me

There should be no sound, so you can hear me
Yet I hear your voice scream out, in the silence of your love
Its timbre pains me, its timbre thrills you
When your yesterdays haunt you, in the restlessness of night
Would you accept me as balm? Let me be tomorrow’s peace

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TANKA / SUPER TANKA

The Tanka is an ancient form of Japanese poetry. Tanka are 31-syllable poems that have been the most popular form of poetry in Japan for at least 1300 years. In Japan, the Tanka is usually written as a straight line of characters, but in English and other Western languages, it is usually divided into five lines, with a syllable count of 5-7-5-7-7.

The key to the Super Tanka form is that it is two Tanka written side-by-side. Each can be read independently, but must work together as a whole.

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dVerse  ~ Poet Pub |
OpenLinkNight #220