Lunar Rays

the power of tides
to lead by following songs
tracking the crescent

eyes beckoning as startled
magnitudes shout waves of light

I couldn’t resist a photo of a cat…photo reference and words from Colleen’s weekly poetry challenge, also using words from the Secret Keeper.

I may visit this cat again. I need to explore that shadow.

 

Moon Gardens

between night and dark
rest secret longings
pure songs
wandering in moon gardens
shaded with ancient air

The NaPoWriMo prompt today is to use a phrase from someone else’s work to spark a poem.  I got the phrase “moon garden” not from a poem but from Michael Chabon’s wonderful book “Moonglow”.  I’ve been wanting to use it somewhere, and here it is (with the help of the Magnetic Oracle).

 

Moon of Wandering

Moon of wandering:
door or window?  Marked by trails
of lingered friends.  Tears.

Untested. Eons before
and after.  Dead reckoning.

Once again I’ve combined the word prompts (or synonyms) of the secret keeper and Colleen’s tanka challenge.  Colleen also provided the mysterious picture, below.

Magnetic Poetry Saturday: Ask These

Ask these tongues
how can my dreams
shine by day
yet ache like storms

together their music rains
symphony and sky
shadowless moon
above

This was another collaboration with Nina and the Oracle that fit together really easily.  We decided to surprise each other today with our artwork and post separately.  I punched holes to embroider on the paper, and then decided just to leave the holes.  The weird light is because I photographed the collage taped to the window so the sun would shine through the holes.

Postcard Fiction: What She Saw, Part 3

Another ambiguous situation in a Jane Dougherty painting prompt.  I decided to go for optimism, even though that’s not my general state of mind these days.  Here’s the inspiration painting, by Iliya Repin:

And my response:

The last Postcard Fiction I did before this one was also a painting by Iliya Repin, “Freedom”, a prompt from way back in September.  I liked it so much I did it twice, and I’ll post both of them one of these days.  I collected Jane’s other microfiction prompts between that one and this one in a folder; time, of course, always gets in the way of intentions.

One thing I did during our blog break was to enter a lot of juried art shows and submit both poetry and art to journals, which I find takes a lot of time, not to mention the fact that most journals won’t accept work published on a blog. Eight of my Postcard Fictions were entered for a show of “art on paper”, but I won’t hear about acceptance or rejection until mid-January.

The Power of Three

concentric circles parallel time
ancient images blurred by neglect
footprints following memory’s trace

photographs taken in black and white
voices scratched into indistinct paths
a present silent and without place

dreaming thoughts walk mysterious lines
orbits that intersect echoed light
shadows waiting in abandoned space

Jane Dougherty gave us three moons this week, and her own invented 3×3 poetry form:  the trilune.  It produces a nice rhythm I think.

Mad Symphony: a collaboration

Despite the bugginess of the Magnetic Poetry website, Nina and I had a wonderful time composing this poem, sending it back and forth for addition and revision many times.  I did one illustration, and Nina did two.

to stop shadows from moaning
whisper to the sky like a rainstorm
petals sing to my dreams

some say music is like a watching wind
mad symphony like a summer moon
red and frantic blowing delirious screams
over a thousand purple seas

still   life soars as love urges us
and together we shine by day

For the Elusive Trope’s Magnetic Poetry Saturday Challenge.  Join in!  It’s fun.

 

Orbiting

moon beamed
 shadow falling
I am calling forward
waiting to parallel myself
behind

Jane Dougherty’s challenge prompt this week is a wonderful painting by Marc Chagall.  The poem form is cinquain.

I have other ideas…well I won’t get to them this week, but I’m sure this painting will be returning.

Call and Response: Refilling the Moon

Writer’s Quote Wednesday asked us to think about rebirth.  And what more appropriate symbol than the moon?

the full moon called
with his
large, muscular lips,
“see everything
become nothing”

Once again, I’ve been inspired by Claudia McGill to respond to her artwork and words.  (You may note, Claudia, that my junk mail piece was monoprinted before it was collaged.  I plan to explore this method further.)

You can see all the call and response collaborations with Claudia here.

Poem in Your Pocket Day

Moon and stars, big and blue the sky–
sleep coming, sleep is coming soon–
wings drift close, shadowing the light.
I wish for wings so I could fly–
touch the stars, touch the shining moon–
map the sky by scattering dreams,
catching the stars to say good night,
sky covered with magic moon beams.

The elementary school my daughters attended celebrated National Poetry Month in a big way.  The children read and wrote a lot of verse, and Poem in Your Pocket Day was always fun, as they would pull out favorites to read to their classmates.  Last year in April I posted a few of the bookmarks the school made one year with poems and artwork from the students.  Both poem and artwork above were inspired by the bookmark below.

I love the images both Kenisha and Keanu used to represent the dreamworld of the night.  Both would be in their early 20s now; I hope they are still writing and drawing their worlds.  And producing poems from their pockets!

My poem is in the form of a san san, the challenge by Jane Dougherty this week.  NaPoWriMo used this form for a prompt too, and I’ve wanted to try it, so thanks Jane for the push!