My nano's on hold - life's taken over, as it does - so this week I'm offering a couple of poems which I hope you enjoy.
The Thrift Shop.
I
enter.
A
predator hunting
with
sensory antennae stalking.
Eyes
flash
on
layers of crushed crimson velvet,
edged
with luscious creamy Belgian lace.
A
confection; a creation
once
bought for a special occasion,
and
later gracing many a dance
swirling
through the night.
I
picture myself,
embraced
by dashing arms
dancing
to rhythmic beats,
as
rainbow lights refract.
I
caress the cloth
snared
by lingering remnants of indulgence
as
it cascades across my flesh.
A
shiver scours my soul as,
pregnant
with ghost memories
of
honeyed kisses and broken promises,
of
the march of young men’s lives,
of
love dead before its time,
past
losses seep into the present.
I
shrug off the shadows,
relinquishing
my prey.
It
wasn’t my colour anyway.
*
Haiku is
a very short form of Japanese poetry with a phrase and fragment structure.
The phrase sets up the image, and the fragment juxtaposes a second image which
gives another layer of meaning.
Japanese
is a syllable oriented language and, in Japanese, haiku has a syllabic
pattern of 5-7-5. English is a stress oriented language (think iambic
pentameter) so there are discussions as to how to maintain the original purity
of the form.
I
do sometimes write free verse poetry (see above) but I like haikus because they’re short,
and I like the idea of creating an image in so few words. Composing haiku makes
for good writing practice as you soon learn to cut excess words, and focus on condensing
what you want to say down to its essence.
The following set of haiku is for all chocolate lovers everywhere.
Flavours
of Lindt chocolate as seen on a display shelf.
Cherry; dark red fruits
hanging like
polished marbles
in Kentish
orchards.
Crunchy Caramel;
explosions of
sweet sugar
as sharp teeth
bite down.
Extra Cremoso ;
brown eyes flirt
, satin smooth skin;
a hint of Rio.
Irish Coffee; warms
like the Gulf
Stream off the wild
west Atlantic
coast
Pistachio; from
Persian plains;
most pleasantly
Pleasing the
palate
Orange Intense; blood,
Sweet Valencian,
Navel.
Ripened drops of
gold.
Roasted Almond; Rod
Of Aaron,
brought forth sweet blooms.
Sweet and bitter
fruit.
Strawberry; a rose,
With seeds on
the outside.
Symbol of Venus.
Tart Citron Merangue;
Mediterranean
glints
On high alpine
peaks.
*
Join me on
Twitter at: teagankearney@modhaiku
Thanks for
visiting my blog, and please do leave a comment.
To all story
lovers out there, good reading, and to those of you who write, good writing.
