My Latest Poem - That Little Black Dress

  THAT LITTLE BLACK DRESS


That little black dress
On the shop window dummy
Attracting the crowds
Out shopping today.

That little black dress
Was so neat and appealing,
It sparkled and shone
In a very fine way.

That little black dress
Donated in charity;
Helping the needy
In so many ways.

That little black dress
A sign of a conscience;
Means so very much
That little black dress, OK   .

Thanks to saraicat on Flickr for the use of this photo, licenced under creative commons

Not getting on very well with the challenge, not sure why? Very busy and lots of other things going on but I am a little disappointed.

I saw this LBD (not the one in the photo!) in a charity shop whilst waiting for a bus; and it, and what it represented simply begged to be recognised in verse. Gave me my first poem for several days.

My First Haiku - and more

I wrote this post a while ago, but it never got published,, staying in draft. I have now published it as written so it is somewhat out of sequence.

I have been toying with new formal poetry forms and this is such a popular form that I though I ought to try it out.

Poems arise from words

And words will live forever

Forget me not

The Haiku is of course a japanese form, which has three lines with 5 / 7 / 5 syllables to give a total count of 17 syllables. Otherwise there are no rules. I believe that the original subject of this form of poetry was nature or natures effects.

Red flowers abound

In a battle field of old

Blood colours the earth

I find this such a "deep" form, in that the words must take on such a lot of meaning. I really think that this could have a major influence on my poetry. Up until now my style has been almost conversational withou much though for these deeper meanings. I have tried one or two abstract poems (or something along those lines ) but this I think will have ultimately more effect on my thinking about poetry and hence on the poems I write.

Inspiration grows

Poetry brings new thinking

I improve my skills

I am not sure that these are any good but I am creating them in real time as I write this post - it was originally only supposed to be about my first Haiku.

Light fades with sunset

Hail the coming of the night

Now wild creatures rest

Now this is getting silly, I think it is time that I stopped and took stock of exactly what it means to write Haiku. But I have one question, "Does Haiku have a title?"

Haiku Poetry - A New Challenge

Although I was finding a poem-a-day was a drifting, it was not the lack of ideas. The number of Haiku, written in one day, below shows this I bellieve. Maybe the challenge was just running out of steam after a few weeks. Miss one day and it is easier to miss another. As the missed days mount up it becomes easier to miss yet more. A form of procrastination perhaps?

Or perhaps it was finding the time? I was creating Haiku in very short breaks or whilst walking along. I found it easy to remember the three lines and write them down in my notebook in seconds. Whereas, longer poems need to be recorded and edited more fully; sometimes several times before considering an initial posting.

Maybe it is a compounding of both reasons.

Or maybe I am analysing things too much?

What ever the cause, I need to find the time each day to write. I have been writing poems in my notebook as I go – on the fly as it were. Maybe I should be capturing ideas and use them later at a time set aside for the poem. At least this way there is no excuse for procrastination. If the notes don’t work, then use some of the many prompts I have been collecting in the last post.

Whatever, here are eleven Haiku which I wrote yesterday. I have been toying with this poetry form for three days and they do seem to come particularly easily. Of course whilst enjoying writing I am unsure about wether I am staying true to the themes and "rules" of Haiku, see Haiku Heights  a blog giving weekly prompts for Haiku (what else?) and gives a definition and rules for various Haiku (?) forms.

One question; Should Haiku be titled?

Warm sun, bright blue sky;
Holiday season arrives.
Sad; my work begins.


Happy tree gives shade,
Relief from the burning sun
Rest awhile; give thanks


Silver trunk grows straight
Whispering leaves, wind blown
Silver birch grows tall


Relax time passes
Your turn will come, learn, enjoy
Anticipation.


Harsh words cause real pain.
Take care speak gently my friend,
For pain brings harsh words


A gate stands open
Will you enter discover
Its destination


Mysteries abound
Dark forces intent on harm
Meditate; stay calm


Original art
Born within the artist’s mind
Creativity.


Existence is now
What came before is unknown
Accept and believe.


Faster, faster still
Rushing getting nowhere fast
Slowdown, relax, live


Modernity rules
Excuses many faux pas
Give me the old days

Hope that you enjoyed reading these and if so please come back as I intend to carry on creating these little poems. You can also read more about my challenge ( a poem-a-day) on my Squidoo website, A Poem-a-day. Thanks for getting this far.

Oh yes, I have just added a networked blogs widget, why not follow this blog, ans show it a little love?

New Poems; A Poem and Nearly Roused To Action

Well the project is faltering but I have had a very busy and difficult time at home.

But here is my answer:-

A Poem

To write a poem about a poem
Almost seems incestuous
But right now I need a subject,

It’s really quite innocuous.

I gave myself a challenge
Write a poem every day.
At first it seemed quite easy
But today, who knows, OK.

Where to start? I need a theme
That I can write about
And then consider what to say
Make it novel so it stands out.

The first line is the hardest
And then others follow on,
The rhymes provide ideas
Until the game is won.

So please excuse this subject
I‘ve struggled for so long;
I’ll write a poem about a poem
It’s really not so wrong.

Well the poem says it all. I have gone a few days without writing anything (or at least anything poetical) and needed to end the dry run. Why not write about the difficulty I have been having. This was the result. It certainly seemed to work since the next poem came in the afternoon. There were quite a few changes as I wrote it and again when I typed it up, but that is to be expected. Hopefully the continual editing is beneficial.

The second piece today:-

Nearly Roused To Action

Nocturnal cries

Eternal sighs,

Dark nightly sobbing.

Unknown sad song

Who knows what wrong

Has been committed?

In the distance,

Some disturbance

Rends the quiet calm.

Should I worry?

What can I do?

Just raise an alarm?

Another witness

To this sign of distress

Will surely make that call.

Safely in bed

Hey, sleepy head;

Pull the covers up!

Not sure where this one came from. I had been reading some “abstract” poems on the internet and thinking about pairs of words which sounded good together. The first lines came together very quickly but I did not plan anything. In fact after the third verse, I completely changed the direction of the poem. Not sure if I like it but it certainly makes me think, “What would I do?”