Poem - "My Dog Ran Off With The Keys"

Can't believe that I am started to write again, creatively. But having just a few prompts to choose from instead of hundreds on the majority of sites which offer to provide them seems to concentrate the mind, I would recommend it to anyone enduring "writers block" or simply a lack of time.

Try this weekly prompt, just 2 or 3 offered on the site owned by Monna Ellithorpe which will offer a gateway to many more pages by Monna.

Mmmm, this one was a lot more light-hearted than the last. I enjoyed (and found myself silently laughing) whilst I put this one down on paper, well on to the screen. Hope it makes you smile too. Oh beware the french; a little trick to make a rhyme. I do feel that rhymes are so important.

My dog ran off with the keys

My dog ran off with the keys to my car.

its true, please believe what I say.

The distance from home to here is so far,

I'm just lucky to get here today,

At all!

How on earth did it happen, you want to know.

Well, I was just letting him out for a wee;

When I happened to sneeze, I dropped the keys

and he ran off, overjoyed to be free.

You see!

My phone was inside, what was I to do?

Had to follow the dog, for sure.

Lest he lost the keys, dropped me in the stew

with no means of contacting vous,

cet jour.

So pardonez-moi, I'm here at last

And ready to do what you need.

I'm ready and willing and able if asked,

except for one little problem, this hound on the lead.

No keys, no car, no home so far

had to bring the dog!

The prompt for this piece was actually, "Make up a creative reason for being late to an important function." Don't know why this sprang into my head, we don't even have a dog these days; our last pooch passed away a number of years ago. But it did and I like the outcome. 

Until the next time ....................

And do keep on writing.

A poem, "You Hide But Nobody Seeks"

I am still following up on the writing prompts posted by my friend Mona Ellithorpe, this weeks gave me the title for another poem. I know someone who I care for very much who has suffered from  aquired brain damage cause by a viral infection, the prompt, "you hide but nobody seeks ...", made me think of that person and this poem was written with them in mind.

You hide but nobody seeks

You hide but nobody seeks

you listen but nobody speaks

you look but no one is there

you cry but nobody cares

you hide yourself away

its another quiet day

your friends have long since gone

you've changed and they walked on

you never were to blame

but it happened all the same

an accident that left you changed

an accident, not prearranged

It never was your fault

that built this stifling vault

the man you were has passed away

look now, look to another day

to you your new life beckons

it only took a second

at least that's all you knew

until you learned what you'd been through

forget the past, mourn for that man

but live for tomorrow, yes you can

accept your new life and be awake

to opportunities that you can take

New friends will rally in your life

don't hide away you have a life

It can be good, it's not the same

but you never were to blame

I always capitalise my poems on each line and am obsessive about punctuation, but this time it did not seem important, even the title was an afterthought -- I have edited it into the post and added an image.

If this poem touched you then you may also like this earlier poem Helpless, which is very much connected to this one, you can find it on this blog from a few years ago

A little whimsy!

Sometimes I just feel that I have not enough time to write, and this was the case last night. I have been so busy of late but when I came across another post from my friend Monna Ellithorpe, another prompt which caught my attention on Facebook, I simply had to have a go.

This short piece came together in a very short time. No time to edit or anything like that, I just left it as it was. But boy did I enjoy the freedom not to worry about what it ended up looking like.

The prompt was to write a four line poem about your muse. Once when all lines rhyme and then again with no rhyming at all.

I put mine together and then simply had to get in another stanza to complete the poem. I enjoyed writing it, hope you can enjoy reading it.

Sir Galahad

We all have days when things seem bad,

When things go wrong and make you sad,

But never let it get you mad,

Summon up your muse, your Galahad.

We all have days we wish would end.

You’ve had enough and want to scream,

But don’t let your troubles grind you down;

Take a break, think of your Sir Galahad.

Sir Galahad, your knightly muse

Can help you through, he’ll help you choose,

Write a poem, don’t blow a fuse.

Think; if Galahad was in your shoes.

Wow it happened so quickly. It really liberated me although it is very trite and easy use of language I really enjoyed it. I experimented with limericks once (upon a time) and this seems to be on the same lines. Hope it makes you smile.

If you want to see a few limericks try this post

A Blast From The Past

Pardon the pun in the title, but this is a poem written after Hurricane Katrina wreaked so much havoc on New Orleans, a few years ago now. I was reminded of it today when I read a poem by my friend Monna Ellithorpe, also about a hurricane saying much the same things but in a very different style. As I have never included it this blog, I take this opportunity to address that now.

It was actually intended as a song - a folksy type of song - but after I had written the lyrics I found it difficult to actually sing them; or rather to put a tune to them. After some time trying I decided it should be a poem. The very first poem I had written - after years of writing song lyrics ! Hope you enjoy reading it

The Wind

The Wind sighed,

and the world turned.

The Wind whispered, 

But no one heard.

The Wind wondered, 

But no answer came.

The Wind cried, please

But few took heed.

The Wind shrieked, 

But the suffering had started.

The Wind warned us all,

But who had noticed.

And the world turned.

The Wind howled, 

But was it now too late

The Wind became man's enemy,

And they asked, each one,

Why didn?t we listen

Why didn' we care

Why didn't we do enough

We could have helped

And the world turned.

The Wind tore through

The remaining years.

Why didn't we listen

And the world turned,

In upon itself

If you should want to read more of mu early work, it is available to read or for free download on SCRIBD, Poems And Endings And Lost Loves 

I'm on a roll

I hate to say it but with a second new poem so quickly since the last, could I be on a roll? This is another in response to a prompt on the same website by as the last post by my friend Monna Ellithorpe.

Not quite decided on a title yet and it is still in a rough, unedited form but I am recording it here because I am so happy to be creating again.

The Mystery Parcel

One damp and dismal morning last week

I answered a knock on the door

The postie was waiting with a parcel for me

Unexpected, exotically packaged but more ...

It did not have a full address, 

He'd done well to deliver this mail

The name was clear, it was for me alright

But this delivery could well have failed.

I gratefully took it from his hands

With heartfelt thanks and praise,

And carried it carefully to my den

Prepared to free my prize, to be amazed.

I really had no inkling, no idea at all

Of who may have sent this parcel

Addressed with such a tenebrous remit

It may never have reached me at all.

So I set about the task required, 

Not knowing what I would find.

Soon I held a simple box, devoid of any note,

I raised the lid and thereI found confined

A bundle of vintage photographs

Dog-eared and monochrome

Displaying almost familiar faces

Fondly remembered from back home

A treasure chest of memories

A prize I tightly grasped

But who and why and where

Amongst the questions yet to ask.

A few places where change is needed but it's a poem and I want to shout it out loud. Hope you read and enjoy.

New Poem, A Connection To The Past

Wow, they say not to apologise for long breaks in posting but this has to be a record. I had not been finding time for writing for a long time due to personal issues. However, A new weekly writing prompt on an old friends, new web site caught my eye. Monna has for a long time been working to bring new creative writers together and to offer encouragement. This new site has a regular writing prompt to help get you started and I decided to "have a go".

This was the result, of the prompt, (an inscription in an old book":-

A Connection to the Past

I am holding in my hands a battered, tattered book

I saw it on the bookshelf and just had to take a look.

The cover stained, page edges foxed

A history waiting to be unboxed,

For me, the pages of a volume such as this

Will always speak so loud and lead to an abyss

Where I become as one with the narrative within

And lose myself to some adventure waiting to begin.

And then I think of others who have held this work before

Having found its heroines and heros on some far, far, foreign shore

Did they read it to forget some dismal, dreary task

Or maybe, like me, it was simply to be enjoyed – why ask?

For reading is a pleasure, an indulgence to revere;

A diversion from whatever life brings, a new frontier.

But the greatest pleasure an old book can bring at last

Is to find a pale inscription, a connection to the past.

Basically I was at a loose end for an hour or so and wanted to try this. It is a first draft, almost straight from the pen (well the keyboard anyway) although I did google a couple of synonyms to help. Actually I quite like it and may find myself doing more in which case this blog could well be resurrected. I would like that.

Not Quite A Poem

Life has been so incredibly complicated and busy this year, and shows in the number of posts I have made, especially since the spring. One of these days things will sort themselves out and I am sure my artistic output will return to normal.

In the meantime, here is a lyric. Meant to be a little bit of fun, it was well received at my ukulele club when I tried it out on them in an "open mic" spot. I thought that with absolutely nothing in the poetry line to share here, I would at least show that I am still just about turning out something creative in the writing arena. Hope you like it and take it for what it is.

My Uke Is Gonna See Me Through The Day 

refrain

When I ‘m feeling  low

Got no place to go

And no one’s ‘round to raise my sorry mood.

I don’t sit a round

Staring at the ground

I Pick up my 4-string and I start to play

verse 1

Oh my uke is gonna get me through the day

Raise my voice and strum along and play

My spirits soon will rise, soaring to the skies

Oh my uke is gonna get me through the day 

verse 2

The cheerful sound of strumming is so cool

Takes me back to days I spent in school

No cares to weigh me down, no sign of a frown

Oh my uke is gonna get me through the day

verse 3

No pills or potions do the same for me

I’ve tried them all, they fail it’s plain to see

But when I hear those chords, I’m never ever bored

Oh my uke is gonna get me through the day 

If you would like to hear the song, having read the lyrics, then I offer next an early recording of the song which I often do to hear what I am doing. It is so easy to perform a song without really hearing the results. I do think that it does enable me to learn and improve. Anyway here it is:-