Smoke and Mirrors – Reflections on Poetry

For Poetics Tuesday Amaya asks us to:

“think about our own place within this complex construct of empty rhetoric and doublespeak, optical illusion and obscure motives; let us also remember most importantly, that writing poetry is a clear and simple form of rebellion against a world that is anything but clear and simple. A noble act of civil disambiguation, if you will, and I am honored to partake with you tonight, my friends. So feel free to use whichever devices you have at your disposal in whichever poetic form you choose to convey your own experience of ‘smoke and mirrors’, from maddening repetition or Lewis Carroll-esque tomfoolery to dry irony or poignant symbolism.”

Smoke and Mirrors

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Sister of the Moon – a Which Way challenge

I am a sister of the moon,
in her light I find hope as I find my way
in her darkness I find peace … and stars

~JP Pearlman

 

For the Which Way Challenge brought to us by sonofabeach96

Til next time ~Peace ~JPP

Light of the Pyres – a Prosery Tale

A piece of Prosery for Kim at dVerse Poets. Kim asks us “to write a very short piece of prose that tells a story, with a beginning, a middle and an end, in any genre of your choice.

As it’s flash fiction, we have a limit of 144 words; an additional challenge is to hit 144 exactly. The special thing about Prosery is that we give you a complete line from a poem, which must be included somewhere in your story, within the 144-word limit.”

Somewhere – Poetics Tuesday Lost in Translation

Today on dverse’s Tuesday Poetics Laura asks us to:

The Poetics Challenge here is to select ONE of the poems and write your own interpretation – what the poem conjures for you, what personal feelings it touches on. You may want to use the title or make use of some of the words or just try to keep the flavour of the poem.

I have chosen:

Octavio Paz(1914-1998) – Another Spanish speaker and more recent Nobel prize winner. Born in Mexico, he was a political activist, ambassador and essayist so that much of his poetry reads like prose poems, “written within the perpetual motion and transparencies of the eternal present tense” **

Unbidden Prayers – a Quadrille

Unbidden Prayers

there is beauty undefined
in the silence
of early morn
the grey of near dawn

when the sun still sleeps
and the birds
have not yet found
their voice

the stillness of the trees
as through the dampened air
the forest whispers
unbidden prayers

Word count 44

For dVerse Poets – Quadrille Monday — Voice

Til next time ~Peace ~JPP

A Mermaid’s Tale – a Crimson Creative Challenge

For Crimson’s Creative Challenge an answering photo and a poem

A Mermaid’s Tale

Born she was in freedom
but by chains too soon was bound
the mighty ocean called to her
with crashing waves of sound

Bound by mortal custom
and by magical decree
bound to live her life on land
and never to swim free

Each night beside the lighthouse
she prayed for her release
she sang to moons and dolphins
too lonely now to weep

Then one night as she was singing
standing there along the rail
she took a step, she took a leap
and the mermaid found her tail

word count 90

Til next time ~Peace ~JPP

 

While I Wait – a mindful Tuesday Poetics

While I Wait

The cool dampness on my feet
as I walk the dewy morning grass
Jays jabber, doves coo
the rest of the world is still asleep

While I wait for the sunrise

I dig my toes into the damp earth
and reach out to caress the
rough back of a favorite tree
watch a butterfly soar silently

while I wait for the sunrise

and for a time I sit in silence
the drunken monkey of my mind
and the sugared two-year old of my ego
leave me a few moments of quiet

while I wait for the sunrise

I touch the wet grass and the tree
I touch the sky and my mind soars
free from the constant barrage
of psychic noise that permeates my world
my heart at peace, my soul renewed

while I watch the sun rise

word count 132

for dVerse Poets Pub – Tuesday Poetics

Til next time ~Peace ~JPP