Thursday Think Tank #62

See Poets United for more alphabet soup...

Third in line,
in Penelope
or Jinksy.
Two names joined from head to toe
complete my picture.

Be Cool!

by Penny Smith

Water-world
imagination
paints colours
in cool shades
to fill fevered hearts and minds
with serenity.

This is a shadorma I've written for In Tandem #6, a syllabic verse of 3/5/3/3/7/5 over six lines. I've also linked it to The Poetry Pantry.

In Tandem # 5

My widget has no shelf life! It will remain for a good week, so using one or both images as inspiration:-

•             Write your piece - poem, prose, whatever (just not too long, though, eh?)
•             Post it on your own blog (and help yourself to a picture)
•             Copy and paste the URL of your post, not blog, into the Linky Widget
•             Leave a comment, then go and see what some other Blogpals have come up with!
•             Have fun, people-  but please note,  this Mr Linky List is not there simply as a free lead in to your totally unrelated blog! All such entries from people not playing the game will be deleted.

1. Caddoc Trellis 2. A New Day 3. Jinksy 4. jabblog uk

5. Ricardo 6. Rinkly Rimes 7. vivienne blake 8. Sweta -1st pic

9. CC Champagne 10. Ann Grenier

Powered by... Mister Linky's Magical Widgets.

In Tandem #4

My widget has no shelf life! It will remain for a good week, so using one or both images as inspiration:-

•         Write your piece - poem, prose, whatever (just not too long, though, eh?)
•         Post it on your own blog (and help yourself to a picture)
•         Copy and paste the URL of your post, not blog, into the Linky Widget
•         Leave a comment, then go and see what some other Blogpals have come up with!
•         Have fun, people...

Spin Off

A blistering sun
whirls to spin heat waves to Earth.
Dragon breathes fire.

Thanks to Tess for a Magpie Prompt which set my mind spinning in other directions!

And because hot weather makes everybody think watery thoughts, here's a picture from BKM at Monday's Child, which will cool us all nicely!

Frogs went a-leaping, one two three.
Duck went a-quacking "Come with me!
Let's go for a paddle till it's time for tea!"
Little boy listened, hands on his knees.
"Look, I've got my shoes off! I'm ready as can be!"

I Saw Sunday

Life force from these buds bursts from the screen. A triangle of knapped flint arrowhead leaves pinpoints  us, the  observer, to bear witness to their beauty...

Green spirals seek anchorage for a scarlet bug...  and a plane hums by overhead, drawing a straight line in the summer sky.

Thanks to Susannah for this prompt, which makes us think more about what we see, and to Monkey Man, who challenges us to say something in 160 characters. By judicious editing, the first paragraph fits this criteria!

Jammy Dodgers?

From her Poetry Jam grandstand view in seat number 47, The Bug has asked us to cogitate upon what life will look like from seat 67. To make this more difficult, she asks rhymers not to rhyme. 
So here's a little prose, instead... in 67 words!

Sixty seven? Twist that to seventy six. In six years that may be me...But I live in the now of not knowing, while showing scant interest in tomorrow. For  today is sufficient to do some of the things I should, plus many things which I simply choose to do. Did I imagine this simplicity would be possible when the path from forty seven stretched before me?

A Friday 55

The sky cries; its tears fall faster, as the drumming rhythm increases. Outlines blur, and foliage cowers under the deluge.

But clouds creep away, and only intermittent teardrops drip and plop about house and garden. The outdoor face, full of wet day sadness, peers through my windows, to see if I sympathise with its sorrow. 

55 words and  1 picture hot off the press for G-Man today!

In Tandem #3

This week the Tandem has two riders! Margaret Bednar has offered one of her original artworks to accompany mine.  I thought our two styles of portraits might make an interesting contrast...
They seemed to have a strange affinity, one with the other .

digital sketch by jinksy

Maybe this is another chance for the storytellers. Let's see...Using one or both images as inspiration:-

•     Write your piece - poem, prose, whatever (just not too long, though, eh?)
•     Post it on your own blog (and help yourself to a picture)
•     Copy and paste the URL of your post, not blog, into the Linky Widget
•     Leave a comment, then go and see what some other Blogpals have come up with!
•     Have fun, people...

In Tandem

by jinksy

Maybe this is one for the storytellers this week? Lets see...Using the graphic as inspiration:-

• Write your piece - poem, prose, whatever (just not TOO long, though, eh?)
• Post it on your own blog (and help yourself to my picture)
• Copy and paste the URL of your post, not blog, into the Linky Widget
• Leave a comment, then go and see what some other Blogpals have come up with! 
• Have fun, people...

A Spoonful Of Jam?

Wide Awake

It’s night - the urge to sleep is gone.
Inexorably time ticks on.

Fussy, mechanical, busy tick-tock
of wind up alarm or mantel clock,
or spasmodic click of a battery quartz,
soft and even.
They’re companions of sorts,
for nothing is worse
in the stillness of night
than silence –
dark, complete and utter, 
when hovering thoughts intrude
to scutter around inside my brain.
Soon, there I go,
tossing and turning again.

Here I am, late, scraping out the pot of Poetry Jam  belonging to Jessica Maybury this week. 
Now it's Thursday Think Tank who have come up with a nighttime theme, so I couldn't resist linking this!

Another Man In An Iron Mask?

There once was a wrestler from Hay
whose face was so ugly, they say,
that people would ask
that he wear a black mask
to hide his poor physog away.

Thanks to Tess for her Magpie Marvel this week..

In Tandem

graphic by jinksy

Last week Elizabeth sent me another poetic offering for our recent Two In Tandem adventure, but said it would be her last, as pressure of work means her time for playing along will be curtailed.
What I read gave me the urge to produce a picture to fit, instead of the usual practice of her writing to fit my graphic!
I'm going to post it alone, with only a Mr Linky List, so anybody who decides to use it as a prompt, will not be influenced by her interpretation. But later in the week, I shall come back and edit the post to include Elizabeth's words.***

  ***And here they are

Golden wheat sways
beneath summer skies,
feeding hungry eyes
with promise of good
things remembered,
others still to come.

By Elizabeth Crawford    11/6/2011

Meantime:-

• Write your piece - poem, prose, whatever (just not TOO long, though, eh?)
• Post it on your own blog (and help yourself to my picture)
• Copy and paste the URL of your post, not blog, into the Linky Widget
• Leave a comment, then go and see what some other Blogpals have come up with! 
• Have fun, people...

Housey Housey?

 Narrow street,
teeming lives hidden;
close packed doors
and windows
challenge people's privacy
with tight juxtaposition.

This is my shadorma, written for Neil Alexanders's photo as featured on One Stop Poetry's Challenge today.  
For those who are unfamiliar with this form, it consists of six syllabic lines, 3/5/3/3/7/7, and I particularly like it as an accompaniment to photographs.

Oops! Just realised that should have been 3/5/3/3/7/5 - sorry, people!

Two In Tandem # 9

By Jinksy

Hawk swoops through
autumn forest, playing
hide and seek with ever
changing shadows.

Piercing eyes spot
small movement.
She dives, releasing
cry of victory.

By Elizabeth  6/7/2011

Elizabeth Crawford caught the swift beat of wings in her words for this last minute change of my graphic for today's Tandem. 
But I've now decided to include the very different image I'd originally planned, to give people a choice of mood, if soaring wings should pass by them too quickly!

• Write your piece - poem, prose, whatever (just not TOO long, though, eh?)
• Post it
• Copy and paste the URL of your post, not blog, into the Linky Widget
• Leave a comment, then go and see what some other Blogpals have come up with! 
• Have fun, people...

Wheatfield With Rising Sun

By VincentVan Gogh

In a mind
not far from madness
speed of thought
left its marks
on canvas which we enjoy
in the cold light of reason.

The sun's light
shines from the painting
and we feel
the painter's
exuberant excitement
at capturing its power.

Who can say
where dividing lines lay?
Genius...
Lunacy...
Does beauty need a label
before it achieves value?

Thanks to Tess at Magpie Tales #72 for this artistic prompt.

Hop To It!

Rabbits lollop round about
and nibble at the treats
I carry in my bucket.
The grass tickles my feet,
and I have to keep them very still
while I watch the bunnies eat,
so they won't get frightened
and dash away from me...
I like to have them visit
and and say '"Hello!" you see.

For Monday's Child #50 - illustration by Clara Burd, with thanks to bkm.

Two In Tandem # 8

Dragon flies
through the night
leaving trail
of emerald light.

Do not mistake him
for Northern Lights-
he tells a story
of different sights.

Should he cause a breeze
with  his shadowed flight,
you need have no fear…
he’ll not alight …

He prefers jewels
that match his tail,
and we human beings
are far too pale!

Elizabeth Crawford has provided suitably draconian words for this week's Two in Tandem, and the Mister Linky List will give you a chance to copy the picture and post your own, if you feel inspired! 

• Write your piece
• Post it
• Copy and paste the URL of your post, not blog, into the Linky Widget
• leave a comment, then go and see what some other Blogpals have come up with! 
• Have fun, people...

Polywogs?

Cool water's
hidden universe,
full of life,
holds many
marvels man can only see
by altering his viewpoint.

Another Magpie Tales challenge. Thanks Tess!

Up Where The Air Is Clear

Blue skies have depths where eyes travel light year distances with the blink of an eyelid's lash. They sweep away thought - and the mind free falls into space.

This is my Sunday 160 for Monkey Man, who is anything but blue!