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!

Two In Tandem # 7

graphic by jinksy

Like

brush strokes,

memory

unfolds moving

deeper into past

where dark red of former

passion captures eye, holding

attention for way too many 

moments, giving rise to old feelings

gone to sepia stain of forgetting.

Elizabeth Crawford 6/18/11

Today, here is a thoughtful poem in Etheree form , written by Elizabeth, to accompany my seventh Tandem graphic, while she has graphics on her Unraveling blog for which I've written the words.


Now here for the first time is a Linky List, so you can help yourself to my 'painting' to use on your own blog, if the muse strikes and you'd like to join in. 

• Write your piece
• Post it
• Copy and paste the URL of your post, not blog, into the Linky Widget 
• Then go and see what some other Blogpals have come up with!

Have fun, people... 

Wednesday's Child Is Full Of Woe

What better place to flaunt this old saying, than on One Shot Poetry Wednesday?
Instead of being a lie-abed, I opted for starting the day by letting my sleep deprived mind do a little daydreaming, instead. Which may explain  this peculiar result...

No News Blues

Before a sign of sun signals
sensible souls to stir,
a four-in-the-morning moment 
dies a dull doldrums, slack tide death.

Will Wednesday
be a walk on the wild side
or a flash-in-the-pan panjandrum
of mid-week melancholy?

Too early to tell; toll the knell
and let who will be merry...
 
I hope to be back to normal in time for Two In Tandem tomorrow, when I shall endeavour to include a Linky List to tempt people to join in our Thursday frolics, the first of which you may find by clicking on the Tandem link above.

Take Notice

Jumping bean letters imprint images,
but no ink-stained fingers for them
only a tapping key tarantella
danced on a keyboard.

"Free board and lodging
for hard working words.
Must earn their keep."

So reads a notice in the window
of a mind in search of free verse.


See One Stop Poetry and Fireblossom for an explanation of this departure from my usual course!

And while it's still Monday, Magpie Tales nudged me to play with this other kind of framed image, and I decided to put them together, although a shadorma is not exactly free verse...

Set in stone,
this gem of beauty
has facets
carved in light.
Across untold centuries
its gaze will haunt us.

Maffick Monday # 1

I've met some terrible dancers
in the far off days of my youth.
Some were handsome and sprightly,
but others were brash and uncouth.

My toes got the bruises to prove it,
and patience would wear a bit thin,
but I never gave up on researching
the best bloke to lead me in a spin.

Too tall, and my nose hit the buttons
on their blazer or jacket, you see...
too short and their nose was the problem
because of where it reached on me...

I'd feel their hot breath down my cleavage,
and if their feet then lost the beat,
my toes would recoil in mock horror,
and I'd beat a hasty retreat!

Alicia's new Maffick Monday blog chose 'a terrible dancer' theme for her first prompt. Although the picture came via Google Images, I do actually have three ancient medals of my own - two for Ballroom and one for Latin American - all from the same ISTD examiners, so personally, I can be excused from the 'terrible' label, I think !

School's Out!

On a sunny, blustery afternoon last Monday, I'd finished my shopping, and decided to sit and watch the world go by before I came back to cook my meal.
The 'baby school' had just finished for the day, and I saw a tiny tot in her blue and white checked dress, pony tail swinging, trot past holding Dad's hand, looking very earnest.
A few moments later, she passed by again in the other direction, but this time holding a huge, chocolate topped ring doughnut from which she'd already taken a few bites. They had left her with brown striped cheeks, which made her look like The Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland.... I smiled...and I hope you do too! :)

This is a just a little snippet for I Saw Sunday , where you can find more things seen, heard or created this week...