“O me! O life!… of the questions of these recurring; of the endless trains of the faithless… of cities filled with the foolish; what good amid these, O me, O life?” Answer. That you are here – that life exists, and identity; that the powerful play goes on and you may contribute a verse. That the powerful play goes on and you may contribute a verse. What will your verse be? Walt Whitman
I want to try something different and see if we can write a group poem each adding our own verse. What will your verse be?
Everyone write their verse and at the end of the week I will put them all together as one poem… I’ve done this at open mic’s and it’s fun and produces some interesting poems. When you post your verse DO NOT read the other verses before or after yours. We can make comments when the poem is posted in completion. I will credit each verse to the person who wrote it. I will wait and post my verse after at least one other verse has been posted.
Is "That the powerful play goes on" the actual prompt we are supposed to address in our verse?
ReplyDeleteAnd I have to post this poem, as it's one of my favorite poems ever, and as soon I read the prompt, I thought of a particular line it. I would bet you can figure out which one. And of course it's not a verse for our group poem.
Cotton Candy on a Rainy Day
by: Nikki Giovanni
Don’t look now
I’m fading away
Into the gray of my mornings
Or the blues of every night
Is it that my nails
keep breaking
Or maybe the corn
on my second little piggy
Things keep popping out
on my face
or
of my life
It seems no matter how
I try I become more difficult
to hold
I am not an easy woman
to want
They have asked
the psychiatrists psychologists politicians and
social workers
What this decade will be
known for
There is no doubt it is
loneliness
If loneliness were a grape
the wine would be vintage
If it were a wood
the furniture would be mahogany
But since it is life it is
Cotton Candy
on a rainy day
The sweet soft essence
of possibility
Never quite maturing
I have prided myself
On being in that great tradition
albeit circus
That the show must go on
Though in my community the vernacular is
One Monkey Don’t Stop the Show
We all line up
at some midway point
To thread our way through
the boredom and futility
Looking for the blue ribbon and gold medal
Mostly these are seen as food labels
We are consumed by people who sing
the same old song STAY:
as sweet as you are
in my corner
Or perhaps just a little bit longer
But whatever you do don’t change baby baby don’t change
Something needs to change
Everything some say will change
I need a change
of pace face attitude and life
Though I long for my loneliness
I know I need something
Or someone.
Or…..
I strangle my words as easily as I do my tears
I stifle my screams as frequently as I flash my smile
it means nothing
I am cotton candy on a rainy day
the unrealized dream of an idea unborn
I share with the painters the desire
To put a three-dimensional picture
On a one-dimensional surface
Damn, all the formatting went away, but you get the idea.
DeleteVery interesting poem, with many thought provoking images.
DeleteI was never the storm as I desired to be
ReplyDeleteWalking down the lonely road, I searched for the stars
To illuminate the path dwindling in the fog
Reminiscent of the past that I left trailing behind.
Luminescent fireflies came to my aid
Blinking and burping with their bulging backs
Their hips and the hops on their humping self
Glowed in the dark, like lightning stealing elf
I have searched for that elf, in my dreams often, I guess
I came, all naked, teased me for a bit
With a grin and a wink, and left.
I wish I was a goblin, smart and sweet
With a brain all cunning, with a mind of a thief
To trick the foolish elf to give me the lightning bolt
Which would act as my torch as I shall tread alone.
The forest of the black, is the place I dread the most
Full of noise without faces, twitching on my toes
The road in that jungle, never seems to end
I remember quite well,
It was Gulliver who was the first to get lost at it's bay.
Anyways, back to what I was saying, about the forest of the Black
Folks says, it was where the meteor stuck from the sky
And at the center of the darkness, glows the buried star
Drawing lost travelers, to be burnt, to be charred.
I wish I had the lightning stolen from the elf
I wish I was not a ragged pauper, but a handsome charming prince
But alas, with my stick and few loaves of bread
I must make this quest to the place where horizon rests.
Interesting tale you have woven here. I expect you might enjoy your quest, regardless where it leads you.
Deletenice to see you back. intriguing poem. this challenge is for one verse from each poet that I will compile into a single poem at the end of the week. I will use the first verse of this one unless you want to do another that is a single verse.
Deletecool Bonnie..:)
DeleteThe rhythm of my life and its rhyme
ReplyDeletecoalesce to make the ever changing,
ever evolving verses that are my self,
and the song of my self, of my being,
and the poem that is at its core.
I weave my harmony into the whole
as I express, sing, perform, compose
my part in the chorus, the hymn, the opera
the symphony that is all of life.
Here is my contribution to the group poem. I am assuming you wanted a verse, not several? I look forward to seeing the poem when it is done. Interesting exercise. It reminds me of that game we used to play as kids, where you draw part of a person and fold the paper and pass it around. Remember? Then at the end you unfold the paper and see the funny person that results. I expect the poem will be interesting and fun to put together.
ReplyDeleteyes thank you...one verse and in the end they will beome one poem
Deletewas it only yesterday
ReplyDeletethat I turned five years old
and will it be tomorrow
that I will turn fifteen
budding like a tree in Spring
has Winter crept upon me
quickly, so silently speedy
that I never noticed the
strands of silver
and the leaves falling
leaving naked memories
in drifted snow...
This is just beautiful, Linda, I am in awe!
Deleteyep. it was only yesterday wolfie. time is just something we made up, to stop us going mad.
DeleteThe universe while large is small
ReplyDeletewe are all one individually in need
of each other’s differences to exist
In harmony and understanding.
SO TRUE!!! Nicely said, friend.
Delete" we are star stuff contemplating star light " carl sagan.
Deleteone verse huh? here is one i wrote yesterday.
ReplyDeletevery good an honouring the dead in this country
pity we don't honour the living
the dead don't need their bellies filling
if only the living could be free.
Truth is in these words,as you say. And, do you mean at rather than an, by chance?
Deleteoops! i meant at. thanks tash. think i need some new glasses.
DeleteMy messages are not my own,
ReplyDeleteseem to be made of trite proverbs.
If at first you don't succeed, try,
try again. Don't count your chickens
before they hatch. Enjoy life.
This is not a dress rehearsal.
All familiar, yet when you put them together, they sound new.
Deletemy chicks can always count on me. trouble is, i can't count on them ha ha - love and peace - paul.
DeleteOut of makeup, halfway
ReplyDeletebetween costume and
street clothes, too thin
for real world chill wind,
maybe I'll make it home, or stop
at Uncle Willie's for a boilermaker.
Either way, I'll sleep soundly.
Or such is my plan.
How existential is this! You know how to do it, yes you do.
DeleteWinters been so long and cold
ReplyDeletemy heart is longing for Spring
the cold is making my bones hurt
the warmth of Spring is a wonderful thing
People cross a line good or bad
ReplyDeleteit's a choice which line you
will cross. The people you think
that will cross the good cross
the bad. we are taught not to
judge so watch where your
feet are and don't cross
if you don't want to don't
make a mistake.
sssshhhh everybody. bonita said we aren't allowed to comment or read each others poems till she puts iy all together, though i may cheat and slip a couple of comments in. don't tell bonnie ha ha - love and peace - paul
ReplyDeleteif i could be presumptuous. but i've got another verse, if nobody minds.
ReplyDeletei had a bad dream. it lasted eleven years eight months and five days
when i first wrote poetry i was in a daze
wandering around in an unleavable maze.
hhmmmm a few double meanings in there breanne. very clever. like the multiple use of the word cross in different contexts - love and peace - paul.
DeleteLooks like everyone has given us a verse. I have arranged them into a completed poem and am going to post it now to give everyone time to comment on it and to let us know how they would have arranged the verses. I am going in for a surgical biopsy Friday so that will not be a good day (obviously) as I am told I will be there for several hours and saturday I will be sore under my arm where they are taking the lymph node. So let's have some fun with this poem and comment away. Poem in a separate comment box.
ReplyDeleteThe Poem
ReplyDeleteThe rhythm of my life and its rhyme
coalesce to make the ever changing,
ever evolving verses that are myself,
and the song of myself, of my being,
and the poem that is at its core.
I weave my harmony into the whole
as I express, sing, perform, compose
my part in the chorus, the hymn, the opera
the symphony that is all of life. (Tasha)
was it only yesterday
that I turned five years old
and will it be tomorrow
that I will turn fifteen
budding like a tree in Spring
has Winter crept upon me
quickly, so silently speedy
that I never noticed the
strands of silver
and the leaves falling
leaving naked memories
in drifted snow… (Linda)
Winters been so long and cold
my heart is longing for Spring
the cold is making my bones hurt
the warmth of Spring is a wonderful thing (Paul B)
Out of makeup, halfway
between costume and
street clothes, too thin
for real world chill wind,
maybe I'll make it home, or stop
at Uncle Willie's for a boilermaker.
Either way, I'll sleep soundly.
Or such is my plan. (Tad)
My messages are not my own,
seem to be made of trite proverbs.
If at first you don't succeed, try,
try again. Don't count your chickens
before they hatch. Enjoy life.
This is not a dress rehearsal. (Victoria)
I was never the storm as I desired to be
Walking down the lonely road, I searched for the stars
To illuminate the path dwindling in the fog
Reminiscent of the past that I left trailing behind. (Anindya)
The universe while large is small
we are all one individually in need
of each other’s differences to exist
In harmony and understanding. (Bonnie)
People cross a line good or bad
it's a choice which line you
will cross. The people you think
that will cross the good cross
the bad. we are taught not to
judge so watch where your
feet are and don't cross
if you don't want to don't
make a mistake.
(We are) very good an honouring the dead in this country
pity we don't honour the living
the dead don't need their bellies filling
if only the living could be free. (Paul F)
Wow I am very impressed that it fell together so nicely with your help of course, Bonnie. Such fun!!!
DeleteI forgot to credit Breanne with the second to the last vere... People cross a line good or bad.. I'm sorry Breanne!!!!
Deletethink we all did really well on this one. being restricted to one verse, helps me stop getting all melodramatic. hmmmm that could be a future promt " a poem no longer than six lines "? well done everyone. good luck in the hospital bonita. don't let them quacks give you any bullshit - love and peace - paul.
DeleteThis certainly went together better than I thought it would. Nice job!
DeleteComes together.
ReplyDeleteGreat Job!!! I am impressed both by the good way you put it all together and by the way our poets all seemed to coalesce into a group. My fond appreciation!
ReplyDeleteThank you all for doing this with me. I do think it worked well and shows how random verses can become a complete poem. each verse complementing the next.
ReplyDelete