I’m back in the Old Line State. After several
days in Albuquerque, I can see why people from the Southwest find our canopy of
trees here a bit claustrophobic. Look at the view.
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| The sun rising over Albuquerque. |
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| Hiking in the Sandias. |
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| A toast to you! Jen and I enjoying traditional Mexican hot chocolate. |
Today is Day 10 of Author Amok's 2015
poem-a-day project.
We are spending February writing in response
to sounds. I spent yesterday traveling, so I’m posting the Day 9 and Day 10
responses tonight.
For a full description of the project and how
to participate, please read this
post. I hope you'll join us. I'll continue posting poems from Days 9
and 10 as they come in (including my own – I’m a few days behind!)
Our Day 9 prompt was a
bubbling cauldron.
Diane Mayr surprised
herself by writing in rhyme this time. Very spell-like, Diane.
Listen...
by Diane Mayr
by Diane Mayr
What you're hearing as bubbles pop
are curses of worms that will not stop.
Dogs and newts incessantly shout,
"Damn you Hecate! Let us all out!"
Sea sharks masticate owlet wings.
Lizard legs kick and the pot just sings
With swears and oaths to rival a witch's
incantations and feverish pitches.
Bubble, bubble, entrails and venom
None involved here is going to heaven.
The details in that
poem crack me up!
I like how Charles Waters
uses cats, which are so often associated with witches, in this poem.
BUBBLE, BUBBLE TOIL AND TROUBLE
Bubbling
Cauldrons
Sound
like
Herds
of cats
Lapping
up water
After
an all-day fast.
(c) Charles
Waters 2015 all rights reserved.
Here's our friend, poet and educator Renee LaTulippe performing the witches chant from The Scottish Play.
I came home with a bit of a cold, which inspired my late-entry cauldron poem. You know how much I love parody poems. I couldn't help leaning on William Blake for this rhyme.
If anyone else is under the weather this week, I am posting a recipe for my Flu Fighter Soup at the end of this post.
Welcome to Buffy Silverman, who is dropping in with a cauldron poem -- and a not-for-the-fair-of-heart soup recipe -- today.
Our Day 10 prompt was fireworks.
The Cauldron
By Laura Shovan
By Laura Shovan
Cauldron cauldron, bubbling strong,
pop and tremble goes your song.
What ingredients should I brew
to rid me of this awful flu?
pop and tremble goes your song.
What ingredients should I brew
to rid me of this awful flu?
In go carrots, onions, peas,
turmeric so I won’t sneeze.
On the stove you sit and boil
while I measure olive oil.
turmeric so I won’t sneeze.
On the stove you sit and boil
while I measure olive oil.
Tear in spinach, baby kale
while I sip this ginger ale.
And when my fever starts to climb,
I might add some zest of lime.
while I sip this ginger ale.
And when my fever starts to climb,
I might add some zest of lime.
Where’s the bay leaf? Where’s the meat?
Red pepper flakes to add some heat?
How about chicken? How about wine?
Is it almost time to dine?
Red pepper flakes to add some heat?
How about chicken? How about wine?
Is it almost time to dine?
When the virus, looking ‘round
said, “Aha! A host I’ve found.”
Did it know that chicken soup
cures everything from flu to croup?
said, “Aha! A host I’ve found.”
Did it know that chicken soup
cures everything from flu to croup?
Cauldron cauldron, bubbling strong,
pop and tremble goes your song.
What ingredients should I brew
to rid me of this awful flu?
pop and tremble goes your song.
What ingredients should I brew
to rid me of this awful flu?
If anyone else is under the weather this week, I am posting a recipe for my Flu Fighter Soup at the end of this post.
Welcome to Buffy Silverman, who is dropping in with a cauldron poem -- and a not-for-the-fair-of-heart soup recipe -- today.
In the Cauldron
by Buffy Silverman
Chop some onions, garlic, beans.
Add potatoes, carrots, greens.
Stir in basil, parsley, thyme.
Cut and squeeze one-quarter lime.
Let it bubble, boil, and breathe.
Taste a spoonful…What’s it need?
A pinch of stir-fried dragonflies?
A pair of coddled raven eyes?
Spider eggs? Roasted shrew?
Sip some now—it’s midnight stew!
Our Day 10 prompt was fireworks.
Charles has two
response poems for us. Leave a comment to let him know which one you prefer.
FIREWORKS
Sparkled
rockets
Explode
into streams
Of
lighted wonder.
(c)
Charles Waters 2015 all rights reserved.
or
PYROTECHNIC GLORY
Sparkled
rockets
Explode
into streams
Of
lighted wonder.
Illuminating
our sky
in
pyrotechnic glory.
(c)
Charles Waters 2015 all rights reserved.
Diane Mayr sent
her firework poem in with a note: “Although I do love
firework productions, I've seen the other side...”
Synchronized Fireworks in the Park
by Diane Mayr
Synchronized Fireworks in the Park
by Diane Mayr
Ooo...aah
Toddlers grimace
then bury their
faces in mothers'
shoulders.
Ooo...aah
Each new blast
matched
by the tremble
of an alley cat.
Ooo...aah
Lost dog
posters appear
on lamp posts
the next day.
I'm cheating a little by posting an old, never published, fireworks poem today. I've revised instead of writing something new.
Fourth of July
by Laura Shovan
We
lie on a blanket
watching curls of light
bloom
in the sky.
There
are mechanics
to
this spectacle,
chemicals
for
those who care
to
know how blue
explodes,
then red
against
the chalkboard
of
night.
Neither
can I name
why
the zinnia
speaks
to me
with
its slow progress.
Petals
arrive
from
somewhere,
the
green center,
pushing
just-born
petals
further
into
this world.
I
would like
to
see something
of
our child
in the
zinnia’s
slow birth.
He
arrived
like
a firework,
metal
smell
of
blood
cutting
the
chalky
air.
Here are all of the
sound prompts for the second week of February:
The Sound of Waves
A Bubbling Cauldron
Fireworks
Saturday, February 14: Recommended
by Buffy Silverman.
If you'd like some
poem-starters to wake up your muse, you'll find them at the bottom of this post. Drop in any time with a poem. I’ll continue to post your work
throughout the month, no matter which sound you are writing in response to.
If you’d like to read
what we’ve written so far, here are links to the week 1 poems:
Read Water Wheel
Poems by Laura Shovan, Margaret Simon, Diane Mayr, Linda Baie,
Patricia VanAmburg, and Charles Waters.
Read Angel
Chimes Poems by Diane Mayr, Margaret Simon, Laura Shovan, Linda
Baie, Patricia VanAmburg, and Charles Waters.
Read Knife Sharpening
Poems by Diane Mayr, Linda Baie, Margaret Simon, Laura Shovan,
Charles Waters, and Patricia VanAmburg.
Read Thunderstorm Poems by Margaret Simon, Diane Mayr, Patricia VanAmburg, Laura Shovan, Linda Baie, and Charles Waters.
Read Ballet poems by Diane Mayr, Margaret Simon, Laura Shovan, Patricia VanAmburg, and Charles Waters.
Read Theremin Poems by Matt Forrest Esenwine, Charles Waters, Patricia VanAmburg, Margaret Simon, Diane Mayr, Laura Shovan, and Buffy Silverman.
Read Endangered Sounds poems by Patricia VanAmburg,
Diane Mayr, Linda Baie, Margaret Simon, and Charles Waters.
7 comments:
Sorry I didn't make it to the party, but loved all these again, Laura, Diane and Charles. Shakespeare has invaded our minds with bubbling I suppose!
Ooh, a bubbling cauldron is certainly an evocative sound. I wonder if Shakespeare listened to one as he wrote his three witches...? :)
Love Diane's imagery and the line "and the pot just sings." Poor little owlet!
Charles, I like the shorter version of your fireworks poem - a solid image.
Thank you, poets!
I tried to rhyme. I should know better. That is why my poem is not here. I didn't want to send it. I'll keep trying, though. I like the first of Charles' poems. The word pyrotechnic, while it is a very cool word, stumbled me up. Thanks for keeping us thinking and churning and listening.
Thank you for the poems Diane, Charles and Laura. I did not like my cauldron either Margaret. But I love Shakespeare's rhymy curse--and Rennee's pretty witch. Also love Laura's blackboard of night. Patricia
My cauldron was filled with Shakespeare's ingredients! It makes it that much easier to write when you can borrow liberally!
Charles: I, too, prefer the shorter of the two.
Thanks for playing along, everybody. I especially loved the cauldron poems. They were so much fun!
Thanks, Renee! The shorter version it shall be!
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