2016.16 Vale of Tears

So, my partner asked me to write her a poem about her (extreme) love of Benedict Cumberbatch and all his works. My other attempt headed off somewhere very dark and archetypal, so I haven't handed that over to her.  Here, instead, is a triolet (because I figured that the repetitive structure suited obsession well...).

I cup the face that sprang from dreaming,
Those cheekbones cold beneath my palm
Soft-bitten lip to stifle screaming
I cup the face that sprang from dreaming,
Those gelid eyes of green unseaming!
The best advice is to stay calm...
I cup the face that sprang from dreaming,
Those cheekbones cold beneath my palm.

2016.8 Clarion

Another #poetrytogo commission:

Your voice is a constant -
Sea wind on the clifftop.
You are beckoning -
The movement of clouds.

Beach-bound and shadowed
I listen, washed and washing -
Salty, moon-girt,
Trickling and gritty.

Eyes strain high -
And finally I cast lines,
Climb into hard embraces,
Hand-over-hand - escaping erosion.

Here, muscles bunching,
I sweat and clench,
Then kick and swing,
A laugh swooping into air.

Blisters harden,
Graft gathers me
Against gravity -
Higher and drier.

Here your voice sings louder -
A tug to the final push -
I hook strong fingers
Into gravity and heave.

And here, gasping,
The sun's heat finds me
And I am singing your song,
High on the headland,
Seeing everything anew.

---

Another Poetry To Go commission - this time from a woman who wanted a metatextual poem about the difficulty (and joy) of writing (poetry), having fallen out with it after a certain high profile poet told her that she was no good at it. I think I tried to give her something with a measure of hope mixed with reality. Would love to know if it worked...!

2016.7 Small Shaggy Dog

Another #poetrytogo commission:


What good is a dog
Who won't pay heed,
Who tangles herself
When you put on her lead?

What good is a dog
Who can't see cars,
Who eats LEGO bricks
Like a creature from Mars?

What good is a dog
Who thinks she's a train,
Who pulls at you, chuffing,
And leaps in the rain?

What good is a dog
Who slips and slides,
Who slithers while
Other dogs give their folks pride?

You know what - those other dogs
May be quite nice,
Smart, and well-behaved,
But they just won't suffice.

See, the good of this dog
Is the strength of her heart,
And the way that you miss her
Whenever you part.

For the love of this dog
Will be there to the end,
In this bouncing, brown, barking-mad,
Wonderful friend.

---

If you'd told me that I'd write a rhyming poem about a dog and enjoy it immensely, I'd've laughed at you. And I would have been very wrong.

2016.6 Can You Spy Mariam?

Another #poetrytogo commission: 


Mariam means Mary
Mary makes the garden grow
Gardens grow up to make parks
Parks wander into forests
This forest hides a mysterious tower
The Tower shelters Rapunzel
Rapunzel reads books
Books that speak of little girls
This little girl loves pink and purple
Purple sunsets summon dreams
Dreams of pets like panda bears!
Panda bears that love to dance!
Dancing makes you hungry
Hungry girls eat lots of sweets
Sweet dreams, Mariam...

______________
Mariam was adamant that this poem MUST NOT RHYME! You've got to admire that kind of focus at five. I think I managed to squeeze in all her favourite things here...

2016.5 X9C3-2

We should be asking:
Where's the line
Between what's seen
And what's just mine?

The web was meant
To make us free;
Instead we're tangled,
Can't you see?

Convenience
Can't be worth the bill:
No secret shared's
A secret still.

________________

This post is, in itself, a delivery of a #poetrytogo commissioned poem from today. Feel free to ask, but there's only so much I can tell you…