Sunday, December 4, 2011

Poetry Picnic Week 16: My Life in Free Verse


Thanks so much for all the tasty entries from last week’s picnic!  They were delightful! 



Now it’s time to dig in deep and see what you can find in the garden of your identity as you write in free poetic style about yourself.   Each and every one of us is unique, and it takes a diverse combination to make a great picnic here at The Gooseberry Garden.  What makes you extraordinary?  Tell us all about it!




Image:  by Kay Salady




Prayer for All Souls by Steven Federle
Fill me with your
Sacred fire.
I long to rise from
This moldering pyre,
But I’m trapped
Under a dying sun.
Your love
Is just beyond my reach,
And sight fails
As I falter,
And back
To basic earth
Fall.
O, lift me
With your mighty hand
And once again
I’ll live.

Grandma, Let Me Tell You A Secret by Elaine Danforth
Grandma, let me tell you a secret. . .
I whispered,
With my little mouth
Into the big phone
That I held with both baby hands
Near my baby cheek. . .

(If I said it in a whisper,
It was a secret,
Or so I thought)

I love you,
I whispered. . .

Later,
I can still see
In my mind’s eye,
Being in her house
After she was gone,
When I was only two. . .

How could I understand
That I would not
See her again?

Those Times Ago by Charles Mashburn
Eyes closed, I smiled and imagined
A full moon hanging low in the sky
Looking like a shiny pearl button
On a dandy cowboy’s shirt

Sequin stars glittered
On a blouse of blue-black silk
In the distance cattle lowed
As coyotes yipped and howled

When I opened my eyes
It all faded to cold hard truth
The hot dry grass on my neck
And burning tears I wouldn’t let fall

City traffic whirred nearby
Distant sirens pierced the night
A neighbor screamed angrily
At her laughing children

I gazed up at the dingy sky
Closed my eyes and tried to recall
Those times so long ago
When hope still lived within me

Times when stars twinkled
The man in the moon smiled
And parents, tired from their day
Murmured and chuckled softly

Gliding in the old wooden swing
Smiling, looking forward to tomorrow
While in the moon-shadow of a tree
Children tittered secret laughter

I wondered when the world had changed
And wished we could go back
To when life was simple; those times ago
When hope was more than just a word


HAPPY POETRY PICNIC!

We have the following poets who are celebrating birthdays during December, Thanks for being part of this growing community, Happy (Belated) Birthday to you all!
December 1,    Anky0112
Dec 7,              JStar
December 9,    M.L. Gallagher   
December 10,  ScottlB
December 14,  Emmanuel Ibok
December 10,  Punam
December 19,  Tammy
December 25,  Vibhuti B
December 28,  Fiveloaf
December 29, Victoria
December 29, Pat Cegan



Methods of Submission:

Share your work using InLinkz below, and leave a comment in case it is your first time! It would be great if you could link back to us on your blog.

Weekly poetry collection starts on Sunday, at 2pm (CDT), and will stay open till Wednesday, 8pm (CDT), 78 hours for you to share your poetry with us...

What About Next Week!?!

For Week 17, we will have theme “PhotosNostalgia, Memories, and Families, that’s next week.




41 comments:

Maxwell Mead Williams Robinson Barry said...

right on time, Kay,

Thanks for posting,

perfect job for this week.

:)

Maxwell Mead Williams Robinson Barry said...

Happy Birthday to Poets in our community,

Have A Fun-filled holiday Seasons!

Teresa said...

Hard to believe this has been going for so long and this is my first time to link up.

Maxwell Mead Williams Robinson Barry said...

welcome, Teresa.

have fun!

The Noiseless Cuckooclock said...

Hapy sundaty.

a lovely day to share and enjoy poetry.

:)

Scarlet said...

I am reposting an older one.. Thanks for the warm invite ~

Anonymous said...

A beautiful manner in which to share ourselves leading others to a wellspring of love, (of words), and for each other.

The Poet said...

Hello.
Wonderful introduction Kay. Awesome graphics! Nice choices to kick off this week too.

Best wishes to the birthday boys & girls.

Enjoy the Picnic & have a great week ahead everyone!

Your Reward Is My Sorrow

Anonymous said...

Happy birthday one and all! :)
Blessings!

Anonymous said...

Nice choice of three poems. It's finals weeks so I didn't bring much of an appetite to this picnic, but I'm glad to be here all the same :)

Jingle Poetry At Olive Garden said...

welcome,

Happy Poetry Picnic.

:)

Maxwell Mead Williams Robinson Barry said...

welcome,


Thanks for stopping by.
Happy Picnic.

Victoria said...

Lovely post, Kay, and an assortment of nice poems to represent the theme. I will try to get something up this week. It's been crazy.

Alcina said...

This is my first time that i am trying to join Gooseberry Garden

Thanks for the invite..

I wish that i can keep up my contribution and read all the lovely fellow poets :)

Ramesh Sood said...

I contribute with a poem specailly written for he theme at Gooseberry Garden.. Hope it will be well received..

Anonymous said...

have a great week everyone!

Daydreamertoo said...

Thanks to Kay and everyone for organising the picnic for us.
Happy Birthday to those who celebrate it this month.

Inspector Saahab said...

nice sharing. i love youR blog. keep it up :)

Anjum Wasim Dar said...

Thank You Gooseberry Garden Flowers and Friends I am delighted and have never been awarded so much.Really it has been a lovely time writing and sharing.You all have been a great inspiration for me.
Happy Birthday to All who are Celebrating Enjoy the Cakes

Lady Nyo said...

Hello!

I am posting the End Poem in the series: "The Nightingale's Song".

Thanks for all who read.

Lady Nyo

Anjum Wasim Dar said...

Dear Gooseberry , My Life briefly
http://poeticocean.blogspot.com/2011/12/in-response-togooseberryjingle-poetry.html

Anonymous said...

Thanks to you all and thanks, Gooseberry, for opportunity. K.

Unknown said...

Happy birthday to those poets! Greetings to everyone here!

Erick Flores

Morning said...

welcome,

have a lovely picnic.

The Orange Tree said...

shared one today,

Happy Belated Birthdays to poets around the globe.

:)

Maxwell Mead Williams Robinson Barry said...

keep your talent coming.

Thanks for the support.

Unknown said...

Thank you @morning!

And everyone else that has visited my poetry blog!

Erick Flores

Susie Clevenger said...

Happy Birthday to all the poets with December birthdays...Thanks for such a wonderful place to share poetry

Dave King said...

This one really appealed to me... trouble is: I've probably written too much about me already. Still, it's up: I've had a go. Thanks for the prompt.
And a Happy Birthday one and all!

Rohit_blogger at http://floating-expressions.blogspot.in/ said...

nice to be back,
the prompt this time seems to be writing about one's life(quite vast)
hmm..my life is all about 'never say never' ..just refusing to quit.
submitting my very first work that I composed when I entered the gigantic world of blogosphere and creative-writing(..my best effort as per me but most neglected,donno why?others not so good have got greater attention...really strange.

anyways nice to interact(wonderful platform this is)
Rohit(link no 115)
my submission:http://floating-expressions.blogspot.com/2011/11/i-love-failure_5016.html

eww..have written,an essay in a comment box.sorry admin! unable to stop myself these days,courtesy this newly caught writing bug :|

Gerry/Strummed words said...

A short poem about my life, right now.

Victoria said...

Thank you for a wonderful post and the birthday wishes. This year has flown by and I'm full of gratitude for all the amazing poets in this community.

The Gooseberry Garden said...

Rohit:

no worrying,
any poem is welcome.

Jeannette, said...

...hi! after a week at the hospital attending to my sick mom, all is well now. i miss reading the posts. thanks much...

http://preciousnotesmundanethoughts.blogspot.com/2011/12/butterfly.html

Anonymous said...

tq morning and all at gooseberry- best wishes..

Umesh Rao said...

Thank you for hosting :)

Have linked my poem( though it's not a free verse )

Maxwell Mead Williams Robinson Barry said...

welcome ..

Anonymous said...

Better late than never! Great inspiration, Kay!!! Thank you so much!

Hawk's Perspective said...

When Christmas comes with bells a ringing
And lights with colors beaming bright
Our hearts delight with freedom
It’s merriment we seek
To give glory
To the king
Mighty
King

Zoe said...

Hi Everyone,

I really appreciate the invite to join the picnic this week but I just couldn't contribute anything, not on this topic anyway! I have had a time of intense self examination and reflection, and that is not a process to be shared! But hopefully I will be back next week and look forward to reading some incredible poetry!

Somyanshu said...

nice poem..this post shows that you have been writing for a long time..really enjoyed it...