Buried Deep (& Yet to Break the Surface)

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A bit of rambling:  This is all I have.  I started a piece...more than started really...but I can't bring myself to finish it, let alone post it.  And so this is all I can offer up at the moment in response to the Poetics prompt for this week over at dVerse Poets Pub.  And maybe this is enough.  I tweeted this approximately a year after starting my previous (and first) blog, ...don't open...don't throw away... after reflecting on the my first year actively posting my poetry (and other ramblings) on the blogosphere.  In many ways, that year I stepped outside of myself.  I would say that makes this a pertinent revelation in my poetic evolution.

Sevenling (She believes in...)

She believes in happily ever after, in
monsters under the bed, & objects imbued
with magic ("Mirror, Mirror on the wall...)

She fears falling in love, the monster
buried deep within, & looking at her own
reflection ("Who is the fairest of them all?")

She only lets her heart roam free when the full moon graces the evening sky.

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A note on form:  This, as the title so eloquently states, is a sevenling.  From the moment I first came across this form to the several times I've been exposed to it since, I still don't feel like I really have a handle on this form.  The guidelines seem to vague to me and no matter how many times I read about the form or see examples I still feel at a loss.  Of course, that doesn't stop me form making it my own nunetheless.

(in)Visible

There is a line between
you & me

we play hopscotch across it

entering
each other's worlds
yet
never crossing paths

You glimpse a side of me
hidden from the world at large –
those who can touch & see me
or rather the hologram
I project out
so in truth they cannot
see or touch
not really
not more than I will allow

but you & I
connected by + separated by
this line between us

or maybe it's these lines
(perpendicular lines)
allowing me to be – to you –
the opposite reciprocal that
perpendicular lines exist upon

for these lines that lay between
you & me
allow me to be in-tangible

and yet
touched & seen as no one
here
standing beside me can claim

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Behind the math:  When I first pictured the line in lay across separating like cutting a room in half, then it switched creating a conduit between us.  Together the lines form perpendicular lines.  The interesting thing about perpendicular lines is that their slopes are opposite (one positive, one negative) reciprocals (3/4 vs 4/3).  And somehow this idea just felt fitting to the idea that in one case the touchable was untouchable, the seen was unseen vs. the untouchable being touchable and the unseen being seen.  Anyway, it made sense in my head.  Originally, the way I had fit it in felt wrong...threw off the flow.  And so I was about to get rid of it completely before I managed to find a way for it to fit better within the flow of the piece.

Inspiration for this piece (part 1):  This began with the inkling of a prompt that would be presented at dVerse Poets Pub for their Poetics prompt about invisible.  At first, I thought of the line as the invisible entity, but as the piece moved forward, it took on a new meaning.

Inspiration for this piece (part 2):  This is for all of the insane people (and I mean insane with all the love and affection possible) that visit here.

Flowery Flight

I can connect the dots 'cross the bridge
of her nose just to hear her sweet giggle
bubble around us. 
                               I know she'll shake
her face and scrunch up her nose,
pull back from my reach and twirl
her pink lace layered skirt flaring out
about her as though at any moment
it'll lift her into the air -
                                            a flying petal
propeller spiriting her up as her arms
reach out toward the sky above.

She'll stop mid-twirl, quickly regain her legs
and run back towards me.

"Again!  Again!  Do it again!"

and...

          she'll squirm and giggle as
I count...

"1, 2, 3...over the mountain...4, 5, 6, 7"

before she escapes my grasp once again
soaring in carefree giggly delight.

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A bit of rambling and Inspiration for this piece:  There is a reason I write poetry.  I don't much care for the detail that goes along with writing lengthy prose.  Building a scene or developing a character is wordy and poetry well I admit it has its moments, but for the most part siphons of most of the unnecessary.  I've managed lengthy prose, but that's mainly because I quite enjoy the dialogue and the moments and emotions I can conjure up with dialogue.

The reason I mention any of this is because I find it hard enough to develop a character when faced with lengthy prose, the idea of doing so within the confines of poem seems crazy.  Not that it can't be done.  I have read some amazing pieces where a character can seamlessly be brought to life through poetry.  I think the underlying problem is that I just don't "look" at people...fear tied to social anxiety; I have a unwritten piece entitle "Selective Blindness" that speaks to this, but that's besides the point.  Anyway...

With the prompt over at dVerse Poets Pub for this week's Meeting the Bar, being about creating a character through a poem...this here is my feeble attempt at capturing a character through poetry.    

STRIVE

STRIVE

aspire

work toward

slurping princesses

find table etiquette

a troublesome beast to best

"fighting against one's own nature."

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Inspiration for this piece and A note on form:  It seems like forever since last a Three Word Wednesday collided (on the last Wednesday of the month) with a clarity pyramid; it's only been since November.  It take as long to find my way with this one.  I do tend to struggle a bit finding the right fit, but having recently looking at a picture of my niece from her recent visit to the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique, the idea just kind of flowed.  [3WW=>aspire, beast, slurp(ing)]

Secret Message or Love Spell?

Baffling
Haunting
Loving
Wanting
Once unraveled, baffling, haunting codes
unearth simple, loving, wanting notes.

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Inspiration for this piece:  I came across this story while scanning through Flipboard's Cover Stories.  The original article in the Huffington Post was written just prior to Valentine's Day - quite fitting I would suppose.  Anyway, I just loved the whole story...I knew there was a poem hidden here.  While I'm not really certain I found the poem, I did find a poem, so...

A note on form:  Honestly I have bypassed this form on multiple occasions.  Whether because it was too tight/restricting or because I had no idea how to even get started on developing an idea for one, I couldn't say.  So what brought me to this form, known as Tyburn?  Well, while listing some thoughts and ideas from the article a couple of words jumped out at me (haunting, baffling, puzzling).  While I did not end up using all three words, it did make me recall this form.  After reviewing its structure, I thought why not.  Why not indeed?  I'm not 100% sold on my use of "wanting," but I like what the "nt" added to the rhyme with haunting and in my head it sounds appropriate...that's all that really matters right?  (Feel free to lie and say "right.")  I also admit, I took some liberty with the rhyme of the last two lines.  Instead of pure rhymes, I used assonance.  Although I could argue that the 'd' and 't' have a similar sound quality that assists in the ending rhyme.

A Little Bit Pinky, a Little Bit Brain

Beneath the surface lay the heart
   (a truth, if you will)
of how I feel with every knock
    (upon my door).

"If you want ideas, you're
in the right place!"
is the face I show
   (not a lie -
    ideas simmer within my
    rather normal sized brain
    waiting to burst forth)
ready & willing (genuinely)
                                    to help.

"Quiet!  There's world
domination in progress!"
stares me (upside down) in the face
   (not inaccurate, but not mine -
    if I listen quietly enough
    the thoughts & challenges of
    young growing minds waft in)
giving me pause to what lies outside
                                    my door.

"Are you aware that
you're disturbing me?"
lives face down
   (a shameful reality -
    pushed down & buried;
    a contradiction to who
    I am - yet not really)
shouting as it should (within)
                                    at me.

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Inspiration for this piece:  So it started with a piece I read this morning that hinted at the dVerse Poet Pubs Meeting the Bar prompt for today.  At first I thought the little rock I stepped on this morning with the word "luck" written on it would be a good selection for the prompt, but as I sat at my desk today another gem of an idea surfaced.  On my desk is a "brain analyzer."  It holds a triangular prism with three sets of phrases on them.  When I was still in the classroom,, "Quiet! There's world domination in progress!" would face outward.  The rest of the time was probably split evenly between the other two phrases.  Now it sits on my desk with "If you want ideas, you're in the right place!" so as not to scare off the teachers who come to visit me.  Nonetheless, the phrases on all sides are never far from my mind.