grahamswords1962

Banana

April 6. Today’s prompt has (I felt) a cryptic twist – pick a number between 1 and 10 then name and focus your poem on the taste of a respective item in a grid that also provides words to include in the poem. I chose the number eight and instantly regretted it as the subjectContinue reading “Banana”

The centaur and the dulcimer

April 5. We were asked to choose a musical genre and a line for inspiration then select one or more words from a list to include in our poem – I chose to try and use them all in a frivolous poem Imagine, if you would,A centaur playing a dulcimer aboard a yacht,Its hooves tipContinue reading “The centaur and the dulcimer”

Broken Moon

April 4. What is life with a painting? That is our subject for today. I love the way our prompts transport me to times and places I had forgotten; this is not a very good one, as in time and place, not the prompt. I bought the print of Egon Schiele’s Woman in Green StockingsContinue reading “Broken Moon”

Harmony

April 3. Today’s task, to write a poem that obliquely explains why you are a poet and not some other kind of artist – or not something else! I wanted to explore the idea of a poet/person having more than one side and choice in how they might experience the world. I chose an imageContinue reading “Harmony”

Two voices calling

April 2. Today’s challenge is to write a poem that directly addresses someone, and that includes a made-up word. We were prodded in the direction of two artists, Georgia O’Keefe and Anne Carson, neither of who I’d heard of before, in between which I went in search of some common ground on which grew contemporaryContinue reading “Two voices calling”

Within and without

April 1. Asked to use or be inspired by words or terms unknown to us from two glossaries. I chose Zauberoper (works that mingle comedy with the supernatural, often dealing with the exploits of the common man in uncommon surroundings) and, although I knew about Found Poetry, I have not heard of a Found ObjectContinue reading “Within and without”

A Freudian slice of Bacon

March 31. The self-portraits of Francis Bacon and Lucien Freud have captivated me for a long time. so I grabbed the prompt and the chance to write about both of them. Tectonic plates of colour collide, and slide,So much man mud, muddled, confused.Internally, Externally abused. The fist to the head,The minds that bleed; and bled.WhoContinue reading “A Freudian slice of Bacon”

Plums

There’s no shame in having a fumble,It’s good advice my good lads,Don’t be shy about your y-front rumble,Get your hand in and check your gonads. There’s a pleasure in doing and knowing,You can ignore the advice of our mums,When you feel for what shouldn’t be growing,When you fondle your well matured plums. They may beContinue reading “Plums”

Daylight through my window

In the summer, the whole world overA dissolving moon in a brightening skyWill watch the saffron lips of the sunSoftly kiss the day awake. In my bedroom, however,Through the curtain’s gapped slashed sliver,It stabs me with its taser and yells“Get up, you must not sleep”. Yet in the depth of winter,In the dark of duvetContinue reading “Daylight through my window”

Seascape of slaughter

The ink on the note she wroteLeaches and bleeds,Into the sea. The water that carried her message of hope.On a sea that is deaf to her tearsThat stream downstreamBack to the sea. The cold, black, barren sea,Lifeless water,Grave of her daughter,Seascape of slaughter.