Pleasures [Countdown]

This poem was inspired, in part at least, by the fact that this is the last day of 2011 and while I was composing it the word "countdown" kept drifting through my mind and I realised that it was necessary to blend the two ideas into one whole.





Pleasures [Countdown]  -  31 Dec 11

The ghosts of our dreams
Dance in syncopated
Mystery
Over all the feelings
In all the times
We shared

Bodies scattered
In ecstatic abandon
From pleasured
Shared
Loves

I feel your touch
Unreserved
Giving without expectation
Taking with gratitude

We both knew
We both new
New worlds

Standing on the edge
Ready to fly

And now...?





Thank you Muse for offering me this new piece.
All that is left now is to say...
Blethen Noweth da
[For non-Cornish speakers ~ Happy New Year]

Shadows of the Moon

Another of the poems which grew from seed in the very early hours of the day. This time I am not certain where the seed came from but I am pleased with the effect and thank my Muse for showing it to me.





Shadows of the Moon - 24 Dec 11

Moon shine
Sun dark
Whispers of falling stars
Tell me of times
When we danced
When we kissed
Just to remind me
Of how things were

And now…

Shadows In an abandoned well
Act out the drama
Upon the stage
Supported by cobwebs
Followed by the dancers
Singers of the plaintive song
Dancers in the shadows

And then…

We kissed again
Our thoughts mingled
Blended
Grew together
Became one
In the light of the Moon
She knew
Smiled at us

And always…





Glancing through the Eternal Moment.

Journey Into Day

I find it fascinating, when Muse taps me on the shoulder and indicates that I should write something, the end result is - I feel - rather special.





Journey Into Day - 23 Dec 11

I’d come so far
Before I saw you
Before I knew
Who I was
Who you were

The long dark morning
Born out of dark night
Left the spirits watching
Keeping guard
In the empty places
Where the echoes
Of me
Still live

Reaching out
With unguided hand
Seeing
With sightless eyes
Waiting for the Sun

Touched by the Sun
Your light held me
As the harbour lights
Faded
I watched you
Held you
Dreamed you into me
…Dreamed

Come so far
Then I saw you
Finally I knew
Who I was
Who you were





Another of the poems birthed in the very early hours of the day - thanks for the prompt my Muse.

Waiting

This poem took a little while to get near to completion but it still didn't feel right, I asked a friend and two words were changed. This change improved the flow completely and I felt that it was ready to be posted here.





Waiting - 16 Dec 11

I waited for you
At the edge
Of time
I promised you
I would be there
Till you arrived

Aeons danced
Through our Eternity
Waves washed the shore
Time sang his sweet song
Echoed through the years

Your promise to me
Still whispers In my mind
…I will be there…
I see the smile in your eyes
Caressing my face
Kissing my Soul





I feel that it was worth the wait and my thanks to Muse and to my friend for the suggestions.

Midnight Journeys

This poem was inspired, in small part, by several things; listening to a track from Epitaph called "Visions", remembering the early King Crimson and my own "Warlord Suite". Some of the themes can be heard here though none of them really predominate and this end result is something that is mine. Well, see what you think...





Midnight Journeys - 12 Dec 11

Leaving a trail
Of feathers
Whispering
Of Moon-dark Journeys
And tales
Of secret meetings
On the Temple steps

We
Touched
And
Held

The peacock sings
A mellow song
Of wandering jesters
And tired jokes
Heard only by those
Who know and smile
At the wistful words
And gentle sounds

Kissed
Under
The
Trees

The watchers did not
Understand…but only stood
And swayed
To a random rhythm
Created in thunder
Petted the phœnix’
Fiery back
Regardless of the flames

Lay
On
Silken
Sheets

Watching the serpents
Dance around the staff
Our eyes entranced
We dream the Moon
Into the day
Pull her close to us
Taste sweet kisses
On the fabric of her robe

Midnight
Journeys
In
Dream





The joke here is "the peacock's mellow song" - have you heard a peacock call?

In the Moment of the Rising Dream

This is another of the poems which took a little while to fully emerge, the main title and the section titles appeared first - followed a few hours later by the first and third sections. The central section only appeared after a full day but I feel that the wait was worth it.

The terms "first contact" and "last contact" are space-watchers terms to denote the moments when the leading edge and the trailing edge of the observed thing, like the Moon, appears above then clears the sky-line.





In the Moment of the Rising Dream - 09 Dec 11


First Contact

The church bell
Starts to call the midnight hour
Ensnares my mind
Thoughts drifting In the cage
Of yesterday


Transit


She stood
Stared
Into the fountain’s mirror
Rippled image

She tried to catch
The fleeting shapes
As they left a trail
Across her mind

Glittering in the dark
Trying to rival
The stars
They shine

Dream fragments
Show untidily
Disturbed by the fading
Bell


Last Contact

Once the echoes
Faded
Broken Into single tones
Teased my memories
Tomorrow starts to run





I hope you enjoy this new offering. Thank you Muse for your prompting.

She Waits / Night Prison

This poem didn't take too long to write but, I have to admit this, I have no idea where it came from. The words just seemed to tumble out onto the "page" and shaped themselves into two interlinked tracts, the four-line and five-line stanzas can be read as individual three-stanza poems or, as I have posted them here - a unified work. See what you think...





She Waits / Night Prison - 09 Dec 11

Nearly closed
The rusted iron gates
Wrapped with ivy
Pretend to defend

In veils of mist
She waits…
Her tender fingers beckon
Asking me
To touch

In a cloudless sky
Leafless trees ensnare the Moon
Hold her prisoner
Ransom demanded of the Sun

Tendrils of the night
Mist
Snags her gown
In cold and wet
She waits

Dawn so long away
Colours of imagining
No brush
To drag them ‘cross the sky

Ivy will take her tears
Gratitude for sadness
Feed upon the salty drops
Endlessly waiting
She invites me





I thank Muse for starting me off on a new voyage of discovery, always wondering where these will lead.

Shades

Another poem that seemed to want to stay on the back-burner for a fairly long time but it now feels ready to release into the blog.





Shades - 28 Nov 11

In the pre-dawn dark
I watched the sparks
From the fire of night
Spiral to the sky
To call the coming Sun

Shades of night
Still dance
In courtly manner
In the corners
Of the world’s dreams

Our dreams now take
Centre stage
Confident
They walk
Leading our waking selves

Shades of day
Banished
Dreams now brighter
Than the Sun
Fill our eyes

Light on the path
All around us
Leading the way
Listen to the music…
Let us dance





This is also another of the Muse inspired songs - She likes to keep me thinking.

The Cloister Bell

The opening line of this poem had been in my mind for a couple of days, though I had no idea where it was leading me...till yesterday, when more started to grow and the end result I now present here.

Cloister Cemetery in the Snow
Caspar David Friedrich
[1810]

The Cloister Bell - 24 Nov 11

The Cloister bell
…Cracked…
Rang in discord
Across the endless snow
…Muffled…
Crows, rooks and ravens
In funereal waed
Cluster round
The fresh dug grave
Eye the stones
With their worn-out words
Unread through ages
Hooded eyes watch
With predatory air

Landscape mocks
White on black
The mourners
Black on white

A solitary scarlet rose
Cast upon the ground
Mocks blood
Soon hidden by the snow
Ignored by the birds

Then silence
Save the Cloister bell
Tolling





One word may need to be explained ~ Waed [pronounced “weed”] is an Old English word meaning, “garment”. It still is in use, with the spelling "weed", in the phrase "widow's weeds"
referring to the mourning clothes.

I thank my Muse for hinting so strongly about what I needed to do for this poem.

This is my offering for:
http://dversepoets.com/2011/11/29/openlinknight-week-20/

Fading Dreams

I was watching some tracks on YouTube when a few words heard, or probably misheard, triggered some words of my own to start to come together in my mind. This is an antithesis of the usual love poems that have been appearing here, I just feel that my brain wanted to scribe something different.





Fading Dreams - 21 Nov 11

Fading dreams
A handful of petals
Crumbling now…
In my pocket the thorns
Remind me
Blood on my fingertips
I taste the salt

Dawn was not a release
Cloud smudged the sun
Night held on
To the thoughts
That birthed the
Dreams
Spewed them into the morning

Dreams are all I really had
Once shining bright
Now tattered, tarnished
Cast to rust
Across the ground
I rise into the cold
Followed by the fading dreams





I hasten to say here that this poem is in no way autobiographical and nothing should be read into these words except the random triggering that my Muse offers.

This is my offering for...
http://dversepoets.com/2011/11/22/open-link-night-week-19/

and...
http://poetryjaam.blogspot.com/2011/11/paradise-lost.html

Ocean Dreaming

Listening to a piece of music, I was suddenly aware that Muse was nudging me again. The words came together over a short time and I was left wondering if I could add the music here with the poem - no obvious method so I shall have to consider alternative ways - on with the poem.





Ocean Dreaming - 17 Oct 11

The embers of the fading day
Mostly ash
But glows, still
Chase around
Like earthbound
Northern Lights

You held me close
As we watched
The last glimmer of the sun
Burnish the horizon

Ocean dreaming
Captivated us
Melded with our own dreams
To feed us
Show us
New worlds





Muse offers things in, sometimes, the strangest ways.

Night...Filled

Another poem, the seeds were sown just after midnight and it flowered about an hour later, the title emerged just as I was typing it up before posting it here.





Night...Filled - 09 Oct 11

Sunshine hiding all day long
Behind a veil of cloud
Darkness gathers round my house
To hold the light within

In my rooms
She waited
Singing softly
Songs of enchantment
Songs of love
Words to bind us
Gently
For Eternity

I watched the darkness
Filled with her song
Moths danced
To her words

I felt her call
Deep within me
Irresistible
I would not resist…
Her song
Echoed mine

I turned
Went to her





I love these Love songs that Muse inspires me to write.

Rain : Two Views

Each part of this poem was birthed separately but in the very early hours of the morning, like fraternal twins, related but in no way identical. Each was inspired by something seen; in the first, the way that the landscape was lost in the cloud - in the second, street lamplight refracted by raindrops on my window.





Rain : Two Views - 06 Oct 11

I

Rain
Blurs the boundaries
Between sky and earth
Rain
Blurs the boundaries
Between mind and reality


II

Stars dropped by the clouds
Scattered
Thrown against my window
By the wind
Random patterns
Rain constellations





Muse has a rather interesting way of showing me things, to inspire thoughts which then have to be written down - no matter the hour or place.

Night Flight

The opening line of this poem had been drifting in and out of my consciousness for the whole afternoon till, in the late evening, it emerged with more than I had expected in the way of content.





Night Flight - 03 Oct 11

On tattered wings she flew
Through night’s
Spangled dome
Onward
Toward a fleeting dawn

Her lover
…Waited
In a distant land
On a distant shore
…Listened
To the wind soughing
Through the grass
Rattling the stems
…Watched
As the waves danced
To the rhythm of the breeze
…Called
With his mind
Come to me

Owls circled him
Whispered
She is on the way
She will be here
Soon

She saw his spark
On the beach
And knew
They would be
Together forever





There are several small inspiration points in this poem all coming together in these stanzas.

Sea Of Time

Little words and phrases had been drifting through my mind for most of the afternoon so I sat and started to type and, as quite often happens, the poem grew rapidly with only a few prompts from Muse.





Sea Of Time - 02 Oct 11

Standing on the sand
On the shore
Waves of the Sea of Time
Washing around my feet

I remember you
In all our lives
We shared together
Dreaming our realities

Waiting for you now
On this last day
When we shall be together
Forever

Come to me – kiss me
Walk with me – let us fly
Infinity
Shall be our new playground





I love when Muse starts prompting and then allows me to get on with it.

Tantalus

This poem took rather longer to become fully formed - a matter of several hours - but I feel satisfied with the result.





Tantalus - 30 Sep 11

She stood
Tantalising
Vision of her beauty
Just out of reach
Tantalus
Taste of her nectar
Almost…
Within my lips
On my tongue

Night visions she conjured
She danced with me
Around me
Within my mind
Across the dreaming
Landscape where my Soul
Stood guard
Motionless
Over me

Day dreams she formed
To place in the waking me
To dance with her
Within her
Touching
Caressing
Enticing
Waking me to see
Her beauty

Playing with reality
She built worlds
For us to live
Where we could experience
Each other
Feel
Play
Search for the key
To the Tantalus





I hope the key is within your grasp and that you are not being teased.

She Tasted Me

I had fully intended to write a different poem, even had a provisional title and theme in mind but Muse had another idea for me and this is what grew from her suggestions.





She Tasted Me - 27 Sep 11

She tested me
She tasted me
Lips
Tarrying
On bare skin

Fingertips
Dancing
Caressing
Playing hide and seek
Through my hair

Warm breath
Unexpectedly blows
Teasing
Goosebumps
From secret places

She knew how
She knew where
Whispered
Secrets
She woke me





Perhaps the poem I had intended to write will be allowed out in the near future.

This is my entry for,
http://dversepoets.com/2011/09/27/openlinknight-week-11

Creating Now

A friend showed me a quote from "A History of Cornwall" by F E Halliday [c 1959], it read;
"...as we travel to Land's End we also travel back in time, towards our beginning."
This triggered something and almost immediately this poem was born.





Creating Now - 24 Sep 11

Standing
At the dawn of time
Where land and sea
Meet and kiss
In the place where
All our yesterdays
Are born
And
All our tomorrows
Are yet to be

Feeling the Ocean
Beckoning, inviting
Holding out
Her moist hands
To me…
Come my Love
Let us create
Our now




Muse gives no notice as to her nudges and she can offer some surprising things.

Whispers

A windy afternoon, I heard her whispers and felt her presence - Muse has different ways of making herself known and offering suggestions for a new poem.





Whispers - 13 Sep 11

Lightly stepping on the boards
Her breath
Soft
Whispers
Her eyes
Gleaming
Expectation shivers

Delicate fingers
Open the door
She watches his sleeping form
Smiles
Whispers
Her lips
Licked
Anticipation

Slipping beside him
Not touching
Just watching
In his dream he
Whispers
Her name
She enters
His dream





I love the way Muse works to offer ideas and suggestions, her assistance is always welcomed.

Soul Summoning Spell

As so often happens, Muse tapped me on the shoulder some time after midnight and offered some suggestions for a new piece. I didn't know where it would lead but am rather pleased with the result.





Soul Summoning Spell - 12 Sep 11


Still she sang
Her old song
In the dusky darkness
Where Moonlight never reached

Lamenting loves lost
In years gone by
While watching new flames
Growing in her heart

Watching waves wash
Across the sand
While the distant lantern
Lights from ships sail beyond the bay

Tasting tomorrow’s tea
Her heady brew enticing
Drawing him closer
Into her grasp

Evening’s ebon eternity
Holds her … waiting
As her lover, spell-bound
Approaches through the night




Spell-bound he might be but willingly he is drawn to her side.
Yes, I am aware of the inspiration that Led Zeppelin left in a gentle way.
Muse is never to be denied, her suggestions always worth listening to for the words she offers.

This is my offering to:
http://dversepoets.com/2011/09/13/open-link-night-week-9/

A Sad Song

Writing, once again, in the dark of night with soft music for company. Muse said, "your turn" and asked me to take up pen and write.





A Sad Song - 06 Sep 11

I know I said it
Once
A long time ago
As I walked toward you
I said
I love you
But now I realise
I was walking in vain

I know I said it
In the dark of
A starless night
When even the Moon
Chose not to look
And my words
Lost their way
In the dark

I know I said it
But dark tears
Washed the traces
The feint footprints
From the path
And my lost words
Were walking in the rain
Again





Interesting how a thought can take you into places that have not been explored and can only be seen in the dark of night.
This poem / song is not autobiographical, nor is it about anyone I know, it is just a feeling that grew out of the music to which I was listening at that moment.

This is my offering for:
http://dversepoets.com/2011/09/06/open-link-night-week-8/

Dark Friend

I was listening to some instrumental music when words started to drift through my mind, pen and paper taken up and the poem flowed. I'm not certain that I can say that much about it or who the poem is about but I offer it to you.





Dark Friend - 02 Sep 11

She walked alone
Through deserted streets
Held in
Night’s cool embrace

A strange dark friend
She knew him well
Many years
Together ~ comforting ~ conversations

When daylight cracked the sky
Alone again she found herself
Dawn glow
Ghostly light fills the sky

Alone still ~ her friend within
Companion in the dark
Light … lover
Always together never lonely





Muse has a wonderful habit of tapping me on my shoulder when I least expect her arrival.

Rain Flows

I had just finished writing a review of a draft poem a lovely friend intended to post and included in what I had said I wrote the line "Rain flows in my mind". I realised then that I had to do something with it and gradually the remaining words flowed into my mind. After a few more prompts from Muse the poem was completed today.





Rain Flows - 24 Aug 11

Soft drumming on the roof
Trickle from an open tap
Within the cloud
Rain flows in my mind

Each drip translated
Into light
Scintillating
Coruscating
I see the colours
Of the sound

Rainbows writhe
In syncopated symphonies
Dance in light
Across the rivers
In my mind

Seeing the song
Hearing the light
Feeling the dance
Of the rivers
Rain flows in my mind





I offer this to you, make of it what you will - Muse doesn't always explain the meanings of the poems or prose that she inspires - but comments are, as usual, always welcomed.

This is an offering to http://dversepoets.com/2011/08/23/openlinknight-week-6/

Ocean Song including The Message

After a rather long gap Muse again requested that I start to write again. She dropped some interesting ideas into my thoughts including one for a photographic version of "The Message", I hope to present that before too long. "The Message" is constructed as a Gogyohka - five lines - set in the middle of a group of four-line stanzas and was originally birthed as a stand-alone Gogyohka but Muse and I knew that there was more to come...





Ocean Song - 04 Aug 11
Including The Message

To the water’s edge
Down across the sand
My footsteps
Wove the rhythm

Watched the waves
Wash the stones
Half-buried
Weed entangled

Heard the words
Whispered by the water
Carried
From your lips

Afternoon sky
Rainbow reflected
On the shards
Of crystal

I wrote the words
Upon the sand
And waited
For the tide
To take my message to you

Ripples lick
The fragment words
Absorb them into
Her heart

I heard my words
Reflected back from her
To me…
I love you





It turned out that this was to form another part of the Ocean Love Songs series of poems, Haiga and Gogyohka that have been growing over the last few months.

Awake Nightmares

This is a recounting of an actual event which took place a couple of nights ago, triggered by some fairly strong medication to try to ease some severe pains in my shoulder. The medication was also causing some nearly continuous hiccups and so...





Awake Nightmares - 15 Jul 11

Hic
A ghastly
Hic
Metronome
Hic
Counting off
Hic
Three-second
Hic
Intervals
Hic
Into the rest of the night
The visions in my mind
Stilled
Silenced
By the constant hiccups
The constant
Conspiracy
Between lung and gut
To annoy

Shh
Listen…the voices whispered
In the sudden silence
They could be heard
Again
And Muse
Stepped forward
She had suggestions
For another poem

A cow in the distance
A bird calls
A car softly rumbles past
A church bell strikes two
…what?

No shush
Hic
The metronome
Hic
Again drowns out
The voices





I did manage to get to sleep but only after Muse got me to write this poem out [yes, I can write by hand as well as using a keyboard].

Close Your Eyes

I was sitting, listening to music - as so often happens, when I felt Muse gently nudging me and, within thirty minutes this poem was birthed. I offer it to you here for your consideration.





Close Your Eyes - 01 Jul 11

Close your eyes
Let me touch you
In places
In ways
That have never been done
Before

Close your eyes
Let my kisses
Lift you
Show you
Places that my Love
Can take you

Close your eyes
Let my breath
Brush your skin
Kiss your Goosebumps
Feel them chase
Across you

Open your eyes
Look deep within mine
See me looking at you
Feel my Love
Wash over you
Drown in my Love





It is a long time since I scribed a Love Song, I must admit that I feel that this one works rather well.
Thank you Muse, for the prompt.

Fool Moon

The inspiration for this poem came from a TwitPic that I had accidentally mis-named "Fool Moon" instead of "Full Moon", I was initially irritated but the name grew on me and - after a conversation with a lovely friend - decided that I would create a poem using that accidental name.





Fool Moon - 25 Jun 11

In the evening sky
She woke
Looked down
To find her lover

She hopes that he sees
Her dance...
Clinging to her hope

Through the trees
Bushes
Fool Moon
Dances
With tears in her eyes

He wanders
Looking for her
In valleys
Cross rivers
Down to the Ocean

He danced
To attract her attention
Hopefully...
Though he didn't see her

Never looking
In the right places

The Fool
Dances
Under the
Fool Moon





I would like to thank Muse for gently re-positioning my fingers to create the phrase "Fool Moon" in the first place and my friend dani for suggesting that there is a poem in there somewhere.

Come Speak To Me

Image - Moonset by Ainsley Allmark

Come speak to me
Tell me of your loves for me
Parted from me
On your voyages to distant worlds
Your Earth-bound Lover
Waits for your return
To hear the tales
Of alien worlds and moonsets
Under different suns





Muse drew the words from me a line at a time, then requested it be illustrated using a different form to anything I had previously used - here then, is my offering.

Spark 12 by dani harris and Ainsley Allmark

This post is to mark the entry of dani harris and I to Spark 12

....................
....................

Ainsley Allmark
Inspiration piece

dani harris
response

a tree i once met

i don't recall

ever seeing

...no... ever meeting

such a tree

before or since

.

she had no branches on one side

she leaned the other way

where all her limbs

seemed to be reaching out

protectively

.

if you moved

within a few feet of her

there was a palpable feeling

of motherly love

and watchfulness

.

without a doubt

she has stood guard for years on end

enveloping all who grow near

with love

and safe refuge from the storms

..

....................
....................

dani harris
Inspiration piece

i wonder what they say?

.

in the quiet of the night

when the Moon is full

not a star can be seen

because the Moon outshines them all

..

with the first blush of pink

in the morning sky

i wonder what the Sun says

to the Moon as he passes by?

..

in the quiet of the night

when the Moon is partially hidden

you may see a little twinkle

of a lonely star here or there

..

when the Moon is on

one side of the world

and the Sun is on the other

i wonder who they talk to?

..

in the quiet of the night

when the Moon is but a sliver

the sky becomes full of stars

dancing with delight

..

when the Sun is setting

and the Moon is nigh

i wonder what he says to her

as they pass each other by?

..

Ainsley Allmark
response piece

....................
....................

We hope you enjoyed reading this as much as we enjoyed writing and working with the photographs.

You can take a look at the originals of these two offerings on the Spark site
dani's is here
and mine is here

Look at the whole
SPARK
web site

You can see more of dani's works on her blog page

http://haikulovesongs.wordpress.com/
Well worth taking a look.