judge book by (dust) cover

Melissa challenges dVerse poets to write to a quote from one of Leo Tostoy’s books

ancient dust thickly lies…
obscures discarded objects
personal mysteries unsolved
hidden in dark attic of soul

what is this discovery?!
favorite forgotten pillow
stuffing needs fluffing…
still choke on puffed pride

look in that corner box
something small, hidden
away…yuck! dead mouse
of musty, moldy pettiness

keep cherished photographs
of loved ones’ kindness but
let dirty dogged memories
lie sleeping and undisturbed

_______

(alternative title: pride & pettiness, but that’s another author)

portent


while visiting town cemetery

i walk among the dead

dark crow caws loud atop pine tree

sound fills my mind with dread

anon, i heard another bird

sing sweet upon headstone

“his eye is on the sparrow”

means i will not die alone.


Civil War headstone photo by lynn__

perils of paradelle

free image from pexels

her ex’s birthday fell on halloween
her ex’s birthday fell on halloween
the road is scary place to fall in love
the road is scary place to fall in love
her halloween on road in scary fall
is place to fell the ex’s love birthday

to celebrate, they set up skeleton
to celebrate, they set up skeleton
upon front lawn with missing pumpkin head
upon front lawn with missing pumpkin head
they celebrate with pumpkin set upon
front skeleton missing lawn up to head

if truly dead, a monster will decay
if truly dead, a monster will decay
but souls may resurrect on all saints day
but souls may resurrect on all saints day
if dead souls but decay on monster day
truly a saint’s will resurrect all may

monster birthday upon ex’s dead lawn
may truly resurrect her soul’s skeleton
if missing head will celebrate all day
they set a place to saints on halloween
with in, all pumpkin love fell to decay
but fall is up front scary on the road!


NOTE: The paradelle is one of the more demanding French fixed forms, first appearing in the langue d’oc love poetry of the eleventh century. It is a poem of four six-line stanzas in which the first and second lines, as well as the third and fourth lines of the first three stanzas, must be identical. The fifth and sixth lines, which traditionally resolve these stanzas, must use all the words from the preceding lines and only those words. Similarly, the final stanza must use every word from all the preceding stanzas and only those words.

This was a spoof poetry form invented by Billy Collins and re-published on dVerse Poets by Grace.

to restore a nation

Tan renga is written by two poets, haiku and response; see Carpe Diem Haiku Kai 


 

haze from cannon fire

confederate and union

bury dead in field           © lynn__

 

pear tree in full bloom on a battlefield

collapsed house becomes beautiful again

© Shiki (quote re-worked by Chèvrefeuille)

 

nature-3350359_960_720.jpg

image – pixabay

april fools?

 

hellish laughter

disciples inconsolable

women go to weep

earth trembles

lightning strikes

angel descends

dead man alive

live guards dead

officially signed

sealed and delivered

heaven has last laugh!

 

 

logo-napowrimo

non-resistance

 

christians in egypt

men, women, children of faith

shot dead on the sand

do not resist their captors

when asked to deny their faith

 

 


Coptic Christians martyred on way to worship as reported here in NY Times