under burden bowed
we curve, we yield, abounding
yearning for the sun
By Sarah ©2023
Ronovan Writes, Haiku Challenge #451 – shrug and weight. Please note, this week I have used the synonyms “burden” and “bow”.
Contortions
Month: February 2023
Falling
with creeping feet
I walk a garden
of infinite stars
I long to steam ahead
but find myself
in a lock with no key
it seems I must
steal myself
for the sometimes
and free fall
into the joyous space
of this instead
By Sarah ©2023
The Sunday Whirl, Wordle 594
Monochrome Monday – 27.2.23
But Midnight
The world is dark
and light is precious.
Illuminating;
Our guiding preface.
Sunrise flies its hopeful blaze.
Earnestly spilling golden rays.
Yet midday sun is far more honest.
Revealing what is actually promised.
Shorter shadows help me see.
Uncompromising reality.
Then sunset barrels into play
sending dazzling light away.
Colours turn and trick the eye.
We don’t see day has passed us by.
Last light’s kinder than the black.
A subdued glow, won’t speak back.
But midnight?
Magical.
What dreams it shows.
In precious darkness
unflinchingly,
we grow.
By Sarah ©2023
Prised Open
Linda’s prompt for this week’s Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “prize.”
My initial thought was, ‘Well, I can talk about ‘prize’, but for some reason, what I really want to talk about is the verb, ‘prise.’
Let me elaborate.
Last night I went to my first ever Poetry Slam. And I bloody loved it! There was so much talent, but more to the point, so many like-minded people in one room. It really was something special.
Many of the audience were writers themselves, and the rest, enthusiastic cheerleaders of those brave enough to face the open mic.
I’ll be honest. I was in awe of these poets and their moxie. But even more than that, I admire their fearlessness in being raw and vulnerable. This is something I wish I could do.
It also got me thinking about our words; where they come from, and how they are prised from deep within us. Sometimes this is a struggle; a wrestle between our hearts and minds, and other times, we willingly open up; a relief.
Obviously we are given a vocabulary to work with, but it never ceases to amaze me, the infinite options our brains have for piecing it all together.
It is dangerous to be reckless with words. So for this reason many of us refrain from sharing our innermost thoughts and feelings. But when we do, and they emerge as poetry, perhaps this is the real prize after all.
In the words of Robert Frost, ‘A poem is an emotion that has found its thought and a thought that has found its words.’
A ‘prised prize’ indeed!
And now, a terrible joke to end with…
Q. Did you hear about the guy who invented the knock-knock joke?
A. He won the “no-bell” prize.
Let’s Go
The temptation is always,
to stay in bed where it is warm.
Yet there is an urge, a beckoning;
from deep within the water.
‘Though darkness tries its best to dissuade,
this spirit cannot be conquered.
By Sarah ©2023
Written for Ronovan Writes, “Sijo Wednesday Poetry” with the challenge theme of “temptation.”
Illuminated
Thursday Doors 23.2.23
I possibly would’ve walked right by these art deco-esque doors had they not been illuminated from the lights within. I imagine by day, many do…
Unyielded
Wispy clouds
beckon to each other.
Building quickly.
Soon, they are a sheet;
black across the sky.
Light grows dark.
A crest of wind tussles
with stalks and thistles.
It is coming.
A rumble.
A tremor.
The thunder throws
a growl from its depths.
Ferocious,
the storm unleashes.
Increases.
Releases.
Rain slashes.
The mistral sings.
Then crows about
its victory.
Yet, the clouds
will mourn their loss;
left dissipated.
… All the while,
the elder tree
holds strong.
Unyielding.
A constant.
Before, during, and after.
By Sarah ©2023
The Sunday Whirl 593
Wordless Wednesday – 22.2.23
Space For Self
Author’s Note: Randomly, this haiga popped up as a “related post” at the bottom of my response for Ronovan’s haiku challenge when I posted yesterday. I quite enjoyed rereading/rediscovering this piece and found it to be quite evocative and timely. So much so, I decided to reblog it…
Enjoy!
Image creditCathal Mac an Bheatha
make space for yourself
overcome the fear and peer
through your heart’s window
By Sarah ©2017
Prompt: TJ’s Household Haiku, window and heart; and also, Mindlovemisery’s Menagerie, Sunday Writing Prompt #219; and Daily Post Daily Prompt, overcome
The Dawning
graceful fortitude
allures the forthcoming day
light-dappled clouds blush
By Sarah ©2023
Author’s Note: I couldn’t resist a second attempt at Ronovan Writes, Haiku Challenge #450 – strength and tempt. For this, I have substituted the synonyms: fortitude and allure. I have also combined it with Mindlovemisery’s Menagerie, Sunday Confessionals: Notice of Nature
The Beat
together we tempt
a captivating rhythm
this strength in women
By Sarah ©2023
performed by Hit ‘n’ Miss
Ronovan Writes, Haiku Challenge #450 – strength and tempt
Monochrome Monday – 20.2.23
Beacon
The night steels
its thick blanket
around me.
Textures now smoothed;
once familiar things
creep into the obscure.
These black sheets
mask identities.
Including mine.
Alone.
I breathe.
I walk.
My heart still lit
by the only beacon
on these saturnine streets.
And I follow it home.
By Sarah ©2023
How Does A Dragonfly?
How does a dragonfly?
And why does rainbow?
There are some things,
that I just need to know.
When will the sunflower?
And can this weekend?
How did the waterfall?
On what did the footstep?
Yes! Go within when
you can’t go without.
How does the toothbrush?
Don’t be so roundabout.
Did you see the carwash?
For what do angelfish?
Don’t give me your handbag.
And let the landslip.
Revealed on the downhill
you show your handshake.
Can a fishbowl?
Observe the snowflake.
We’ll throw in the ballpark.
So check the armpit!
And what of the sublime?
Just watch your mindset.
Look out for the brainstorm!
What makes a goodnight?
Why is the haircut?
With what does moonlight?
When there is nobody
to be your somebody.
You hope not anybody
counts as everybody.
And what…of you?
By Sarah ©2023
By Sarah 
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