Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Broken Umbrella

Under broken umbrella I huddle,
poor shelter from this bitter storm…

Acid words rain 
scouring raw emotions,
eroding, undermining
until all that remains
are underpinnings
and floating debris
of the once
solid pier
that was
‘us’

Sadness and anger
hammer barrier walls
Berms of resolve dissolve,
grain
by
grain.

Pain floods in;
salt stings my face
as nothing remains
intact in the wake
of our 
personal
hurricane.

©  Ginny Brannan August 2011

Image: Flickr, Umbrella left behind by Tyler J. Clemens VIII
Shared at Magpie Tales #80. 

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Paralyzed (Acrostic)

Sadness by wallflowerinblue/Photobucket














Panic attacks the nerves, tightens the chest,
acid bile rises into back of throat,
respiration comes in shortened bursts;
atrophied muscles are frozen taut--
like rubber bands stretched to limit,
yielding not even to tender touch;
zombie eyes stare into space …
even as I pretend everything is fine, I am
dying slowly in the confines of my own ‘prison.’

©  Ginny Brannan 2011

Shared at d'Verse Poets Pub Open Link Night #8, September 6 

Monday, August 22, 2011

Condemned

Could it be that grace’s fall was preordained and planned...
seduction dwelling dormant in soft shadow of the trees--
one person finding comfort in another’s company,
while wonders of this garden lay awaiting their command.

Did evil slither into heart of female, male’s to find...
blackening the innocence of simple naked form;
forever now remembered for the wrath of Maker’s scorn,
the tempted and the temptress condemning humankind.

© Ginny Brannan August 2011

Internet photo, Google, Images, Adam & Eve


















Written for The Gooseberry Garden, a new site for the Jingle Poetry community, for their Poetry Picnic Week 1 challenge: Adam and Eve. 

Sunday, August 14, 2011

Baile Átha Cliath

Black pool

Viking invasion
Brit occupation

evolution, revolution
bullet hole-riddled soul

ancient, urban, modern

U2 rock me;  you, too,
call me, back 
to you

©  Ginny Brannan August 2010      

Image by author
















Dublin, Full of youthful exubrance, an amazing city of contrasts. It's history includes Viking, Norman and Anglo invasions and revolution, and it is known for its famous politicians, poets, writers, saints and entertainers. One of my all-time favorite places to visit.  Shared at d'verse Poets Pub, Poetics~Going Urban
Photo: Daniel O'Connell's statue, Dublin~scarred with bullet holes from the 1916 Easter uprising (Anglo-Irish War)  

Monday, August 8, 2011

L’eterna Lotta (La'libertas)

“The Eternal Struggle”


Seeking truth inside veiled darkness 
yet certainty eludes, unfound
unguided ideals run aground--
does answer hide cloaked in silence?

Searching, reaching,
grasping unknowns
hope eternal alludes;
disillusioned to core,
on continuous quest
needing, wanting more


Man’s blindness demands proof profound
for flash and fire, or plague’s infest;
perhaps our lives are just a test
to higher call, or stall earth-bound

Trial, denial
truth inconvertible
perhaps recondite God
awaits discovery
somewhere in our
own subconscious

Per sempa l’antica lotta continua…
Dio e l’uomo, l’uomo contro se stresso

*Translation: 
Forever the ancient struggle continues,
God versus man, man versus himself

©  Ginny Brannan August 2011           

The form is La’libertas, a 22 line (4/6/4/6/2) poetic form created by Laura Lamarca. Stanza rules as follows:
Stanza 1: Rhyme scheme abba, 8 syllables per line
Stanza 2: Free verse, 6 lines
Stanza 3: Rhyme scheme baab, 8 syllables per line
Stanza 4: Free verse, 6 lines
Stanza 5: Couplet, Italian

Sacrifices (Acrostic Dectina Refrain)

She
always
cries before
returning here;
intuitively
feeling jagged sadness,
instinctively reeling, as
closeted pain, unbidden, now
escapes--anguish for the child long gone;
she always cries before returning here.


© Ginny Brannan July 2011

This poetic form is called the Acrostic Dectina, and is a variation the Dectina Refrain, created by Marion Friedenthal. The acrostic portion was added by Philip of Poet Freak. It is a 10-letter word with same first and last letters, which makes up the 10 lines of the poem. The syllable count is 1/2/3/4/5/6/7/8/9/ and 10, 10 being the first 10 syllables (or 4 lines) of the acrostic.


Shared at d'Verse Poet's Pub Open Link Night #4 8/09/11  

Monday, August 1, 2011

Throwing Money Away


We nicknamed him  ‘Sanford’
(remember that old ‘70’s T.V. show?)
a gray-haired man in a rickety truck
with patched-up fenders
and squeaky brakes.

Each weeknight he roams
a different neighborhood.
Sunday night is our turn…
slowly creeping past each house,
scanning trash for hidden treasure
he stops for a broken fan at one house,
a rusty patio chair at another,
and a bunch of wire hangers that
someone threw out down the block…
We had often speculated on this poor man
eking out his living collecting old scraps…

…until we saw him driving around town in his other car:
              a brand-new Mercedes

© Ginny Brannan July 2011

Photo prompt courtesy of Tess Kincaid, Magpie Tales #76