Refracted Images (Octain)

The years go spinning by so fast--

the awkwardness and trials of youth

have given way to different truth.

No thought to how we’d be recast

when we were young and having fun,

and days and months were flowing past.

But time is harsh and so uncouth--

the years go spinning by so fast.

© Copyright Ginny Brannan May 16, 2010


Inspired by a dear friend's birthday. Time stops for no one, but it surely helps having friends that are right there along side to share it with you.


Shared at One Stop Poetry, Monday 5/16/2011 

Vicious Cycle (Quatern)

I find that I must start again,

a single step and I begin

along this old, familiar road

that time is starting to erode.

I pause to look around, and then

I find that I must start again.

It seems this path will never end--

can’t even make it 'round the bend.

I push myself to motivate,

and though the hour is getting late--

I find that I must start again,

and pull my strength from deep within.

Set faster pace, I am hell-bound…

determined not to lose my ground.

I reach my goal, but just can’t win

I find that I must start again.
© Copyright Ginny Brannan May 2011

A Quatern is a sixteen line French form composed of four quatrains. It is similar to the Kyrielle  and the Retourne. It has a refrain that is in a different place in each quatrain. The first line of stanza one is the second line of stanza two, third line of stanza three, and fourth line of stanza four. A quatern has eight syllables per line. It does not have to be iambic or follow a set rhyme scheme.

One Shot Poetry Wednesday Week #45 5/10/11

Cardboard Memories

I stumbled on your photograph today,

a curled up image in a cardboard case,

just an old snapshot that was tucked away.

Beneath a pile of aging notes it lay,

its glossy paper looking out of place--

I stumbled on your photograph today.

Though it was only sticking out partway,

it  was just enough to see your face

in this old snapshot that was tucked away.

The fading image just does not convey

those cherished memories time could not erase…

I stumbled on your photograph today.

           

The passing years have caused the edge to fray,

so very carefully I did replace

this aging snapshot that was tucked away.

Sometimes it seems like only yesterday,

these retrospections we cannot retrace...

I stumbled on your photograph today,

just an old snapshot that was tucked away.
©Copyright Ginny Brannan April 2011

*I am inspired or "triggered" to write about things from my own life, so you can bet that this came from finding an old photo. Perhaps a little clichéd,  but my memories, my clichés.
Image: Kookaburra Laughs.blogspot.com

Aftermath… (High Octain)

From massive quake, tsunami broke--

a shift in the tectonic plate

that caused the Earth to vacillate.

Like sleeping dragon that awoke,

and in his haste, the coast erased

and wiped-out all the local folk

we watched the sea obliterate;

from massive quake, tsunami broke.

From massive quake, tsunami broke…

survivors cling to news and wait,

as mud and oil coagulate.

And like some cruel and heartless joke--

more are displaced by nuclear waste

mixed with debris and rising smoke.

Again we listen for their fate:

“From massive quake, tsunami broke…”
©Copyright Ginny Brannan April 2011

High Octain is simply a double Octain, but as one poem – the refrains are the same (though varying them to some degree is perfectly acceptable), a- and b- rhymes are the same, and the c/c line with the internal rhyme can optionally be rhymed in the second instance (as here). There is no restriction on the level of repetition, but in most cases the stipulated refrain A is enough; this may even feel too repetitive and need varying somewhat particularly in the High Octain, where it appears four times. *Octain format created by Luke Prater.

Grey Areas

My life is viewed in shades of grey

where fact and fiction now unite--

no clarity of black or white.

Harsh images once tucked away

are now apprised through stranger’s eyes;

their clean, sharp edge begins to fray.

Within this shadowed, aging light,

my life is viewed in shades of grey.
©Copyright Ginny Brannan March 2011

* Octain format created by Luke Prater: Eight lines as two tercets and a couplet, eight syllables per line with the first line repeated (as much as possible) as the last. Meter is iambic or trochaic tetrameter, but fine to just count eight syllables per line for those who prefer that. Rhyme scheme – A-b-b a-c/c-a b-A(A = repeated refrain line. c/c refers to line five having midline (internal) rhyme (eg. apprised/eyes), which is different to the a- and b-rhymes)

Sharing at d’Verse Poetics-Play with Color hosted by Victoria Ceretto-Slotto 

Clueless

All the clues were there in front of me,

but few of them were making any sense.

The letters were laid out so carefully,

just waiting for my research to commence.

Reading them again left me perplexed,

decided I must somehow be a ‘sleuth.’

The unknown outcome had me feeling vexed,

but knew that I would have to learn the truth.

Quite suddenly the answers did appear

from deep inside the recess of my brain…

solutions I had searched for became clear,

could finish this bewildering campaign.

No, I would never go down in defeat…

another Sunday crossword is complete!

http://www.pacificpuzzle.com/

©Copyright Ginny Brannan March 2011
Just for fun! In the style of a Sonnet, sort-of...


Shared at: http://thursdaypoetsrallypoetry.blogspot.com/
Week #44 5/22/2011