Sunday, November 27, 2016

959 - Travellers


Sunday Scribblings 2 has the prompt ‘Traveller’.


Travellers

We are all travellers,
Whether we like it or not.
Souvenirs differ.
.
---
© J Cosmo Newbery 2016
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Wednesday, November 23, 2016

958 - In Vino, Malum


Haiku horizons prompt: drink

When the world just sucks
All the juices out of you
It’s unwise to drink.
.
---
© J Cosmo Newbery 2016
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Thursday, November 17, 2016

957 - Keeping Time


She sleeps beside me.
The breathing is more steady
But the fear remains.
.
---
© J Cosmo Newbery 2016
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Monday, November 14, 2016

956 - Creating a row.


Haiku Horizons prompt “row”.
An ambiguous sort of word.


Creating a row.

Corn grows in a row;
A house sits on the prairie.
It’s outwardly calm.


It is not easy—
Being sick, lonely, dying…
A hard row to hoe.


The desire to scream.
A primal sort of response—
To row with the gods.


“Don’t create a row,
It will alarm the neighbours!”
Tears fall quietly.
.
---
© J Cosmo Newbery 2016
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Friday, November 11, 2016

955 - Breaking the Cycle


Armistice Day, 2016.


Breaking the Cycle

Lest we forget, 
Our minds blinded
To what those on the front line did
By the comforting haze of time
War is not pretty, 
Not some bedtime
Soothing story 
Of how the high-minded troops fought, 
Struggled and grinded out 
A path to victory 
(as we defined it)
They fought and died in the grime:
Lest we forget.

Remember what those at Lone Pine did
And other battles that come to mind.  
Did we understand this very human crime?
We must reject war for peacetime
And be constantly reminded—
Lest we forget.
.
---
© J Cosmo Newbery 2016
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954 - Sophie's Vote


Sunday Scribblings 2 prompt: Blues

Sophie’s Vote.

A voter who suffered the ‘blues’,
Anguished over who he should choose.
After much wringing of hands 
He now understands
That whatever he decides, he’ll lose.
.
---
© J Cosmo Newbery 2016
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Thursday, November 10, 2016

953 - Not Just Denmark.


Three Word Wednesday requires participants
to use the three words of the week in a composition.
The words this week are: 

halting, far-fetched, and gamy.


Not Just Denmark.

Is the Armageddon ahead?
A bit far-fetched, perhaps,
But is there a way of halting
The successive mishaps
That seem,
As if a dream,
Salting
A wound we can’t ignore:
The gamy smell of something dead
Pervades the corrider.
.
---
© J Cosmo Newbery 2016
---

Tuesday, November 08, 2016

952 - Hobson's Choice


Haiku Horizons prompt “choose”


Hobson’s Choice

The horse near the wall—
The choice Hobson would offer.
Take it or leave it.


You select some things.
You are lumbered with others.
You choose your response.
.
---
© J Cosmo Newbery 2016
---

Saturday, November 05, 2016

951 - Scoring in the Park


Sunday Scribblings 2 prompt: compose


Scoring in the Park

A fellow who liked to compose,
In a park, while wearing no clothes,
Found what he wrote
Was of little note
But the audiences turned out in droves.
.
---
© J Cosmo Newbery 2016
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Friday, November 04, 2016

950 - Exit, stage right.


Mad Kane poses a regular limerick challenge.
The key word this week is ‘call’.

As an actor, his skills would fall
Somewhere below Neanderthal.
But the agent was kind
And said “If you don’t mind,
In the off-chance I need you, I’ll call.
.
---
© J Cosmo Newbery 2016
---

Thursday, November 03, 2016

Repost - The Dream



Poets United Midweek Motif - The Day of the Dead
This is a repost of something I wrote a long time ago.


A Dream
In memory of Joan Heys.

I dreamt about a distant place,
All white, yet strangely warm;
Where all was elegance and grace:
There was presence but no form.

Into this quiet and peaceful scene
A man stepped into view;
He was both strong and cut quite clean.
A woman stood there, too.

He looked at her, and with a smile,
Remembered when they’d wed;
“I’m glad you’ve come. It’s been a while.”
“A friend sent me” she said.

Happy with the eons spanned
They embraced and gently kissed;
Then they turned, and hand in hand,
Slipped off into the mist.
.
---
© J Cosmo Newbery 2016
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