PAD Challenge 2015

Bury her soul

~ hiraethphoenix

Teach her that her sensitive, sensory
Soul is a gift to this world,
That the world needs more deep thinkers,
Deep feelers who experience life intensely:
All senses tuned.
Teach her that fitting in is not a requirement
And the bully at school will fade into obscurity,
(mine ended on a chicken farm,
I hope those chickens are celibate)
That some of the most precious angels sit quietly
On the outside and observe,
There is beauty in songs of silence
And a place for everyone to have wings and fly.
Teach her to channel her inner world,
Introduce her to art, poetry, music, photography,
A way to capture and interpret her experience,
And protect her when the world constantly
Questions whether she is depressed, labels her
(they should be more concerned
about the ones who do not express their darkness)
And teach her that the right man
Is the one that one day sees beauty in her depth,
Her curly sue locks, every freckle, mole
And would never, ever ask her to bury her soul.

Copyright Hiraeth 2015
PAD Challenge Day 30
Bury the … poem

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When I broke open

~ hiraethphoenix

I remember everything
About the day
We said farewell to your earthly self.
It was bitterly cold, the church full with no heating.
My school skirt felt tight around the waist and the bench hard, bitter.
My view of the front was obscured by three vases of Saint Joseph lilies. They looked burdened with grief, like their stems had no will to stand.
Once the coffins arrived I felt like I had on too many layers, my ears felt hot and my mouth tasted metal.
I remember muffled crying and snotty noses being blown, tissues being passed around
(those rainbow ones – I held a stack of blue)
The lady in front of me had on too much of a cheap vanilla scent and kept trying to pin a stray hair back in place.
It was clear the minister did not know you and the more he spoke, the more I wished the organ would swallow him whole and spit out that ghastly yellow tie with diamonds on it.
No one sang in tune and never have I heard a sadder rendition of What a friend we have in Jesus
(I kept wondering where He was)
I remember thinking that life would never be the same again, that from now on time will be measured against this, the end in a wooden box
(with no warning)
And I now realise it is true:
On that day in June
I shed the innocence of childhood.

Copyright Hiraeth 2015
PAD Challenge Day 29:
For today’s prompt, write a what nobody knows poem. It’s easy to write a poem about what everybody already knows, though it may be difficult to write an interesting poem about such things. Still, use today’s prompt to explore things people may not know–secret stories, locations, and so on.

Love as matter

~ hiraethphoenix

Imagine a day where Science proves
that love occupies space and has mass, then it would consist of billions of atoms, each one with structure:
the nucleus, where it all starts with protons and neutrons dancing in ecstasy, capturing the chemistry that first notices, then binds, soon settling into a comfortable harmony, bliss;
surrounded by a cloud of orbiting electrons, acting as guardians, protecting this sacred new entity.
I would like to think with such understanding our reality could have been prevented:
the electrons discharged, settled in security, the protons morphed into photons and the neutrons?
They collapsed in apathy.

Copyright Hiraeth 2015
PAD Challenge Day 28:
Here’s the final “Two for Tuesday” prompt of the month:
Write a matter poem. Matter is what things are made of.
Write an anti-matter poem. The opposite of a matter poem.

Looking back

~ hiraethphoenix

A deal breaker
That is what you said
And I nodded like a child
Perched on our bed
And with that you left
I drowned in my failure
Accused, guilty of theft
(it was a delicious red apple and
the snake spoke poetry to my soul)
The future looked empty, bleak
With no hope of finding what
It is I began to ache for, seek
So I did all there was to do
I broke the deal
So you would
Break
Us.

Copyright Hiraeth 2015
PAD Challenge Day 27:
For today’s prompt, write a looking back poem. Of course, some people just glance over their shoulders, and others stop and turn all the way around. Some look back in time and weigh their successes and failures, evaluate things they could do better. Some claim they never look back. Whatever your stance on looking back, capture it in a poem today.

Shakespeare of us

~ hiraethphoenix

I stand in amazement as I watch you
Metamorphize,
Using the analogy of feeling like
A blanket, a mere comfort
You besmirch what is left of us.
I consider offering a compromise,
Even selling you a marketable
Version of us,
But by your
Deafening discontent
I know every word is meant,
And more:
You are drugged by your
Supposedly impartial truth.
I am not invulnerable, you stand
Bloodstained, accused of
Premeditated crime,
But as a moonbeam catches your eye
I become witness to your barefaced Radiance and so I fetch some
Luggage
And participate in the assasination
Of
Us.

Copyright Hiraeth 2015
PAD Challenge Day 26:
For today’s prompt, take a word or two invented by William Shakespeare, make it the title of your poem, and write your poem. Click here for a link to some words coined by Shakespeare, who was baptized on this date in 1564. If the link doesn’t work, here are a few: advertising, bloodstained, critic, dwindle, eyeball, hobnob, luggage, radiance, and zany. He invented more than 1,700!
I used:
Amazement
Metamorphize
Blanket
Besmirch
Compromise
Marketable
Deafening
Discontent
Drugged
Impartial
Invulnerable
Bloodstained
Accused
Premeditated
Moonbeam
Barefaced
Radiance
Luggage
Assassination

Rip tide

~ hiraethphoenix

Across this ocean,
Depths divide
Unknown parts
You choose to hide.
I send an SOS
But you miss the key
I wake one day
Determined to fly free.
You stand in shock
You were everything,
My rock
And the arrogance engulfs us,
A rip tide, its currents strong
We swim with it and
In time admit we were wrong.

Copyright Hiraeth 2015
PAD Challenge 2015 Day 25:
For today’s prompt, write an across the sea poem. This could be a love letter, an electronic submission through cyber space and time, or a travel poem (by air or sea, though probably not car). Modern travel or back in the days of rugged explorers. Wandering or wondering, your choice. As always, the prompt is just the springboard to your poem; feel free to bend and break.

All the moments

~ hiraethphoenix

I want you to love me
In my proudest moments,
The ones where I surprise
Even myself
At the goals I have realised
But more than that:
I need you to love me
In my weakest ones,
The ones where I stand
Drenched in destruction,
Depression, disappointment,
Sinking in a shallow pit
Of who I am not,
With my heart bleeding
At its seams,
Please
Just
Hold who I am
While I reconstruct my
Dreams.

Copyright Hiraeth 2015
PAD Challenge 2015 Day 24:
For today’s prompt, write a moment poem. The moment can be a big moment or small moment; it can be a good moment or horrible moment; it can affect thousands or matter to just one person. Some moments happen in crowded rooms; some happen in the most quiet of spaces. Find yours and write a poem.

History unexplored

~ hiraethphoenix

You once drew a map
With directions to my work.
If only you had noticed,
You would have seen
That scribbled on that paper
Was part of my dream.
But you failed to see
And I did not want to say,
Life happened and we went
Each on our way.
Sometimes late at night
I wonder about that history unexplored,
The secret treasures hidden
Behind that bolted door.
Sometimes when I cannot sleep
I dream of you,
And sketch you a map to my heart,
Because it was yours,
You just had to make a start.

Copyright Hiraeth 2015
PAD Challenge Day 22:
For today’s prompt, write a historic poem. It could be a poem about a landmark event, specific battle, an era in time, or whatever you consider a historic happening.

One day

~ hiraethphoenix

One day when we are
Older,
Have more money,
More time,
We will live close to the sea.
We will collect seashells, surf,
Build sandcastles, make wind chimes
Learn to let life be.
Right now it is not an option,
We are just surviving, getting by.
We have to be responsible, logical,
Don’t you see?
One day death arrives unexpected,
Uninvited to intrude,
It wakes us up,
Jolts us,
And we realise:
This, now, is all we have.
So we buy a house
Close to the sea,
Collect seashells, surf,
Build sandcastles,
Make wind chimes
And finally
Learn to breathe.

Copyright Hiraeth 2015
PAD Challenge Day 22:
For today’s prompt, write a nature poem. For many poets, the first thing that may pop to mind includes birds, trees, waterfalls, rivers, and such. But there’s also human nature, nature vs. nurture, and other things natural, including natural selection and being a “natural” at something. Let your nature take it where it will today.

Who I am not

~ hiraethphoenix

His anger flares up
Fire
(passion is better
than apathy)
And you convince yourself
Your love can heal him
Water
(purpose is better
than boredom)
Your ignorance unravels
Until you see
Two sides of his passion
Only one is free
(the cost your sanity,
or worse: your life)
And pained you realise your lot:
That who you need to be
For him
This,
You are not.

Copyright Hiraeth 2015
PAD Challenge Day 21:
For today’s prompt, we’re dealing with our third “Two for Tuesday” prompt(s):
Write a “what you are” poem, or…
Write a “what you are not” poem.
For instance, you may be a teacher, a student, brave, scared, a person, an animal, a plant, and well, wherever this one takes you. Or not, of course.