PAD Challenge 2015

My heart the escapologist

~ hiraethphoenix

I have to escape this
Life is sucking me dry,
All the every day nuances, tasks,
People wanting everything,
Each one stuck behind masks.
You look like a good option,
So I suggest we give this a try.
I know you think this is crazy,
But we are destined to fly.
So put on your favourite coat
It will not be easy, there will be
Storms, waves but we can float
In a boat loaded with poetic dreams,
Alas, who cares, indeed
Nothing is as it seems.
As long as I hear your breath,
I can deal with it all, the broken
Promises, pieces that are left.
I know you hardly know me,
My skeletons hidden from sight,
Just give this a chance,
Please
(Because my heart has already
Taken flight.)

Copyright Hiraeth 2015
PAD Challenge 2015 Day 20
For today’s prompt, take the phrase “My (blank), the (blank),” replace the blanks with a word or phrase, make the new phrase the title of your poem, and then, write your poem. Possible titles include: “My Dentist, the Torture Expert,” “My Lunch, the Thing I Got Out of the Vending Machine,” “My Father, the Comedian,” or “My Life, the Punchline.”

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PhD in Us

~ hiraethphoenix

I am an authority,
Expert on what went wrong
With us,
I have spent
Seven
Years
Carefully analysing,
Hypothesising,
Inducing what-ifs;
I could write a thesis
Listing our faults alphabetically,
With evidence substantiating
Each claim.
What you did not do,
What I failed to notice,
What you did not say,
What I failed to choose.
And when I put it all together
Success
Sums simply to this:
Be present
Here
Now.

Copyright Hiraeth 2015
PAD Challenge 2015 Day 19:
For today’s prompt, write an authority poem. Maybe you are an authority on something or know someone who is (or who thinks he or she is). Maybe you respect authority, or maybe not so much. Maybe you are on the run from the authorities, in which case I can only say good luck, but this blog probably isn’t the best hiding place–especially with so many folks poeming away.

Five fires

~ hiraethphoenix

Ten tides led me here,
Five fires feed the silence
While I sit
Thinking,
Signs lighting where
In a blink,
Written in ink
My hidden inner life,
Sees me sink

Copyright Hiraeth 2015
PAD Challenge 2015 Day 18:
For today’s prompt, pick 2 vowels and write a poem using words that only contain one or both of those vowels. For instance, write a poem with words that only have a “u” and “o.” Also, the letter “y” is wild–so the words “my” and “gypsy” are freebies. And I’ll allow text-speak (or maybe I should say “txt spk”).

Swing

~ hiraethphoenix

Tractor wheels and carousels,
Children screaming in enjoyment,
I sit alone on the swing
And no one notices,
So I swing
Higher,
Higher,
Hoping someone will see me,
Take an interest, want to know me,
But they never do.
One day, whilst watching them play
I start hearing words,
Rhythmic, rhyming strings that sound
Like a symphony to my soul
And they become my companions,
My comfort.
Later at university
I realise there are
Many others,
Each one on their swing,
Comfortable on it,
Swinging high and creating beauty
And I know
There is a place for me,
That
There
Always
Was.

Copyright Hiraeth 2015
PAD Challenge 2015 Day 17:
For today’s prompt, write a swing poem. Sure, there are park swings and mood swings; there’s swing music and swing dancing; and there are swingers. Some people swing one way; others swing another. In politics, there are swing votes and swing states. And many people have swung a bat, an ax, and/or a hammer in their lifetimes.

That one solved

~ hiraethphoenix

You were the one equation
I wished more than anything
To solve,
To hold the solution in my hand
And triumphantly declare
That love had won, found a way.
Except
It
Did not;
Instead leaving me with many
More questions,
But time is kind in that way
The older I become,
The less I care for answers.

Copyright Hiraeth 2015
PAD Challenge Day 16:
For today’s prompt, write a science poem. Your poem could be about science in a general sense, but you can also latch onto a specific field or story. Maybe write a poem about the scientific method, or juxtapose science against another idea like love, war, or cuisine. Remember: Science is the springboard; which way you jump is up to you.

Black

~ hiraethphoenix

The sea is angry today,
Waves leap wildly to shore,
Playing tug of war
With the wind
(who has retreated in fear).
A mass of deep dark blue,
Bordering on black,
It revels in its depression
While a grey sky observes in
Silence
(it knows
that this too shall pass).
And as somber as it seems
It is beauty to my soul
And a reminder
That light cannot exist
In the absence of darkness.

Copyright Hiraeth 2015
PAD Challenge Day 15:
For today’s prompt, pick an adjective, make it the title of your poem, and then, write your poem. If you’re feeling stuck on this one, go back through your poems earlier this month and find adjectives you used–if any. Or crack open a dictionary. Or scan other poems for ideas.

Half of honesty

~ hiraethphoenix

Half-truths.
The ones we tell ourselves
When we are not brave enough,
Weak enough to face the unedited,
Re-cropped, unfiltered version.
They are the ones you speak
With a knot in your stomach,
Heart,
Throat.
The ones that keep you
Stuck in the same place
For too long,
Making the same mistake
Over and over again,
(It is his fault, I am faultless –
Half-lie
If only I love him, he will change –
Absolute lie)
So be weak enough,
To be brave enough
To tell the
Whole
Truth
Honestly.

Copyright Hiraeth 2015
PAD Challenge Day 14:
Today is our second “Two for Tuesday” prompt(s), and here are your options:
Write an honest poem. Or…
Write a dishonest poem.

Aether

~ hiraethphoenix

I have to confess:
I fell in love with you
that first day,
the first time I saw you surf,
watched you move in the waves,
melt into the elements.
Wind, earth and water
knew your name and
greeted you like long-lost friends.
Your entire being came alive.
(mine was near death).
I watched your soul breathe
and exhale
(mine was all anger and anxiety).
You were completely immersed
in the moment, lost in a different
dimension
(I was stuck in reality).
Sun, sea and sand merged into
a poetic picture as you
walked back to shore
and I realised I had missed
half the story,
there was so much more.
And as fire ignited within,
I understood why
Aristotle knew there had to
be one more element.
___________________
A bit of history:
Aristotle added a fifth element, called aether, reasoning that whereas fire, earth, air, and water were earthly and corruptible, since no changes had been perceived in the heavenly regions, the stars cannot be made out of any of the four elements but must be made of a different, unchangeable, heavenly substance.

Copyright Hiraeth 2015
PAD Challenge Day 13:
For today’s prompt, write a confession poem. For some poets, this may come naturally–confessing feelings, actions, and/or intentions. For others, it may be hard to get personal. That’s OK; take on another persona and write a “confession” for that person, animal, inanimate object, whatever.

Bleed

~ hiraethphoenix

The only way I could deal
with the end of us,
with what seemed perfect
turn into the opposite of love
(is it hate?)
was by engraving the loss on to
my skin,
watching the needle etch patterns
on to my soul,
watching blood bleed with
the truth:
that you showed me what
love is,
but also
what it is not
(is it hate?)

Copyright Hiraeth 2015
PAD Challenge Day 12:
For today’s prompt, write a damage poem. Since my baby brother is a storm chaser, my mind usually jumps straight to storm damage. However, there’s more than the physical damage created by things like hurricanes, trains, and war planes. There’s also the emotional and psychological damage we inflict, survive, and conceal. The bright side of any damage is that it can be transformed into a poem.

Summer with you

~ hiraethphoenix

Winter stayed and wept
wearing an oversized jersey,
frayed, unkept.
It mourned for all I lost,
the innocence of youth,
all it cost.
It nearly kept spring at bay,
I had to threaten:
“go now, you cannot stay.”
Spring arrived dressed in blue,
all smiles and jokes
and then I knew:
Summer could be coaxed to stay,
it just needed a reason,
a way.
And before I knew,
there was one:
You.

Copyright Hiraeth 2015
PAD Challenge 2015 Day 11:
For today’s prompt, write a seasonal poem. This should be a snap for haiku poets; after all, inserting seasonal words is a rule for the form. However, you don’t have to write haiku to write a poem that references or happens in one of the four seasons: Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter. Pick a season or include them all.