Structure: Three quatrains and a coupletMeter: 6 syllables or trimeterSchema: abab cded fgfg ce Example Sunrise by Jez Farmer At the beginning of the day I feelJust like a whisper in a lover’s dreamAs remnants of dreams in gold rays congealIn rushing waters of the little streamI feel you standing there right beside meJust like … Continue reading Heather’s Sonnet Notes
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Visions of the Inner Eye
Form: Choi's Sonnet Delicious silence sighs with contentmentAnd smiles like a sleeping innocent childThe sweet hint of the secret merrimentOf dreams and the wondering mind beguiledSlowly breathing as the spirit runs wildImagination never meant to be mildSilence embraces the different kindOf thinking; sleeping with an open mindLike the scent of sandalwood redefinedThe words of love … Continue reading Visions of the Inner Eye
Half Measured Sonnet Notes
Structure: 3 quatrains and a coupletMeter: alternating tetrameter and trimeterRhyme Scheme: abab cdcd efef gg Example The Sentimental Jerk by Jez Farmer As roses bloom in redAnd the violets in blueThe heart rules it is saidWith the words ‘I love you’The heart is just a foolThose words need much more thoughtThey are not for me … Continue reading Half Measured Sonnet Notes
Call of Fire
Form: Free Style Sonnet 1 The gut instinct that comes from a somewhereA someplace but I have never been thereLike a memory held too deep to shareFrom ancient days and my soul is awareIt feeds my spirit to do and to dareAnd I find myself drawn closer to careA past life seed planted deep inside … Continue reading Call of Fire
Haiku
Form: Haiku keep this and throw thatshrinking down the piles of junkI’m ready to write ©JGFarmer2021
O Mio Babbino Caro by Giacomo Puccini
O Mio Babbino Caro1917-18Opera https://youtu.be/ZRuYQ9KRJms Giacomo PucciniOperaBorn: 22 December 1858, Lucca, ItalyNationality: ItalianDied: 29 November 1924, Brussels, Belgium Puccini was a composer of opera and has been recognised as the greatest composer of Italian opera since Verdi. His early work was rooted in traditional late 19th-century romantic opera and later he as his work developed, … Continue reading O Mio Babbino Caro by Giacomo Puccini
Caribbean Blue by Enya
Caribbean Blue1991New Age https://youtu.be/BOHtRoJLiFE EnyaNew Age, Film and TVBorn: 17 May 1961, Gweedore, IrelandNationality: Irish Enya is a singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. She was born into a musical family and raised in the Irish-speaking area of Gweedore in County Donegal. She began her music career when she joined the family’s Celtic folk band … Continue reading Caribbean Blue by Enya
Haiku
Form: Haiku cacti and orchidssit watching the world go byjackdaw taps window ©JGFarmer2021
The Creative Mind
Form: Four Kings Sonnet The creative mind as sharp as an axeHas no time for acts of complacent thoughtHis soul not for sale and cannot be boughtIn imagined worlds formed in parallaxHis muse shedding her artificial factsIn his darkness of thinking they are caughtAnd fingers lightly strike words as they oughtCompiling the notes into story … Continue reading The Creative Mind
The Henge
Form: Free Verse Chilling winds echo setting sun.carrying time backwardstemple of peace, focal point,herders’ lands mingle with grain,where bronzed traders negotiate Avebury Henge, Wiltshire, UK ©JGFarmer2009
A Question Asked
Form: Raven’s Rovi Sonnet 85 The shouting waves crashing on the dark rocksThe sea running free in its frothy whiteA stormy night revealing tidal shocksViolently stretching towards the clouded skiesNature’s rage displayed in passion and strengthOn a winter’s night her power defiesThe manmade resistance on the shore’s lengthProving again that Man’s will bears no strengthAgainst … Continue reading A Question Asked
Rainstorm over the Sea by John Constable
Rainstorm over the sea1824-28Romanticism, LandscapeOil on paper laid on canvasLocation: Royal Academy of Arts, London, UK Rainstorm over the Sea is an oil sketch of Brighton Beach quickly painted to capture the turbulent feel of the advancing storm. It diverges from the strict documentation and accuracy of Constable’s earlier work and his paint surface is … Continue reading Rainstorm over the Sea by John Constable
Self Portrait as a Young Girl by Claude Cahun
Self Portrait as a Young Girl1914Modern PhotographyPhotographic printJersey Heritage, St Helier, Jersey One of the earliest known self-portraits by Cahun, the photograph displays an intensely, penetrating stare. The artist’s head is seemingly disembodied, suggesting an imbalance between head and body as though the head is too heavy making the body redundant. The abundant flowing hair … Continue reading Self Portrait as a Young Girl by Claude Cahun
State of Insanity
Form: Raven’s Rovi Sonnet 84 Entwined in tangled webs of solitudeYou are distant, so far away from meAn empty void within love’s attitudeYet my soul is held in the captive stateStifling the tears in the shadows of hopeAs egos of passion are forced to waitAnd heart’s desires, in darkness, lost their scopeEndlessly falling down destiny’s … Continue reading State of Insanity
Unspoken Words
Form: Free Verse The emotions that cannot speakas they have no words on my lipssurrendered as he kissed memy breath stolen by his mouthas his soul spoke softly to mineand I listened in the feelingof his whispers glidingfrom the back of his throatto graze over my lipsbefore growling into my heart ©JGFarmer2021
A Past and Future Secret by Blind Guardian
Blind Guardian Blind Guardian is a power metal band formed in 1984 in West Germany. They are credited as one of the most seminal and influential bands in the power metal and speed metal genres. Blind guardian are part of the German heavy metal scene that emerged in the mid-1980s. A Past and Future SecretAlbum: … Continue reading A Past and Future Secret by Blind Guardian
Paranoid by Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath Black Sabbath were a rock band formed in Birmingham, UK, in 1968 by Tony Iommi (guitarist), Bill Ward (drummer), Geezer Butler (bassist) and Ozzy Osbourne (vocalist). Cited as pioneers of the heavy metal the band helped define the genre. ParanoidAlbum: ParanoidDate: 1970Genre: Classic Metal https://youtu.be/1XWQ0e02BHI Lyrics by William Ward, John Osbourne, Terence Butler. … Continue reading Paranoid by Black Sabbath
Nothing Gold Can Stay by Robert Frost
Nothing Gold Can Stay1923 Nature’s first green is gold,Her hardest hue to hold.Her early leaf’s a flower;But only so an hour.Then leaf subsides to leaf.So Eden sank to grief,So dawn goes down to day.Nothing gold can stay Robert FrostBorn: 20 March 1874, California, USANationality: AmericanDied: 29 January 1963, Massachusetts, USA Robert Lee Frost was a … Continue reading Nothing Gold Can Stay by Robert Frost
Going Blind by Rainer Maria Rilke
Going Blind She sat just like the others at the table.But on second glance, she seemed to hold her cupa little differently as she picked it up.She smiled once. It was almost painful. And when they finished and it was time to standand slowly, as chance selected them, they leftand moved through many rooms (they … Continue reading Going Blind by Rainer Maria Rilke
Playing the Blues
Form: Quatrains As moonlit midnight skies drift in wonderTo the dawn of the new sapphire sunrise,My dreams turn to the muse that lies yonder,My brush seeks out her cerulean eyes. The artist lost to her cold heart of steel,As paint so creates the cloudless figures.My indigo tears flow, each stroke I feelOf portrayals, she greets … Continue reading Playing the Blues
Hail Holy Queen
Form: Sapphic Stanzas In silver lunar, light divine,As by the Ancients cast foreseen,A message I could not decline,Hail Holy Queen! In one with Mother Nature’s lightThe Balance I have found in YouMy trust and fate I give tonight,May I walk true To use Your power as a giftAnd only ever with Your good will.For the … Continue reading Hail Holy Queen
Facing Her Down
Form: Heroic Stanza Each morning I stare her straight in the eyeHer dark eyes waiting to tear me apartShe’s daring me to resist as she callsMy name again I deny her my heart Oh lady of destiny I know youI know your touch as if it was love’s kissIt’s not today; today you wait in … Continue reading Facing Her Down
Monchielle Stanza Notes
Created by the popular Norwegian poet, Jim T. Henriksen the Monchielle consists of four five-line stanzas. Each line is six syllables, preferably Iambic trimeter. The first line forms the refrain at the beginning of each stanza and lines three and five rhyme giving the following rhyme layout AbcdcAefgfAhijiAklml Example Arcane Blue by Jez Farmer I … Continue reading Monchielle Stanza Notes
Oi Sunshine
Form: Free Verse What label should I wearfor you to understandmy personal beingmy own identityand why the hell do you need to knowthe genitals inside my jeansand the gender of who I sleep withit’s not your bed I get in at nightit’s not your bedroom I feel safe to undress init’s not your arms that … Continue reading Oi Sunshine
Before the Dawn
Form: Quatrains The world of stars I see,Above the Earth each night,Is where I find my dreams,Before the dawn’s daylight. The kiss of dew tastes sweet,The gift of nature’s rite,Awake the spites of life,Before the dawn’s daylight ©JGFarmer2009
Impromptus by Franz Schubert
Schubert was a composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. He left behind a cast oeuvre despite his short life, including over 600 secular vocal works, 7 symphonies, sacred music, and a large collection of piano and chamber music. ...
Piano Concerto in A Minor by Robert Schumann
Piano Concerto in A Minor1845Romantic https://youtu.be/Ynky7qoPnUU Robert SchumannClassicalBorn: 8 June 1810, Zwickau, GermanyNationality: GermanDied: 29 July 1856, Bonn, Germany Schumann was a composer, pianist, and music critic. Regarded as one of the greatest composers of the Romantic era, Schumann left the study of law to pursue a career as a pianist, but a hand injury … Continue reading Piano Concerto in A Minor by Robert Schumann
Haiku
Form: Haiku endings to beginlet’s breathe; learn to live againas seconds countdown ©JGFarmer2021
July 8th
Form: Quatrains For July 8th I have just one wishTo spend an hour with Percy ByssheTo hear him speak and share a whileMaybe even see my hero smile. His works of beauty, I have them allWords from a romantic that often call.Magic images that release my mindSo much inspiration for a painter to find. Verses … Continue reading July 8th
Kinda Cool
Hello my lovely, Well, here we are again, doing the whole love over distance in lockdown. This time we know we can do this – a knowledge that really doesn’t make it feel any better. I know you are there for me and I hope you know I am here for you – and if … Continue reading Kinda Cool
Song of Myself LII by Walt Whitman
The spotted hawk swoops by and accuses me, he complains of my gab and my loitering. I too am not a bit tamed, I too am untranslatable, I sound my barbaric yawp over the roofs of the world. The last scud of day holds back for me, It flings my likeness after the rest and true as any on the shadow’d wilds, It coaxes me to the vapor and the dusk....
Untitled (Self-Portrait with Mirror) by Claude Cahun
Bold androgyny doubled by a mirrored- reflection, Cahun presents themself in an image of lush textures and tones. The checked jacket, highlighted hair and sun-kissed skin all make for an image vividly abundant with life...
Harmony
Form: Abbreviated Haiku II insideand outsidewithin close byfar awaywithout connectsoul and mindas one ©JGFarmer2020
Oedipus and the Sphinx by Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres
The young Ingres dedicated himself to historical painting, the most respected genre at the Académie. In accordance to his neoclassical training he selected his subject from Greek mythology...
Sacred Connection
Form: Raven’s Rovi Sonnet 83 This morning beneath the winter’s grey skiesThis morning whispered the promise of snowAnd in the silence I sat, closed my eyesMy soul entwined within the earth’s embraceAs consciousness floated gently awayI am weightless as I fall into placeIn the soft light of another new dayI’m sat by the pool where … Continue reading Sacred Connection
Raise Your Glass by P!nk
Right right, turn off the lights, We gonna lose our minds tonight, What's the dealio? I love when it's all too much, Five a.m. turn the radio up Where's the rock and roll...
Wanted Dead or Alive by Bon Jovi
It's all the same, only the names will change Everyday, it seems we're wastin' away Another place where the faces are so cold I drive all night just to get back home...
Hohenlinden by Thomas Campbell
On Linden when the sun was low, All bloodless lay the untrodden snow, And dark as winter was the flow Of Iser, rolling rapidly...
Mandalay by Rudyard Kipling
By the old Moulmein Pagoda, lookin' lazy at the sea, There's a Burma girl a-settin', and I know she thinks o' me; For the wind is in the palm-trees, and the temple-bells they say: "Come you back, you British soldier; come you back to Mandalay! " Come you back to Mandalay...
Magic 9 Notes
So the story goes typing too fast led to abracadabra being misspelt as abacadeba and thus creating the Magic 9,Nine lines of nine syllable with a rhyme scheme ofabacadeba Example Bewitched by Divina Collins Shalt not thy deprave the spell of loveenchanted words that melts the heartthat cast thy spells deep within thereofwithin a mystical … Continue reading Magic 9 Notes
Stardust
Those eyes of truth of an innocent child Shine with the wisdom of knowing nothing To grab the heart with the senses beguiled...
Thirty Years
A foolish age, sixteen She wanted pics of me For her bookshelf display...
In Every Human Beast
'Twas mercy brought me from my Pagan land, Taught my benighted soul to understand That there's a God, that there's a Saviour too:...
Silence Before
In the stillness of discord the waves seek the tender dreams you have long forgotten. In the silence before the storm I speak...
A Midsummer’s Night Dream by Felix Mendelssohn
Mendelssohn was a composer, pianist, organist, and conductor of the Romantic period. His compositions include concertos, symphonies, piano music, organ music, and chamber music...
reflections on the lake at night
Another stunning image from Paul, gorgeous
Boundless sea, honey love and a sacred fire..
A magnificent piece of writing, a real delight to read
Boundless sea, honey love and a sacred fire
A Story by Coyote Poetry
Just words.
Boundless sea, honey love and sacred fire
It was early Summer of 1994 and I was stationed in Texas. I went to Austin, Texas for the my second open poetry reading. I was trying to live the Hemingway life. The strong drink, loud song and delightful beautiful dancing ladies in the untamed taverns of Austin.
I have loved Texas since I arrived in the late Spring of 1993. I landed in Austin on a rainy night and Fifth street was alive and well. Fifth street song and drink made perfect place for a man who didn’t want to be saved. I didn’t care if I found heaven or hell and somehow I landed on my feet in Texas. I went to war to find peace and salvation. War taught me. No-one win in…
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Breaking Numb
From quilled fingers
I learn the art of
Letting go :
My heart learns new definitions.
The child priestess questions the night
Lovely poetry
The child priestess questions the night
Moon am I
not
for the light in my veins
chills cold as Atlantic swell
carrying ice floes
to dance around the Pole.
Light swells
cold as moon
and round and round
dancing
(not I with awkward frozen feet)
where the Pole stands
gallows-stark
beneath this winter sky.
Am I Moon then
in pale reflection
murmuring to stars
where they dance on still water?
Pigeon shuffles on her dark branch
and in the rattling of her feathers
I hear soothing mother-words
that say
go home and sleep
as children do.
ducks on the grass
Our Pet
We all have a pet
whom we adore way too much.
It never seems to rest
neither can it be tamed as such.
Even though it floats our boat
It causes more harm than we realise.
Yet we love it so much
that we keep ourselves in lies.
It comforts us and makes us dependent,
makes us fuss and later despondent.
It never really allows us to leave a station,
for it ties us into a loop, our pet Procrastination
Bird of Paradise, FOTD Jan 9, 2021
guiding light in the night
walk through the Japanese garden
Saturday Caturday
Now that James has gone back to Fort Benning, the cats have reclaimed his bed.
photograph © polly macdavid
Just live
Wow, this poem really hits my feels, great piece
I don’t want anything anymore.
I’m abandoning my dreams, my wishes.
I want life to be nothing,
hollow space
where I can tuck up and fall asleep.
I don’t want your fake love
and your pretend kindness.
I don’t want your attention
and your affection.
I don’t want money,
shiny cars
and expensive clothes.
The only thing I want
is to live
just live
just be.
But I’m not sure
how to…
