Egoism

Always looking in a mirror and preening Your vanity is beyond any compare Always your job, your hobbies, your everything...

The Afterlife by Billy Collins

While you are preparing for sleep, brushing your teeth, or riffling through a magazine in bed, the dead of the day are setting out on their journey...

In the April Moonlight

The moon rises above the old oak trees To shine her beauty across the valley And willow trees are heavy with leaf buds...

Barter by Sara Teasdale

Teasdale was a lyric poet born in St. Louis, Missouri. She won a Pulitzer Prize for her poetry collection Love Songs in 1918, and an award that is listed as the earliest Pulitzer Prize for Poetry Barter1918 Life has loveliness to sell,All beautiful and splendid things,Blue waves whitened on a cliff,Soaring fire that sways and …

Glorionic Sonnet Notes

Created by Gloria MartinStructure: Octet and a sestetMeter: decasyllabic or pentameterSchema: aabbbccc ddedee. Example Black Rose Petals by Jez Farmer As I lay the black roses on your graveI no longer feel I am strong and braveAs winds blows emptiness again todayIt feels like living is so far awayAnd my tears fall where the dark …

Storm of Death

Form: Quatrains The air tastes fresh and clean after the stormWith skies still violent red in nature’s rage.As clouds gather into a thunderous swarmWe rush to seek shelter from the carnage. Who sees the butterfly, she’s lost alone,A flutter of wings as rain starts once more.She is battered by speed of the cycloneCrushed, she falls …

Cypress Tree

Form: Ivorian Sonnet 1 Paint that spirals from the brush tells a taleFrom his eye the image his holy grailAs the turbulent clouds churn up the skyThe golden heads of wheat quiver and callTo where the shady green cypress trees sighOf an artist’s longing in the landscapeAnd he walks for miles to find nature’s viewWithin …

Grammarian Sonnet Notes

Created by Jose Rizal M. ReyesStructure: alternate quintains and coupletsMeter: decasyllabic or pentameterRhyme Scheme: abbba cc deeed ff Example The Rabbit and the Warrior by Jez Farmer As springtide comes amid the ancient stoneA warrior stands alone as he seeksThe old one with whom holy wisdom speaksAs across the skies the setting sun streaksA white …

Balaban by Jack Hirschman

Balaban1969 I ran down the street and into the house smelledof oregano and shook Mickey Monaco, saidC'mon, Balaban's got a breadloafclimbing over old Gruber's fence, he thinksthe mad dogs is doves. But Mickey grew up in the bed till he was too oldand besides Balaban was crazy, he suckedhis tongue and got left back twice.So …

Haiku

her words, I love youas her eyes laughed with the truththe kiss of the fool ©JGFarmer2021

Soul Secrets

Form: John Tee Sonnet Where shards of light entwine with flowing streams,The magic sings with breezy willow treesWhile lovers hide beneath the rustling greenTheir wedding bed an old moss-covered stoneA secret place behind a weeping veilAnd love whispers with the water's laughterWhere shards of light entwine with flowing streams,The magic sings with breezy willow treesWe …

Winter Stars by Sara Teasdale

I went out at night alone; The young blood flowing beyond the sea Seemed to have drenched my spirit’s wings— I bore my sorrow heavily...

A Poet’s Voice XV by Khalil Gibran

A Poet's Voice XV1923 Part One The power of charity sows deep in my heart, and I reap and gather the wheat in bundles and give them to the hungry. My soul gives life to the grapevine and I press its bunches and give the juice to the thirsty. Heaven fills my lamp with oil …

#Writephoto: The Rabbit and the Warrior

Author’s Notes: Once again KL Caley has supplied a great #Writephoto prompt which can be found here https://new2writing.wordpress.com/2021/04/01/writephoto-rabbit/ As I am working on some notes for a sonnet form and need an example I thought I would use the Grammarian Sonnet. My rabbit seems to be more appearing than vanishing but equally mystical I guess …

Haiku

Form: Haiku frozen tears fallinghiding pain within the rainsthe gods are weeping ©JGFarmer2021

Rondelet Notes

The Rondelet is a French form that turns on a refrain and has two rhymes. The first, third and seventh lines consist of four syllables and form the refrain. Lines two, fourth, fifth and sixth lines consist of eight syllables. The Rhyme scheme is AbAabbA Example Roasties Crunch by Jez Farmer A Sunday lunchWhile catching …

Sleepless

Form: Free Verse In darkness my eyes staresearching outwardseeking inwardthe precious hours of sleepsleep the space the soul can regretsleep the place the body can restsleep the space the mind can forgetforget the painof being awake and rememberingreminiscent of lost dreams and stinging eyesstinging eyes that never sleepstinging eyes scared by endless tearsrefusing to close …

Rondeau Notes

The Rondeau can be a challenging form for the poet. Consisting of three stanzas, a quintet, a quatrain, and a sestet, the first phrase of the first line, or the hole first line sets the refrain (R). The meter is eight syllable or ten syllable line, but it is the poet’s choice if that is …

Haiku

Form: Haiku as day equals the nightvernal green kisses the treesas love calls begin ©JGFarmer2021

French Sonnet Notes

French Sonnet IStructure: Octave and sestetMeter: Octasyllabic or iambic tetrameterRhyme Schema: abbaabba ccdccd Example On the Way Down by Jez Farmer In darkness whispers kept talking to meAnd whispers echoed around in my mindA growling roar that once was far behindIn the realms of a childhood fantasyThose days before my soul walked strong and freeWhen …

My Hedonism

Form: Epistle To you who inspires my wicked dreams As you wonder why I do not seek physical satisfaction within the games of sensual desire we play the hedonist in me knows there is still so much more to explore. In essence I want to leave our love making overwhelmed by the future desires, thinking …

White Sails

Form: Italian Octave 2 The masts chatter casually on the breezeFrom where there have been to where they will goThe trials and tribulations that flowAnd how the ever-changing tides at easeAs the weather-worn hands tack to the windTo follow the stars to a distant landThe white sails on the course he had plannedAns time shines …

To Love

Form: Raven’s Rovi Sonnet 105 Only love can caress a broken heartEnticing it to feel the joy againBy easing the pain that tore it apartYet understanding the truth of a shy smileResisting the urge to give all once moreAs finding that strength within takes awhileLearning to trust is harder than beforeTo love again requires a …

Rondel Prime Notes

Another neglected but beautiful French form the Rondel Prime is a 14-line poem which is formed over two rhymes. The refrain is set up using the first two lines of the first stanza. The meter is open to the poet’s discretion but is usually eight-syllable lines. The Rhyme scheme is ABababAB ababaAB Or for an …

Haiku

Form: Haiku https://youtu.be/ejorQVy3m8E the forests that burnwaters too poison for lifeEarth paying the price ©JGFarmer2021

Haiku

Form: Haiku a closed mind can’t seebeauty embracing the worldeyes of truth see life ©JGFarmer2021

A Taste of September

Form: Raven’s Rovi Sonnet 104 She comes with her basket ready to chooseAnd the farmer comes with his goods to sellIt’s a bargain of faith neither will loseShe wants some apples to bake her a pieHis orchard trees were laden with ripe fruitHer fingers select the apples to buyEach one shining in its autumn green …

A Centipede Was Thirsty by Jack Prelutsky

A centipede was thirsty, But to satisfy its need, It drank too much for it to hold ---

What Will You Do? by Rainer Maria Rilke

What will you do, God, when I die? I am your jar (if cracked, I lie?) Your well-spring (if the well go dry?) I am your craft, your vesture I— You lose your purport, losing me...

Quintilla Notes

A 16th-century Spanish Quntet form the Quintilla is a quintet of eight-syllable or iambic tetrameter lines. The presentation of the rhyme scheme can vary but only two consecutive lines may have the same rhyme. For example aabba abbaa abaab Weight Watching Poets by Jez Farmer Calories in everythin'All add up to that fat or thinYou …

Irish Sonnet Notes

Structure: 3 quatrains and a coupletMeter: decasyllabic or pentameterSchema: abab bcbc cdcd dd Example Chica Cherry Cola by Jez Farmer As I lay trying to sleep out the nightI think of your kisses teasing my skinIn the loneliness, I still feel you biteAnd the scratching of your nail like a pinAwake, wide awake, yet I’m …

Haiku

Form: Haiku eyes pin the heart downlike a late frost holds the mornlet the soul rejoice ©JGFarmer2021

Charlie’s Gone

Recalling that night, the first time we met Too blind to see the harm in front of me Believing you had come to set me free...

Haiku

Form: Haiku lead the way and smilelike the sun rising to shineset new horizons ©JGFarmer2021

Chocolate

That sweet satin taste as you first touch my lips Eager and hungry, I savour your first embrace From the end of my toes to my finger tips...

Dystopian Life

An old man paid his dues in a war by night sleeps alone on the city streets by day begs for a coin so he can eat...

Haiku

Form: Haiku gathered in dawn lightthe choir sings its joyful songspringtime serenade ©JGFarmer2021

Black Rose Petals

As I lay the black roses on your grave I no longer feel I am strong and brave As winds blows emptiness again today...

Haiku

Form: Haiku rise above it all the irrelevance of thoughts let your own love reign ©JGFarmer2021

I Am…

Poet’s Notes: I read through this one the other day and the first thought that struck me is despite all the big life changes of the last 12 years nothing really has changed. A bit surreal to be honest...

Recipe of a Man

Be her knight but hold thy tongue And keep your opinion to thyself Let her think she knows best...

Open the Door

Seeing beyond pain to enrich the day A hidden purpose, a reason to dream Releasing the past in a conscious stream...

Haiku

Form: Haiku straw browns of winterfade from view, spring on a rampagenature’s wild child ©JGFarmer2021

You May Turn Over and Begin by Simon Armitage

“Which of these films was Dirk Bogarde not in? One hundredweight of bauxite makes how much aluminium? how many tales in ‘The Decameron’?”...

Unity by Pablo Neruda

There is something dense, united, settled in the depths, repeating its number, its identical sign. How it is noted that stones have touched time, in their refined matter there is an odor of age, of water brought by the sea, from salt and sleep...

Floating City

Old city of art that echoes romance On meandering canals of lost dreams And immoral lovers kiss in a chance...

Pathya Vat Notes

Pathya Vat is an interesting SE Asian form that has a short syllable count. Each stanza consists of four lines of four syllables with lines two and three rhyming. There is no stanza limit. Rhyme scheme: xaax xbbx xccx and so on A French influenced variant for multiple stanzas is to rhyme the middle lines …

A Thank You Letter

Hey Beautiful, Thank you for being the woman you are for your femininity that enchants my masculinity thank you for being you...

Indonesian Sonnet Notes

Created by: Created by Jose Rizal M ReyesStructure: 3 quatrains and a coupletMeter: decasyllabic or pentameterSchema: abab abab abab ab Example Helen Grew Old by Jose Rizal M Reyes These wrinkles on my face I cannot hide.My limbs are getting weaker by the day.My eyes grow dimmer though they never cried.My hair and crowning glory …

#Writephoto – King of Seas

My thanks for another awesome prompt from KL Caley. King of SeasForm: Acrostic Kisses of love diedI have lost my lady moonNow my heart weeps the sad tearsGlaring into the darkness of an unlit night Ostracized by the starsFeeling the loneliness in alone Searching the lands, skies and seasEarth Mother whisperedAsk NeptuneSire, return my lady …