#APoemADay - Day 6 - Waiting for Words

#APoemADay - Day 6 - Waiting for Words

Day 6 - Waiting for Words

Waiting for Words to come

            Marks on a blank screen

            Or lined paper

            The scurry of linguistic spiders

            Across the space of possibility

            Leaving trails of meaning

            And webs of stories behind

Waiting for Words to come

            Waiting for notifications

            Words captured in light

            On glowing screens

            Messages of love, like and dissent

            Every manner of thing sent

            Via webs of electric signals

Waiting for Words to come           

            To fall from the lips

            Of cherished lovers

            Into anxious ears

            Or harried mothers

            Into the tender listening

            Of the waiting child

Waiting for Words to come

            To pour the libation

            Of soothing counsel

            Caring communication

            And hope’s renewal

            Into the listening ears

Of waiting hearts

#APoemADay - Day 5 - November 5th

 #APoemADay - Day 5 - November 5^th

Whoosh sparkle fizz

Sharp intake of cold night

Gasps of glittering light

Gunpowder clouds drift

After explosive delight

A revolutionary tradition

Guy burns every year

For inciting rebellion

His spirit scattering stars

Of fire in the burnt night

A family occasion based

In historical altercation

Daring celebrated

In bursting rainbows

And burning stars

Spirits stir and voices

Whoop from beneath

Muffled hats and scarves

We all become wizards

With sparkling fingertips

The 5^th of November

Sparks us to remember

To stoke the magical

Rebellious, wild and crazy

Works of fire we are

#APoemADay Day 4- Wonderwomen

Wonderwomen

Wonderwomen do

What others say cannot be done

They bridge gaps

Turn tables

Swim channels

Change laws

Make history

Womenwomen juggle

Multiple commitments

To lovers, friends, family

Projects, passions, pursuits

Callings, causes, cares

Worries, woes and wanderings

            And keep all the plates spinning

Womenwomen face

Catcalling, groping, teasing

Put downs, sneers, belittling

Gossip, tittle-tattle, slander

Beatings behind closed doors

Shootings and stonings in the street

Low pay, low expectations

Exclusion from education

Drudgery, denigration,

Degradation, prostitution

FGM, Virginity tests,

Forced and child marriages

And still survive

To tell the tale

Womenwomen are told

Where and what to wear

Where and what to shave

Where and what to

Eat, cook, dine, shop,

Decorate, medicate, fornicate

But know their own minds

And follow their own destinies

Wonderwomen are taught

To view their cycles as curses

And to lie down during childbirth

They are named and shamed

Witches, bitches

Breeders, feeders

Hysterical madwomen

Yet they harness the innate

Power of their knowing bodies

And birth the world afresh

Wonderwomen are set

One against each other

In ‘a man’s world’

            And are encouraged to grow balls,

            Man up and climb the ladder.

Instead they woman up

Wise up, tune up, look up

Collaborate, cooperate

Inspire, aspire and conspire

Together in solidarity and parity

Womenwomen are told

That No means Yes

That Nice Girls Win

And Nice Girls are Thin

That sorrows can be drowned in gin

And Male Gods can save them from sin

They are told to stop before they begin

But they start anyway

And do not stop until

They have finished.

#APoemADay Day 3 – Phone PsychoBabble

#APoemADay Day 3 – Phone PsychoBabble

Off the phone. Must stay off the phone.

            Sit still for heaven’s sake -

            Feel the moment -

            They come along only once

            In a lifetime, after all -

            PING – Oh, damn

            Must check – it could be

            My mother – my sister -

            It might be important.

            Oh – EE have sent my bill -

            There now, leave it alone.

Off the phone. Must stay off the phone.

            I wonder if work

Have responded

            To that email yet? -

            Really should check

- It might be important

- Oh, nothing yet -

Well it’s always better

To check – don’t want to

Miss anything important –

But still, that’s enough -

 Just leave it now.

Off the phone. Must stay off the phone.

            Can’t remember where

            Exactly this event is -

            Will be there soon -

            The address was on  the email

 - Better check

- It could be important -

There’ll be a map -

Although - mind you -

Since the upgrade

Maps sends me to

Addresses in the US -

See there you go -

Checking again -

Just leave it now.

Off the phone. Must stay off the phone

            Just think of all the

            Masterpieces that

            Could’ve been written

            In the time

            I’ve been checking -

            It’s mad when you think

            About it really -

            I bet Mozart and Beethoven

            Didn’t have to cope

            With this sort of distraction –

            That’s a good thought actually -

            Maybe I’ll post it on Facebook

            So all my friends can comment -

            ‘What could you be doing

            Instead of checking your phone?’

             - It could start a revolution!

- Talking of which

Wasn’t there an uprising

In, now, - where was it?

- It’ll be trending on Twitter

- Must check

It could be important.

#APoemADay 2 - Impending Winter

#APoemADay2 - November 2^nd

Impending Winter

The long arm of winter

            Has reach out and hooked the day

            In the crook of its bony elbow

Its long misty fingers

            Have curled around the morning

            With a sharp snap of biting breath

The trees shiver and drop their leaves

            In rainbow clouds on the pavement

            As winter draws them into its embrace

People snuffle and shuffle along in grey coats

            Bent like gnarled tree bark

            Bracing against this cool awakening

Penguin suited commuters packed in glassy tins

            Rattle along railway tracks to work

            In metal boxes in front of gleaming screens

The sun bounces off skyscrapers in beams

            Biting bitter bright into the cool crisp day

            Sharpening the angles of the city

Yes, Winter’s long song has begun

            It moans beneath the rumble of the traffic

            And the rustle of tumbling leaves

The wind carries a myriad of conversations

            Words catch like morning dewdrops

            On the webbed wintry wings of its whistle

The morning chorus contains the sighs of morning lovers

            The protests of children being taken to school

            And the silent unspoken dreams of the city

Carried across the waves come the clamour

            Of thousands of sinking voices desperately

            Seeking refuge in a war torn world

They are met by the icy blasts of barren rhetoric

            Reels of relentless red tape
            And the slam of closing doors

And still in the shadows lumbering lines of tanks

            And dark swarms of weaponry gather

            Ready to release the deadening thud of bombs

What song can we raise in the face

            Of clawing cold and deadly lines of division

            How can we stay strong and bright this winter?

On the frontline of humanity we must stand

            With our gifts, our offerings, our candles

            Flickering with flames of kindness

Open hearted we must face the winters devastation

            Insisting on the warmth of our shared existence

            Remembering that we are all each others home.

Winter Rusiloski - Offering

#APoemADay Day 1 - Listening to Mist

Listening To Mist

Half here and half gone

The mist envelops

Sitting like soupy thoughts

On the brows of buildings

And the hairline of trees

I sit here waiting

Twitching my ears

Like a cat about to pounce

Listening for the whisper

Of the new day

Golden trees emerging from mist this morning in Westow Park

Listening inspiration: Bob Marley – Misty Morning 

A Poem A Day for November

Dear Friend

I recently completed the daily Creative Sprint October challenge and at the end decided I didn't want to stop so have challenged myself to write a poem a Day for November

As these things are much more fun with friends I'm sharing the invitation with you too, to do with as you wish

Feel free to forward to friends and share in whatever way inspires you! :)

Warmest wishes

Katie