Lost in the middle of a forest – Sunday Photo Fiction

© Eric Wicklund

THIS WEEK’S WORDS come from “When a Friend Dies” by Esther Cohen: lost, middle, upset, nursery, stories, dance, wait, treatment, week, school, older, lunches

Lost in the middle of a forest
The stories of us at their fullest
From nursery and school, all these years
Eating lunches together, a must

Best mates as we got older it appears
Went to dance and we had all the cheers
Buried our memories in the woods
Then we separated for our careers

Couldn’t wait to leave our childhoods
Out of nowhere I saw your falsehoods
The treatment I got from you was unfair
You never deserve all these knighthoods

Out of sight and mind that I could bear
I have no regrets with our affair
That part of us was now elsewhere
In the forest as I sigh with a tear*

(c) ladyleemanila 2017

* A Quatrain is a poem consisting of four lines of verse with a specific rhyming scheme.

A few examples of a quatrain rhyming scheme are as follows:

#1) abab
#2) abba — envelope rhyme
#3) aabb
#4) aaba, bbcb, ccdc, dddd — chain rhyme

For: Sunday Photo Fiction – June 25th 2017, Whirligig 117

Growing Tableau – Photo Challenge #169

Jean-Daniel Beley

THIS WEEK’S WORDS come from “Dark and Late” by Catherine Abbey Hodges: scintillating, leap, carries, each, flagrant, nonchalant, end, late, nights, spill, way, dawns  

Ways to grow a child
A great leap of faith
Support him at nights
Scintillating sun
Flagrant breach of rules
And nonchalant shrug

Spill him with love
He will grow for sure
Any way he could
Branched with all skills
Each skill so different
Others come out late*

(c) ladyleemanila 2017

* The Tableau, a poetry form created by Emily Romano in October of 2008, consists of one or more verses, each having six lines. Each line should have five beats. There is no set rhyme scheme, although rhyme may be present. The title should contain the word tableau.

Since the dictionary states the word tableau means picture or representation, the poem should reflect this. A picture should come to mind as the poem is read.

For: Photo Challenge #169, Whirligig 115

On this ancient world my friend is sailing

Image Credit Ales Krivec

THIS WEEK’S WORDS come from “On a Distant Shore” by W.S. Merwin: crammed, rising, bare, humming, window, friend, sailing, light, breast, falling, ancient, small

On this ancient world my friend is sailing
Rising falling as the waves come and go
Like a small bird she can’t stop humming

The tower on the island she’s heading
Her boat crammed with things as she heave-ho
On this ancient world my friend is sailing

With bare necessities for her mooring
Window of opportunity to show
Like a small bird she can’t stop humming

Sky’s grey with red-breasted bird hovering
As light as a feather as the wind blows
On this ancient world my friend is sailing

(c) ladyleemanila 2017

For: 100 Word Wednesday: Week 21, Whirligig 114

An empty room now

THIS WEEK’S WORDS come from “Roadtrip West” by Natalie Safir: picture, huffing, pursuing, find, traces, full, innocence, confining, marriage, edge, capable, maze

Full of innocence
Finding traces to this maze
Used to be home to others
Together they close their eyes
Pursuing their dream
When they get married
Pictures in the edge
Capable of renovating
Decorating and painting
After some hard work
One day it would be theirs
A place to call their home

(c) ladyleemanila 2017

For: Writespiration #117 52 Weeks in 52 Words Week 21, Whirligig 113 by Magical Mystical Teacher

Remember this one lovely, lonely soul?

Photo By William Stitt

THIS WEEK’S WORDS come from “People Like Us” by Robert Bly: confused, insomniac, wrong, dial, remember, lonely, soul, college, cleanses, thief, defender, hear

Remember this one lovely, lonely soul?
We used to be in college together
Still confused about things as she stroll
She dialled his number, there was no answer
“What’s wrong with me?” herself she can’t console
Just to hear his voice even if he errs
Couldn’t sleep, becoming an insomniac
Like a thief in the night, she wants him back

The trees around cleanse her mind, made her calm
She knows she herself is her defender
Be unruffled like a reader of a psalm
And in her life, she is the sole author
For brighter future she has no qualm*

(c) ladyleemanila 2017

* A Ottava Rima is a poem written in 8-line octives. Each line is of a 10 or 11 syllable count in the following rhyme:

one octive poem. abababcc
two octive poem. abababcc, dededeff
three octive poem. abababcc, dededeff, ghghghii

For: 100 Word Wednesday – Week 19, Whirligig 112 by Magical Mystical Teacher , OpenLinkNight #196 by Grace

Thursday photo prompt – Green #writephoto

THIS WEEK’S WORDS come from “Clothespins on the Line” by Sawnie Morris: scrawny, after, finches, brittle, balanced, hopeful, paintings, daubs, cold, picnic, nails, ancestors

Flocks of tiny finches swoop in to graze
Among the green moss wrapping the tunnel
Like some paintings in the walls daubed for days

Gone were the blooms of rose and brambles
Some ancestors used to have picnics here
Still life could be hopeful and blissful

Balance of nature with some birds and deer
After some time this place became so cold
Occasional tufts of scrawny grass here

A mysterious place as people foretold
And they spread all the stories around
We feel a bit of a chill as we strolled

Such a good place to meditate around
Peace and quiet is all we’re asking for
Such serenity with this place we found

Like ancient history coming this shore
Treating this place with respect as we mull
Its landscape of uneven cliffs and moors

An enigmatic place for all of us
Such a place of history and deftness
Flocks of tiny finches swoop in to graze
Like some paintings in the walls daubed for days*

(c) ladyleemanila 2017

* The Lauranelle, created by Laura Lamarca, is a hybrid (variation) of both the Villanelle and the Terzanelle forms. The poem is 22 lines in length opposed to the 19-line length of the aforementioned classical forms. Lines MUST be 10 syllables in length and also MUST be in iambic pentameter.

Rhyme scheme is as follows: aba bcb cdc ded efe fbf ggA(1)A(2)

Lines 1 and 2 MUST be repeated at Lines 21 and 22.

Poems can either be formatted in stanzas or as a whole piece without line-spacing.

For: Thursday photo prompt – Green #writephoto, Whirligig 111

The Fly – Sunday Photo Fiction

THIS WEEK’S WORDS come from “Some nights you’re blessed” by Rosie King: mingle, woven, rope, daughter, splash, burning, daffodils, calendar, jays, branch, yours, first

The splash headline all over the screen
Screen I was able to weave through
Through the study where I am now
Now the daughter sees me and says shoo

Burning tea lights and daffodils mingle
Mingle in my mind and the calendar
Calendar with a circle on the first day
Day of your birthday while I softly whir

Enough about this room, I’d like to fly
Fly out and feel some fresh breeze
Breeze of the wind as I hover
Hover I do until I get squeezed*

(c) ladyleemanila 2017

* Loop Poetry is a poetry form created by Hellon. There are no restrictions on the number of stanzas nor on the syllable count for each line. In each stanza, the last word of the first line becomes the first word of line two, last word of line 2 becomes the first word of line 3, last word of line 3 becomes the first word of line 4. This is followed for each stanza. The rhyme scheme is abcb.

For: Sunday Photo Fiction – April 30th 2017, Whirligig 109 by Magical Mystical Teacher