Michael demanded a rhyming poem before he went to bed - citing only rhyming poetry was proper poetry and the rest was just prose and far too easy. Yeah right - cue the Tui billboard. In any case, I have worked hard tonight to comply with his "request" - but even so this almost sonnet, almost certainly needs a little work...or at least the cold light of day. Or should I say the far too hot light of day?
This Year of Fire
by A.J. Ponder
This year is sorrow as the flowers bloom
the blush of petals flawed with pockmark
trails
clutch withered seedpods and fade all too
soon
before they fall into the wailing wind -
tears blown against the murky sky, the year
bruised dull grey and faded in its
sorrow
as the sun beats down in heated fear
past all boiling point, sublimed snow and
fire -
an endless rage against an endless year.
Now we must bring a cool change, a frost
bite,
a deadly drowning lest we persevere
with hope. Lest we dare fight the raging
tide
and fall not with the solar wind and searing rain,
but hold an icy compress against this pain.So you love poetry? And not necessarily the rhyming sort - why not see some live, Michelle Elvy, Renee Liang, Siobhan Harvey and many other poets are going to be live all around Auckland at spit.it.out. -check out the dates of the different performers here (Until March10 2013)
Of course if you are Australian and write speculative poetry, check out the guidelines for PS Cottier and Tim Jones' proposed anthology.
Fav's this week are Helen Rickerby's choice of Incident by Fleur Adcock, thanks Mary McCallum for putting me on to Alice Spider, by Janis Freegard, Harvey Molloy's The Schoolboy by William Blake, and Robert Sullivan's New Eclipse, for Ralph Hotere.
A.J.
A.J. Ponder's books are available through Rona Gallery, Amazon, Paper Plus and good Wellington bookstores.