This Year of Fire

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.

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.

cheers,
A.J. Ponder

P.S. If you love sonnets and want to read some more "Running Away with a Christmas Sonnet"  and "Sonnet to the Muse" are fun, and if you want to learn how to write a sonnet The The Poetically Incorrect English Sonnet is there to help (watch out for the bad language though! 

A.J. Ponder's books are available through Rona Gallery, Amazon, Paper Plus and good Wellington bookstores.

The very last "Not a Tuesday Poem" on Tuesday

ok so it's not a Tuesday Poem quite yet - but it was a lot of work and it's taking me a bit to start to get into the rhythmn of writing poetry every night all over again. 

Still, putting out a book was fun - and now everyone knows what Wellingtowne really looks like (and how it should be spelt ;) - thanks partly to the map below - and partly to all the great artists who submitted paintings for the art competition.

http://wizardsguide.wordpress.com/2013/02/15/the-opening/

The poems that caught my eye today were The First Farewell by Saradha Koirala, very natural but very moving account of a reunion, T Clear's Lament, Watermelon, by Michelle Elvy, and Black Chalk by James Brown. And I think for this last one it was the title that caught me - it makes you wonder what - exactly - has been hidden in the darkness. 

A.J.

A.J. Ponder's books are available through Rona Gallery, Amazon, Paper Plus and good Wellington bookstores.
 

I'd like to thank...

Did you think this would be a poem?
I lied
What I meant to say was
come to my book launch

have you submitted a piece of art?
Of course it was due today -
everything always is -
unless it was due last week
and you just plain forgot
because the world passed by
not unlike a freight train in a
sanitised Valentine's commercial

Love is cheap and
fired with coal apparently
But before your glasses steam up-

Of course I'd like to thank you

for turning up
for making my day
(reading this counts)
for mixing with the artists
& joining in the fun
(dress up optional)

So
Seriously
Love to see you
6.30 Thurs 14 Feb
151 Muritai Rd
Eastbourne
Be my Valentine - I promise there will only be platonic magic and a complete lack of soot.
Thanks everyone :)


http://anafflictionofpoetry.blogspot.co.nz/2013/02/come-one-come-all-to-my-book-launch-630.html

 PS - want to enjoy more fine poetry - check out the Tuesday Poem Blog for the featured poem "The Gift" by C K Stead and hosted by the lovely, talented and insightful, Mary McCallum.
A quick and somewhat cursory look through the poems this week but Keith's "Resilience" caught my eye
 Kathleen Ferber has chosen "Blue Disremembered Hills" by Tim Jones - and my first thought was why? And then I read it again.  Ah that's why.  Some poems just need a little more effort - but they are well worth it. 
I also enjoyed The Awakening River, by Katherine Mansfield posted by Robert Sullivan.  

Or for the latest in Tuesday Poetry click on the feather...

A.J.

A.J. Ponder's books are available through Rona Gallery, Amazon, Paper Plus and good Wellington bookstores.

Come one, come all - to my book launch!!!!! 6.30 Thurs 14 Feb

yes, it's a bit late
No it's never too late - a week away - plenty of time to shake off the end of holiday blues and make your life just that little bit more magic

6.30 Thurs 14 Feb
151 Muritai Rd
Eastbourne
Lower Hutt

Be there - and watch out for trolls!!!  No - hopefully they'll all be in the museum and turned to stone - but we can't make any promises about the taniwha...

A.J.

A.J. Ponder's books are available through Rona Gallery, Amazon, Paper Plus and good Wellington bookstores.

Written in the Beginning of the Year 1746 by William Collins

How sleep the brave, who sink to rest By all their country's wishes blest! When Spring, with dewy fingers cold, Returns to deck their hallow'd mold, She there shall dress a sweeter sod Than Fancy's feet have ever trod. By fairy hands their knell is rung, By forms unseen their dirge is sung; There Honor comes, a pilgrim grey, To bless the turf that wraps their clay; And Freedom shall a-while repair, To dwell a weeping hermit there!
Thought it would be nice to ring in the New Year with a New Poem  - ok, it's a little late - but this one particularly caught my fancy.  And besides January sucked - now February there's a proper month - and don't the flowers look beautiful in their sod? Now if you love poetry why not flick on back to the Tuesday Poem blog and see if something catches your fancy  like Helen Lowe's choice - Summer Grasses by Mattsu Basho or Eileen Moller's, A Black Plastic Bag is Rising  - it starts out slow and metaphorical and then soars - beautiful work and Helen McKinlay's Lunch at Springs Junction - such fun - I really like the way her poems are all different - they all are stylistically themselves - this one uses great verbs and even speech to describe people and place pefectly. anyway those were the three that jumped out for me but the others are all well worth the read ENJOY!!! A.J. A.J. Ponder's books are available through Rona Gallery, Amazon, Paper Plus and good Wellington bookstores.