Monthly Poetry Challenge - December

 

as dreams are set and flames ignite
and words are slurred late in the night
and loose hands wander, close lips unite
the tiger king, the deadly bat and that
rising global thermostat, the world
blackout, the lives of black and the
divisive tin foil hat, wolf pack, who
ride the line down the yin and yang
as the clock strikes twelve and the
cheers of praise, drunk on tequila, hope
champagne, singing words of auld lang.

That wraps up 2020 and my monthly project of poetry sharing.  I had so much friggen fear sharing at the start of the year.  I'm not exactly sure what bad thing would happen but I definitely wasn't overjoyed to start.  I'm really grateful for my monthly challenges because every year they show me what you can do in a year (if you keep it simple!) and that fear is a pretty silly construct (unless it's stopping you from falling off a cliff!).  I'm still putting together next year's challenge.  I'm also going to keep writing poetry.  I send out a weekly newsletter over on my other site (www.spirityou.com) and there is a form to sign up at the bottom if you're keen :). 

Happy 2021!!! I'm so excited to see where this year takes us :) :)

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Monthly Poetry Challenge - November

the golden sphere of memories
with outer shells so soft that
drift and fade and escape and
disappear leaving only a chunk
so solid in form to never burn or
leave or change that holds your 
love that can't be robbed. 

November was a weird month, my bag being stolen set the tone. Dad's old court case resurfaced which I keep trying to forget exists :P  Next April will be two years since he passed. I can't quite believe two years have gone without him or that his grave still doesn't have a headstone or that we still haven't wrapped up his business. Last night I couldn't sleep, dreaming of our front doorbell being pressed. Excited nervousness about testing for a pregnancy in the morning (that would turn out to be negative). Lying awake in bed, I noticed my whole body vibrating as if tiny little charges were being set off all over. I nearly woke Ben up but I decided to just be curious and lie with it. 

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Monthly Poetry Challenge -October

the oyster holds its shell down tight

a dainty sand in youthful flight

changes and blooms in iridescent 

swirls in hushed soft light, part lips

to find the pearl insight, tinkered 

and wrapped; in paper of white

pull the ribbon, collapse the bow

and kiss underneath the mistletoe 

I dropped the ball on continuing my 'bad poem' a day schedule. 36 years of being me and by now, I know, I get easily distracted by other shiny creative projects and that's okay :) I'm still writing and that's enough to power my happiness :)

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Monthly Poetry Challenge - September

crushed heart, overload, overbearing overlord

violet crumble claims be made, of honeycomb

underlay, a thief of nature's passage ways where 

bees display their sacred maze and tiny feet 

dance loose in cabaret. 

I've decided my favourite thing about poetry is that you can write anything you want! I know that sounds like captain obvious but I believe there's boundless freedom with writing that's unique to its medium. I can have these grand ideas in my head but photographing or even drawing them imposes challenges. Words on the other hand let you play -  the scope of possibility is scary and exhilarating! 

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Monthly Poetry Challenge - August

 

Or Maybe It Was Elijah Wood

purge the evening to

wake to prada eyes

caught between worlds

between celestial stars

and short tempered words

lush mornings move slowly

into dry days with a silver

locket refusing to stay

and yet I dream, dreams

of vacations together with

daniel radcliffe, in merry

flirtations.

This month seemed as if I threw my plans up into the air and let everything go.  Similar feeling to the past few months (especially with the miscarriage) but this month, in particular, was more about smiling as everything fell down around me.  A crazy silly month where my writing matched the silliness.  I'm smiling (genuinely) yet also carry this unwanted unease.  Maybe you feel this too? I flip flop from acceptance and feeling free (amidst the chaos) to a secret wish to have all my comforts and routines returned - to find my centre of calm.

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Monthly Poetry Challenge - July

build a temple of a thousand pieces

intricately arranged. Inside give

marigold blessings beneath the fragile
altar, voicing golden drenched

sentiments of praise. The beauty of the

pearl, the delight of the growth, the

hope to hold the young queen in your

sight, the champagne dizziness of life.
The patterns of tiles that don't quite fit,
the quiet marbled palace floor, the wheel

of fortune that lands on death, young moon

too young to find its foot. Bow down to grief

the pains of birth, lost hope of future's wish.

So much happened to me in July that I'm shocked my notebook isn't filled with pages and pages of new poems. I guess I find it hard to write as I'm going through an experience with words a little easier to find, once I'm out :)

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Monthly Poetry Challenge - June

no more burying souls down
not my story to speak

nor my words to tell
wreaths of hand cast gold
set onto the injustices and wrongs,

let them walk the streets so

we may note, let them float

to vantage points and blind

all who see, so we may see
and we may change
to become and evolve
into a vivid species.

I think one of our soul purposes is to be better, to grow.  It's easy to wish a smooth sailing life when that genie grants you the three magical wishes but that would be unfulfilling.  I'm trying to stay open to other perspectives.  I admit I find it easy to get wrapped up in my own.  I need to learn more compassion.  I need to not forget all the inequalities, of the world, the other narratives, and educate myself more.  I need to learn more about black lives.  

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Monthly Poetry Challenge - May

no words.

poetry swirls,

beat down rhythmic anxiety twirls

incense lit to mask unrest

people gather and linger together,

a desert of ideas, blank paper

scented with sweet floral vapour.

And the first of the flawless

tulip bulbs, cut, wrapped and

sent in yesterday's newspaper.

This month, my brain was consumed with many things that I didn't have the joy of letting it wander freely with words.  I'm glad I have this challenge though because a few days ago, I forced myself to carve out some time just for that.  After a year on, the housekeeping of losing Dad continues and it's going to continue for a while yet - I'm thankfully, feeling strong.

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Monthly Poetry Challenge - April

spin new tales from old myths from

the golden Zeus to winged cherubs

with fire bows and Athur's sword

enamoured seas, Poseidon's hold

prayer for unrelenting dreams

ruined lands, light and truth

Atlantis treasures; tiny pearls

sprawling gardens drunk at sea

crowned virgins, grapes, and ecstasy.

If you, follow me over on my other persona (spirit you) and are signed up to my newsletter you would have already seen this poem but I decided to make it my monthly poem as well.  I think I'm becoming a little braver sharing my poetry.  In another 6 months I'll sure I'll laugh that the fear ever existing!

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Monthly Poetry Challenge - March

dancing gold charms, strung beside pearls

a tiny locket, meets a tiny girl

the sailor's anchor next to the cross

a starfish matches the red rose across

the moon touches the sun with her dainty face

and a heart with a tiny emerald encased

bumps the clover and the oval initial pendant

and the seahorse and horseshoe that cram in to fit

gold links and a clasp to keep in the wish

to visit the Eiffel tower far bigger than this.

I wasn't sure if there would be a poem this month, well, one I was pleased with.  I wrote the following on the 20th of March.  I found myself alone at work for a second (what a gift!) and pulled out a pen and paper from my bag and scribbled this down.  I don't know how it works.  I just know you always have to be ready.

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Monthly Poetry Challenge - February

the lady in red

beauty spots encasing

her shell and directives

from ancestors with

riddles to tell. Burn

the sage and smoke

the air, let souls

fade into the atmosphere

and come back altered

perfectly squared.

Something happened this month for me.  I'm trying to unpack it all.  It's heavy and beautiful and way beyond my own self.  I'm trying not to talk in riddles but I also am careful not to come across as a crazy person.  I think in time I'll work out how to explain it all.

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Monthly Poetry Challenge - January

in the depths of
the bush sings
winds which
carry tiny finches
through who in silence
dive and speak
the cities are burning
dry earth, red sun
and another bird
with frantic flight
trapped by it's
own constant sight.



Note: It's been hard not to think about the bushfires happening in Australia.  I got the imagery for this poem as I was driving back from our local swimming hole, past some bush that had burnt and past others that hadn't.  

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Monthly Poetry Challenge 2020

So *drum roll* my new monthly project for 2020 is to complete one poem per month.  I stepped away from a lot of things when dad died, almost all of my creativity pursuits except for writing, I wrote a lot and found a bucketload of joy in it.  Writing doesn't demand an investment of money to get started, you can do it anywhere and you just need to tap/pencil/pen/think away.  There's a bigger dream that's been brewing of having a published poetry book and I think I'm going to explore that idea more.  It's just a little seedling of a thought right now but I'm a big believer in putting things out to the Universe, doing the work (as Steven Pressfield would say) and seeing where that journey will lead you.

As always, you're all welcome to join in on the monthly poetry challenge.  

Very very loose guidelines - totally okay if you fall off the bandwagon, just take that leap of faith and give it a go, that's all that is required :)

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