Forget Rhyme Schemes. I'm a Rebel.

|

Monday, August 8, 2011

IN OTHER NEWS: I'm probably worrying too much (as usual), but I was just curious if you, all my readers, like my blabbing before posting poetry (like what I'm writing here). I've been looking at a lot of other poetry blogs and I've noticed that no one else seems to chat about what they've written in each post like I do. Does that make me unique, or is it annoying? Do you read my little introductions or skip right to the blockquotes? Just curious.

ALSO IN OTHER NEWS: I will be on a short LOA from the internet for the next two weeks or so, as I am leaving for a camping trip on Wednesday and then it's time for band camp! I'll be playing trumpet this year, for those who are interested. Anyone else do marching band (or color guard, for that matter)?

This here's a poem I wrote the other day inspired by a fallow field of alfalfa by my house. There were thousands of dandelions just waiting to be used for wishing, but I resisted because they actually grow alfalfa there and they wouldn't appreciate me spreading the love. I abandoned the rhyme scheme in the second stanza because I couldn't think of anything that rhymed with "farm" except "arm," and I couldn't think of a way to make that sound un-cheesy. (Actually what happened was I got bored and it made sense the way it was. ;)

Also, I haven't decided on a title. ;)

How many wishes d’you think lay concealed
In the corners and pockets of alfalfa fields,
Cotton-white dand’lions nodding their heads.
Forget about wheat; let’s plant wishes instead.

Farmers, forget all the weeds you’ve been weeding,
And think of, instead, all the wishes you’re seeding
By letting the dand’lions grow on your farm.

Then if fishes were wishes we’d scour the seas,
Seeking the goldfish to end all the pleas
For the wheat and the flour that we had stopped sowing
Because our main crop was wish-flower growing.
And, for the heck of it, here's another poem I finished recently. It was inspired by mascara, and it has a title.

Arachnophobia

Her eyes were like flies’ eyes,
How they shone back the light in five thousand colors
Like multi-faceted black-and-blue diamonds
Shuttered beneath butterfly eyebrows.

Her lips were silkworms as she
Pulled thread from her mouth
Full of maggots
To weave a skirt like a spider’s web.
 
The lies she lied were locusts,
Jumping out at me and scratching my skin with their
Grasshopper claws and lying eyes.

 Her hands were like spiders,
Spindly, five-legged carnivores
Attached to praying mantis arms,
Twitching across the sticky thread
Reeling between her silkworm lips.

 But as I think about it,
It was not her hands but her eyes that preyed
Arachnid-like on my face,
Hungry for my flies’ eyes eyes.


7 Poetry Snaps:

Anonymous said...

I like your talking before posts it makes it more interesting to know your thoughts or how you come to make your poem a certain way.

I like both of these poems the top one the best because of the fishes (:

Alexa said...

Well I'm glad you like it, because for all my worrying I don't think I could stop even if everyone hates my chattiness. :) I just love to talk.

Fish are awesome. My brother has some, and they're really pretty. My favorite fish is a bala shark, but his fish tank is too small for one because they grow to be over 6 inches long. They're cool, though.

EAL said...

I like knowing the inspiration behind your poems. Get to know you better. ;)

Re: Wish-flower poem - the rhythm is strong enough to make the lack of rhyme scheme not matter. The turn in the third stanza, from flowers to fish, threw me for a moment.

Sorry, can't help with titles.

Re: Arachnophobia - goodness. Amazing poem - a portrait of disturbing beauty. I like the drawn-out references to bugs...oh, yeah, and it reminds me of this picture.

Mizzholborow said...

Your poems are bright, original and I like how as a reader I can feel the writer's personality shining through :) Nice work! x

Alexa said...

Why, thank you! I'm happy to see you've found me and decided to stay. :) It's a labor of love, poetry, almost like having a child... (like I would know anything about that :P )

geminimimic said...

"her silkworm lips" ... that line won't be leaving my mind anytime soon. oh, and i see you're an aquarius :) i'm a gemini. i'd say we'll get along swimmingly. your words are wonderful. i'm looking forward to a time when mine can be as calculated as yours. right now, i am learning poetry and how i feel about it and how i can get it out. i literally just sit down and start typing, no editing. it's an exciting process to watch unfold, that's for sure.

Alexa said...

Huh? I'm not much into astrological signs, but I can live with that. ;)

Usually when I write poetry it doesn't just come (I don't just sit down and write, I mean). I let it sit in my brain for a while and come up with lines and rhymes. Then I write down what I've thought up and add lines as I need. After that it sits in my brain some more and grows up, so I change it as I have to. So for me, writing one poem can take weeks or even months. Even so, as you say, it's exciting. :)

Post a Comment