I am sailing...

I skippered the Monday boat rather well
tossed out some weighty baggage
and sailed the swelling demands
of lesson pressures and emails
rather well too...

That is
until THE email
popped into my inbox
THE email
that wanted to reconstruct
a future assessment task for Year 8's...

I had spent so long
shuffling the rubrics and
pinging the ultimate topic
that would send little minds into big spins

but THE email wanted to fix the rubrics
at the lowest level

NOT SHOWN
NO relevance to the topic
NO imagination
NO structure
NO grammar

a whole column
of NOthingness...

what to reply
politely
without resorting to
NO grace

Finally I mustered
some dignity...
I believe the ultimate purpose is the topic...
the lowest common denominator must be
some recognition
the writer wrote anything at all...


I skippered the Monday raft rather well
tossed out some weighty baggage
and kept sailing...



Linking to;
Imaginary Garden With Real Toads - The Tuesday Platform



NOTES
This poem intended to be for the recent 'skip' prompt at d'Verse...
The poem intended to be a quadrille - 44 words...
But it morphed into more...
Rubrics - columns headed from HIGH to LOW + explanations in each

fragments of a prince...

thieves in the temple
struck down by
his diamond cane


cinnamon girl and
purple rain
touched a tragic prince


he sought his old soul
seeking gold
like a poor man lost



Poetry form: lune


NOTE
 I have always been fascinated how Prince kept his faith intact
and managed to sing from a wild, even raunchy spirit.
Only in Purple Rain and Cinnamon Girl could I find a fusion of the two.
And then, there is the secret line in Thieves in the Temple where Prince mentions seeking the soul...


Linking to:
Imaginary Garden With Real Toads - The Tuesday Platform

a man and a woman...

a tradie was once feeling knackered
stuffed from a round of hard yakka
so late in the arvo
he dropped in the bottle-o
and was pissed to the gills - what a slacker



a woman was once feeling aggro
she'd fought the local garbo
so she chucked a sickie
donned some lippie
and flirted at the local servo




Poetry form: limerick



NOTES 
on Australian vernacular
tradie - tradesman
knackered - tired; exhausted
stuffed - exhausted
hard yakka - hard work
arvo - afternoon
bottle-o - liquor store; bottle shop
pissed to the gills - very drunk
slacker - may be intelligent but may not be performing intelligently
aggro - angry
garbo - garbage man
chucked a sickie - took sick leave from work - without actually being sick
lippie - lipstick
servo - service station where petrol is available


Linking to:
Imaginary Garden With Real Toads - The Tuesday Platform - local vernacular

an alternate gig...

she talks to rainbows
while my guitar gently weeps 
great gig in the sky

toys in the attic
bullet with butterfly wings
bye bye symphony



Poetry form: haiku


NOTES
For something different,
I decided to play with song titles
and create two haiku
with swirling, surreal connections
(hence my image)

She Talks to Rainbows - Ramones (1995)
While My Guitar Gently Weeps - The Beatles (1968)
The Great Gig in the Sky - Pink Floyd (1973)
Toys in the Attic - Aerosmith (1975)
Bullet With Butterfly Wings - The Smashing Pumpkins (1995)
Bye Bye Symphony - Foxy Shazam (2010)


Linking to:
Imaginary Garden With Real Toads - Tuesday Platform - open link

please - who am I?...

Sculpture - Primate Change - Ralf Driessen
The sculpture is on display at Montalto vineyards, Red Hill...
This work was a finalist in the 2016 Montalto Sculpture Prize...



please - who am I
my story needs some insights
look me in the eye

someone must know why
I've walked through many lights
please - who am I

some propose a lie
but I need the key to rights
look me in the eye

some admittedly try
to research old dark nights
please - who am I

I can only sigh
please find some black and whites
look me in the eye

I can only cry
I've flown many flights
please - who am I
look me in the eye



Poetry form: villanelle
(I avoided iambic pentameter - as did Dylan Thomas - but retained the traditional rhyme scheme)

Linking to:
Imaginary Garden With Real Toads - The Tuesday Platform - Villanelle