LUNAR SOJOURN: d’Verse Poetics Prompt (Mooning Around)

For this week’s d’Verse Poetics Prompt we were asked by sarahsouthwest over at d’Verse to write on the topic of the moon, specifically the full moon that comes in Oct. Below is a list of different names given to the moon from around the world for this day. We get to choose one of these and write a poem about it. I chose Traveller’s Moon.

Traveller’s
Blackberry
Gopher Looks Back
Hunter’s
Blood
Seed Fall
In Ivy
Kindly

LUNAR SOJOURN

Great Traveller’s Moon
Shining brightly upon our path
(In all your cratered splendour)
As you accompany us on our sojourn
Through the dark of night
And the morning’s early hours
Guiding us to our destination
Wherever that may be.
You. The greatest traveller of all!
Taking 27 – 29 days to orbit around
Your celestial compatriots,
The earth and the sun
In a constant state of motion
Perpetually moving
Taking us on a heightened journey
Through our emotions
In the fullness of your glare.
Playing havoc with our moods
Yet managing to comfort us
And soothe
With your solitary;
Presence
Transfixed
By your moonlight.
Drawn to you
Obsessed
By you.
So much so
That we’ve built rocket ships
To reach you.
To walk upon your hallowed ground
With some vain hopes
Of lunar conquest
Yet you remain unpossessed
Amused even
By our strange earthly ways
And lofty ambitions
Always there for us night owls
Travellers; dreamers & stargazers
To show us the direction to take
Silent.
All knowing
Shining your heavenly torch
Upon our way.

If that tickles your fancy and you’d like to participate in it then why not click on the link below:

https://dversepoets.com/2022/10/18/mooning-around/

Multi-Coloured Terrorism

Struggling to find your place Amongst a beleaguered human race Frightened & confused By the world’s ever-changing face. Constantly trying to chase Its tail Struggling to contemplate the grace Once bestowed upon us all But now seems lost in space Squandered by this relentless violence Death and terror Floods; earthquakes and tremors Hovering over planet […]

Multi-Coloured Terrorism

HOUSE FULL OF GHOSTS

I unlock the door to pick up the postBut all I feel is a house full of ghostsPacked boxes and photo less hallsA world of history within these wallsBare presses and stripped bedsCorridor echoes with the spirits of the deadI hear footsteps going back in timeAnd a shiver tingles down my spineI remember their facesSmiling; […]

HOUSE FULL OF GHOSTS

HOUSE FULL OF GHOSTS

I unlock the door to pick up the post
But all I feel is a house full of ghosts
Packed boxes and photo less halls
A world of history within these walls
Bare presses and stripped beds
Corridor echoes with the spirits of the dead
I hear footsteps going back in time
And a shiver tingles down my spine
I remember their faces
Smiling; laughing with warm embraces
A temporary oasis
Of memories so sweet
Soon in bitter retreat
Eyes well up as the penny drops
And the realisation dawns
The beating heart of this house has stopped
Now, the two of them are gone
Never to return
These bridges to the past, they had to burn

I realised that if I were to stay
The ghosts would follow me every day
Haunting me
Taunting me
Robbing my sleep
With promises they could never keep
Of half-written poems; newspaper crosswords
Carried out in hushed tones with no cross words
Of night time conversations around the fire
Tales from his youth. Then reality conspires
To bring you back down to earth
Is this death or merely a 2nd birth?
The doorbell chimes
Your phone rings
My trip back in time
Has spread it’s wings
Snapped back to the present
And it’s not too pleasant
Then you begin to wonder
Was it all a blunder?
If there was any ghosts at all
Or was it just cold all along?

TRAMPOLINE (Up & Down)

Open the door
Climb down the steps
Race across the garden
With excited yelps

Take off your shoes
Rip off your socks
Pull down the zip
Push in the locks….
With a click.

Launch yourself into the sky
And come back down to earth
Nearest thing you’ll get to fly
Giving such joy & mirth

With a boing
And a bounce
As you announce
“Let’s do that again”

Bouncing on the trampoline
Jumping up and down
Propel yourself off the springs
So you can see all around

Gymnastics
And somersaults
As you tumble
Back into the vault

Of your mind
When you were young
And you had all the time
In the sun

To jump up and down
On the trampoline

Reach up to the Stars

“If I could reach up to the stars.
And wrap my arms around the moon.
Pull them back down to the earth
And place them all into just one room.

I’d wrap them up like presents
From the vast cosmos up above.
One gleaming star at a time
To show you how much I love

You; your sister and your mum
The 3 little stars in this poem.
How ye lighten up my path
And guide me on my way home

If I could plunge into the deepest depths
Hold my breath for a moment or two.
Perchance lay my hands upon a treasure chest
Carry it back up to the surface for you.

On the tail of a beautiful seahorse
Noblest of underwater steeds
Or the back of a humpback whale
What an awesome sight that would be!

If I could climb up the steepest mountains
To the very highest peaks
I’d pull a cloud down out of the sky
For use as a pillow while you sleep

Sprinkle it with fairy dust
Seal it with an angel’s kiss
Wrap it up with a rainbow
So your slumber would be bliss!”

Written by Ken Hume

07/01/2020

FREEZE TIME

Wish that I could’ve frozen time

Halted it completely in its tracks

Made it that the bells wouldn’t chime

That you wouldn’t fade to black

Wish I could’ve wrapped you

And your fragile little frame,

Stooped in humble service

Like a perpetual prayer,

up in cotton wool

In bubble wrap

In my arms

Breathe fresh life

Into your lungs

But cancer had set its trap

Aggressively it had struck

And your body slowly wasted away

To mere skin & bone

As if you were made to atone

For some ancient sin

You’d buried deep within

A thought I scarce can entertain

For it would stain

Your memory

Your legacy

You were too pure

Too gentle

For this earth

Hope you find the peace

You’re looking for

To make your sacrifices

Worth.

 

Wish that I could freeze time

Halt it completely in its tracks

Get a marker & draw a line,

Across which you cannot pass

For fear that you might get older

Grow up too soon

Lose your childlike innocence

For you’re too young to shoulder

Such burdens.

If that makes any sense.

Put together your very own

Wardrobe to Narnia

Where you’ll never grow old

Or succumb to disease

Where you’ll never be told

What to do

Or have to appease

You’ll sit on the throne

Guided by the great lion

And rule your kingdom

With kindness and compassion

Love and wisdom

Strength & dignity

For the whole of your life

 

 

 

 

 

 

Multi-Coloured Terrorism

Struggling to find your place
Amongst a beleaguered human race
Frightened & confused
By the world’s ever-changing face.
Constantly trying to chase
Its tail
Struggling to contemplate the grace
Once bestowed upon us all
But now seems lost in space
Squandered by this relentless violence
Death and terror
Floods; earthquakes and tremors
Hovering over planet earth
Like a dark cloud of water
But blood pours down instead of rain
Soaking us all with grief and pain

Our innocence has not merely been beheaded
For that would imply
A swift, clean cut!
Instead, it’s been blown into smithereens
By suicidal bombers
Struck down by kamikaze truck drivers
Shot down by gun toting maniacs
With their AR-15 riftles
At a concert; in a church
On high alert as we lurch
From one attack to another
For a time

We’re taken back by the horror
Some taken credit for by I.S.
Islamic State
Others, just random folk
Deciding the fate
Of so many innocents
Becoming all too frequent
Proud of their destruction
Indiscriminate in our eyes
Yet meticulously planned
For our surprise
Simply because they can

Methodical.
Brutal.
Fuelled by hatred
Not colour
Heartbreak
Disillusionment with the system
Unemployment.
And too many guns
Not by any theological
Ideological,
Philosophical
Or religious superiority
It’s gone way past that!
Killing for killing’s sake
It’s purely psychological
They’ve got inside our heads
It’s a multi-coloured terror
Relentless in its occurrence
Suffocating yet highly addictive
Heart-breaking in its normality
Like a modern-day Wild Wild West”

Written & copyright of Ken Hume
06/11/2017