autumn exhales a deep breath
as feeble leaves lose their grip
whispering sweet farewells
to nurturing limbs
I watch them cradle-rock
to the pulse of Mother Earth’s song
silently sweeping, weeping
but bravely repelling
the magnet of years past
finding new ways to grow
It’s Quadrille Monday at dVerse Poets Pub.
Write a poem of 44 words not including the title, including the word “magnet”.
De is our host.
you planted me
in richest soils
spoke in sunshine-lies
I smiled through shadows, weeds
naive to your gnarly roots
creeping ’round my garden-heart
I forgave the rain
again
ripping petals one by one
but God sees your ways
and I will bloom
without you
44 words of poetry including the word “garden”.
We are honoured to have Victoria C. Slotto hosting our Quadrille prompt.
Doors open at 3 p.m. EST.
Image credit: pixabay.com
Announced today, we can hug.
In the park, you watch a tiny chipmunk scamper up a tree.
A cool breeze blows through your longish, white hair.
I watch you smile.
clouds move for the sun
time slips through silver threads
nature’s drum beats on
A Quadrille for dVerse Poets Pub.
Write a poem of exactly 44 words including the word “drum”.
Doors open at 3 p.m. EST. Happy to be your host.
the sun seems oblivious
as I peel petty layers
fruitless, useless pieces
washed witless from the rain
my blank slate skin
thirsty for stories, unwritten
I feel the shells of me slip, cold
lying translucent at my feet
I am without, yet with all
A 44 word quadrille for dVerse Poets Pub.
Linda is our host and the word is “slip”.
You can join in too!
you win
drafting me unwillingly
one more warrior
in a choke
….hold
I. could. die.
simply thinking about
the risk
you’ve offered me
on a silver platter
like the devil, sly
with guileful grin
but this fool isn’t your fix
I choose
to live
I am an RECE ( Registered Early Childhood Educator), “Educator” being the key word. Infants, toddlers and preschoolers learn through hands on exploration, purposeful play and socialization. In the midst of a pandemic, I will soon be expected to return to this environment where social distancing is not possible and little ones require close contact. I am not a health care worker but will be expected to assume the same risk. At 59, I am forced to decide between safety or an income. It haunts me daily.
It’s Quadrille time at dVerse. De is our wonderful host.
The word is “fix” to be included in a 44 word poem.
image credit: pixabay.com
I am a seed
without a season
buried deep
in the cold compost
of my dreams
flood thirsty, time flushed
endless roots reaching
for the reason I rise
but I will not wilt
in recycled soils
I am hidden
only to surprise
the sun
It’s Quadrille time at dVerse. Pen us a poem of 44 words including the word “flush” or a derivative. I am your host. Doors open at 3 p.m. The prompt is open all week.
Image credit: pixabay.com
after the climb
I rest
inhaling indigo
of cloudless skies
exhaling all but my soul
the sun is an ocean
wrapping me lukewarm
politely peeling the pieces
fears flaking
sorrows shedding
I lay them out
stone cold on the mesa
to wilt and wither
A “quadrille” consists of 44 words, not including the title. It is a favourite form over at dVerse Poets Pub. This week we are including the word “peel”. I am pleased to be your host. Feel free to join in. Doors open at 3 p.m.
the world is in our hands
is it not a gift?
a blank sheet
to compose symphonies
of grace,
one cosmic chorus
born of our own untainted hearts?
let us not be mute
but join in songs of light
when evil seeps
through cracks
A quadrille for dVerse Poets Pub.
De has given us the word “crack” to incorporate into our 44 word poems. Join us!
Image credit: pixabay.com
you are my green chile
kokopelli dream
soft sound of hiking boots
tapping on sandstone
my sun, uninterrupted
blessing mesas
the aqua blue of desert skies
set against canyons calling
in sacred language of silence
scents of cedar, earth and peace
you reset me
44 words is a quadrille, our original poetry form at
Merril is our host and the given word is “set”. Feel free to join in.
It’s the space between steps
hollow of waves curling
gleam of seagull’s wings
the slow
tranquil
ex
hale
slipping off lips
as clouds collage in peach
and magenta
It’s the wander
without map or path
where trees speak in tongues
of nature lover’s dreams
A Quadrille for
Lillian has offered us “tranquility”
to include in our 44 word poems.
You can join in too!
My heart-voice lays low
Silent, frozen to the wall
Your actions, so perennial
Chatter again with my head-voice
A royal tête-à-tête over tea
I take mine black…and white
“You’re so vain”
Plays in the background
I bet you think this poem
Is about you
A quadrille for dVerse Poets Pub.
De gave us a “voice”, the word to include in our 44 word poems.
Image credit: pixabay.com
merely freckles we are
from the moon’s point of view
with a one-eyed squint
her telescope drawn
pondering our purpose
where we went wrong
does she feel the love drift
from the earth to the sky
resisting the hatred
does it make her cry?
A quadrille poem of 44 words, including the word “freckle”.
Join in the fun at dVerse Poets Pub where I am pleased to be your host.
Doors open at 3 p.m. EST.
Follow me, child
Phoneless and free
Where earth sings
Songs of your roots
Ancient and pure
Pluck stars from indigo skies
Put them back into your eyes
Decorate your pale skin
In leaf shadows and sunlight
Relish in the riches
And blessings of nature
It’s Quadrille Monday and Kim is our host. She has offered us the word “rich” to incorporate into a 44 word poem, not including the title. Join in the fun!
Hope eludes her. Night embraces her. Like an old friend, it takes her by the hand to search for the light. Illusive. Dawn becomes the deadline for this decision, the last one she will make.
ink-shadows seduce
the sun rises unnoticed
over faded flower
A quadrille haibun for dVerse Poets Pub
image credit: pixabay.com
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline 1-800-273-8255
I remember your tightwad grin
words sparingly spewed
because you knew…
what?
always something more than I
sly, slithery somethings
hiding in the corner of your lips
now I sip on the memories
of a girl, rootless, wavering
waiting desperately
for her father’s approval
I am hosting the Quadrille prompt this week over at dVerse Poets Pub. Doors open at 3 p.m. E.S.T. You can join in too with your 44 word poem, including the word “sip”.
I gather dreams here
where withered leaves lay steepless
seesawing on the surface
of the pond
blue heron freezes for the hunt
I watch his stilt legs bend slightly
swift snap, a sun-blessed breakfast
fish wriggles before the great swallow
my dreams are cast
It’s Quadrille time at dVerse Poets Pub. I am pleased to be your host as we “steep” 44 words into a poem. Join us at 3 p.m. EST
It was an early phone call for a Saturday. My brother’s caller ID but not his voice. My mother forced words she could not yet comprehend herself. He was gone. I asked where he went.
moonbeams radiate
October sky remembers
flicker of fallen star
For Quadrille Monday at dVerse. Kim has offered us the word “early” for our 44 word poems. This prompt is open all week.
In awe I stand
Feet steadied upon
Emerald cliffs
Inhaling breath of sky
Heart-quickened, earth-smitten
Tickle of sea mist on my tongue
I surrender thoughts to the waves
Trundle with ocean’s tide
Erasing all but this moment
Time still…. (passes)
Each second a blessing
Written for De’s Quadrille prompt , “Quick! Write Something!”
Enclosed I am
Airless, breathless
Must confess to senseless
Gasping, panting,
Mindless ranting
One… two….breathe
I can’t control
The heart rush
Too much
Tightening, fear frenzy
Heightening
I can’t breathe
Just breathe
I’m boxed in, locked in
With no escape
Now I hyperventilate
In response to De’s Quadrille prompt at dVerse Poets Pub. Join in with us at 3 p.m. EST. Write a 44 word poem that must include the word “box”.
From a window seat view
I watch clouds casting shadows
In puzzle-like fashion
Beauty mimicked from skies, majestic
To desolate, desert floors
In solitude they roam
Longing for home
I cushion them gently between
My thumb and pointer finger
Dreaming each piece into place
Its Quadrille Monday at dVerse Poets Pub and I am your host.
You are welcome to join in! Doors open at 3 p.m. EST.
Photo taken in flight over Nevada.
Life is an itch
And so we scratch
Underlying layers of lies
Shifty sediments of alibis
Searching for the glorious
Sheen of the bedrock
And as the stone cold truth
Stares blatantly
Into the naivety of our eyes
We scramble
To spread the topsoil
dVerse Poets Pub is celebrating 7 years!
We are not feeling the “itch” as we continue to inspire and be inspired by each other.
We are very proud of our Anthology
Chiaroscuro – Darkness and Light, dVerse Anthology, 2017
But yes….”itch” is the word for this week’s Quadrille prompt.
Your lovely host is Grace.
You speak in cloudbursts
Torrential tongue
Twisting words to suit your weather
I have news for you
The forecast isn’t bleak
The sky isn’t falling though you
May be chicken and I, little
Your drizzle will fizzle
And I can play in the rain
For Kim’s quadrille prompt over at dVerse Poets Pub.
44 words of fun using the word “rain”.
Image credit: pixabay.com
OH fuddle muddle
I’m in trouble
I should sciddle scaddle scuttle
The doohickey, the gobbley gook
Have taken me out for a loopy-de-loop
Ya think you know what I’m talking about
But you are stuck on a round-a-bout
Going round,
going round,
going round…..
44 words of pure nonsense. The word ” muddle” made me silly. You can join in with De’s favourite prompt over at d’verse and feel free to be more serious!
Image credit: pixabay.com
In wake of birth, we gather
Arms stretched, propitious
Trusting time
Love…. the cosmos
Writing our own scripts
Naming our own stars
In spite of our goods and grit
Our fate is universal
Collective souls we wander
Time-squandering fools
Tossing moments to the wind
A quadrille for dVerse Poets Pub. Lillian is our host and the prompt is open ALL week! If you’d like to write a poem of 44 words including the given word “gather”, you are quite welcome to join in.
Image credit: pixabay.com
Warning: language
I googled you today
you were gone
I was wrong
to think that time was infinite
it was only imminent
this cancer, “fucking cancer”
would escort you out
without waiting one zippin’ minute
for thoughts to collect
memories to reflect
on your beautiful face
Written for the Quadrille prompt that De is hosting this week at d’verse Poets Pub. The given word is “zip”. Somehow I managed to incorporate it as I struggle with the loss of a childhood friend.
Egg me on
Come on
Tap me twice and
I’ll break for you
Find the faults that you’ve
Held me to
Watch the way that
I spill for you
Poke my yolk
Make me run
Scramble my thoughts
It’s still
All over your face
A quadrille is 44 words, excluding the title. This week you must include the word “egg”.
Kim is our host. It’s all happening over at dVerse Poets Pub!
Image credit: pixabay.com
I’ve dabbled in darkness
the match, centimeters
from singeing
my fingers, my soul
A symphony of sirens
felt like a lullaby
why?
you’d have to look deeper
I’d have to share more
than embers greyed, tired
I’d have to breathe life
into the fire
Written for d’verse Poets Pub. De is our host for this week’s Quadrille prompt. A quadrille is a poem of exactly 44 words, not including the title. De has chosen the word ” fire” which must be incorporated into the poem.
Image credit: pixabay.com
Oh Luna, you light monger
Peddling your parables
Poeming me pretty words
Hobnobbing with the clouds
As I am left sleepless
Tossed and tangled
Between lucid thoughts
And muddled dreams
You’re so astronomical
But I find you comical
Spinning your tales in the stars
It’s time to Q44 at dVerse Poets Pub. Victoria is our lovely host. Join us with your own quadrille, a poem with exactly 44 words, not including the title. It must include the given word or a form of it and this week the word is “poem”.
I’ve found a new canvass
To draw on… and from
Sharing journeys
From bo(u)lder times
To monotonous erosion
To sun-kissed, self-loving
Soul-saving bliss
Rocking my freedom
Of direction
Perfection still wavering
Between the lines
And my mind
Colours conjoined
Words coined
Tedious, serious joy
painted rocks – Michelle Beauchamp
We are rocking the quadrille over at dVerse Poets Pub! I am your host and I hope you can join us. Write a poem of exactly 44 words including the word “rock”. The prompt begins today at 3 p.m. EST and is open all week.
Giggling green spring
Breathing bubble-bliss balloons
Grinning, shimmering, mmmmelt…..ing
Cue music!
Pepper-spiced clouds dance
Freely twisting, curling
Leaves flicker, fears drizzle
Lulling dawn
Hope-filled jars spill open
Sparking rosebud dreams
Journey’s scars echo in ghosts
Creaking shadows skip
To storm’s song
Whispering bliss
Stilled
A quadrille for dVerse. Grace is hosting and she has given us the word, “creak” to play with. This is week 43 for the Quadrille prompt. I challenged myself to use ALL the words.
We bobble like iron bubbles
Anchored to docks of despair
Waving flags, still bragging
About love of country
Humble hearts whisper
In feathers, doves
But hope does not float
Intentions are stuck in
Stagnant sea scum
Blood flows and God knows
We are tired
Written for this week’s Quadrille prompt over at dVerse Poets Pub
Image credit: pixabay.com
I follow you
Flashlight in hand
Still dimmer than our hearts
Lake of infinity
Lapping to the rhythm of
Silence
Sandy-toed, sips of merlot
You whisper of satellites
Geosynchronous orbits
And how much you love me
Spicing my world
Peppering my skies
With stars
Join us as I host one of our favourite prompts, the Quadrille at dVerse Poets Pub. 44 words including the word “spice” or any form of it. Doors open at 3 p.m. EST. C’mon….get a little spicy!
Image credit: pixabay.com
Nothing more
Man in the moon malarkey
Stirring my drizzle of doubt
With a spoon
Logic, integrity lost
On some cat with a fiddle
Spewing his spittle of words
That I have heard before
Is there more?
I think I might have a cow
Join us at dVerse today for the fan favourite of 44 words and what we love to call the “quadrille”. As your host, I am asking you to include the word drizzle or derivative of. I have no idea what came over me to write this…except too many years of singing preschool rhymes.
Image credit: William Wallace Denslow, Wikipedia
From your lips
Word balloons drift
A speech bubble blitz
Of braggadocio
Oh Pinocchio
Clouds do not part
For your presence
You are marshmallowed
Hollowed
A fairy tale twaddle
Floating on folly
And horse feathers
Oh Romeo
Thy swelled head
Will soften your landing
For De’s quadrille prompt over at dVerse.
Write a 44 word poem including the word “balloon”.
Image credit: pixabay.com
My little maple
Of glistening gold
Flaunting, fluttering as
Sol sister laughs
She knows wind is only
Teasing, breezing by for
One last kiss of autumn
The final dance before
The chill and I will
Cherish your leaves
As fall still breathes
Through winter
It’s Quadrille time again and we’d love for you to join us over at dVerse Poets Pub. As your host, I am asking you to write a poem of 44 words (not including the title) and your quadrille must contain the word…
b…r…e…a…t…h…e
or breath, breathtaking, breathable…any variation of the word
Doors open at 3 p.m. EST
Stop jarring your journeys
Spill them
Leave them dancing
Bubble them in the breeze
Spark your grin
Rose petal your way
To the clouds
With a skip and a twist
Recycle the shimmer
Of open green trails
Memories are melting shadows
Let them lull
Another one for De’s Q44 prompt at dVerse.
My first attempt at using ALL the Quadrille words (19).
I am sanded by time
Battered by the tempest
Scattered and cast away
Losing my edges
Making my pledges
To the wind
Gutless, un-glittered
I twirl in curls of waves
Bask in suns, unseen
Do you even know
What I mean?
I am un-sparkled
Every other Monday at dVerse, we create quadrilles. 44 words with one specific word to be included. Today, De has chosen the word “spark” or a word that contains spark as the root word such as sparkle, sparkly…you get the idea. The fun begins at 3 p.m. EST.
Shadows are born
From breath of light
Betwixt the twigs
They play and meddle
Draping black veils
Over earth’s stage
This is where
Leaves spot dance
One last time
My heart dips
And sways
Between sweet
Sounds of sunbeams
And the monotones
Of solitude
Today at dVerse, De is our host serving up some quadrilles or Q44’s as we like to call them. She has chosen the word “shadow” that must be included within the poem. Join the fun!
I am fog, fazed
With weightless words
Coasting on currents
Weakened by my own candor
I am left as embers
After the char
Floating, still flickering
Blindsided by fire
Disguised as sunshine
Treading dark waters
Searching for one open portal
Where skies meet sea
A quadrille for Victoria’s prompt this week. She asked that our 44 word poem include the word “open”. The doors are wide open at dVerse Poets Pub. Step right in. It’s a wonderful place.
Smiles bursting, sunlit
Cheeks and chuckles
Eyes sparkling
Neurons set ablaze
Pathways to life, love
All that matters
Chatters, first words
Heard and honoured
Stretched and pondered
One on one
Placing puzzle pieces
Hearts aglow
And I know
That this
Is what I leave
For De’s Q44 at dVerse Poets Pub. A quadrille is a poem of 44 words including a given word and this week the word is “leave”. Coincidentally I resigned from my job this week, leaving behind many young children that I adore.
Image credit: pixabay.com
I was jarred
Plucked in my prime
Scrubbed and rinsed
Chopped and minced
No mercy!
You threw me to the brine
I was so jarred
By your salty ways
I could not process
Lost all that is tang-able
As you relished in
My demise
A bit of a cheesy quadrille for dVerse Poets Pub.
Stop by and join in the fun with 44 words.
I was painted pain purple
By words grayed and grimed
But I found my own still life
Speckled in sunbeam yellow
Waterfall tears tinting my
Rainbow soul
I am nature’s canvass
Wide eyed and waiting
Saturated in earth’s tones
Ivy swirls on jagged stone
We are painting our own portraits with words this week over at dVerse .
A wonderful prompt by Lillian. Hope you can join in too!
“Same view from where I am
grass and sky and trees
Please let me travel elsewhere
to see the sea”
Journey me
Ferry me gently
To new horizons
Then…let…me…go
I’ll be the fizzle
In the seafoam
The iridescent dazzle
Of sun satiny shores
Dance me dizzy
Until I fall giggly into
Cotton batten clouds
Quilted for me
Journey me
To the sea
We have begun a week long celebration for our 5th Anniversary of dVerse Poets Pub. Grace started us off with an interview with Brian Miller, co-founder of dVerse. Today we are writing quadrilles including the word “journey”. During our two week break, we were very saddened to lose one of our most active participants, a very talented poet, Viv Blake. I was inspired by her poem, “Rooted” as I wrote this piece. This one’s for you, Viv.
There was that one time
When roses did not seem so
Clichéd
She opened the guitar case
Lo and behold a dozen
Long stem intentions spoke
To her in petals and posies
Laughing at every thorn
And jagged edge
Nurturing her delusions
Of love
Written for our last Quadrille Monday before we take a brief summer break over at dVerse Poets Pub. Bjorn has given us the word “rose” to be used in a 44 word poem, excluding the title. Doors open at 3 p.m. EST.
Image credit: pixabay.com
Sit a spell and
Spill with me
Words
‘Til all we have to till
Are recycled revelations
Composted conversations
Speak philosophy
Of fallen trees
In vacant forests
Did you hear it?
Meta my physics
Prove me wrong
Let’s put it in a
Nitty-gritty nutshell
A quirky little quadrille for dVerse. De is our host and “spill” is the word she has asked us to include in our 44 word poem. Come on over!
B r e e z e on by me
Take your tail spin
For a whirlwind
I am marsh mellowed
Sun ripened
Rooted with the reeds
You are dragon winged
Mud flinging
Bumbling with the bees
I’m a water lily lulled
Cattail nap
You got that?
I am breezy
It’s our 10th Quadrille Monday over at dVerse. Get in on the 44 word fun! Bjorn chose the word “breeze”.
I remember the green
That took you to lowlands
Con-caved and shallow
Where pools of jealousy
Sat stagnant brooding, breeding
You were like a life-size mosquito
Feeding frantically on bad blood
Spitting out spite, always right
Green grew on you
I didn’t envy you
A Quadrille consisting of 44 words and Grace has asked us to incorporate the word, “green”. That is what we are up to at dVerse. You can join in too. Please do! Doors open at 3 p.m. EST.
Out on a limb
Poised and pretty
She is downright gritty
Minutes slip fast
Beyond her grasp
She is stalling on a
Tight rope act
And there’s the twist
She is falling like a
Polished death spiral
Gone viral
Scruples clenched
In both hands
We are serving up some quadrilles at dVerse Poets Pub! What’s a quadrille? A poem with exactly 44 words and this week, Grace has asked to include the word “twist”.
I lie in layers
Of lost and found
Dulling twinkles
Ups and downs
A back float babble
To clouds aloof
I am sun striped
Mis-typed ribbons
Caught between waves
Of dim and dimmer
But I shimmer
Against my own
Little piece of the sun
A quadrille written for dVerse.
Her thoughts drifted
With shaving cream clouds
Reshaping themselves
Like her dreams
Baby blue backgrounds
Beckoned her
Softer landings
Welcomed her
With raspberry tarts
And bubble milk tea
Embracing the orb of night
She took to the sky
S l o w l y
Rising gracefully
To the stars
De is hosting over at dVerse Poets Pub today. We are writing quadrilles of exactly 44 words incorporating the word “bubble”. Fun stuff!
Before the flood
Red maple trees stood majestic
Sweeping skies with wispy limbs
Bent on tickling castaway clouds
While chickadees played in the boughs
Lulled by waters weeping, seeping
The forest surrendered to the marsh
Stumps decayed, withered and weary
Forsaken but fastened still
Written for dVerse where Bjorn has asked us to write a quadrille of exactly 44 words. Fun stuff.
I danced shadows to shield you
Magnificent steps
Choreographed sweetly
To the beat
Of my breaking heart
You wore my shoes
Heavy with irony
Shuffled down trustworthy trails
Longing to fly barefoot
Across murky dark oceans
Only to dangle your toes
Between shark’s teeth
We are writing quadrilles at Dverse Poets Pub.
