OctPoWriMo 2015: Day 26: Every Bride Should Feel Beautiful

Image by Beverly Tan

Every Bride Should Feel Beautiful

Pretty as a picture

The bride on her wedding day

Picture what was in her mind on this most wonderful

Day of her entire life

Wonderful thoughts--you would think so

Life has not been that kind to every girl

So it started back in childhood, this insecurity

Girl is told time and time again that she doesn't measure up

Insecurity, at first a shadow tiptoeing

Up it rises in the silence of her mind

Tiptoeing round the corners of her soul

Mind needling at her more and more as she grows

Soul spirals in a cycle of doubt and shame

Grows within her soul like a seed

Shame as the world becomes more transparent with its message

Seed planted springs forth with full realization

Message that girls who look like her should feel shame

Realization may be subtle like the smell of petrichor

Shame may burst through her like a lightning strike

Petrichor, and the lingering smell of realization

Strike her down with the understanding

Realization that she is short and plump

Understanding that most people see her as ugly

Plump no longer a sweet, childlike quality

Ugly girls are all too common in this world

Quality girls are such a rarity

World where girls are taught to hate the way they look

Rarity for a girl to be able to be confident on her wedding day

Look at her, mired in self-doubt when she should be smiling

Day so full of promise, heart so full of trepidation

Smiling because she loves him so

Trepidation because she fears the spell will be broken

So why can't we make this a world where no girl feels

Broken and ugly on her wedding day

Feels instead like she deserves the best

Day after day, whether celebration or just a day like any other

~Sadie~

Note:

I was very happy on my wedding day. However, I was not an obvious beauty like the lady in the wonderful picture. I was a short, plump Filipina, and part of me kept expecting my husband-to-be to suddenly come to the realization that he was marrying someone that the majority of the world saw as quite homely.

Fortunately for me, my long, lean wizard has never come to see his princess as a toad. After 35 years together (married for 32 of those) we still love each other very much.

How to Loop 101: 

There are no restrictions on meter or syllables or rhyme schemes (YAY!)

BUT we have a few rules!

Take the last word of a line. Skip a line. Use that word as the first word of that line. 

I know, sounds harder than it is, so basically take the last word of the FIRST line and use it as the first word of the THIRD line. Take the last word of the SECOND line and use it as the first word of the FORTH line. Last word of the THIRD line is the first word of the FIFTH line. And it keeps going on and on like that. 

Some people do it by stanzas. 

There is also a variation where there's no skipping and the last word of the line simply becomes the first word of the next line. Simpler, but personally I think it's a LOT harder. 

NaPoWriMo 2015: Day 30: Everything In Reverse

Everything in Reverse

Let me be your angel from above

In this frozen hell

Except for my love

Got nothing left to give

~

You’re an angel from above

In this frozen hell

Will you give me your love

Will your loving heart save me

~

Except my love for you, Baby

I’ve nothing of value to give

My life has gone crazy

This place is a wasteland

~

Except the song that I sing

I have nothing left to give

At the end of everything

I come to you

~

You wouldn’t let me be torn apart

You save me from myself

I feel the warmth of your heart

In this frozen waste

~

Is the love I feel for you

The only thing that matters now

It’s what I always do

I persist

~

I guess it’s the end of my line

Don’t know about the rest of the world

Is this the end of time?

Is this Ragnarok?

~

I give you this song

I’ve nothing left to give

That what we feel is wrong

All the naysayers tell us

~

Love is no crime

I offer you devotion

Let me give you mine

In gratitude for your love

~

Let me bring you peace

If my pain breaks your sweet heart

For making you weep

I’m sorry for my struggles

~

You brought me in from the storm

You saw my struggles

You keep me warm

In this frozen waste

~

We could make a new start

I could be yours forever

Hold me here in your heart

Please won’t you keep me

~

I was drowning in tears

Until I found you

My heart lost in fear

My soul has been robbed

~

Was anything what it seemed

In the whole of my life

You’re more than I dreamed

You’re more than you know

~

To beg you to stay strong

Am I asking too much

Can you return my song

Can you give me your love

~

My voice silenced by fright

My life torn away

Day was swallowed by night

Everything has gone wrong

~

Was anything what it seemed

In the whole of my life

You’re more than I dreamed

You’re more than you know

~

To beg you to stay strong

Am I asking too much

You've been alone for so long

I can see that you’re hurting

~

Can you calm the fear in my chest

Can you heal my spirit

My mind is a mess

My heart is broken

~

Can your love make me well?

Can we bring each other happiness?

Even in this frozen hell

I can see points of beauty

~

Rose

Sadie

and Gem

for Gerry

Notes:

The original poem was created by writing sister Sadie and me (with a little help from a spectral friend, and I don't care if you believe that or not) for my story in progress, Fetch, which I'd really like to get back to working on. It's been a couple of months. Working for a paycheck type work kind of took over my life of late, and that sucks.

Prompt:

For the last day of NaPoWriMo, I’d like you to try an odd little exercise that I have had good results with. Today, I challenge you to write a poem backwards. Start with the last line and work your way up the page to the beginning. Another way to go about this might be to take a poem you’ve already written, and flip the order of the lines and from there, edit it so the poem now works with its new order. This will probably feel a bit strange (and really, it is a bit strange), but it just may help you see the formal “opening” and “closing” strategies of your poems in a new way!

A Heart Thawing in Sub-Zero Temperatures

Image Source

A Heart Thawing in Sub-Zero Temperatures

by

Rose LeMort 

and

Sadie Tagabayan

Note:

This poem (song lyrics, really) is part of a bigger post which was inspired by the picture. If you'd like to see the original post, click here. The post is from the point of view of the Fetch Gerry Clifford, who was a musician during his lifetime. The song is written from Gerry's point of view as well.

A Fetch is the apparition of a person whose body is still alive but badly compromised, so for all intents and purposes, they function as a spirit. 

All I Have to Give

I can see points of beauty

Even in this frozen hell

Can we bring each other happiness?

Can your love make me well?

~

My heart is broken

My mind is a mess

Can you heal my spirit

And calm the fear in my chest

~

I can see that you’re hurting

And have been for so long

Am I asking too much

To beg you to stay strong

~

You’re more than you know

You’re more than I dreamed

In the whole of my life

Was anything what it seemed?

~

Everything has gone wrong

Day was swallowed by night

My life torn away

My voice silenced by fright

~

Can you give me your love

Can you return my song

Am I asking too much

To beg you to stay strong

~

You’re more than you know

You’re more than I dreamed

In the whole of my life

Was anything what it seemed?

~

My soul has been robbed

My heart lost in fear

Until I found you

I was drowning in tears

~

Please won’t you keep me

Hold me here in your heart

I could be yours forever

We could make a new start

~

In this frozen waste

You keep me warm

You saw my struggles

You brought me in from the storm

~

I’m sorry if my struggles

Are making you weep

If my pain breaks your sweet heart

Let me bring you peace

~

In gratitude for your love

Let me give you mine

I offer you my devotion

Love is no crime

~

All the naysayers tell us

That what we feel is wrong

I’ve nothing left to give

So I give you this song

~

Is this Ragnarok

Is this the end of time?

Don’t know about the rest of the world

But I guess it’s the end of mine

~

Still I persist

It’s what I always do

The only thing that matters now

Is the love I feel for you

~

In this frozen waste

I feel the warmth of your heart

You save me from myself

You wouldn’t let me be torn apart

~

I come to you

At the end of everything

I have nothing left to give

Except the song that I sing

~

This place is a wasteland

My life has gone crazy

I’ve nothing of value to give

Except my love for you, Baby

~

Will your loving heart save me

Will you give me your love

In this frozen hell

You’re an angel from above

~

Got nothing left to give

Except for my love

In this frozen hell

Let me be your angel from above

~Gerry Clifford~
as transcribed by

~Rose and Sadie~

OctPoWriMo 2014: Day 18

 Click to enlarge

Seth's Notes:

Hi, I'm Seth. I'm the husband of Sadie, who wrote a couple of (very sweet!) poems this month for the challenge.

Tonight's prompt was very challenging to me. Besides not being the world's greatest poet, I'm not the world's most technologically savvy guy, and I was wondering how I could pull this off without Photoshop, which I don't have. 

What I did was to copy a page from the electronic manuscript, paste it into Word, change the words I didn't want visible to white font, take a screen shot, and then paste the image into Paint and crop it. I didn't know how to erase the proofreading marks, but I think they look kind of cool anyway.

The page I used is from a book by Team Netherworld member Rose LeMort, and I hope you will check it out. Rose's work is inspired by H.P. Lovecraft, Edgar Allan Poe, and Stephen King, and the result is very spooky. Just click the image of the book to learn more.

OctPoWriMo 2014: Day 2

Copyright: kesu87 / 123RF Stock Photo

Two

He said "I want to marry you and live as two"

I said I wanted to do that too

Others sneered at what we proposed to do

They said we would never last as two

They said you think it's fun when it's brand new

But love will fade when you become more than two

We were still pretty young when we two became three

We were often too tired, but we were still happy

Four years later, we added one more

Going from a family of two to a family of four

Others said we couldn't last too much longer

To their surprise, our love just got stronger

Three years later, we brought home number five

They said for sure we two would no longer survive

We two have been strong now for thirty-two years

Countering the infinite, bleak predictions of our peers

~Sadie~

Note:

When my husband and I got married, we were pretty well fresh out of high school. He was eighteen, and I had recently turned nineteen. We had a lot of relatives (mostly mine) as well as some so called "friends" saying repeatedly that young romances didn't last. They gave us five years at the most. They made a lot of interesting predictions that he would cheat on me, because, apparently, no young man can go without inserting his manhood into any available orifice.

These predictions became even more prolific when I gave birth to our first daughter at the age of twenty-one. My husband was a very devoted father. He enjoyed spending time with his child. Some of his friends liked to brag about their party exploits to show him what he was missing out on, but he never thought he was missing out on much. My husband is not that much of a drinker. He likes a couple of beers while watching a football game. On a few occasions I've seen him a bit tipsy, but he doesn't like to get full-on, stumbling drunk--never has.

These predictions of doom continued through the births of our second and third daughters. After the birth of our youngest, there were also predictions that my husband might turn into King Henry the Eighth out of disgust that I hadn't managed to produce a male heir. He set straight those who suggested that he was upset with me for having only daughters by educating them on the fact that it was actually his chromosome that determined the sex of our offspring. 

We can't entirely distance ourselves from the negative relatives, but we don't see them that often. We did distance ourselves from the negative friends, who thought we were boring stick-in-the-muds anyway. I'd rather be a stick-in-the-mud than a doomsayer. It's one thing to express concern about a couple getting married at a very young age, it's quite another to continually predict that their romance will end in despair.

Thirty-One

Copyright: joophoek / 123RF Stock Photo

The year I turned 31

Our oldest girl turned ten

Our middle daughter turned six

And our baby girl turned three

That year marked my twelfth wedding anniversary

And the fifteenth anniversary of being a couple

Some folks think I did things too fast

That I got married and had babies too young

That at thirty-one, I had too much on my plate

Maybe that would be the case

For some who did things the way I did

But for me, it turned out just right

For Seth and me, it wasn't just desire

We were friends before we fell in love

We've been the best of friends through everything

And I think that's why it works

He never felt I tied him down or trapped him

We supported each other through school

We both changed diapers 

We took turns staying up at night through teething

Eventually, we both finished our education

I ended up a nurse

He, a high school counselor

Nothing fancy, but something that felt right

Just like our house

And the cars we drive

Some say he's too tall and skinny and I'm too short and fat

But I think we're just right

I thought so when I was thirty-one

I still think so today

And I think I will on every birthday yet to come

~Sadie~

Written for The Reverie