Showing posts with label tributes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tributes. Show all posts

Monday, July 15, 2019

Carpe Diem Summer Challenge: Moonlight Swim with Jim and Ray


Let's swim to the moon
Dear minstrels of dream vision
Come and set me free
From a world hard and cruel
Bring me melodic beauty

~Cie~


Note:
Me and skinny dipping? Not in this lifetime, Cupcake. But I'm always happy to talk about those who influenced me. Many years ago, the Doors gave me an invitation to swim to the moon. I'm waiting for them to come and take me.


Sunday, October 21, 2018

OctPoWriMo 2018: Day 21: Hideous Death or Merely Misery


Since I have the libido of roadkill
I really couldn't give a rip
Whether it's love or lust
If there was a spark in the dark
I probably didn't notice
My desire is long dead and buried in a desert 
Or a scrap heap
Or a tomb with no view
And I have no intentions of reviving it
Anytime in the near future
Or ever
I'm better off without it
But I am questioning
And I am deciding
Whether this wretched cough
Complete with nasty mucus
Is just a lousy cold
Or if this awful feeling
Like someone set an anvil on my chest
Is in fact the beginnings
Of something quite a bit worse
Like maybe Captain Trips
So my choices boil down to this:
Am I a miserable hypochondriac
Or am I about to leave behind a really vile corpse
For some unfortunate soul to discover
Laying on the couch
Slime running from the eyes, nose, and mouth
Of my putrefying body
Kitchen Nightmares playing on the computer
I will die thinking 
If Gordon Ramsay survives
He will cut Randall Flagg to bits with his words
Thus ends my alternate universe version of The Stand
And now, if you'll excuse me
I must cough up a lung
By now it should come as no surprise
That I don't have a man in my life
My Give-A-Fuck broke a long time ago
No fellow in his right mind wants a partner
With a twisted sense of humor like mine

~Cie~


Wednesday, March 28, 2018

Eldritch Senryu: The Rats In The Walls

"The Rats In The Walls" by KxG Witcher
Inspired by the H.P. Lovecraft tale of the same name

The scampering claws
 Of the rats within the walls
 Drive one to madness
~Cie the Lovecraft Devotee~
Prompts Used:
http://withrealtoads.blogspot.com/2018/03/the-tuesday-platform_27.html
The stars were right, the Cheese Factor was high, the prompts aligned, and this eldritch horror made its way effortlessly into the doomed world. Iä, Iä, Cthulu fhtagn!

Saturday, April 29, 2017

NaPoWriMo 2017: Day 29: Yet Another Raven Raves On



Raven
Black
Night
Flight
Raven
Rave on
Quoth the Raven
Why can't I have you?
Deep cuts the knife
Fight for your life
Our love was true
Flight of the raven
Raving
Rave on
Where have you gone
Why
Should I sit and wonder why
Dark is the sky
The sound of wings beating
Sorrow
Defeating
Deep in the night
Drained of all light
When the knock comes at the door
Raven at night
Cry for the light
Raven
Rave on
The last note sounds
The music box unwound
Step into the night
Run from the light
Deep cuts the knife
Fly like the raven
Into the night
Leave this world behind
Fly far from sight
To join the one I love
On night's Plutonian shore
Quoth the raven
"Rave on!"
And the music begins to play
On the other side of night

~Cie~

For Mr. Poe


Sunday, April 26, 2015

NaPoWriMo 2015: Day 26: Not Easy To Forget

Photoshop by The Real Cie

Not Easy To Forget

I've caused a lot more trouble than I ever intended to
There has been too much grief
Over a simple man whose cognition has gone south

Weeping and mourning do no good
Stop
Go on with your life

I tried not to cause trouble
Tried to pretend everything was all right
I'm like a dying sun setting on a doomed world
I'm sorry for those I let down

I've forgotten everything and everyone
I've forgotten myself

In the scheme of things, I don't matter very much
I don't want to cause any trouble
But at the same time
Everyone wants to matter just a little

Perhaps keep a little bit of me somewhere in your mind

With love From Sally

Notes:
The subject of the poem is a person whose cognition is being eroded by a disease which is literally destroying the structure of his brain.
He was a modest person who didn't like a lot of fuss made over him.
He tried to make out like things were all right during the period of time when he was still functional. He truly didn't want to concern others with his problems.
He is beautiful and brave, and even if he thought that such a humble creature is easily forgotten, he will be remembered as long as the members of Team Netherworld are alive, and, I believe, longer still than that by far.
Bless you, sweet angel.


Prompt:
And now, for our prompt (optional, as always). Our last two prompts have been squarely in the silly zone – this one should give some scope to both the serious-minded and the silly among you. Today, I challenge you to write a persona poem – a poem in the voice of someone else. Your persona could be a mythological or fictional character, a historical figure, or even an inanimate object. Need some examples? Check out this persona-poem-themed issue of Poemeleon from a few years back.


Tuesday, April 21, 2015

NaPoWriMo 2015: Day 21: Erasure

Erasure by The Real Cie

Erasure

Move Like Jagger
hand in my heart
Rip it out
spill blood 

lost my head

wanted to put you in my pocket 
wanted to hug you

So I could see the light turn on in your eyes once again

you always looked a little sad
 I could soothe your sorrow
Cuddle away your blues 

Fucking Midnight Confession style thoughts
About a married man

I want to do bad things with you

What the fuck
Is wrong with the Universe?

you don't create something so beautiful
Just to utterly destroy it

my thoughts are
nowhere near close to as wrong
As what's been done to you

Life is pain
Hope is folly
Confession is good for the tabloids

Some things try to be strong
Although they're actually fragile
want to put you in my pocket
And keep you safe 

For Cie
With love from Aurora

Notes:
The term "erasure" reminded me of the picture that Cie created. I thought that I would take something that Cie wrote and try to condense it down to the bare bones.
The original poem, which I absolutely love, can be found here.

The Prompt:
Our prompt for today (optional, as always) is an old favorite – the erasure! This involves taking a pre-existing text and blacking out or erasing words, while leaving the placement of the remaining words intact. I’ve been working on an erasure project that involves an old guide to rose-growing. Here’s an example of an original page, side-by-side with my “erased” page:
One easy way to get started is just to photocopy a page from a book or magazine, and black out words. Or you can copy a text into Microsoft Word, and turn the words you don’t want white. Erasures can feel almost like a game – carving new poems out of old texts like carving statues from blocks of marble — and so they take some of the anxiety out of writing. They can also lead to surprising new ideas, as the words of the original text are given new contexts.
Happy writing!



Sunday, April 12, 2015

NaPoWriMo 2015: Day 12: Cut to the Chase


Cut to the Chase
The Poem

She can't explain in a way anyone will understand
why she loves him so much
He's tiny, nondescript
most people wouldn't glance a second time

He has shoulder-length hair 
she describes as chestnut brown
and blue-gray eyes with flecks of green 
seem to change color depending on the light

He had a gift for music
 Like her, he was shy
 Unlike her, a success. 
his presence in the world--
the essence of what he was--
saved her life 

She thinks he's so much better than most other people 
He's real and genuine 
he doesn't like it when people hurt each other

Like her, he's had problems
 with that certain black dog 
He fell into a bottle for a while 
had the strength to climb out, and never fell back in. 
Never could quit the damn cigarettes, though

disease destroying his mind
breaks her heart in pieces
so brilliant in her eyes
She once saw him as small but incredibly strong 
She now sees 
one of the most fragile people in the world

She wishes she could protect him 
put the broken pieces of his mind back together 
She believes his soul remains intact
 and will be able to express itself again

Her heart is broken in two
She loves him and can't make people understand why
Most people only see with their eyes
She sees with her heart
She thinks he did too
Perhaps that is why she loves him so much

~Faycin~

The full prose version:
She can't explain in way that anyone will understand why she loves him so much. He's a tiny, nondescript man most people wouldn't glance second time. He has shoulder-length hair she describes as chestnut brown, and blue-gray eyes with flecks of green seem to change color depending on the light. He had a gift for music. Like her, he was shy. Unlike her, he managed to become success. It's good thing he did, because his presence in world--essence of what he was--saved her life. 
Sometimes she's not sure such good thing, but she's always been glad he exists. She thinks he's so much better than most other people. He's real and genuine and he doesn't like it when people hurt each other.
Like her, he's had problems with certain black dog. He fell into bottle for while. He had strength to climb out, and he never fell back in. She admires him so much for .
Never could quit  damn cigarettes, though.
He became extremely ill. disease is destroying his mind, and it breaks her heart in million pieces. He was so brilliant in her eyes. She once saw him as small but incredibly strong for his size.
She now sees  he is one of most fragile people in  world. She wishes she could protect him, she could put  broken pieces of his mind back together. Sadly, his physical brain is shattered and can never be repaired.
She believes his soul remains intact and it will be able to express itself once again when his body has released it.
Her heart is broken in two
She loves him and she can't make people understand why 
Most people only see with their eyes
She sees with her heart
She thinks he did too
Perhaps why she loves him so much

For Cie and Malcolm
Hell with anyone who can't understand why
Some people aren't worth explaining matters of the heart to.

The Instructions:
And now for our prompt! Yesterday’s was a doozy, so today’s is much more laid-back (and optional, as always). It comes to us from Dr. Cynthia A. Cochran of Illinois College:
Here is a great prompt for anyone who likes to write descriptive prose but shudders at writing poetry–and it really works:

Describe in great detail your favorite room, place, meal, day, or person. You can do this in paragraph form.
Now cut unnecessary words like articles and determiners (a, the, that) and anything that isn’t really necessary for content; leave mainly nouns, verbs, a few adjectives.
Cut the lines where you see fit and, VOILA! A poem!


Tuesday, April 7, 2015

NaPoWriMo Day 7: In The End It's Only Paper


He made a fortune
A hundred million dollars
It couldn't save him

~Aurora~



I chose to write a Haiku for today's poetry topic (money) because sometimes too many words just clutter things up. 

Thursday, April 2, 2015

NaPoWriMo 2015 Day 2: Bright as Touched

Supernova Version 5
Photoshop manipulation by The Real Cie

Bright as Touched

Shining star
Star light star bright
Bright eyes
Bright mind
Mind like a trap
Mind like a razor
Razor's edge
Razor cuts
Cut scene
Cut away
Away from it all
Away from home
Home away from home
Home is where the hurt is
Is anybody out there
Is anything real
Real as it gets
Real as it feels
Feels like loneliness
Feels like a dream
Dream of your goals
Dream becomes nightmare
Nightmare when sleeping
Nightmare when waking
Waking at dawn
Waking to confusion
Confusion sets in
Confusion distorts
Distorts your truths
Distorts your life
Life becomes lie
Life becomes loss
Loss of your mind
Loss of your self 
Self loathing
Self lost
Lost little boy
Lost soul
Soul of time past
Soul of the music 
Music brings healing
Music is forever
Forever remembered
Forever loved
Loved very deeply
Loved by those whose lives you touched 
Touched with an angel's wing
Touched with light from the farthest star 
Star 
Wing

Love,
Jess

This is a blitz poem.
It was harder than I thought it would be to write!

Definition 
A form of poetry created by poet Robert Keim in 2008. It is a 50-line poem of short phrases and images. 
The "Blitz" poem is well-named, as the fifty short lines are read in rapid-fire fashion. 
“The form really relies on sound and rapid "flow." ~Rob Keim. 

Here are the rules: Line 1 should be one short phrase or image (like “build a boat”) 
Line 2 should be another short phrase or image using the same first word as the first word in Line 1 (something like “build a house”) 
Lines 3 and 4 should be short phrases or images using the last word of Line 2 as their first words (so Line 3 might be “house for sale” and Line 4 might be “house for rent”) 
Lines 5 and 6 should be short phrases or images using the last word of Line 4 as their first words, and so on until you’ve made it through 48 lines 
Line 49 should be the last word of Line 48 
Line 50 should be the last word of Line 47 
The title of the poem should be three words long and follow this format: (first word of Line 3) (preposition or conjunction) (first word of line 47) 
There should be no punctuation, except for an ellipse after the final two words in lines 49 & 50.

Read more at: http://www.poetrysoup.com/types_of_poems/b



Saturday, January 3, 2015

Diamond Star


The form I'm using here is a Joseph's Star. It is a non-rhyming 8-line poem with a syllable count of 1/3/5/7/7/5/3/1.  Each stanza is center-aligned so that the finished poem is diamond-shaped.

Diamond Star

You
ran out of
time but I cannot
run out of love i still see
you as the most beautiful
star within my heart
i still love
You

~Cie~




This one is my beautiful disaster. I didn't read the instructions first. I have a problem with that! But I like it anyway.

Bittersweet Love

Will breathe
You in and taste
The nourishment of
Your sweet, delicious soul
I want you to breathe me in
And taste the bitterness
Of a life full of loss
Can you heal
A broken
Me

~Cie~

Prompt used:

Thursday, January 1, 2015

The Visitor

The Visitor by Janet Mayled
 
The Visitor
 
The light appears to crest in waves
You dance in my dreams
Bringing with you the ghosts of a million years past
They blow away like smoke on a breeze
But you remain
 
Ethereal like morning mist
Glorious, gossamer shade
Yet more real than all the seemingly essential trappings
Which we greedy humans think we cannot do without
Your unearthly beauty holds fast
 
You strengthen and destroy my heart
Shatter everything I previously held to be true
The mournful ghosts of the past dance behind you
Reflections on a window
You wave your hand and they vanish
 
I wish with all my heart and soul
That I could hold you in my hand
That I could put the broken pieces of you back together
My darling dichotomy
Powerful, broken, beautiful you
 
You are everything that dreams are made of
Sweet ecstasy, beautiful nightmare
Builder and destroyer of worlds
Unicorn in the glass menagerie
I hold the pieces of you in my hands
 
My tears fall like rain on the ground
New year, new day, new loss
Rough winds destroy the darling buds of May
Like the petals of a flower torn apart in a hurricane
The ashes of the lost ones blow away
 ~Cie~
http://jeremysdailychallenge.wordpress.com/2015/01/01/challenge-2015-week-1-1-january-2015/
 
Theme prompt: Reflections on a window
The light appears to crest in waves – Radiance by Wally Swist

Sunday, December 21, 2014

More and Less than Human

 
 
More and Less than Human
 
My eyes have seen you
Perform before ten times a thousand and more
Being onstage got you high
But it also made you panic
 
To perform was always your choice
It was the way that you expressed yourself
Because sometimes it was hard for you to talk
Especially when you needed help
 
You were always willing to help others
But when it came to your own needs, you hit a snag
Perhaps you thought you could sweat it out if you worked hard enough
You thought you could burn your troubles out of your body
 
People like you are more and less than human
In the eyes of your audience
The crowd sees you as both invincible and fatally flawed
You can't win in the arena of public opinion
 
My eyes have seen you
As more lofty than the archangels
As broken as a shattered China cup
As wonderfully and exquisitely anomalous
 
I wish my eyes did not have to see you lose yourself
 
~Cie~
 
 
 
 
http://sundaywhirl.wordpress.com/2014/12/21/wordle-192/
 

Saturday, December 20, 2014

Lonely Dreamer

Image Source

Lonely Dreamer

Lost in lonely dreams
On pillow of leaves and straw
I envision you

~Rose~

Dedicated to Reg Presley, in honor of his beautiful song "Night of the Long Grass"
Rest in peace, Reg.
12 June 1941 – 4 February 2013


Wednesday, December 17, 2014

Aphrodite's Gift

Image by Frances Holly

Aphrodite's Gift

If I could do one thing for you, dear mortal, to ease your pain
I would help you stay hidden so the stars eclipse
And you could slip into thine hour of secrecy
To find the one for whom you long awaiting you
During the eclipse dreams come true
And love is burning diamonds in thy true lover’s breast
Thy desire feeds his need
I would give up any chance for future passion of my own
If I could prepare the ground for a love so beautiful to blossom
To let a quiet spirit and a restless heart find comfort in one another’s arms
Do not repent the dreams that spill from your eyes as tears
Do not deny the goodness in your heart
Do not isolate yourself in shame
Do not fear the embrace of night
When the moon reaches its zenith in the sky
Let your loved one wrap his arms around you
Willingly accept his kisses
Know that he wants you as you do him
Such sweetness will turn sad hearts young
In the darkness, love knows no shame
The true will allows itself to shine
Open your heart to the darkness
And let his light in

~Eleonora~

hidden so the stars eclipse – Our Daily Becoming by Adam Clay

And love is burning diamonds in my true lover’s breast – Summer by John Clare

Into thine hour of secrecy – Spirits of the Dead by Edgar Allan Poe



(Not So) Wordless Wednesday: He Will Not Be Forgotten





Note:
The following song was written about a romantic breakup. It takes on a different connotation when applied to the scenario in which a person is losing their memories but another remembers everything for and about them. I never touched the person whom this post honors. He is something seraphic in my eyes, too good for this ugly world.
I struggled with whether or not to even post this, so if you comment, be decent about it, would ya?



Seven months to the day since I saw your face
You roam the earth like a fire holding out 'til the bitter end
You're holding on 'til the bitter end

I take a walk into town
It's like a dead-end street
The sidewalk sings your name underneath my feet
Echoes of forgotten love

Baby, where did you go?
Did you sail away over some distant ocean?
Darling, what we had
It cannot be taken
It cannot be stolen
And it won't be forgotten
No, it won't be forgotten

Summer disappears like a dream I had
And winter comes with a knife that cuts you down
And it never ends
Ooh, it never ends

I hurry past the place you like to drink alone
Seven months to the day you left me here on this avenue
And now I think of you

Baby, where did you go?
Did you sail away over some distant ocean?
Darling, what we had
It cannot be taken
It cannot be broken
And it won't be forgotten
No, it won't be forgotten

Seven months to the day and you don't leave a trace
I search the cracks in the ground, the tallest buildings
They never knew, oh they never knew

Baby, where did you go?
Did you sail away over some distant ocean?
Darling, what we had
It cannot be taken
It cannot be broken
And it won't be forgotten

Baby, where did you go?
Did you sail away over some distant ocean?
Darling, what we had
It cannot be taken
It cannot be stolen
And it won't be forgotten
No, it won't be forgotten

Cross-Posted to:
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