LOTF Tanka poem Ch.10

Fire´s important
fire cooks the meat, fire
lights the night. Maybe
that´s why chief Jack stole that which
belonged to Piggy, by right.

Tankas

1.
Sitting blakly there
staring out the window pane.
Glued to the cold chair,
mo thought, no feeling, except
the crushing, killing boredom.

2.
Simon tried to banish
their ignorance and their fear.
but frightened boys stabbed
him with their spears, and so brought
strife, in the taking of his life.

3.
What truly is a poem?
Pretty lines made to rhyme, or things
worth more than the average dime?
Man´s great crim, is when he writes,
with words harsh as leaves of thyme.

You Can´t Have It All

But you can have wild blackberries and strawberries,
those that grow untamed on fences,
sweet and tangy,
like gifts from nature.
You can have the comforting warmth
of your dog´s paws pressing up to you at night,
and his cold black nose resting on your cheek.
You can have a cold drink after a hot day,
soothing,
refreshing,
like an oasis in a desert.
You can´t have it all,
but you can have lazy Sundays,
the kind that you stay in bed until 12,
just because you can,
and nothing stops you.
You can have pictures,
the kind freeze a moment in time,
so when you look at them,
you remember,
and you smile or laugh,
as if you traveled back to that day.
You can´t have it all,
but you can enjoy simple pleasures,
like playing Frisbee with your dogs,
a game of pool volleyball with your big brother,
or just a book and a couch.
You can have one of those family moments,
the ones where you remember fondly,
playing Monopoly by lantern-light,
when the electricity goes out.
You can go to sleep on the beach,
lulled to sleep by the lullaby of the waves,
dashing against the sand,
and then foaming back into the sea which birthed them,
and the palm tree´s cool shade,
and its leaves constant rustle,
familiar,
comforting.
You can´t have it all,
but you can have these things.

Poetry Notebook Compilation

Theme: Loss

Come Back!

Description: Loss may be one of the most haunting themes in poetry, in which poets make us acutely feel their emotions as if our own. This is perhaps one of the most recurring themes in both ancient, classic, and modern poetry.

Synopsis: Enclosed here you will find poems made those who lost someone, or themselves, permanently or temporarily, due to sickness, war, time, and other reasons.

War and Children! by Patrice Bennet
The Family Has Been Informed by Roger Elkin
Death Of A Hero by Anonymous
American Soldier´s Wife by Tonya Shore
Seek Not My Heart by Kit McCallum
Scattered Echoes by Todd-Michael St. Pierre
The Cost of Freedom by Ron Tranmer
The Journey by Anonymous
For The Fallen by Laurence Binyon

Peale Green

Benjamin Moore

HC-121

Her prized copper plates,                                                                                                                                             

her only memento of her parents,

the only possession she values.

She takes care of them meticulously.

But six times a year,

When birthdays come,

She opens up the cupboard,

wasted, worn, and old,

but clean.

And she takes out her plates,

to polish them with a torn washcloth.  

Sometimes she wipes them clean with water

from the bucket placed under the leak,

other times with her tears,

but the rag glides over the plates anyways.

Each times she cleans the green film over the copper away,

she sees her prized mementos a little thinner,

sees them wasted, worn, and old.

Till one day, as the rag glided over the smooth surface,

her

precious,

prized,

possessions scattered on the floor,

worn to dust,

as if ashes,

the ashes of her parents,

her last memory of them.

But she stood strong, a rock, a pillar,

letting neither sob,

moan,

nor groan,

hold her hostage,

preventing the grief and regret from swallowing her up.

And when she came to their faithful table,

Scratched, cracked, and gouged over the years,

she set down their normal plates, chipped and cracked,

wasted, worn, and old,

she is still happy, congratulating her son, carefully rationing out portions of their meager meals.

Her husband,

wasted,

worn,

and old beyond his years,

catches her eye and sends a wordless apology.

She nods, the only acknowledgement,

the only inch ceded,

a minuscule chink in her armor,

the one sign of her grief shown.

In the darker hours of the night,

she allows herself to be comforted, but never cries,

knowing she would still repeat her actions if given the chamce,

that the rag would glide over the copper once more,

until it became

wasted,

worn,

weary,

and turned to ashes.

Her husband tells her the news.

He´s been promoted to foreman,

and swears they´ll move out of their old house,

and live a new life.

For once, in a long while,

they feel

new,

happy,

and young.

He swears to buy her a new set of copper plates,

and she smiles and hugs him,

but inwardly, her smile is also sad.

There will only ever be,

one set of copper plates.           

The Knife of Never Letting Go

The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness

Publisher: Candlewick Press

Genre: Fantasy

Where I Got It: It was recommended to me, and when I found it on a shelf I decided to read it.

One Sentence Summary:  Todd Hewitt is the only boy left in Prentisstown. There are no women in Prentisstown, because they were all killed off by a virus that also rendered men able to hear each other´s thoughts.

First Sentence: ¨The first thing you find out when yer dog learns to talk is that dogs don't got nothing much to say.¨

First Chapter Review:   The first chapter introduces the reader to Todd, his dog Manchee and his surroundings. It is explained Todd lives in New Prentisstown, the only settlement left on the planet. The author also explains the history of the planet, which culminated in all women dying, and men being able to hear each other´s thoughts.                                                                                               The author sets up his environment very well, showing the overwhelming gloom and sadness that pervades the town, and the confused jumble of men´s thoughts. We can see Todd´s opinions of the town situation, and the ¨Noise¨, or the thoughts of men.

Verdict: This book easily draws the reader in, with a mysterious secret that Todd attempts to uncover throughout the book, making this a page-turner. It’s the first of a trilogy, and leaves the reader in just the right place to make him/her want to read the sequel, The Ask and The Answer.

Cover Comments: It simply shows the outline of a red knife, obviously a reference to the knife Todd carries with him throughout the book, which is given a clear symbolism. There are faint scrawled letters on the cover, written in the same format that the author uses when writing ¨Noise¨(the thought s of men).

Heart of Darkness

We began well, we were happy. And then---
Things started breaking up

I had a dream a horrid one.
The murmur swelled,
then died away

¨The beast comes out of the sea¨
The assembly was shocked into silence

Noise seemed very loud,
darkness and silence made it so.
A bitter sound
We ought to have left this for daylight

Trunks rubbed each other,
a flurry of wind,
made the palms talk.
A thin wail out of the darkness chilled them,
set them grabbing for each other.

The littleuns were near,
huddled into a tight knot in the grass.

The world, that understandable and lawful world,
was slipping away.
Fear, beasts,
this seemed the breaking of sanity.
Littleuns were staggering away, howling.

The storm broke.

The assembly shredded away.
The sand is full,
of noise and excitement,
scramblings,
screams and laughter.

Dispersed figures came together on the sand.
A wordless rhythm,
mock hunting, hysterical laughter,
real terror.

The beast was...--
mankind´s essential illness,
dirt and decay,
irregular and sketchy,
bogies, big and horrid,
unmentionable, unknown,
watching and waiting.
The gloom in the island.
Darkness, terror,
evil, silence.
A dense black mass that revolves.

The beast is like...
Jack.
A black fire, a heart of darkness,
violent hunters, dirty black caps in the darkness.
Scowling, arrogant, and wild.