Author: Katherine

Poetry writer and author

Human equality

Racism oppresses its victims, but also binds the oppressors, who sear their consciences with more and more lies until they become prisoners of those lies. They cannot face the truth of human equality because it reveals the horror of the injustices they commit.
Read more at: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/racism.html

I was reading a fascinating book by Stephen Frosh who points out that racism affects the racists  badly as well as the victims because the racists see their society as endangered by these “other” people.I had not thought of that before.
The book is called “Feelings:a short introduction.” by Stephen Frosh

Imprisoned spirits

How like a prison is my cubicle;
A prison,a trap, a cell,a place of fear.
For humans,this is truth indubitable;
We need to roam ,to see,to smell,to hear.

Yet in the bureaucrat realm , we must observe,
The rules laid down by generations gone.
And from their ancient code ,we cannot swerve.
Even if by rules we are undone.

Did Archimedes    sail boats  in his bath?
Did Moses fear to see the burning bush?
Did Einstein follow someone’s else’s path?
Did Socrates give voice to utter trash?

Imprisoned spirits are to revolution called.
Unless by Ariel they would be mauled.

Homeless person

You who never knew a home
Never feel quite free to roam.
Fall into your cosy bed.
And roam free in your dreams instead.

A friend who never texts you back
Cares not that he care may lack.
‘T is a proof that he would rather
Be self absorbed than do a favour.

If your husband gives you money,
Sends you out to buy more honey.
‘T is a proof of his sweetness.
Therefore goodnight and may God bless.

 

 

What to eat for dinner,what to wear

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What to eat for dinner what to wear
When to start to write,and what to bare
When to clear the  rubbish,take a break
When to throw stuff out or make a cake.

When to  think of my vocation in this life
When to be myself and when a wife.
When to clean and polish my own words
When to wash the pots and feed the birds.

Hierarchical my needs and wishes are
Yet randomly I act with unthought care.
When to write a list of what to do.
When to rest and, melancholy, think of you.

Do I feel the world’s a better place because I write?
Do I pass the time in fear of what awaits?
Do I need to take a long retreat?
If I am a  poet,I’m a beat.

Widows  have no obligations  like a  wife
In this way it is a simpler life.
Yet the word defines us by our man
Even though he’s lost and gone again.

The loving gaze

What constitutes us  is the loving gaze
We’re held and seen  and so we know ourself
Long shadows from the past and childhood days
Connect us to the life   in us displayed
Words come later,phrase by holy phrase.
Freely given love’ s our  human wealth
What constitutes us  is the loving gaze
We’re held and seen  and so we know ourself

Breath

Sometimes writing makes me breathe differently.
I can see the silence settle around me,
Like a prayer shawl.
i accept it gratefully.
There’s a thin feeling to the day
As if the sun might have tried harder
to come through
But it had a blue feeling
And the clouds were greedy,
Wanting too much to melt
And shed their moisture.
Some perfume please,I think it was £27.99
Yes,I like that one even more than jasmine oil.
Pour it down over London
Like a blessing.
A black woman laughed and patted my arm,
You’re so funny,she cried.
And I smiled coyly
As if someone hidden was taking my photograph.
Sometimes life’s too sweet
And needs a little pepper.
The chair creaks as I lean forward
Trying to see everything at once
As if it all happened now,not yesterday.
Where is yesterday today?

Triolets:No more

P1000273 2=3

 

The new short poems are triolets,or similar to triolets.You can look it up in the first  poem of today.They are  like villanelles but shorter and easier though I find all poems in form are difficult.But it is a good idea  to learnt the forms.I have been rather slow in learning them.In these forms and in the rondeau which derive from song there is more repitition that in other kinds of poetry

The face that was familiar is no more
Yet in my dreams ,he is alive again
If ,by a chance, his life could be restored
It would affect me like the hidden chord
That  if were played, my  own  life would  be o’er
That one must live and one must die is plain
The face that was familiar is no more.
Yet in my dreams ,he is alive again

Oh. happy mean;oh centre that can hold!

Enriched with age, we  suffer from the cold,
Yet torrid heat’s   a danger to the heart.
The passion that a youthful one  just moulds
Would kill  some  humans old and over-bold.
Oh.  happy mean;oh centre that can hold!
This will give  us one fine place to start.
Enriched with age,  we  learn to deal with cold
Yet torrid heat  still threatens fragile hearts

Note:

Slouching towards Bethlehem by W B Yeats  has the line,The centre cannot hold

 

By a liar

The sun burns like  the Richmond blacksmith’s fire
Fierce flames   are  gleaming by   the sides of  clouds
The weather forecast is constructed by a  liar
To hide the  knowledge  of funereal pyre
The Social Contract  melts ; the flames fly higher
The dead are gathered  in;the fields are ploughed
Silently we say goodbye, without a choir
The sun burns like  the Richmond blacksmith’s fire
Fierce flames   are   glowing  by  the sides of clouds

What journalists should not say

It might be interesting to write a poem out of these phrases

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/to-be-sure-journalists-can-avoid-cliches/2013/03/22/71578f54-9318-11e2-8ea1-956c94b6b5b9_print.html?utm_term=.e519dbde167f

 

At first glance

As a society (or “as a nation”)

Observers

Pundits say (or “critics say”)

The American people (unless in a quote)

The narrative (unless referring to a style of writing)

Probe (as substitute for “investigation”)

A rare window (unless we’re talking about a real window that is in fact rare)

Begs the question (unless used properly — and so rarely used properly that not worth it)

Be that as it may

It is important to note that

Needless to say

[Anything] 2.0 (or 3.0, or 4.0 . . .)

At a crossroads

Inside the Beltway

Outside the box/Out of the box

Underscored

Midwife (as a verb that does not involve childbirth)

Palpable sense of relief

Rorschach test (unless it is a real one)

The Other

Effort (as a verb)

Gestalt/Zeitgeist

Little-noticed (that just means the writer hadn’t noticed it)

The [anything] community

Hastily convened

Ignominious end

Tightly knit community

In the final analysis

At the end of the day

Literally (unless quoting Vice President Biden)

Ultimately (especially as first word of last graf)

Redux

Rise of the 24-hour news cycle (it rose a long time ago)

Remains to be seen

Feeding frenzy/feeding the frenzy

Double down

[Anything]-gate

Dons the mantle of

Political theater

Hot-button issue

Face-saving compromise

The argument goes (or its cousin, “the thinking goes”)

Shutter (as a verb)

Part and parcel

Demurred

It is what it is

The new normal

Paradigm shift (in journalism, all paradigms are shifting)

Unlikely revolutionary (in journalism, all revolutionaries are unlikely)

Unlikely reformer (in journalism, all reformers are unlikely)

Grizzled veteran (in journalism, all veterans are grizzled — unless they are “seasoned”)

Manicured lawns (in journalism, all nice lawns are manicured)

Rose from obscurity (in journalism, all rises are from obscurity)

Dizzying array (in journalism, all arrays make one dizzy)

Withering criticism (in journalism, all criticism is withering)

Predawn raid (in journalism, all raids are predawn)

Sparked debate (or “raised questions”)

Ironic Capitalizations Implying Unimportance of Things Others Consider Important

Provides fresh details

But reality/truth is more complicated (oversimplify, then criticize the oversimplification)

Scarred by war

Main Street vs. Wall Street

Shines a spotlight on (unless there is a real spotlight that really shines)

No silver bullet

Shifting dynamics

Situation is fluid (code for “I have no idea what is going on”)

Partisans on both sides

Charm offensive

Pushback

Going forward

Stinging rebuke

The proverbial TK (“proverbial” doesn’t excuse the cliche, just admits you used it knowingly)

Fevered speculation

Oft-cited

Iconic

Growing body of evidence (in journalism, no bodies of evidence ever shrink)

Increasingly (unless we prove in the story that something is in fact increasing)

Tapped (as substitute for “selected” or “appointed”)

Any “not un-” formulation (as in “not unsurprising”)

There, I said it (more self-important than “voicey”)

To be sure

Read more from Outlook, friend us on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter.

© The Washington Post

When my mind is still confused by sleep

When my mind is still confused by sleep
I’m relaxed and I’m  full  of  hopeful dreams
The  sudden  shocks of  memory  make me  weep
The feelings  of my love are strong and  deep
But when with strangers I must be discreet
Avoid the talk of men and  wily schemes
When my mind is still confused by sleep
I am relaxed with  head  of joyful dreams

For  some  invite me to a dating site
And some  avoid me,   dreading I may tempt
They fear my glowing eyes so clear and  bright
Still visible without electric light
They think I’ll  pull  their man  with all my might
So now I try to look wild and unkempt
Lest  some  invite me to a dating site,
And some reject me  fearing I will tempt.

Embellish

 http://www.merriam-webster.com/word-of-the-day

Embellish

play

verb im-BELL-ish

Definition

1 : to make beautiful with ornamentation : decorate

2 : to heighten the attractiveness of by adding decorative or fanciful details : enhance

Examples

Kevin later admitted that he may have embellished the truth about the size of the dog that chased him out of the yard.

“On Snapchat, where users embellish their selfies with emoji, crayon scribbles, and elaborate ‘lenses’ that cover their faces with virtual masks, marketers like McDonalds are seizing the opportunity to write their messages across people’s faces.” — Amanda Hess, The New York Times, 20 June 2016

 

Did You Know?

Like its synonyms adorn, ornament, and garnish, embellish means to make something beautiful by the addition of a decorative or fanciful feature. Traditionally, the word is used specifically to stress the addition of superfluous or adventitious ornament, as in “The printer embellished the page with a floral border.” Embellish differs from its synonyms, however, in that it is sometimes used in a euphemistic way to refer to the inclusion of details that are not necessarily true to make a story sound more appealing. The word derives via Middle English from the Anglo-French verb embelir, from en– and bel (“beautiful”).

Loss

“When we suffer anguish we return to early childhood because that is the period in which we first learnt to suffer the experience of total loss. It was more than that. It was the period in which we suffered more total losses than in all the rest of our life put together.”
― John Berger

Late summer weighs us down with sullen heat

 

Photo0500http://www.baymoon.com/~ariadne/form/triolet.htm

 

Late summer weighs us down with sullen heat

Even cats and dogs sit still as stones

Gone are early flowers with fragrance sweet

Late summer weighs us down with sullen heat

The hot flagstones  make music of my  beat

As people  wander brandishing their phones

Late summer weighs us down with sullen heat

Even cats and dogs sit still as stones

Clothing

 

 

Islamic-Clothing-for-WomensIf we had a law like the French about conspicuous religious clothing would it affect Indian women wearing saris and Jewish people in Stamford Hill wearing special clothing?
I expect some  do but should we compel them ?

I feel it is really Muslim clothes they hate

 

Moonlight Monologue for the New Kitten Péter Kántor

The old kitten is replaced by a new baby kitten
the old dog by a new pup
like a dead Monday by Tuesday.

They stroke the new kitten in their laps
so that their excess affection won’t go sour,
so that it will love them in return, like the old one did.

But for me they aren’t replaceable,
not the kitten, not the Monday, not anything else;
for me they never die.

They only distance themselves, or dwell in me
disappearing into the distance: they dwell in my heart and ears,
like the Moonlight Sonata dwells in a piano.

Gone? No new rain rinses the shower-scent
of an old Monday from me,
no matter how hard it pours, hisses, stream

Black Cat Rainer Maria Rilke, 1875 – 1926

A ghost, though invisible, still is like a place
your sight can knock on, echoing; but here
within this thick black pelt, your strongest gaze
will be absorbed and utterly disappear:

just as a raving madman, when nothing else
can ease him, charges into his dark night
howling, pounds on the padded wall, and feels
the rage being taken in and pacified.

She seems to hide all looks that have ever fallen
into her, so that, like an audience,
she can look them over, menacing and sullen,
and curl to sleep with them. But all at once

as if awakened, she turns her face to yours;
and with a shock, you see yourself, tiny,
inside the golden amber of her eyeballs
suspended, like a prehistoric fly.

Serious art that is funny

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https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/text/serious-art-thats-funny-humor-poetry

 

Quote:

“Carolyn Forché, someone who has never been accused of being a funny poet, has said “irony, paradox, surrealism . . . might well be both the answer and a restatement of [Theodor] Adorno’s often quoted and difficult contention that to write poetry after Auschwitz is barbaric.” But what did the philosopher and critic Adorno mean by this fatuous statement? No poetry? Or just a very, very serious and earnest poetry? Because, let’s face it–earnestness is almost always bad art. Good art makes us think; it has more questions than answers. Often, but not always, satire does this too. But earnestness almost never does this–that’s not its job. Earnestness is comforting. It wants to hug us. And we want to be hugged sometimes. But sometimes we want to laugh while poking holes in self-righteousness and oppression, whether it be literal political oppression or oppression of a quieter sort – cultural and aesthetic oppression. Irony and satire are such a good antidote to oppression because oppression needs to be earnest (or at least look earnest) in order to be feared by those it seeks to cow. Oppression cannot work alongside irony because it believes in its own righteousness and a monolithic concept of truth that must be asserted to the oppressed with a straight face. Irony and satire are the tools by which the oppressed get to make fun of the oppressors without the oppressors getting it.”

Where nude police with guns strut stiffly by.

He says we’re going to bed this afternoon
As melancholy  clouds  droop from the sky
I like the sun to  fry, to heat my womb

I like the flowers each with its  dull dead blooms
On burning   grass with him, I sinned to  fly.
He says we’re getting bail this afternoon

If there is no sun, there is no  moon.
If  we cannot stalk, then we can lie.
I out my sins  to  thrive, to bring  down Rome

I    scorn the  beach, where Europe showed it’s ruined
Nude starched police with guns strut  stiffly by.
He says we’ll have  the climax   S & hemmed,

I sing in tunes invented by my clones
I would be dumb  yet how the grey ghosts sigh
I  hear the sunbeams screaming in the Zone

 

If  it’s   very hot I have  clothes my own
Burkinis  are  the   big hits of today
They says we’re going to Jail this afternoon
I  hope that God will speak  and  throw us down

Hermaphrodites can do it all and tweet!

 

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Every cloud its silver lining has
Get your sheets white using mega Daz
Finders may be keepers in some hands
I keep my hair on with elastic bands.

Whiskas cat food’s  quite enough for me
The cat eats  all my dinner  in the tree
Remember  not to roll on mossy banks
Rolling stones may tumble on your flanks

I had a bird in my hands just the once
My parents looked at this and ,cripes, they winced
They made my punishment fit my so called crime
So now I live free doing my own Time   [jail in UK]

Too many cooks can spoil my broth today
For soup’s unsuitable in summer gay.
I’m marrying a   clever maid who’s also sweet
Hermaphrodites can do it all and tweet!

You may be cutie pie and like free love
But I prefer an eagle to a   dove
Yet love  needs payment , even  round the bend
In the end  lies the beginning  of the penned

5 ways to start writing a poem

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http://www.writersdigest.com/editor-blogs/poetic-asides/advice/5-ways-how-to-write-a-poem

5 Ways :How to Write a Poem

By: | January 31, 2012

  

 

Okay, so there are probably about a million ways how to write a poem, but the five methods below help me when I’ve been stuck in a rut. If you have other ways to get those poems started, then feel encouraged to share in the comments below.

Here are 5 ways how to write poetry:

  1. Capture a moment. One trap I can sometimes fall into is that I try to write the big poem or the poem filled with ideas (like love, hate, etc.). What always works better, for me anyway, is to focus on one moment that expresses an emotion or works as a metaphor for a bigger idea.
  2. Steal a conversation. My first chapbook includes a poem titled “Eavesdropping,” which is basically several conversations I overheard while in airport terminals. I took notes in the terminals and worked on the poem while doing my laundry at a laundromat. Listening to others can kickstart poems, because you’ll hear things you would never say or think yourself.
  3. Describe something or someone. Specificity strengthens a poem, and it’s hard to get more specific than throwing all your attention toward one thing or person. The only trap with these poems is that they can sometimes read like lists.
  4. Respond to something. Response poems have been around forever. In fact, an argument could be made that all poems are response poems. To what could your poem respond? For starters, you could respond to another poem, a piece of art, something someone said to you, a cool-looking car, etc. Nothing is off limits.
  5. Use someone else’s line. This is kind of like eavesdropping, I suppose, but there are poems that will take a line from another person’s poem and make that the first line. In this tradition, it is also good form to mention the poem is “after (poet’s name here).” How this can help is that you’ve already got a great line out of the way–and just need to write the rest of the poem.

Be a better writer

http://99u.com/articles/7082/25-insights-on-becoming-a-better-writer

Photo1525

Jennifer Egan: On being willing to write badly…

[Be] willing to write really badly. It won’t hurt you to do that. I think there is this fear of writing badly, something primal about it, like: “This bad stuff is coming out of me…” Forget it! Let it float away and the good stuff follows. For me, the bad beginning is just something to build on. It’s no big deal. You have to give yourself permission to do that because you can’t expect to write regularly and always write well. That’s when people get into the habit of waiting for the good moments, and that is where I think writer’s block comes from. Like: It’s not happening. Well, maybe good writing isn’t happening, but let some bad writing happen… When I was writing “The Keep,” my writing was so terrible. It was God-awful. My working title for that first draft was, A Short Bad Novel. I thought: “How can I disappoint?”

Emotions and desires with syntax meet

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/resources/learning/glossary-terms/detail/foot

 

Poetic form, oh architecture  sweet,
Sonnet,terza  rima,villanelle;
Let me   sense your truth in  sentence  neat

Emotions and desires  with syntax meet;
The sentences,   like waves, each softly swells.
Poetic form, oh architecture  sweet.

Like Shetland lace, the  patterned forms repeat
Oh,draping shawl, be not obsessive hell.
Let me   sense your truth in  sentence  neat

Our language starts as  babbles and small  greets;
From interactions, we  learn words  as well.
Poetic form, oh architecture  sweet.

Poems and music , each  has  rhythmic beat.
Each may give us peace or vital thrill
Let me   sense your truth in  sentence  neat

Underneath the oak trees take your seat.
Read aloud  or silent,as you will.
Poetic form, oh architecture  sweet;
Let me   sense your truth in  sentence  neat