I'm taking a creative writing class in university right now and we are currently doing poetry. I have never written much poetry in my life, so this is largely my first endeavor. It is much harder than writing a story, at least in my opinion, but here are the four poems I am submitting for my assignment:
This first one is my take on a villanelle. For those not familiar with that structure, read "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night" as an excellent frame of reference. The first and third lines are supposed to be repeated as they are in my poem, but I decided to alter the first line each time it appeared later in the poem. I tried my best to do it in iambic pentameter, and pushed the rules a few times, but overall I think this one turned out quite well.
When Grey the Winter Comes
The sun is gone, in fear the world decayed
A man put hand on head of stone and said:
When grey the winter comes, I too shall fade.
And past those trees, just frames, they bear no blade,
Where evil lurks and preys I fear to tread.
The sun is gone, in fear my mind is stayed.
Abandon soul and hope the debt is paid
With life too young, I weep for blood that’s shed.
When grey the winter comes, I too shall fade.
When nightmares call your name, be not afraid,
Heed not their guilty cries, they dream in dread.
The sun is gone, in fear I’ll be unmade.
And dark my thoughts, become a ghost, a shade,
Forgive their sins, forget the hate they’ve fed.
When grey the winter comes, I too shall fade.
And here I kneel, the hole in which you’re laid
Engulfs the tears I eternally shed.
My son is gone, in fear my heart betrayed.
When grey the winter comes, I too shall fade.
***
The next one is about depression, and choosing to fight through it.
Death’s Lullaby
Shadows deepen, wings unfurl and cloak
Of black, hooded man, death’s lord.
Dissonant voice like crumbling mountains, he spoke:
“What gift is life if death is your reward?”
Porcelain moon, pale columns of light
Illuminate my soul, lead me from this barren place.
Reaching out, weary of this fight.
Pieced together, a fragile frozen vase
Frost creeps across the pane of glass,
Edges out the warmth within.
But someday too this cold shall pass
And once more will life begin.
Death leaned close and warm
Was his breath, deviously he smiled.
“I will guide you through this storm,
Lay in my arms and sleep my child.”
Melody of death, haunting lullaby
Drawn to your cold embrace.
Awaken! It is not my time to die,
Your evil I must erase.
The shadowed sky will lighten
And pale moonlight will wane.
No more will I let you frighten.
Dawn breaks, I choose to remain.
***
Just a short little haiku that I wrote in class. These were extremely fun to write, and will probably try my hand at a few more in the future.
Liquid Caress
Water rises, a
Soft gurgle, inches closer
Devours my toes.
***
And finally, a free verse poem. The story for this comes out of the book I am writing, where the main character spreads his wife's ashes in her garden and the flowers die soon after. I really struggled with free verse, I'm not sure why, I thought with my background and experience writing works with no boundaries that free form would be the easiest for me, but it was not the case. I'm not crazy about this poem, but I am still tinkering with it. Title pending.
I take ash to the garden
Singing with tears in my eyes
And sprinkle you amongst
The flowers you groomed.
Reduced to dust, returned to earth,
Falling, falling, falling.
Slipping through fingers
Like hour-glass sand.
Petals blue, petals red
Sap life from you
Return tomorrow to
Rows of skeletons
Bright lovely faces have
Wilted, wilted, wilted.
Where death is spread
Life grows no more.