' Live-Poets Society ' – A Corner For Poetry

[AC Benus]

On 8/9/2017 at 5:56 PM, BDANR said:

I wrote some lyrics of my Monday morning the other day if anyone cares to read it!

 

 

I sent you some comments in PM form  

 

I certainly them and they fit the challenge 

[mogwhy]

5 minutes ago, AC Benus said:

Something I posted here. The reactions to this poem intrigue me.... Let me know what you think. 

 

Tony Sonnet No. 66

Love is a prism that refracts the light

And bends the loved one into his base parts – 

Split into jewel tones he rises in sight 

More gleaming than has the power of arts. 

Sometimes with you, I have to use my hand,

Draw it up to my forehead to make shade,

Because your light is more than I can stand,

And when it burns brightest, I am afraid.

But the crystal pure that is deep inside

Filters out every harshness for my eyes

To show me the pure you and where you abide 

Channeled into color that never dies.

     Rainbow arcs fleetly grace the sky in a storm,

     But prism bands live always in perfect form.

 

 

_

 

i like it. i read the comment about the Monkees and the song Only Shades of Gray going through my head as i read this, which led to my gut reaction to be: it describes shades of love. all of them

[AC Benus]

1 minute ago, mogwhy said:

 

i like it. i read the comment about the Monkees and the song Only Shades of Gray going through my head as i read this, which led to my gut reaction to be: it describes shades of love. all of them

Thanks, Moggy. I appreciate it. 

[Parker Owens]

7 hours ago, AC Benus said:

Something I posted here. The reactions to this poem intrigue me.... Let me know what you think. 

 

Tony Sonnet No. 66

Love is a prism that refracts the light

And bends the loved one into his base parts – 

Split into jewel tones he rises in sight 

More gleaming than has the power of arts. 

Sometimes with you, I have to use my hand,

Draw it up to my forehead to make shade,

Because your light is more than I can stand,

And when it burns brightest, I am afraid.

But the crystal pure that is deep inside

Filters out every harshness for my eyes

To show me the pure you and where you abide 

Channeled into color that never dies.

     Rainbow arcs fleetly grace the sky in a storm,

     But prism bands live always in perfect form.

 

 

_

 

I liked the way you look at refraction and diffusion of light as metaphors, contrasted with white brightness. There are dozens of ways to approach light in this way, but I think this is wonderfully apt.

[MrM]

I love the trailing couplet:

 

"Rainbow arcs fleetly grace the sky in a storm,

     But prism bands live always in perfect form."

 

It's like romantic soul candy for a dreary Monday morning!

:hug: @AC Benus

[Parker Owens]

1 hour ago, MrM said:

I love the trailing couplet:

 

"Rainbow arcs fleetly grace the sky in a storm,

     But prism bands live always in perfect form."

 

It's like romantic soul candy for a dreary Monday morning!

@AC Benus

 

'Soul Candy!'  Love it...and the sonnet, too! 

 

PS. It's double feature poetry day.  Find two new offerings at these spots:

https://www.gayauthors.org/story/parker-owens/occasionalpoetry/74
https://www.gayauthors.org/story/parker-owens/spice-rack/17

 

[Parker Owens]

And today marks the end of Occasional Poetry. The last installment, Two Last Sonnets can be found here. https://www.gayauthors.org/story/parker-owens/occasionalpoetry/75

[Parker Owens]

A poem for a late summer morning:

 

Dawn dew,

silvered spiders

in green shadowed grasses

reap their incautious harvests from

the night;

hushed birds

ponder the light's late arrival,

mating songs forgotten,

as they recall

winter. 

[Mikiesboy]

2 minutes ago, Parker Owens said:

A poem for a late summer morning:

 

Dawn dew,

silvered spiders

in green shadowed grasses

reap their incautious harvests from

the night;

hushed birds

ponder the light's late arrival,

mating songs forgotten,

as they recall

winter. 

lovely .. and i'll forgive you as i sit here in shorts about the fact you used the 'w' word in August  xoxox

[Parker Owens]

33 minutes ago, Mikiesboy said:

lovely .. and i'll forgive you as i sit here in shorts about the fact you used the 'w' word in August  xoxox

 

I humbly beg your pardon for using that word. Better that than the s-word. Thanks...

[Valkyrie]

1 hour ago, Parker Owens said:

A poem for a late summer morning:

 

Dawn dew,

silvered spiders

in green shadowed grasses

reap their incautious harvests from

the night;

hushed birds

ponder the light's late arrival,

mating songs forgotten,

as they recall

winter. 

This is beautifully descriptive.  Dewy spiderwebs are very beautiful, especially when the sun glints off of them.  I love "incautious harvests".  Great job, Parker.  

[Mikiesboy]

37 minutes ago, Parker Owens said:

 

I humbly beg your pardon for using that word. Better that than the s-word. Thanks...

oh Parker xoxo

[mollyhousemouse]

1 hour ago, Parker Owens said:

A poem for a late summer morning:

 

Dawn dew,

silvered spiders

in green shadowed grasses

reap their incautious harvests from

the night;

hushed birds

ponder the light's late arrival,

mating songs forgotten,

as they recall

winter. 

hello @Parker Owens lurking here again has uncovered another gem

thank you for sharing it

[dughlas]

It was in the upper 70's at dawn with 98% humidity. I never gave winter a thought but it is coming. Thank you for reminding me of the wonders of a summers morn when all my mind could consider was ... "ugh."

[Parker Owens]

1 hour ago, mollyhousemouse said:

hello @Parker Owens lurking here again has uncovered another gem

thank you for sharing it

 

Thank you - I don't mean to lurk like a monster under the bed; I just come and go, like the seasons. Or something.

[Mikiesboy]

some Queer history from a man who lived it   i nearly missed it

[Parker Owens]

1 hour ago, Mikiesboy said:

some Queer history from a man who lived it   i nearly missed it

 

Read it, tears forming. Reviewed it. tim linked us to something very important. 

[northie]

1 hour ago, Parker Owens said:

Read it, tears forming.

Me, too. I wonder if anywhere is compiling an oral queer history - witnesses like the author may be silenced all too soon, yet their individual stories are hugely important.

[Valkyrie]

29 minutes ago, northie said:

Me, too. I wonder if anywhere is compiling an oral queer history - witnesses like the author may be silenced all too soon, yet their individual stories are hugely important.

There are several places that do this.  There's one in particular that's escaping me at the moment... I've watched several video interviews from it, but can't remember the name of the site for the life of me.  Here's a couple of others:  

 

http://makinggayhistory.com/

 

http://rainbowhistory.omeka.net/items/browse?collection=31

[AC Benus]

I thought I'd share this. I've been looking at Ovid's Metamorphoses for a project of mine, and was re-introduced to the stunning poetry translation by Horace Gregory. The man was a master of blank verse, and looking at this excerpt about Orpheus sitting down on the grass, it's almost hard to believe the original Latin is any better than this. (try to recite out loud for full effect, if you can )

 

What do you think...?    

 

One day while walking down a little hill 

He sloped upon a lawn of thick green grass, 

A lovely place to rest — but needed shade. 

But when the poet, great-grandson of the gods, 

Sat down to sing and touched his golden lyre, 

There the cool grass waved beneath green shadows, 

For trees came crowding where the poet sang: 

The silver poplar and the bronze-leaved oak, 

The swaying lina, beechnut, maiden-laurel, 

Delicate hazel and spear-making ash, 

The shining silver fir, the ilex leaning 

Its flower-weighted head, sweet-smelling fir, 

The shifting-coloured maple and frail willow 

Whose branches trail where gliding waters flow; 

Lake-haunted lotus and the greening boxwood, 

Thin tamarisk and the myrtle of two colours, 

Viburnum with its darkly shaded fruit. 

And with them came slender-footed ivy, 

Grapevine and vine-grown elms and mountain ash, 

The deeply wooded spruce, the pink arbutus, 

The palm whose leaves are signs of victory

And the tall pine, beloved of Cybele 

Since Attis, loyal priest, stripped off his manhood, 

And stood sexless and naked as that tree. 

 

---

 

The quote above is from Book X. Here's Gregory's full version online.

https://archive.org/stream/OvidHersiodVirgil22/Ovid__Horace_Gregory_The_Metamorphoses_djvu.txt

Edited August 21, 2017 by AC Benus

[Parker Owens]

@AC Benus yes, yes, a wonderful look st s master of meter. Thank you for this. 

[mogwhy]

it's lovely and sounds great out loud. i only had to look up 4 of the trees. i knew all the rest. i do have question: what is "blank verse"?

[AC Benus]

3 minutes ago, mogwhy said:

it's lovely and sounds great out loud. i only had to look up 4 of the trees. i knew all the rest. i do have question: what is "blank verse"?

See here, but it's basically verse that's un-rhymed, and made up of ten-syllable lines   

 

https://www.gayauthors.org/forums/topic/40138-poetry-prompt-7-blank-verse/#comment-505631

 

Edited August 21, 2017 by AC Benus

[Mikiesboy]

7 minutes ago, AC Benus said:

I thought I'd share this. I've been looking at Ovid's Metamorphoses for a project of mine, and was re-introduced to the stunning poetry translation by Horace Gregory. The man was a master of blank verse, and looking at this excerpt about Orpheus sitting down on the grass, it's almost hard to believe the original Latin is any better than this. (try to recite out loud for full effect, if you can )

This poem you've done a wonderful job with AC. the metre and flow are magical  ... thank you for sharing xoxxo

[asamvav111]

The palm whose leaves are signs of victory

And the tall pine, beloved of Cybele 

Since Attis, loyal priest, stripped off his manhood, 

And stood sexless and naked as that tree. 

 

 

The strength of a sacrificed eunuch, awe-inspiring and sublime, like the marble colonnades  of Parthenon, is expressed here in such a phallic way. A study in juxtaposition of contradictions. I applaud the poet.