' Live-Poets Society ' – A Corner For Poetry

[AC Benus]

On 8/5/2018 at 6:19 PM, BDANR said:

@AC Benus, the highlights from you Spring of 90 collection were inspiring. Made me remember what I enjoy about poetry and the rush I get from seeing what others (and you  ) create. Thank you for the post!

This is high praise indeed! Thank you for reading and encouraging me.  

[AC Benus]

On 8/5/2018 at 6:32 PM, Parker Owens said:

 

I really engaged with this one; its images and ideas spoke powerfully, and in a convincing voice. That spring of ‘90 was a great one for all of us, as we are discovering.

Thank you, Parker. That particular poem about the fireflies coming to the end of the season affected me pretty strongly when I posted it. It's great you single it out 

[AC Benus]

day before yesterday I was ill and trying to take a nap, instead I wrote this poem. I'm not sure it relays its message, so please let me know what (if anything) you get out of it. My options are to scrap it; re-try the concept in a totally new poem; or work to fix this one. Opinions...?

 

-----------------

 

from a feverish brain

 

Was time always seen as an absolute

With one moment equaling all the rest;

The current no better than the best

And patience needed firm and resolute...?

But thanks to Einstein it’s in disrepute

That every second from the others wrest

The same potential from the human breast

As the cosmos heartbeat finds substitute.

 

But now we know these points are relative

And by their very nature unequal,

That joy is more fleeting; pain longer-lived;

The slower those hurts, the more they instill

Hopelessness as the commemorative

That outweighs optimism’s dogged skill.

 

 

 

 

_

Edited September 28, 2018 by AC Benus

[Parker Owens]

I like this. It takes on relativity in a way I enjoy thinking about. Definitely worth continuing to work with, in my tiny opinion.

[northie]

I second Parker.   

[Aviana]

Hello everyone...Avians here😊😊😊...How r u all??

 

Here is a small return gift😉

 

"Unheard and unsaid

Words flew in a breath;

Rain washed the wounds, unseen;

Though the pain still throbs within;

In the quivering lips 

Some silent sorrow smiles;

Blindly the world looks at the

Choked joy!"

 

[AC Benus]

4 minutes ago, Aviana said:

Hello everyone...Avians here😊😊😊...How r u all??

 

Here is a small return gift😉

 

"Unheard and unsaid

Words flew in a breath;

Rain washed the wounds, unseen;

Though the pain still throbs within;

In the quivering lips 

Some silent sorrow smiles;

Blindly the world looks at the

Choked joy!"

 

Wonderful to see you back! Great poem; very evocative and heartfelt

[northie]

@Aviana Welcome back! And thanks for the gift. 

 

[Aviana]

Thank you AC Benus n northie...It's so good to be back 😊😊😊

[AC Benus]

Okay, I'm putting this one to bed. I worked some on the sestetto but don't feel like I should monkey around with it anymore. Thanks for your help 

 

--------

 

from a feverish brain 

 

Was time always seen as an absolute

With one moment equaling all the rest;

The current no better than the best

And patience needed firm and resolute..?

Yet, thanks to Einstein, it’s in disrepute

That every second from the others wrest

The same potential from the human breast

As the cosmos-heartbeats might substitute.

 

For now we know these points are relative

And by their very nature unequal,

That joy is more fleeting; pain longer-lived;

'Cuz where the hurts gather, they there instill

Hopelessness as the accumulative

Weight out pacing optimism’s goodwill.

 

 

_

 

Edited August 20, 2018 by AC Benus

[Parker Owens]

On 8/13/2018 at 5:11 PM, Aviana said:

Hello everyone...Avians here😊😊😊...How r u all??

 

Here is a small return gift😉

 

"Unheard and unsaid

Words flew in a breath;

Rain washed the wounds, unseen;

Though the pain still throbs within;

In the quivering lips 

Some silent sorrow smiles;

Blindly the world looks at the

Choked joy!"

 

 

Thank you for this lovely present.

[Parker Owens]

On 8/14/2018 at 11:58 AM, AC Benus said:

Okay, I'm putting this one to bed. I worked some on the sestetto but don't feel like I should monkey around with it anymore. Thanks for your help 

 

--------

 

from a feverish brain 

 

Was time always seen as an absolute

With one moment equaling all the rest;

The current no better than the best

And patience needed firm and resolute..?

Yet, thanks to Einstein, it’s in disrepute

That every second from the others wrest

The same potential from the human breast

As the cosmos-heartbeats might substitute.

 

But now we know these points are relative

And by their very nature unequal,

That joy is more fleeting; pain longer-lived;

For where the hurts gather, they there instill

Hopelessness as the accumulative

Weight out pacing optimism’s goodwill.

 

 

_

 

 

Beautiful, as you consider the unequal weight of each moment, of each quantum of time.

[AC Benus]

Hello, All! I'm working on a fairy tale poem about badgers taking over a Japanese temple. It's called Shojoji, and here is an excerpt  

 

...So the Tanuki leader sent the word;

Far and wide there would be a conference

On how Tanuki souls would be undeterred,

Thinking of ways to shift the human nuisance.

 

The leader’s tummy presided nobly.

Round in finish, it made a great loud thump.

When he pounded it so clear and boldly,

Each assembled wished his tummy that Ka-Plump.

 

“Now, what are we going to do?!” he asked,

Every twinkling badger eye upon him.

“We can grunt under the floorboard!” he tasked,

“Then they’ll think we’re all ghosts. That should scare ‘em!”  

 

The meeting continued in the same way,

Each proposing a bothersome idea

To drive the unsuspecting men away.

At last, the leader chose a panacea:

 

“Ponta and Ponko, we’ll go with your plan.

Hurry up and change into your new forms.”

And with that, around and around they span

Into whirls of badger features like storms. 

 

As talented Tanuki are known to do,

These two could twirl off their regular state

And assume forms that were completely new,

Ones which with their real ones did not relate.

 

Ponta, he whirled up to be a Cyclop;

Ponka, she grew tall to look a Lady.

The leader said, “Now be off, and eavesdrop,”

His whiskers twitched at their plan so shady. 

 

From Shojoji came the Groan-Moan, Moan-Groan

Led by the diligent and loud abbot.

Ponta and Ponko peeked in all alone

To see the boy and his master at it.

 

“You go first,” Ponko said. “Tap his shoulder,

Then when he turns around, give him a cough.”

The two cleverlings never felt bolder,

As Ponta blinking one big eye, trotted off.

 

He sneaked up behind the yet-babbling guest.

Tap, tap. “Rumble-Grumble” the priest still said,

Turning his head to see what was the pest;

“…rum…grum…?” His eyes grew huge as Ponta fled.

 

The white-haired man clacked his beads together;

Sitting there, his hand rubbed his eyes over,

But lips still put word and word together,

Pondering the apparition over. 

 

When he finished his prayers, he tapped the bell,

And waiting, Ponko knew it her signal.

With tea on tray she glided like a gazelle,

Squeaking “Tea, master?” as polite as a gull.

 

“Why yes, my dear,” said the man gratefully,

Glad to wet his thirst on the jade liquid.

Ponko sat down and poured the tea humbly,

Her three-foot long neck wiggling like a squid.

 

“Ahhhhh!” the two men screeched, stumbling for the door,

Then across garden and plain beyond,

One back-glance not followed by anymore

For a place which they were not over-fond.

 

The Tanuki in the treeline chuckled,

Leaping down with glowing exuberance,

Then laughed so hard, their bellies buckled.

When paws found tummies, they started to dance...

 

 

_

Edited August 20, 2018 by AC Benus

[Parker Owens]

@AC Benus You have a great story and poem here...now I want the rest...

[mollyhousemouse]

7 hours ago, AC Benus said:

Hello, All! I'm working on a fairy tale poem about badgers taking over a Japanese temple. It's called Shojoji, and here is an excerpt

oh AC!

twice in one day you have enchanted me

this is so very good!

i can't wait to see the rest!

[AC Benus]

Thank you, @Mikiesboy, @Parker Owensand @mollyhousemouse! I'm about 3/4 done, but it will need a good editing review. Thanks for your encouragement. 

[Mikiesboy]

A Haibun:  Walking in the Rain

 

Started it's life as a descriptive paragraph ... then Zen suggested i make it more.. so why not a haibun?

 

 

[Zenobia]

I like your poem, @AC Benus. As this is only a part of it, will it be some kind of fairytale epic?

I googled Shojoji and had the impression that the name has something to do with mangas, which I know absolutely nothing about. But that's why I wonder if the reader should recognize the names? I hope you tell us where you got the inspiration for it

 

[AC Benus]

1 hour ago, Zenobia said:

I like your poem, @AC Benus. As this is only a part of it, will it be some kind of fairytale epic?

I googled Shojoji and had the impression that the name has something to do with mangas, which I know absolutely nothing about. But that's why I wonder if the reader should recognize the names? I hope you tell us where you got the inspiration for it

 

Google this instead 證誠寺

 

That's the name of the temple, and the images will show you what it looks likes. As for why you saw so many cartoon images for the place name, it's because this little temple is the focus of a folktale. So, for example if I googled Hamelin, lots of wonderful images relating to the folktale will pop up, but not so many for the place  

 

My poem is a retelling of the Shojoji tale for an English-speaking audience, with a few special twists of my own. It's intended for kids, and some illustrations would really make it come alive, I imagine. 

 

I'll be posting it soon

 

 

 

 

[Zenobia]

22 hours ago, AC Benus said:

Google this instead 證誠寺 

 

That's the name of the temple, and the images will show you what it looks likes. As for why you saw so many cartoon images for the place name, it's because this little temple is the focus of a folktale. So, for example if I googled Hamelin, lots of wonderful images relating to the folktale will pop up, but not so many for the place  

 

My poem is a retelling of the Shojoji tale for an English-speaking audience, with a few special twists of my own. It's intended for kids, and some illustrations would really make it come alive, I imagine. 

 

I'll be posting it soon

 

 

 

 

Oh - kudos! What an extraordinary idea, a poem for kids

Thank you for the explanation, it helps, of course. What a beautiful and harmonic place!

Do you speak Japanese, if I may ask?

[AC Benus]

1 hour ago, Zenobia said:

Oh - kudos! What an extraordinary idea, a poem for kids

Thank you for the explanation, it helps, of course. What a beautiful and harmonic place!

Do you speak Japanese, if I may ask?

Yes, I lived there for 4 years, even getting a chance to visit Shojoji -- which, believe me -- is way out of the way. I distinctly remember the narrow pathway to the main lecture hall, as in the picture, because it's very unusual. Almost always, this area forms a wide open court. I can't remember going to another Japanese temple that didn't have this open space, but not Shojoji. Thanks for reading and commenting  

[Zenobia]

15 hours ago, AC Benus said:

Yes, I lived there for 4 years, even getting a chance to visit Shojoji -- which, believe me -- is way out of the way. I distinctly remember the narrow pathway to the main lecture hall, as in the picture, because it's very unusual. Almost always, this area forms a wide open court. I can't remember going to another Japanese temple that didn't have this open space, but not Shojoji. Thanks for reading and commenting  

That sounds great and how wonderful that you could live in Japan and learn the language ❤️

The photos of this temple that one can find on the internet look fantastic, and as you write that it differs from other temples, I get the impression that it's a special gem - and not least due to its fairytale. Thank you again for presenting your art to us here

 

[Mikiesboy]

 

Why does it hurt to get up in the morning?
I know what it is and I try and I try
to push away the deepening cloud
watching the purple fade into black
it means days and days of choking
fog that swallows all life in its way
the world seems to have run out of air
my limbs are sluggish, thoughts dormant
sadness runs like rivers through me
I don’t want my life take it back
I am nothing and no one you’re
better off not knowing. Awareness
is for the living, not the living-dead
I am tired, it is like a cancer in bones
deep within my broken soul and the
pain. THE PAIN is deep, deep in my
weakened bones.

Around me sunny people glow
they are blinded by their own joy
it hides them from reality and the
heartbreak of pain. Why oh
why would they wish to see the
outlines of souls like police chalk
on sidewalks.  The happy walk over
the dead and dying as they should

[Mikiesboy]

How can I then return in happy plight

That am debarred the benefit of rest?

When day’s oppression is not eased by night,

But day by night and night by day oppressed?

And each, though enemies to either’s reign,

Do in consent shake hands to torture me,

The one by toil, the other to complain

How far I toil, still farther off from thee.

I tell the day to please him thou art bright,

And dost him grace when clouds do blot the heaven.

So flatter I the swart-complexioned night,

When sparkling stars twire not, thou gild’st the even.

  But day doth daily draw my sorrows longer,

  And night doth nightly make grief’s length seem stronger.

 

 

sonnet 28

[mollyhousemouse]

@Mikiesboy seems that today is a bit rough 

yet even in your darkness, your words are beautifully rendered

i hope that being able to release some of the pain in these words brings you some peace

xoxo