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    Parker Owens
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Poetry posted in this category are works of fiction. Names, places, characters, events, and incidents are created by the authors' imaginations or are used fictitiously. Any resemblances to actual persons (living or dead), organizations, companies, events, or locales are entirely coincidental.
Note: While authors are asked to place warnings on their stories for some moderated content, everyone has different thresholds, and it is your responsibility as a reader to avoid stories or stop reading if something bothers you. 

Thirty Daze in April - 4. April 22 through April 31

Here is the last chapter. There are more poems than last time, so perhaps you will find one that you like.

April 22

 

Not silence

is not a commotion

nor is not quietude restlessness;

it isn’t either all or none of these I feel,

not measured words and cold argument,

nor reverberations

of the heart.

 

April 23

 

The hill is colored in uncertainty;

every tree blushes in spring fashions,

and shy woodland flowers

are coaxed from cold ground

onto the forest floor to dance;

yet every pink bud and each new green leaf

looks over its shoulder, wavering,

mindful of disapproving north winds.


 

April 24

 

I think it is beyond a doubt

that Heisenberg knew more about

the dance of particles so small

the laws of Newton they might flout.

 

Uncertain was the name to call

the principle now thought banal

that placement and velocity

could not be known at once to all.

 

Herr Heisenberg’s verbosity

led to this curiosity

that if position you observe

your speed has much nervosity.

 

Now quantum physics will not swerve

from qualms, which takes a lot of nerve;

but I don’t need to figure out

how fast I would approach your curve.

 

April 25

 

It isn’t a spring peeper

nor distant robin’s cry

and not the shy brown creeper

ascending toward the sky;

it cannot be the cardinal,

exulting in Wet Year!

I simply can’t identify

that birdsong sounding near.

 

I know not if the redwing

upon its swaying reed

is seriously meddling

with how he says his creed;

this is not now the chickadee

romancing skittish mates,

still less the dapper mockingbird,

who every call translates.

 

The call is faint but certain,

I think I know it now;

I listen at the curtain

and thus will I avow:

the voice that I hear calling me,

if I am not misled,

is not a bird, but you, my love,

and urging me to bed.

 

 

April 26

 

Loneliness,

emptiness echoing

my own footsteps sounding in my mind’s

bare, tiled corridors lit by decayed flourescents

buzzing meaninglessly, endlessly,

drowning out all friendship

and all love.

~~~

I live inside a dark and lonely house

constructed out of solid granite blocks

with mighty oaken doors and iron locks

as proof against the vandal, thief or chouse.

No lighted candles burn that I must douse,

nor silent sniff or ticking of the clocks,

or yet the padded footfall of one’s socks

disturbs the hush more quiet than a mouse.

Outside the walls exists a different world,

of sun and scent and birdsong on the breeze

and roaring storms against the stout stones hurled,

where silver moonlight shines through whis’pring trees

all held extended in your palm unfurled

if only I could listen to your pleas.

 

April 27

 

My plaid coat

which belonged to my Dad

still has his matches in the pocket

and the last few nickels and pennies he carried;

the cuffs and elbows are wearing thin,

a dwindling legacy,

like his son.

 

April 28

 

We might have walked together hand in hand

discussing puzzles, politics and play

or news that made the headlines of the day,

the grains that fill life’s hourglass full of sand.

It could have been we’d join that growing band

of young men learning how to make their way

within a world that would not see us gay,

preferring to refer to us as damned.

We might have made a witty, clever pair,

yet something in me made you turn aside;

and though it now seems mightily unfair,

your icy cold hurt something deep inside

so never would I leave my sheltered lair,

persuaded by the pain to stay inside.


 

April 29

 

The house is cold and yet the bed is warm

a comfort to the body as we age,

for thus we find a shelter from the storm

 

of expectations shouting we conform

and lock ourselves within a common cage

a house so cold where yet the bed is warm;

 

But we are made for love that’s not the norm,

despite advice dispensed by preachers sage

and yet we find a shelter from the storm

 

Where safe beneath a blanket we may dorm,

and every icy memory assuage

the house is cold and yet the bed is warm

 

Enough to soothe vain secrets so enorme

all nature swirls in potent, passioned rage,

so thus we find a shelter from the storm.

 

No longer must I hasten to perform

my hackneyed role upon the creaking Stage

the house is cold and yet the bed is warm

for thus we find a shelter from the storm.

 

April 30

 

The notes I write myself this day

are snatches stolen from Fauré

or dusty tunes Respighi found

and rearranged to modern sound.

Although my colleagues smirk or scoff,

I’ll stickynote Rachmaninoff

by whistling variations three

before the school bell tolls for me.

Far later, when the sun goes west,

I’ll scrawl Vaughn Williams as I rest,

and sing myself a line sublime

immortalized till end of time.

But how ironically it seems

that I restore lush-written themes

back to their simpler, sparer past

as notes like these are ones that last.

 

April 31

 

You’ll tell me

I’ve miscounted the days,

and I’ll respond that one more won’t hurt,

for in this month when winter releases our hands

and lets us run free in warm green days,

I’d catch hold of life and

write it down.

If a chance to rant you crave
type it out and then hit 'save;'
I will sure appreciate
that you didn't hesitate.

My enduring gratitude to @AC Benus for his reawakening my love of poetry. My deep appreciation to @Valkyrie for sending me prompts this month. And my thanks to you, everyone who took the time to read these this month.

Copyright © 2019 Parker Owens; All Rights Reserved.
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Poetry posted in this category are works of fiction. Names, places, characters, events, and incidents are created by the authors' imaginations or are used fictitiously. Any resemblances to actual persons (living or dead), organizations, companies, events, or locales are entirely coincidental.
Note: While authors are asked to place warnings on their stories for some moderated content, everyone has different thresholds, and it is your responsibility as a reader to avoid stories or stop reading if something bothers you. 
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Chapter Comments

  • Site Administrator

I love the descriptions and personification in 23. I can picture it clearly.  24 is quintessential Parker.  :)  Love 25.  In 26, you nailed loneliness in both poems.  :hug:  28... more :hug:  :hug:  These are all so good... as always, I am in awe of your talent.  :worship:  I'm so glad you took up the reins of NaPo again, and love the addition of the 31st :gikkle: 

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5 minutes ago, Valkyrie said:

I love the descriptions and personification in 23. I can picture it clearly.  24 is quintessential Parker.  :)  Love 25.  In 26, you nailed loneliness in both poems.  :hug:  28... more :hug:  :hug:  These are all so good... as always, I am in awe of your talent.  :worship:  I'm so glad you took up the reins of NaPo again, and love the addition of the 31st :gikkle: 

Thank you, Val! I’m especially happy you liked my 31st. I hope you don’t mind I doubled up on the 26th. I’m very grateful you read these, and thanks for your encouragement. 

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  • Site Administrator
2 minutes ago, Parker Owens said:

Thank you, Val! I’m especially happy you liked my 31st. I hope you don’t mind I doubled up on the 26th. I’m very grateful you read these, and thanks for your encouragement. 

I never mind reading more Parker poems :) The challenge is 30 poems in 30 days.  There's nothing that says you have to write one per day.  I double up on days fairly frequently.  

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Your Skyscrapers here make me feel jealous; jealous knowing you've topped me in a form of my own invention, but in this case, I like being topped ;)

In all seriousness though, you have made your Skyscrapers what I have in mind, economical poem where each line is beautiful unit on its own, but altogether add up to a sum more than its parts. 

The Sonnets of April 26 and 28 are impressively natural. You've made such strides in the Italian form of the poem. They're wonderful, and I like that April 26 has a prelude. It's very effective here. 

You've offered us some wonderful poems for April, and I'm pleased you took the challenge! 

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2 hours ago, AC Benus said:

Your Skyscrapers here make me feel jealous; jealous knowing you've topped me in a form of my own invention, but in this case, I like being topped ;)

In all seriousness though, you have made your Skyscrapers what I have in mind, economical poem where each line is beautiful unit on its own, but altogether add up to a sum more than its parts. 

The Sonnets of April 26 and 28 are impressively natural. You've made such strides in the Italian form of the poem. They're wonderful, and I like that April 26 has a prelude. It's very effective here. 

You've offered us some wonderful poems for April, and I'm pleased you took the challenge! 

Thank you for teaching us how to build Skyscrapers, and for making poetry come alive for me again. I enjoy writing in the form, and it gladdens me to know these have begun to fill your original intent.  Your reactions to April 26 and 28's sonnets are so very kind. I'm very happy you thought the prelude worked.

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2 hours ago, Headstall said:

What more can I say? This April bled astounding poetry from participants in NaPoWriMo, and yours have been truly wonderful. When you speak, I hear you, Parker. As a recipient, I couldn't expect more, but you surpass even that. Congratulations on thirty one days of excellence. :worship: 

Thank you, Gary. You're really kind in your response to this installment and to all the earlier poems in this collection. It makes me smile that you can hear my voice speaking in each one.

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Lyssa

Posted (edited)

All of those are great, and they deserve a lot of thinking about them each. So here just some thoughts. As I have this love for spring and spring poem, I connect with 23rd and 25th very much. Awesome.

24th This one was much fun to read. It is so well-built up and the last lines surprising and with a very certain sweetness, making me smile.

26th and 27th both so touching and create awesome soul-pieces (No idea if this word exists in English, but I assume it is understandable).

31st Great! 😃

Edited by Lyssa
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2 hours ago, Lyssa said:

All of those are great, and they deserve a lot of thinking about them each. So here just some thoughts. As I have this love for spring and spring poem, I connect with 23rd and 25th very much. Awesome.

24th This one was much fun to read. It is so well-built up and the last lines surprising and with a very certain sweetness, making me smile.

26th and 27th both so touching and create awesome soul-pieces (No idea if this word exists in English, but I assume it is understandable).

31st Great! 😃

I’m very happy to learn a new phrase: soul piece. How wonderful to be able to write about the uncertainty principle in poetry. I hope it gave the essence of Heisenberg’s statement. You and I both love the spring. Thanks so much for reading these and responding to them. 

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15 minutes ago, Geron Kees said:

Beautiful little collection of thoughts and musings, and very effective, all of them.  I wish I could pause and consider each day as you have done. I particularly liked April 27, which packed a ton of feeling into a very few short lines. Excellent!

I’m very grateful you took time to read this last batch for April. That coat in April 27 is getting a little tight and worn, but I’m keeping it. Thank you very much for your response! 

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#22 makes me nervous;  #23 I mentally grab a coat, to protect me against whatever might surprise me and make me shiver; #24 I love, love 'Herr Heisenberg';  #25  smile;  #26 devastating loneliness with a dash of hope?; #27 is a perfectly composed reminder of the hat I thought I forgot;  #28 You can borrow my what-is broom maybe? ; #29 You're continuously opening and closing doors in my head. #30  a bold medley (madley ;) )   #31 one more?

:worship: Thank you Parker for a wonderful month!

 

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Mikiesboy

Posted (edited)

after 3 years i have discovered, that for myself, forcing out poetry on a daily basis isn't creative it's desperate and unsatisfactory for the most part. I'd rather wait until i am ready to write something like i did the other morning. Thanks for your email about that one.  xoxo

That said, you don't seem to have that issue and i enjoy reading what you have produced. out of this batch the one that held the most feeling was 27.  i found it very touching and heartfelt.

Edited by Mikiesboy
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1 hour ago, Mikiesboy said:

after 3 years i have discovered, that for myself, forcing out poetry on a daily basis isn't creative it's desperate and unsatisfactory for the most part. I'd rather wait until i am ready to write something like i did the other morning. Thanks for your email about that one.  xoxo

That said, you don't seem to have that issue and i enjoy reading what you have produced. out of this batch the one that held the most feeling was 27.  i found it very touching and heartfelt.

You know me well enough to have found the poem that dwells so close to my heart. That old coat doesn’t get out much anymore, but I know its feel and heft intimately. 

This month worked for me, but I can anticipate that year when I’d prefer to do as you have done. You surely produced a gem the other morning. 

thanks and hugs - P

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2 hours ago, aditus said:

#22 makes me nervous;  #23 I mentally grab a coat, to protect me against whatever might surprise me and make me shiver; #24 I love, love 'Herr Heisenberg';  #25  smile;  #26 devastating loneliness with a dash of hope?; #27 is a perfectly composed reminder of the hat I thought I forgot;  #28 You can borrow my what-is broom maybe? ; #29 You're continuously opening and closing doors in my head. #30  a bold medley (madley ;) )   #31 one more?

:worship: Thank you Parker for a wonderful month!

 

Thank you, Adi. I’m particularly happy you liked my uncertain poem on Herr Heisenberg. It was my first thought on the prompt about uncertainty. I’d very much like to borrow that broom you speak of! Thank you so much for reading these, and for letting them strike notes and chords with you. 

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