Prompt #28: Roundel
Today’s prompt brought to you by Dorothy Parker and Shanna Germain:
First, read Dorothy Parker’s poem, “Roundel” below:
* She’s passing fair; but so demure is she, So quiet is her gown, so smooth her hair, That few there are who note her and agree She’s passing fair.Yet when was ever beauty held more rare Than simple heart and maiden modesty? What fostered charms with virtue could compare?
Alas, no lover ever stops to see; The best that she is offered is the air. Yet- if the passing mark is minus D- She’s passing fair. ***
Now, attempt a Roundel of your own. The directions as well as a few more examples can be found at Wikipedia.
***
Reminders for Participants: You can post your poem below in the comments, offer a link back to your site where the poem is posted, or comment about the experience of writing the poem (without actually posting the poem). If you’re going to comment on other participant’s poems, please remember that this is not a critique space — comments should be kept thoughtful and supportive. Lastly, remember you don’t have to use the prompt to write your poem — they’re here for your inspiration but they’re certainly not a requirement.
Let the Wild Poeming Being!
Not Without Poetry 
Well, I was tempted by the roundel and by a sestina too after I saw Kirsty’s, but then I looked at the rules and got dizzy.
So, just more free verse today. But there are added horses in it.
http://nikkimagennis.blogspot.com/2011/04/top-of-my-head-blown-right-off.html
April 28, 2011 at 2:05 am
[This is a variation–because I overlooked the “refrain rhymes with the second line” rule (though, for what it’s worth, the refrain actually rhymes with the first line).]
You were the one who popped my starting gun.
Even though I hit stride and saw things through,
I only tried because you called me “hon.”
You were the one.
You could not see I didn’t have a clue.
Somehow you thought I sparkled in the sun.
Mystery solved: the sunlight came from you.
You were the key; you set my clock to run,
Winding my soul to make each morning new.
Promptly I’d toll, and waylay the undone.
You were the one.
April 28, 2011 at 4:50 am
Thanks, Shanna
(and Dorothy, too, wherever)
This turned out to be one of those few forms I can wrap my mind around.
http://briarcat.wordpress.com/2011/04/28/the-roundel-with-mason-jars/
April 28, 2011 at 11:05 am
Eeps. Forms. -shudder-
http://yearofthebooks.wordpress.com/2011/04/28/poem-a-day-28/
April 28, 2011 at 12:44 pm
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Anti-prompt poem: http://wp.me/pbg4K-5G. Fail!
April 28, 2011 at 1:18 pm
Posting it through today – no prompt. Free style with a personal message
Jordan
I never knew you were there
just a ghost in my thoughts
and yet you were real
and then you were gone.
now a ghost in my heart
and a hole in my soul;
pain to last a lifetime,
like the loss of the love
that was once your legacy.
a fleeting presence,
you were both a gift
and my punishment.
proof that I had a love
that was, for a moment, true
and then taken from me
like you were, without a sound,
without a notion,
without a clue.
daily, I will relive
the heartache.
daily, I will mourn
and cry in pain
to the gods
wondering why I’m still here
to deal with all
you’ve left behind.
like the loss of the love
that was once your legacy
you are mine to mourn
to miss
to regret
April 28, 2011 at 3:15 pm
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I gave the roundel a shot. Not thrilled with it, though. http://dorlamoorehouse.com/2011/04/28/napowrimo-day-28-3/
April 28, 2011 at 3:30 pm
WEATHER
The sun is warm,
the wind is chill.
The world’s a mating
of good and ill.
The wind is chill,
the air is clear.
Desire shares
her bed with fear.
The air is clear,
the sun drifts down.
Darkness dons
her icy crown.
April 28, 2011 at 5:58 pm
Go here for the gallery version of today’s photos
Tonight the sky glowed
I stopped to watch sky and lake
Only peacefulness.
The green Frost spoke of
That gold of willow and birch
burst over our hills.
I’m done wondering
how beauty returns each Spring
into a bleak world.
I should be sleeping.
Big wedding day tomorrow.
Where are my good pearls?
April 28, 2011 at 7:52 pm
I’ll take a free day today and Roundel tomorrow.
Time spins the clock
Twirling mechanized gears
Cognizant latching
Springs extending their insertion
Twisting into minutiae
April 28, 2011 at 8:43 pm
Evading the prompt today.
Landscape
Peer through a forest
of memories
timbering my mind…
in there you are dawning,
a stark miracle of one.
Look here, then far, down,
distant as a legend–
walk away from me
in stiff forest-style resolve.
You’re still walking.
I could always love you
but never cut you free.
J. Pratt-Walter
April 28, 2011 at 8:50 pm
Evading the prompt today.
Landscape
Peer through a forest
of memories
timbering my mind…
in there you are dawning,
a stark miracle of one.
Look here, then far, down,
distant as a legend–
walk away from me
in stiff forest-style resolve.
You’re still walking.
I could always love you
but never cut you free.
J. Pratt-Walter
April 28, 2011 at 8:51 pm
A roundel on a rotting rat
Prepare yourself to empty the traps you set.
What’s caught needs your hand’s release.
Snapped shut, ensnared, locked tight, tangled in net.
Let the suffering cease.
Nothing is yet free; dirtied hands, to ease
The spring back from its broken neck. You owe the thing this debt.
Up to the attic crawl space on your knees.
Steel your resolve, and don’t forget
Lure & bait only half the story, you have the keys.
Your prey will fight its capture, then rot, a fate you both regret.
Let the suffering cease.
April 28, 2011 at 11:17 pm
I’m been awol for a few days; real life and all. But I’m fascinated by poem forms, and the roundel challenge called to me. Maybe I’ll tackle a sestina for the “free” day. It’s likelier to tackle me, but what the hell.
April 29, 2011 at 12:02 am