The Symphonic Poetry Carnival
Well, the time has arrived for the fun to begin. The time has arrived for the words to spin through our ears, around inside our heads. Time for the music to start with a note in the key of C for creativity.
The movements include fugues, pasacaglias, bells, silences. Ther are blues and more blues, melodies in many colors, accelerandos, songs and odes of gratitude and clarinet tones. Let the symphony of poetry begin!
The poetry carnival idea was started by Dan at Philosophical Poetry. If you’d like to join, check for updates and locations at the google Poetry Carnival forum.
The first movement is a sad little tune with “no harmony” by RDL, called Believe.
Feel like there is a weight on my chest
holding me down
hard to breathe
believe
For the second section, we have a moment of silence, titled Six Stories, captured poetically by Sara, from Science Creative Quarterly.
For all the movement it was making, it was very silent. For all the movement around it, it was still very silent.
Dave also encouraged all poets to become involved in Science Creative Quarterly’s Terry project, with global issues as the creative focal point.
Next comes a bluesy slow movement by Ned Nedful called Night Blues.
The wind
was a tight-
stringed seventh
shredding the night.
Jessamyn of Theriomorphsent in some “meat and potatoes, stuffing to fill your soul” music by . This is the main course, a lyrical Thanksgiving November Song.
Maybe you can breathe freely, without loss…
Now comes a little lilting tune, a blue reprise called Vibe, by Trebuchet of Legwarmers.
Ice clinks in short glasses while I tap my thumb;
frosted ashtrays slowly fill with perfectly timed conversations.
This seems like a good spot for a faster movement, or two. Daniel of Talking to Myself gave us a poem with meter and and the accelerando of a chase- In the Shifting Glimmer.
In the shifting glimmer of the morning light
He awakes in terror at the lurid sight.
And his mind recoils from the pain of truth
That the white enamel was a human tooth.
His second submission also had a musical meter, along with an ironic message about Thanksgiving. It’s called Twas the Night of Thanksgiving.
Twas the night of Thanksgiving,
and all through the house,
not a creature was stirring
not even a mouse.
Liz of Letting me Be sent me several poems, but this little rhapsody called The Song tugged at my heart strings with colorful melodies. I think it will do the same for you.
From the silence came the indigo melody
deep vibrations of abounding love
running like the water of life
standing in stillness
like the ocean of a soul.
Another very different bluesy tune is by Moose of Find me a Bluebird. I submitted this for him, uh, her, so it may disappear if he, uh, she disapproves of my boldness! This is called Blue Hypnotic Fragment. It’s somehow sultry and upbeat at the same time.
alone in the middle of the room
focus drawn close
body overtaken by rhythm
moving in a new language of pulsation
Adam sent this serious movement warning against the dangerous power of music. It’s called The Journey of Music.
Feel the cold steel of a Saturday night special
Up against your throat
Ed of Life and Times of… offers a passacaglia hymn with a repeated bass line of the words “song, along, friend, hum, drum, end”. The poem builds around this anchor. It’s called Highway Hymn V.
Telephone wires race along
whispering their electric song
tires on the road quietly hum
Silence is my only friend
when their songs sadly end
fingers on the wheel begin to drum
And here is my little ditty called Grenadilla Tone, about the qualities and sensualities of the tone I (try) to produce on the clarinet. It starts out…
Blurted air flaps my reed
to rasp a sneeze across its paper
thin tip, a flag snapping in the wind.
Raw chunks of sound, churned butter
grows mellow with aged consistency,
evolving with me, my lips’ brother.
Kelly Bell wrote this fun little songful story, which sound like The Night Before Christmas, except from an exhausted mother’s point of view. It’s called Ten.
This weekend, my daughter turned Ten.
We held a party that just would not end.
Eight little girls full of sugar and color,
Testing the patience of an old tired mother.
Renee of Words to Go With offers a lyrical, bell like tribute to the Northern Lights in Relief. She describes her poem thus:
All creation sings to its Creator, In the bible the trees are clapping their hands, the hill will rejoice, people sing, birds sing, other animals sing. and in my poem Light itself sings.
Martin of Complete and Utter Poetry sent this echo like poem just today, with a philosophical theme. It’s called Diminuendo.
The Greeks heard it
Long ago
Before there was anything else
To hear
Lastly, I whipped up a froth of warm Thanksgiving pudding to sooth the quivering soul after such a repast of rich music.
Outside, the garden’s disarray reflects his own spirit.
He gazes beyond today’s errie political mendacity,
attempting to follow the message of Thanksgiving.
The season’s story asks with answers and gives questions.
Goodnight, and sweet creams.
Garnet
