Archive for the ‘tragedy’ Category
Stowaway
Posted by Rob Kistner | Filed under Free Verse, Image, Poetry, courage, dark, mystery, photo, tragedy
In response to the 2nd prompt on the newly re-opened Writer’s Island, I step from my place of hiding
Stowaway
•
slowly
with great caution
in halting measured step
I creep from sanctuary dark
to leave this place of safety
to sidle in uncertainty
into the chafing
cutting light
head bowed
spirit crushed
tensed for flight
emerging
visible again
though barely
poised to recoil
from any sudden emotion
long now in hiding
stowed away in [...]
Mind’s Eye
Posted by Rob Kistner | Filed under Free Verse, Image, courage, dark, horror, love, mystery, science fiction, stream of consciousness, suspense, tragedy, wisdom
…response to prompt #13 from Magpie Tales…
Mind’s Eye
•
I sit
with my mind’s eye
I watch the flow of people
the shuffle of feet
with their different sounds
according to their shoes
I see wan faces of unsmiling lips
their void curves denounce this night
yet unseen
is the gossamer curtain’s fall
that defines their soul’s duality
the divergent reality
through which truth stumbles blind
to move in the [...]
Hands of Neptune
Posted by Rob Kistner | Filed under Free Verse, Image, Poetry, dark, horror, mystery, photo, suspense, tragedy
…response to prompt #12 from Magpie Tales…
____________________________________
Hands of Neptune
•
like the disembodied
hands of Neptune
reaching from a rocky confine
breaking surface
into the watery realm
seeking
grasping
needing
but entombed
in a glassened globe
a crystal cage
cruelly shut away
from that which is most desired
contact
connection
prisoner
in brutal isolation
banished
even from the lesser gods
condemned eternally
to never know
the redemption of touch
• • •
rob kistner © 2010
Sad Little Clown
Posted by Rob Kistner | Filed under Free Verse, Image, Poetry, action, dark, horror, humor noir, love, mystery, photo, suspense, tragedy
…presented as a second gracious salute to the first prompt from Big Tent Poetry…
____________________________________
Sad Little Clown
•
I am the sad little clown
with the frowning face
the round red nose
and the great big tear
this meek facade
and silly sham
belie the horror
that I engineer
life’s dealt me cold
my hand is slack
not a queen
no king nor ace
the violence
that dwells within
is masked behind
my [...]
Message in a Bottle
Posted by Rob Kistner | Filed under Letter, Poetry, courage, dark, family, flash fiction, gratitude, love, mystery, prose, rhyme, suspense, tragedy, wisdom
In the spirit of the 1st prompt on the newly re-opened Writer’s Island, I retrieved this message from my imaginary bottle, unrolled, then read it — this is what it said:
___________________________
Seamen brave and strong as we
There’s a truth that we all learn
When brave and strong men go to sea
Tis not certain they’ll return
___________________________
October 23rd, 1997
This [...]
NaPoWriMo #29
Posted by Rob Kistner | Filed under Free Verse, Image, NaPoMo 2010, Poetry, action, art, courage, dark, gratitude, homage, joy, mystery, science fiction, stream of consciousness, suspense, tragedy, wisdom
This is my Twenty-ninth, and penultimate post for National Poetry Month 2010
____________________________________
…this poem was inspired by D.S. Apfelbaum’s day 29 post at readwritepoem…
____________________________________
Space Is
•
a lightless void of soundless vacuum
spinning masses of revolving orbs
hurtling fragments in crystalline vapors
molten cores
mingled gasses
dead husks
black holes
magnetic icefalls
plasma rain
liquid lightening
solid clouds
attractions and repulsions
of precarious fragility
a frozen dance of chaos
on the tentative [...]
NaPoWriMo #28
Posted by Rob Kistner | Filed under Free Verse, NaPoMo 2010, Poetry, Tanka, courage, dark, family, gratitude, homage, love, photo, prayer, tragedy, wisdom
This is my twenty-eighth post for National Poetry Month 2010
• one free verse poem
• one tanka
____________________________________
• inspired by day 28 of National Poetry Month
____________________________________
Not Spring
•
the moment of not-spring
has no bold herald
save a passing notation
on one’s calendar
easily missed
there is not a disruption
in the earth’s crust
there is no disturbance
in the air
the planets
do not misalign
the moment of not-spring
is [...]
NaPoWriMo #27
Posted by Rob Kistner | Filed under Free Verse, Image, NaPoMo 2010, Poetry, Tanka, acrostic, action, art, courage, dark, gratitude, homage, joy, love, music, mystery, philosophy, photo, prose, rant, satire, suspense, tragedy, video poem, whimsy, wisdom
This is my twenty-seventh post for National Poetry Month 2010
• one acrostic
• one tanka
____________________________________
• inspired by Carolee Sherwood ’s day 27 prompt at read write poem to write an acrostic
____________________________________
Evolution
•
Even in chaos nature finds balance.
Violent floods beget fertile fields.
One thing ends, another begins.
Life is a cycle of birth and death.
Untamed wildfire creates forest [...]
NaPoWriMo #25 - part 2: Fissures
Posted by Rob Kistner | Filed under NaPoMo 2010, Poetry, courage, family, gratitude, homage, humor, joy, love, photo, rhyme, tragedy, whimsy, wisdom
This is part 2 of my twenty fifth post for National Poetry Month 2010
…this piece that follows was inspired by prompt #113 at One Single Impression…
____________________________________
Fissures
•
life is generous
with the good and bad
countless experiences
joyous and sad
it would appear
you’ve had your share
you’ve garnered wisdom
learned how to care
you have known joy
you’ve tasted pain
stricken with sorrow
but smiled again
there have [...]
NaPoWriMo #22 - The Gaia Suite
Posted by Rob Kistner | Filed under Free Verse, NaPoMo 2010, Poetry, Tanka, courage, dark, editorial, gratitude, homage, joy, love, prayer, tragedy, wisdom
This is my Twenty-second post for National Poetry Month 2010
• an Earth Day message
• two tankas
• one prayer
____________________________________
• • Happy Earth Day • •
____________________________________
• Go and visit the Earth Day Action Center 2010, and please — be aware!
An Earth Day message:
These are some thoughts I would like to share on this Earth Day 2010. [...]
NaPoWriMo #20 - Heroes
Posted by Rob Kistner | Filed under Free Verse, Image, NaPoMo 2010, Poetry, Tanka, courage, dark, family, food, horror, humor, humor noir, love, photo, satire, tragedy, whimsy, wisdom
This is my twentieth post for National Poetry Month 2010
• two free verse poem
• one tanka
____________________________________
• inspired by Jessica GC’s prompt at read write poem
____________________________________
Reality At 30,000
•
(a hero returns)
distant
slurred
reverberant
like a voice in a canyon
I hear her calling in my mind
my name
rolling sweet as nectar
from lips soft as orchid petals
full as a bursting peach
glistening deep coral
as [...]
NaPoWriMo #18 - Human Arrogance
Posted by Rob Kistner | Filed under Free Verse, Image, NaPoMo 2010, Poetry, Tanka, art, collage, courage, dark, horror, mystery, photorendering, rant, suspense, tragedy, wisdom
This is my eighteenth post for National Poetry Month 2010
• one free verse poem
• one tanka
____________________________________
• inspired by Irene’s day 18 read write poem prompt / and #49 at carry on tuesday
____________________________________
…a thing of beauty is a joy forever, a captive wild soul — is a tragedy…
Pacing
•
from rippled sinew black as midnight
bores a stare of [...]
NaPoWriMo #17 - Memories
Posted by Rob Kistner | Filed under Free Verse, Image, NaPoMo 2010, Poetry, Tanka, dark, family, gratitude, homage, joy, love, mystery, photo, prayer, tragedy, wisdom
This is my seventeenth post for National Poetry Month 2010
• two free verse poems
• one tanka
____________________________________
…this piece that follows was inspired by the April 15th prompt at Magpie Tales…
____________________________________
Engraved
•
he places it in my trembling hand
as he lays dying
it marked sacred
all the precious moments
of our life together
be they great
be they small
all are in here
the moment he [...]
NaPoWriMo #14 - Tears / Murder / Nudity
Posted by Rob Kistner | Filed under Free Verse, Haiku, Image, NaPoMo 2010, Poetry, action, cleave, courage, dark drama, gratitude, horror, humor, joy, love, mystery, photo, prose, science fiction, sensuality, tragedy, wisdom
This is my fourteenth post for National Poetry Month 2010
• one cleave
• one free verse science fiction love poem
• one haiku
____________________________________
…this piece was inspired by a prompt by Nicole Nicholson over at read write poem…
____________________________________
Sorrow
•
(this is a cleave)
in great anguish in the sour light of treason
I look upon my glaring loss which stings my eyes
I [...]
NaPoWriMo #13 - The Nature of Fire / Gone
Posted by Rob Kistner | Filed under Free Verse, Haiku, Image, NaPoMo 2010, Poetry, courage, dark, mystery, photo, tragedy, wisdom
This is my thirteenth post for National Poetry Month 2010
• one free verse poem
• one haiku
____________________________________
…this piece was inspired by a prompt by Sarah J. Sloat over at read write poem…
____________________________________
The Nature of Fire
A Poem Using Three Lines from Norman Dubie’s “Of Politics & Art”
•
(the borrowed lines are italicized)
here
on the farthest point of the peninsula
an [...]
