Tag Archive for 'the challenge'

Cat

Published on December 25, 2008 in Poetry and Writing. 1 Comment Tags: , , , , , , .

I was talking to my Mom last night about my Poetry Challenge project, and she gave me one. She said:

“How about one about cats?”

So here is my poem about cats. I’ve decided that I’m going to occasionally integrate my photography and my poetry. Some people aren’t very excited about poetry so maybe this will engage them a little better. This poem is again a Japanese form. I’m still studying the English stuff. I just want to get a bit better at it before I humiliate myself. This form is called a Tanka and traditionally has a 5-7-5-7-7 pattern, though in modern Tanka as in Haiku, that is no longer always the case. Tanka is not something I’ve done before, so this is still a challenge for me. I hope I’ve got it at least somewhere near what it is meant to be. I decided to put this one on a photo I took of Truffle, one of our cats. I suppose you could call it a sort of photographic Haiga. Obviously no great skill was required in this case, and my mastery of Zen, well – what mastery? Anyway, enjoy.

Cat
by M.J. Adams

the midmorning sun
shines through the vertical blinds
onto the table
I fail to attract your gaze
you ignore me as always

Cat

Arizona highway

Published on December 24, 2008 in Poetry and Writing. 2 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , .

I got a Poetry Challenge submission from my friend Joe the other day and this is what it said:

“driving along a country road in Arizona”

Now luckily I have lived in Arizona and I have driven there on country roads. What I most remember about Arizona was driving at night and feeling the heat still there. Though its bite had been taken away with the loss of the sun, you could still feel the warmth left from the day. Some of my fondest memories there were driving on deserted roads in the black of the night with the windows down. It has a special feeling.

Since I didn’t feel up to the task of trying to convey that feeling via a form of poetry which is new to me, I decided to revert to haiku in this case. To make up the “challenge” of this, I’ve added in a haiga. This is a way of attempting to give an artistic expression of a haiku’s feeling. Mine is pitiful indeed, as my drawing skills leave much to be desired and I don’t really think I can adequately capture the feeling of anything with my meager abilities, let alone accomplish the aim of a haiga. Nevertheless, here is my attempt.

Arizona Highway
by M.J. Adams

arizona highway
the warm molasses air greets
the rising moon

Arizona Highway

Love of Food

Published on December 21, 2008 in Poetry and Writing. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , .

Theme number 2 for my Poetry Challenge is “Love of Food” and was submitted by my good friend Ryan. This one is also Iambic Pentameter but it is just blank verse, meaning that it does not rhyme. It is quite a lighthearted subject, so I made it a lighthearted poem. Anyway, here it is. Not the best, but I’m publishing all of these before any self editing or polishing desires can kick in.

Love of Food
by M.J. Adams

The love of food is with me everyday
So let’s discuss what we should eat right now

A Spanish ham or two, to bring along
To picnics anywhere or eat at home
A bit of cheese, Manchego will do fine
Some bread as well, but don’t forget some fruit
The taste of olives surely would go well
We can’t dismiss some pastries either, right?
I like the ones from France, but when I think,
I know I’d eat a pastry anyplace

And when I think of food I get confused
I might just like it all. What should I do?

Proposition 8

Published on December 9, 2008 in Poetry and Writing. 2 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , .

I received a theme for my poetry challenge last night, and I’ve been working to fulfill it. Please bear in mind that I’m taking baby steps in traditional poetry. This is my first attempt at an iambic pentameter poem and while I didn’t initially intend for it to rhyme, it ended up that way. The rhyme scheme seems quite childish to me, being aabbccddeeffgg…etc etc and it isn’t to a specific form. I hope to get better. This is just a 20 line poem about the theme, which is as follows:

“The day 51% of Californian voters decided it was best for all concerned to take away the rights of gay Californians…why was the proposition allowed to be on the ballot to begin with? How does two men or two women getting married threaten to take anything away/devalue the marriage of a heterosexual couple??”

Thanks for your submission, and while I don’t have all of the answers, I can express what it feels like to me:

Proposition 8
by M.J. Adams

A California winter without sun
One blow of hate and civil rights undone

The dagger of religion stained with blood
While proposition eight slings human mud

November fourth a cry of triumph brings
To those with head and heart on angel wings

To those who have been wronged, by politics
their golden goblets pulled from eyes and lips

While underneath the layers of decay
the Constitution parchment giving way

A nation full of moral egotists
Have shunned all sign of vibrance which exists

The diff’rent labelled evil by their books
Which have from diff’rent others too, been took

And all who are not modern, white and straight
Are shut forever from their pearly gate

But evil done by they outnumbers all
The weak shall win, for they will surely fall

For folly favours those who play with fate
And those who spread but discontent and hate