General

don’t
work
for me
equations
with all their weird sines
I yearn sign of your approval

don’t
look
for a
footballer
in me – all I want
is a toy train set to play with

I
can
never
master notes
of music – but I
miss the notes of your lullaby

do
not
burden
me with your
expectations, pa –
I can not be as good as you

In response toReena’s Exploration Challenge #Week 36

We had followed the two trolls for several days. It was hard work – resting by day, tracking by night, following them mainly by the noise they made as they pushed through the forest. The native guides were unhappy about the whole thing. They don’t follow trolls, they told us. Trolls can be dangerous and unpredictable.

I have heard this so many times. In fact, there are hardly any reported cases of unprovoked attacks by trolls, either in central Europe or in Scandinavia. They have been known to crush unwary sleepers, but there is no evidence that this behaviour was deliberate.

These trolls were a pair, but they were long past breeding. They moved slowly, and were relatively easy to follow, as they left a swathe of flattened vegetation behind them.

I believe I am one of very few field researchers who can say they witnessed what came next. As…

Hey everyone! The ‘Tetractys’ is a poetic form consisting of at least 5 lines, with a syllable breakdown of 1/2/3/4/10 syllables (a total of 20 syllables). Hope you enjoy!

Clouds
So free
Float across
The morning sky;
And we, burdened souls, don’t even look up.

Don’t forget to like, share, subscribe, and comment on what you thought of this poem, what you think of the ‘Tetractys’, or even with a ‘Tetractys’ of your own. Thanks for reading! ♥

What does this quote inspire in you, or remind you of? It could be a personal situation like the crimes committed by a family member. It could be a political, business or corporate situation. It could be a social or environmental issue, that you feel strongly about. In short, it is about the proverbial elephant in the room. 

It was an obvious fact and glaringly clear to anyone who thought to notice that his loneliness was something that to him was the one thing that was crushing him.

Everyone thought of him as a ‘nice’ guy. He was intelligent, affable, generous and had demonstrated an extraordinary commitment to family.

He epitomised the very elephant in the room.

No one engaged him in conversation. Instead, they avoided him, if they did engage with him they found it easy to move away, find a reason to break from him and move…

your essence
lies scattered all o’er
my entire
existence
why do I still keep searching
for you in my dreams

In response toReena’s Exploration Challenge #Week 35

For two decades
your salt-paste lies piled up
like pancakes on a cracked plate,
while you hammered at my heart,
delighting in the blood
which seeped
scarlet
through my frayed sleeve.
Even if you’d believed
I would leave,
you would not
have been kinder to me.

I scribed you into history
long before
you ceased breathing.
Each shred of regret morphed into relief,
so there’s nothing to grieve –
leaving only a thin breeze of pity.

.

©Jane Paterson Basil