Compromise

Balancing in a liminal space
Between brutal honesty and refrain
Strong views peppered with tactical grace
Foolhardy to compound the strain

Between brutal honesty and refrain
Respectful dialogue may be reached
Foolhardy to compound the strain
Thoughtless opinions unleashed

Respectful dialogue may be reached
Open-minded compromise
Thoughtless opinions unleashed
Tethered by words of the wise

Open-minded compromise
Strong views peppered with tactical grace
Tethered by words of the wise
Balancing in a liminal space

dVerse MTB: Repeating Lines in Pantoum Form, hosted by Merril.

Reena’s Xploration Challenge #327 – Liminal

Weekly Prompts Wednesday Challenge – Honesty, by Gerry C. and Sue W.

April Blooms

Image Credit: Facebook artist – Kaoru Yamada
Lone sidewalk cafe
Lacks appeal in winter cold
Warm April sunlight
Spring blooms wield their magic wands
The spellbound fill cafe chairs

W3 Prompt #103: Wea’ve Written Weekly poet of the week, Heather, prompts us to write a poem about April.

Colleen challenges us to write an ekphrastic poem this week for 24 Seasons Poetry Challenge No. 30, Part III. I have used the kigo word sunlight. Happy Anniversaries!

American White Pelican

To watch a large white pelican 
soar to great heights
and arrive in formation 
among its companions,
is a marvel indeed -
for its landing is most ungraceful,
its disproportionate beak
threatening to plunge the bird
into the water’s depths.
It is the awkwardness
that I find most endearing.

dVerse Poetics – Maggie Smith and Conversational Mode of Address hosted by Sanaa (aka adashofsunny).

I. J.’s Birds of the Week Invitation LX

Pretty Purple

Flowering Vines

Purple is not a color commonly found in nature, with the exception of flowers! I narrowed my many purple flower photos down to two flowering vines. Neither are native to the United States, but have been planted for their ornamental properties.

I wish I could upload the fragrant smell of the wisteria. A beautiful flowering vine in the legume family. Unfortunately, the blooms are short-lived and their vines are known to take over trees and other vegetation, if not kept under control.

Wisteria

The clockvine was photographed in an outdoor courtyard in Miami. Native to south Asia, it is not difficult to see why this striking flower was introduced to southern U.S. landscapes.

Clockvine

Purple Doorway

Miami Design District

Purple Sunset

Purple sunset over the intracoastal waterway.

Terri’s Sunday Stills Monthly #ColorChallenge

Cee’s Flower of the Day Challenge (FOTD)

Mask of Lies


Image credit; Sander Sammy @ Unsplash
Mask is donned
Behind blind truth is buried
Debil and destructive bond

Mask withdrawn
Unforeseen anguish unleashed
Unhinged without armor on

Mask crumbles
Disguised lies divulge themselves
From stirring eyes truth tumbles

Sadje’s What do you see # 234

I chose a form and subject from Val’s Looking at Poems Around the World:

“3. Ireland: Treochair – An Irish form consisting of tercets (3 line stanzas) of any number. It is syllabic with 3/7/7 syllables per stanza and a rhyme scheme where the 1st and 3rd lines of a stanza rhyme. Heavy alliteration is expected with all 3 lines within a stanza. You may find inspiration in Lies versus Truth…”

Lenten Roses

Hiding in the shade
Betrayed by striking flowers
Bid winter farewell

Cee’s weekend Flower of the Day (FOTD) challenge.

Leaves of Green

Overnight it seems bare brown trees
Transform into green leafed beauties
Muddy bottomed creeks
Fill up to their peaks
Spring rain speaks
Earth agrees

dVerse Open Link #360 – hosted by Björn Rudberg. “The mini prompt today is green.”

I have chosen a form from Val’s NPM Scavenger Hunt – Poems from Around the World! 

“6. Wales: Clogyrnach – A Welsh syllabic and rhyming form with 6 lines. The syllable count is 8/8/5/5/3/3 and the rhyme scheme is a/a/b/b/b/a. There is no required theme.”

Who am I & What is My Purpose?

Thinking: My purpose is utterly unreliable
Its fluctuation is quite undeniable
In all respects unverifiable

Doing: At times it's a giver of care
Or laboring as much as I dare
Else enjoying the hobbies and people I share

Being: So the best I can say
Is my purpose changes each day
And I find that it's rather okay

W3 Prompt #102: Wea’ve Written Weekly poet of the week. Matt Snyder, prompts us to write a 9 line poem under the title of “Who am I & What is My Purpose?”

Black Crowned Night Heron

Sheltering among the mangroves in South Florida.

Seeking quietude
Sheltered from city dwellers
Rudely invaded

For I. J.’s Birds of the Week Invitation LIX

Star Gazing

Erin gazes at the vast night sky contemplating her insignificance.  The realization that we are but mere specs adhered to a rotating sphere of matter in a virtually unexplored universe.  There are billions of stars in our galaxy and billions of galaxies beyond.  She thinks what does it matter? That the stars we see are already dead by the time the light from far off galaxies reaches our epic telescopes, she knows.  But, the stars she sees with her own eyes are very much alive.  Orbiting each of those stars is at least one planet.  A planet that may harbor life; possibly beings of higher intelligence than humans.  What may happen if intelligent alien life makes itself known?  Will humans finally unite as a single race?  Erin laughs at the bizarre path her mind has taken.  So much for relaxing under the stars.

dVerse – Prosery host Dora from PilgrimDreams.com, prompts us to write a piece of property of no more than 144 words incorporating the lines “What does it matter[;] That the stars we see are already dead.” Lines taken from Amy Woolard’s poem, “Laura Palmer Graduates”.

Featured image generated with Bing AI, altered by author.