I participated in the latest challenge on Poets Who Blog, which was to create a poem using a list of ten words (these ten words are highlighted in the poem below. The result was this poem, “Wounds”. Enjoy.
-Nicole
————————————————————————
They say time heals all wounds.
How precious is that healing
As I try to collect in into my heart and
Desperately to try avoid a role reversal -
I don’t want to turn into a monster
Like you. Continue reading ‘Wounds’
“Blind Mary” by *vhm-alex
For those of you who have been readers for a while, you’ll know that I have written some poetic reactions either to poems of other writings. David Pitchford wrote Dionysus Rising on his blog. This is my response. Enjoy.
-Nicole
———————————————————————
I am muse.
They call me Calliope.
I break open my chest and let the Universe
Leap out of my heart, and then
Hand it to you on a silver platter
No matter
What it is that you seek to sing
About. Continue reading ‘Muse’
When poets get angry, they write. I suggest you read this and this to understand the following.
-Nicole
—————————————————————-
in the animal kingdom it’s not uncommon
to seen bared teeth and sharpened claws
in the brief pause
before the pack kills a weaker member
it seems that we humans
instead of killing a weaker member
simply dismember
him by voting him out of our pack
then we wipe our consciences clean
with a foul
filthy towel
assuaging ourselves with excuses and lies -
disgusting -
and we have little playground boys and girls
standing spiritually stark naked
stripped of dignity
holding the expired end of a match
after being burned by
vicious fires of hatred
now ain’t this just grand
twenty-first century progress
we are so advanced and sophisticated
that instead of ripping little children to shreds
leaving them with raw wounds that never close
now we can simply vote them out of class
Written 5/28/08
© 2008 Nicole Nicholson. All Rights Reserved.
As I’ve mentioned before, I believe in trying new things and stretching myself to grow as a poet. So….when I read this post on Strong Verse’s blog about narrative poetry, I was curious and intrigued. I mostly write lyric poetry, as readers of this blog are aware, but I have certainly not shut the door on narrative poetry.
The idea is to write a narrative poem which tells a story (a bit redundant I am in saying this, but I felt I needed to) hovering somewhere between 250 - 300 lines. A challenge for me, since my poetry tends to run 40 lines or less, and as I mentioned, I write more of what is probably classified as lyric poetry. But there are many stories to tell. I intend to tell at least one of them. I will keep you posted.
-Nicole
This is a poetic response (though kind of like slant rhyme, I’d call this a slant response, since it’s more of a take on the idea of obsession) to “Naked Echo” by David Pitchford. I also suggest checking out “Deep Rooted Want” written by Mother2Rah.
-Nicole
To watch is to want, and
To want beyond the heart’s
Boundaries becomes murder
As you rain covetous concupiscence
Upon the object of your desire Continue reading ‘Obsession’
(Inspired by this post from the Blog of superdivalicious…)
Trust the antenna wires
Inside you,
Picking up the good and evil
Around you, Continue reading ‘Intuition’
(an answer to Paul Blackburn’s poem “Once-Over”, partially quoted at: http://lutheransurrealism.blogspot.com/2008/05/blackburn-ii.html .)
You’ve got
X-
ray
eyes
And it’s
no
sur-
prise
That you focus them on: Continue reading ‘Subway Starer’
An endless refrain
Of pain
Sings through her body
Every morning
As her joints wake up to the morning sun
And her wallet wakes up, yawning empty
From the money she spent
To chase away the pain. Continue reading ‘Symphony’
What do I say to you?
I write to all my heroes
As if they stand before me,
But what do I say to you,
The largest of them all? Continue reading ‘Maya’
Greetings readers!
My fiance and I attended the finals for this year’s Rust Belt Poetry Slam last night. We decided to go to last night’s finals bout because a) there was an open mic right before the slam (I read “Be” at the open mic), and b) we wanted to see what the finals would be like, never having attended a poetry slam of this notoriety and magnitude. Continue reading ‘2008 Rust Belt Poetry Slam: Awesome!’
This poem is dedicated to everyone.
-Nicole
——————————————————-
Be strong;
Be healthy;
Be here.
Live not as mere margins
On history’s pages, Continue reading ‘Be’
I decided to end my experiment on Chaucerian roundels on Wednesday. My goal was to write at least ten poems in this style, and I did it. I have written four of these here on the blog. Continue reading ‘The Chaucerian Roundel Experiment’
This was inspired by a poem on David Pitchford’s blog entitled “Swimmer” and a response written by Mother2Rah entitled “Tread Water”. I decided to take a crack at it (no pun intended) from the Kraken’s point of view. I would suggest you read their poems first before reading “Kraken”.
Before y’all say something, I am aware this is not in Chaucerian roundel style, as per my experiment for this week. You will see a post tonight, wrapping up the details of my experiment.
-Nicole
——————————————————————-
Continue reading ‘Kraken’
Sunday quiet, Sunday breathing:
Incense smoke encircles our heads,
Books and letters disarrayed on our bed. Continue reading ‘Sunday Quiet, Sunday Breathing’
For Pete’s sake, don’t take the title literally. Read in a bit further.
-Nicole
————————————————————–
Beg, borrow, or steal:
Somehow through living, you lose your soul
If mere survival’s your only goal. Continue reading ‘Beg, Borrow, or Steal’
You and me and the river made three,
A summer’s baptism under moonlight:
I’ve never forget that August night. Continue reading ‘River Song’
A man, a deer in headlights. Knives
Caught him before his year had ended:
A mother’s hopes and dreams suspended. Continue reading ‘Tragedy’
Reposted from my e-mail. - Nicole
————————————————————–
Next weekend is the 2008 Rust Belt Poetry Slam!
http://www.rustbeltpoetryslam.com
Here are…
Top Ten Reasons You Should Come To The 2008 Rust Belt Poetry Slam: Continue reading ‘2008 Rust Belt Poetry Slam!’
I am going to try something new for the next few weeks. I’ve been wondering what I can do to grow as a poet, and to me, the obvious thing to do first would be to try out poetic forms and styles other than what I normally write in. The Chaucerian Roundel fascinates me, and I’ve seen good examples of it used by other folks, including Half Way Tree. So this week, I will attempt to write only Chaucerian roundels, and the best poems of this week’s experiment will be posted on this blog. I also hope to generate some material to read at open mic this week. We’ll see what happens.
-Nicole
Four foot eleven,
One hundred and ten pounds -
And she fights like an army
Of a hundred thousand
At the gates of Hell. Continue reading ‘Four Foot Eleven’
Raven Feathers
My new chapbook - now available!
Item #: RWP-1
Price: $5.00 USD
Recent Comments