Tempest

lillian

In anger walked I by the roiling sea
the taste of salt, like she, embittered me.
Rough waves didst crash against volcanic rock
and spewed their shards of foam, thus dousing me.

Her words of yesterday, I thought were talk
and thus I waited by her door to stalk.
Bereft was I, like sharpened rocks so bruised,
the knife now purged of blood and hurled to sea in shock.

IMG_9632.jpg

Written for dVerse, where today, Frank hosts, asking us to write a rubaiyat: a poem consisting of quatrains (stanzas of four lines) and, if using more than one stanza, employs a “nesting” rhyme pattern: AABA, BBCB — and each line is written in iambic pentameter.  It’s a poetry sudoku!  Also posted for Napowrimo, day 26 where the challenge is to write, appealing to the senses. Hopefully, without lookin at the photos, you can see, hear, taste and feel this poem! Photos are from our recent trip to Bermuda.

40 thoughts on “Tempest”

    • lillian April 27, 2018 / 4:09 pm

      Thanks Bjorn….just couldn’t get that IP rhythm in the last line. But I’ll take it! 🙂

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    • lillian April 27, 2018 / 4:09 pm

      Funny….it didn’t start out to have a dark ending at all and then the words were there and I have a murder on my hands!

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  5. kim881 April 26, 2018 / 4:34 pm

    how wonderful, a whole story in two rubai, Lill! I love the lines:
    ‘Bereft was I, like sharpened rocks so bruised,
    the knife now purged of blood and hurled to sea in shock’.

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    • lillian April 27, 2018 / 4:11 pm

      Thanks, Kim. I struggled and struggled with that last line to get it into IP rhythm and finally gave up. These poetic sudoku challenges sometimes do me in! 🙂

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  6. Vivian Zems April 26, 2018 / 6:42 pm

    The drama in this is lovely. I got to sense all the emotions you put in here.

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    • lillian April 27, 2018 / 4:11 pm

      Thanks, Vivian. Glad you enjoyed! I got done writing this one and suddenly realized I had a murder on my hands. Didn’t start out that way at all!

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      • Vivian Zems April 27, 2018 / 5:19 pm

        Wow! You must be more careful in the future…you could end the world!

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  7. rothpoetry April 26, 2018 / 7:11 pm

    You really did it now! And threw the bloody knife into the sea! Loved the imagery of the chards of foam!
    Dwight

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    • lillian April 27, 2018 / 4:12 pm

      Thanks, Dwight. Those crashing seas on windy days in Bermuda were some of my favorite times 🙂 However, I never witnessed a murder there! 🙂

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    • lillian April 27, 2018 / 4:13 pm

      “embittered ruthless” —- yup, you got it! 🙂

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    • lillian April 27, 2018 / 4:14 pm

      Thanks for the reblog! We go to Bermuda every winter for one or two months and always rent an apartment in St. George. There’s quite a few other posts about Bermuda under the Travel Muse header if you’re interested….including some wonderful photos. One of my biggest thrills was reading my poetry at the National Poetry Celebration in St. George.

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  11. merrildsmith April 27, 2018 / 2:35 pm

    This is Shakespearean, Lillian. Well done!
    The ocean seems to be the backdrop to many of these dVerse attempts, including mine.

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    • lillian April 27, 2018 / 4:15 pm

      I absolutely adore the ocean — anywhere it is, I am happy! 🙂 Glad you enjoyed.

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    • lillian April 27, 2018 / 4:16 pm

      Thanks, Mary. So glad you enjoyed. I admit…..I always have the devil of the time with iambic pentameter….hit it in every line this time except the last. sigh

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  13. lynn__ April 27, 2018 / 4:47 pm

    Anger is indeed the tempest that can crash murderously…you shocked me at the end!

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    • lillian April 28, 2018 / 9:19 pm

      I shocked me at the end too…..I wasn’t intending that at all and just couldn’t get the rhyme, the rhythm and then I wrote this down and voila!

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  14. Manja Mexi Movie April 27, 2018 / 5:29 pm

    “It’s a poetry sudoku!” You did it again! These words spurred me into writing my first — I can’t even spell it — rubaiyat! Coming up!

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    • lillian April 28, 2018 / 9:19 pm

      Hurrah! Glad you enjoyed and so glad your wote and posted!

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  15. Kathy Reed April 27, 2018 / 5:36 pm

    Nicely done, Lillian…the pain, shock, and bitterness so felt in your lines.

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