Tag: jamespackwriter

Posted on

Twofer Tuesday Poetry: Holiday Whiskey & The Moon Smiles as Humanity Dies

Holiday Whiskey

Twas a night I can’t remember
The day and time are lost
I sat watching flickering lights
Sipping on a whiskey
Alone with those blinking colors
Alone with my own thoughts
This was my usual past time
During holiday nights

My mind began to wander and 
I recalled one Christmas
A memory smelling of death
A sudden tragedy
That never left my family
Even thirty years past
It looms over the holiday
Leaving an awful taste

My mind again did wander to
Another Christmas day
I was young and saw my father
As he beat my sister
The violence was not new in him
He had beat my mother
But never on a holiday
No holidays were good

If not domestic violence
My parents would argue
I remember all the bad times
The happy times were few
I sit watching flickering lights
Sipping on a whiskey
Alone with those blinking colors
Alone with my own thoughts

The Moon Smiles as Humanity Dies

This is the end
No more sunrises
No more stargazing
We’ve killed ourselves
Yet we go through the motions
We continue marching towards oblivion

Is this a simulation
When the clock counts down
Will we restart at the beginning
An explosion that reboots the universe
A continual time loop
Repeating until we get it right

Are we all depressed and suicidal
Because we know the end is here
Or is it the only way to motivate
Everyone to stand and fight
To fix what we’ve broken
To heal the planet before we kill her

Earth is dying
Humanity is dying
The stars and galaxies continue spinning
What will the Moon do when Earth dies
Who will remember the robot rovers of Mars
Who will remember us
Not the Moon

From the poetry collection Cats, Coffee, Catharsis.

Posted on

Poetry Monday: Lethargy

Is this depression – 
A lack of interest
In all things
In everything
In nothing – 
I just lay here
With my thoughts
No distractions
Nothing to stop me
From thinking too much
A downward spiral
Into the darkness
Because of boredom – 
Am I just bored
And feel unhappy
Because I’m not
Entertained – 
Are boredom
And depression
The same thing
But from different
Perspectives
Like the opposite
Sides of a coin – 
I can force
Myself into some
Activity
Something to keep
The darkness away
But it’s always there
Lurking
Plotting
Biding its time
Waiting to consume
When I’m most
Vulnerable – 
Why do I
Feel this way
Why do I
Always return
To the black pit
Standing at the edge
Thinking that
Dark mystery
Is more attractive
Then life
Then living
Then love – 
I don’t want
To go into the pit
But I’m running
Out of directions
To turn

From the poetry collection Cats, Coffee, Catharsis.

Posted on

The Elements of Poetry Part 1: Prosody

Over the course of April, National Poetry Month, I will give brief introductions to the four elements of poetry. These four elements are Prosody, Rhyme, Form, and Diction. An extensive study of each of these could take several weeks. I am only offering an introduction. The first in the four-part series I will discuss on the elements of poetry is Prosody. Prosody is a fancy word referring to the study of meter, rhythm, and intonation of poetry. This element has the most to offer to study. I would argue it is also the most difficult to master.

Rhythm

Rhythm refers to how the words in a poem flow when read. Every language of the world has its own rhythm when spoken. These rhythms alter between different languages. For example, English is a stress-timed language whereas Spanish is a syllable-timed language. The rhythm of a poem written in English depends on when syllables receive emphasis or not. Beats or feet refer to the combination of stressed and unstressed syllables. Contemporary poetry often does not use structured rhythm. The choice of rhythm, even not having one, is something one should consider when devising a new poem. There are six types of metrical feet. The first four are the most common in poetry.

  • iamb – one unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable (e.g. des-cribe, in-clude, re-tract)
  • trochee—one stressed syllable followed by an unstressed syllable (e.g. pic-ture, flow-er)
  • dactyl – one stressed syllable followed by two unstressed syllables (e.g. an-no-tate, sim-i-lar)
  • anapest—two unstressed syllables followed by one stressed syllable (e.g. com-pre-hend)
  • spondee—two stressed syllables together (e.g. heartbeat, four-teen)
  • pyrrhic—two unstressed syllables together (rare, usually used to end dactylic hexameter)

Meter

Meter determines the length of a line of poetry with a predetermined rhythm. The popular meter used by William Shakespeare, “iambic pentameter” means a line of poetry has five feet where each foot is an iamb. Tetrameter is a line with four feet and hexameter is a line with six feet. Here are some common meters used in poetry.

  • Monometer – one foot per line
  • Dimeter – two feet per line
  • Trimeter – three feet per line
  • Tetrameter – four feet per line
  • Pentameter – five feet per line
  • Hexameter – six feet per line

When choosing to write a poem with a structured rhythm and meter, it is important to decide them first. Choosing how many syllables per line and the rhythm of these syllables beforehand makes writing the poem easier. This is challenging because some words change their meaning if different syllables become stressed. For example, the word contest. CON-test refers to a competition. But, con-TEST refers to making an opposition to something someone said. Structured rhythm and meter in poetry requires more time and effort for the writer. Some do not feel creative with these restrictions. Whereas others feel more creative when given restrictions. Everyone should write how they wish. What’s important is to keep writing.