555 Days... The Continuation

Welcome to 555 Days as a Poet by The Crafty Scribe

Back in 2010, I challenged myself to write a poem or a short verse a day, and post it to a blog. 555 Days as a Poet by The Crafty Scribe is the continuation of the experiment.

I gave myself 18 months to recover from the original daily blog postings, and now, I am ready to start it all over again. Although as I was beginning in the middle of the year, I thought 6 months was too short a time after my last experience.

"If I could complete a year of poems, how about 18 months?" I thought. I worked out that would be 549 days. I could have rounded it up to 550 to included New Years Day 2014, but then I thought I'd go 5 better... to 555 days.

Why 555? According to many spiritual teachers, the number 555 is a sign of change and the flow of energy. I thought it related to the blog. I spent a year writing a poem every day, then rested for 18 months. Now the tide has turned. It's time to begin the flow of words in my life again.

I'm not a trained poet, just an enthusiastic scribe wanting to create something new each day. I don't truly know my stanza from my meter, but I hope to improve and get my poetic license someday! Expect the weird, the strange and the inner workings of the Crafty Scribe's mind. Let's ride the waves once more.

Please pass on the blog address to all your verse and lyrical loving friends. I hope you will join me, and read my daily scribbling.

Sunday 30 June 2013

"Fantasy to Fact" (Entry 365)

He caresses the blade,
Stroking it as he does his shaft. 
Gently. Long
Firmly. Strong. 

It's edge digging into his palm. 
The blood trickles down his arm to elbow. 
It drips, 
then flows

landing on her flesh. 
At his feet on cold concrete. 
Exposed skin. 
Naked. Bound. 

Pink tainted blue against grey. 
He's ready to render it to red. 
His fantasy
turned fact.

*******

Happy One Year of Poems to me!
Here at 555poet, I've reached the number I achieved on 365poet2010. 
Now onwards and upwards, onto the next 190 days of fun, verse, tales and maybe a few tears. 
Thank you for sticking with me, I hope you enjoy the journey!

Saturday 29 June 2013

"Terror Tremors" (Entry 364)

Four miles out of town. 
The highway collapsed. 
Earthquake struck,
Hard and fast and angry. 
It gave no warning.

No low Richter scale tremors. 
Straight to the big one. 
Loud and proud. 
Mother Earth roared and shook,
The mortals perished. 

Friday 28 June 2013

"A Glimmer of First Memory" (Entry 363)

The white towel lies on tan mat
Before three cream tiles turning
Blushing red in the gas fire. 
Heat licks,
protected by shining silver grills,
Like strawberry stained teeth 
behind cheerleader's braces. 
The dulled-by-use to brown patterned sofa sits strangely empty,
Normally filled by soft smiles and warm hugs. 
There, the memory ends. 

Thursday 27 June 2013

"Seaside Delivery" (Entry 362)

Yellow tape tied to sticks in the ground
surrounded the beach. 
100 metres corner to corner.
The waves splashed gently 
inside the area now known as
"Police. Caution! Do Not Cross."

The sea lapped, unnoticed, 
at the shape,
it had cradled and carried
and delivered to the land. 

Pink turning grey and swollen. 
Jelly-like with matted seaweed hair. 
Now covered with flies and gritted sand and
a by-passer's towel. 
An act of decency and dignity to the dead. 

For this beached deceased mermaid,
spat out from the deep bitter marine,
was once a girl who
laughed and lived. 
Now, she was Jane Doe. 
A homicide. 

"Silver Ring" (Entry 361)

It shone out in the moonlight.
Sparkling silver, circle bright. 
A shimmering ring,
She knew what it meant, but why?

She didn't expect it, this night
To turn out this way, not right. 
She howled in anguish,
Knowing every word was a lie. 

It meant that all they'd had done was deceit 
Crying out, her world crashed at her feet.
The silver ring, she found in the forest. 
Broke her heart, she wanted to die. 

To a noise behind, she span round
Raised her head high and stood her ground,
As her tears turned to anger. 
He stepped forward with smile, so wry. 

"So, I've caught you" he said in victorious gloat. 
As in-human snarl rose in her throat. 
"You can't step over the silver circle. This ring that we made. 
Can you, werewolf? Don't deny!"

Tuesday 25 June 2013

"Delving Deeper Than He Knew" (Entry 360)

There was an uneasiness between his shoulder blades. 
A feeling never felt before. 
Not an itch needing to be scratched. 
Something deeper, you just abhor. 

So deep an ache from his back to his neck,
Catching his throat in a vice and a rope. 
It reached forward to grasp at his heart. 
Sucking air from his chest, and all hope. 

It enveloped him and grabbed at his spirit. 
All life and joy now left. 
Disabling his prayers and ambitions. 
Pulling him further to hell. Soul bereft. 

"Journey to a New Life" (Entry 359)

Twice cars filled. Piled high. 
Including kittens times two. 
Off on our life's journey. 
To see the southern view. 

Moving forward to a new future, town and home.
Trepid explorers on
Towards the bright unknown.  

Onward we went travelling 
In the right direction. 
'Til drives end for 
We had reached our destination. 

"A Spider's Eye's Views" (Entry 358)

Spider weaves her web. 
Day's work of intricate lace. 
To perch at its centre. 
Bull's eye of its endeavours. 

Stretched across the window. 
She could see the beings within. 
These giants scared her. 
She knew the dangers they held. 

They could destroy her home and her life
With a flick of their long upper leg.
She was anxious of these animals
With their to-ings and their weird busy-ness lives. 

Fancy them only having four legs and two eyes.
How on web did they ever manage?
As long as she could see them and they left her alone.
She was happy to watch these creatures, so ugly!

The more she viewed their habits. 
The more she came to love their strange ways.
Though from her webbed side of the window,
She could never understand what they did. 

Of an evening, they stared at a light in the corner,
Like moths to a flickering moon. 
By day, most never stopped moving,
How did they ever ever catch food?

Then her web quivered. A fly caught. 
To buzz and hum its distress. 
So along silken wires, Spider scurried.
Enough nature watching, back to work!

"Lone Telephone" (Entry 357)

Telephone. 
Alone. 
Nicotine yellowed rotary on 
Slab of fake mahogany 
In hotel room. 

Cacophony of tinny bells ring loud. 
Vibrates against paper-thin viral-stained walls
Within the sparse space. 
An old-fashioned sound in an undefined place. 
Its call persists. 

Brrring!-Brring! 
Brrring!-Brring!
Plastic thing sings
Metallic.
Brring!-Brring! 
Pity there's no one there to answer it. 
It rings no more.

"UK Solstice Day" (Entry 356)

Solstice day sans sun. 
Rain clouds thunder past our way. 
British summer norm.

********

Happy Summer Solstice! Blessed Be!

"Supernatural Snaps" (Entry 355)

Image flashes in the gloom. 
Indistinct. 
Concentrate. 
Adjust to flow in vision. 
Solid as Stonehenge. 
A fog descends.
It disappears. 
Know it's there. 
Immovable. 
Beyond reach. 

Try again. 
Press on. 
Push forward
Through pitch black barrier. 
Pulsing past. 
View it. 
Fully formed. 
Connected. 
Seeing above confines. 
Into Universal pictures of the mind. 
Supernatural senses of something sensational. 

Can you?

"A Memory Whim of Learning to Swim" (Entry 354)

Air-filled red rubber squeaks
As bands are pushed up twiglet arms,
To leave a white ring against a tan. 
Tip-toes tap along hot sand,
To reach the lapping coast,
That licks at feet like over-excited puppy relieved that its master is home. 

Tentative tootsies taste the water. 
Cool and nippy against sun-fried skin. 
To knees, to waist and torso. 
Low gradient makes easy gauge of depth. 

A leg raises, a wave and hasty return. 
To try again and hold. 
Then, with brave breath, the other. 
Salty sea hugs and balances. 
Kick of foot. Flap of hand and 
Swimming!

Confidence increases until
Large strangers bounce past. 
Water hits face. 
Flail and panic!
Head disappears. 
Come up choking. Crying. 
To stop on realisation of
Feet upon sandy floor. 
Stand up near the shore. 
Only waist deep!

Run on back to
Sympathetic parents who
Buy snorkel mask. 
Problem solved!
Straight into the sea. 
To play and splash in the
Heated surf beneath flaming sun. 

By mid-afternoon,
Arm bands removed,
And tide-lines disappear to
Shade golden brown. 
Within a day, a swimmer. 
A mermaid of the Mediterranean sea. 

*************
Me and my dad on the beach - Malta circa mid to late 1970s!



"Three Days after the Snow Ceased" (Entry 353)

That was six months ago. 
Half year. Continual snow. 
Never ending. 
Never thawing. 
Constant temperature,
We began to live with. 
Endless winter on
This globe of snow. 

Then the snow ceased. 
Falling no more. 
Mercury dropped
Sudden. Harsh. 
Lower and lower,
Beyond measure. 
The world froze. 
Deep cold stasis. 

First the pipes, then electricity. 
Static life. 
Static on the wind-up radio. 
Food frozen in cans, water in bottles, fruit in bowls. 
Walls and floors became glossed sheets. 
Iced surfaces, 
A skaters delight. 

No way of melting. 
Fires went out,
Wood shattered into icy shards. 
Even gas hardened. 
No flame to take. 
Nothing to burn. 
Nothing will burn, even bodies.
The dying began long before. 

Until there is only a fistful left. 
Extremities numb.
Finger snapping. 
Cold seeps into the skin. 
Crystals forming in my vision. 
It began three days ago. 
It's difficult to hold this pen. 
I don't know how much more I -

"Returning Home" (Entry 352)

The body listless. 
Mind buzzing. 
Key in door. 
Unlocked. 
Swing open. 
I exhale. 
In that breath,
familiar scents. 
Warm, comforting, safe. 
We are home, 
at last!

"The Object of My Desires" (Entry 351)

Is that his voice?
He beckons me. 
I try, but can't pull away
From eye contact. 
We stare. Joined. 
Transfixed. 
His smile sparkles. 
He knows he has me. 
How could he not?
Just so beautiful,
I want him to be mine. 
I'm too weak to resist. 
I take a step towards him. 
Dare I?
My mouth goes dry
As I feel my pulse racing. 
He has my heart. 
I lick my lips
As I slip toward him. 
Closer. 
Pupils dilate. 
Closer. 
I raise a trembling hand
To stroke his smooth face. 
I'm hit by a jolt of electricity. 
Sparking blue in my mind. 
A frenzy of energy 
Ripples throughout my being. 
We are connected.
Through the ages, by spirit, by life. 
Me and this stunning object of desire. 
Me and the Crystal Skull!

***********
If you want to find out more about 'the object of my desires' ;-) The Crystal Skull, please check out this link to the British Museum. 

http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/aoa/r/rock_crystal_skull.aspx