Tag Archives: Cleave Poem

two sides to every winner…and loser

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It’s a new day          so it begins
a great victory          the unraveling,
for the forgotten          rejection of
rust belt
          ideals of justice and freedom by those
patriots          who fear assimilation,
who look back          who build walls
obsessed          against those who are other
with a time when          those who are different
everyone knew their place,          as protective measures
when no one challenged          stoked by fear
the status quo          established by the powerful elite

kat ~ 8 December 2016
(a Cleave Poem – A Cleave poem is a “Three in One” poem. Read the first column top to bottom as one poem, the second column top to bottom as separate poem and across both lines top to bottom for a third poem.)


Spring Migration

arkady-rylov_blue_expanse

“Blue Expanse” by Arkady Rylov

With wind bloated sails Snow Geese head due North
clipping through choppy swells sparked by the spring thaw
the frigate splinters remnant ice shards along ancient aerial pathways
on her maiden spring voyage piloted by instinctual murmurs
across the frigid brackish sea embedded in their DNA,
as cumulus clusters a gaggling cacophony of lusty honks
hang low in the cerulean sky, trumpeting their arrival
a profound sight to behold to land dwellers on the shore.

kat ~ 9 June 2016

A Cleave Poem* for Jane Dougherty’s weekly poetry challenge inspired by the painting “Blue Expanse” by Arkady Rylov and by the prompt words: aerial, profound, murmur, splintering, spark. If you would like to give this challenge a try, or read other examples, click HERE for more info.

*To read a Cleave Poem (which is three poems in one), begin by reading the first column on the left in bold letters from top to bottom, then read the second column on the right in italicized text, and finally read each line across.

 


Serendipity

A Cleave Poem for Jane Dougherty’s Poetry Challenge “Message in a Bottle” with the prompt words: ethereal, placid, meander, forget, silver.

A cleave poem is three poems in one. To read it, start with the first “column” (in plain text) from top to bottom, then read the second (in bold italics), and finally read each line all the way across. In this Cleave poem there are two stories to tell, worlds apart until the message in a bottle connects them. It is serendipitous! 🙂


I found your message do you think of me?
as I meandered along the placid sea I know you are there
under the silver moon somewhere in the ethereal mist
I have sensed your presence forever so I wrote my heart
visiting my dreams, azure strokes of ink on parchment
your kisses on the cool breeze trusting destiny’s providence
waves caressing my feet to deliver this message
as the sun sets past the horizon on some distant shore
where you wait…and now I wait.

kat ~ 18 May 2016


Tempests and Tempers

darkening gloom, tempers ignite
a tempest looms as bitter words spew
billowing clouds poisonous venom
swelling with rain unleashing rage
a thunderous deluge taking no prisoners
flooding the earth slaying the soul

kat ~ 2 May 2016
(A Cleave Poem)


April Poetry Month ~ A Poem a Day #29

Day29! Oh my! I can hardly believe this month of poetry is soon ending. But oh, what a journey it has been! I have learned so much about poetry and form, syllables and rhyme.

Today’s form is a Threefer! Not one, not two even, but three poems wrapped neatly in one! I give you the Cleave Poem. This is an interesting form. There is no rhyme or syllable count to bother with. It can be long or short. The best way to describe it is to explain how one reads a cleave poem. Each line spans two columns. Column A is poem #1. Column B (which can be separated by a line or by the use of italic or bold formatting) is poem #2. And wait, you’re not finished yet! One more read across the entire line completes the trio with poem #3.

It can be a bit tricky to write. When choosing a topic, or two as it were, it works well if you choose opposite ideas or images. I have found that writing completely across for two or three lines helps get the ball rolling. Then you can finish one column, and then the other, tweaking it as you go, so it makes sense every which way!

I’m having a bit of fun with this. Can you tell? This form is one of my favorites!

Photo Credit: pixabay.com


Fire and Ice

hungry licks smooth as glass
tongue red hot cold to the touch
sucking the air crystalline shards
to feed his longing once fluid and flowing
fierce and frenzied frozen 
all consuming as the cold wind whips
soon to fade stroking her surface
in sweet surrender sealing her skin
as dying embers pale and lifeless
turn to ash aching for warmth

kat ~29 April 2016