Portrait Poem

Only a few more days to go before the Chef and I renew our vows and pledge our love and commitment to each other for the next ten years! I am not able to talk about any of this at home because I have not really told him that a priest is coming to the house to bless our little home and growing family. I have always been more of a ' i'd rather beg for forgiveness than ask permission' kinda gal and truth be told, I know that my handsome Chef will be the first one to say 'I'd do it all over again in a heartbeat'.  That is why I am surprising him - that, and I also want to throw off any scent there might be lingering around regarding our trip to Paris next week!

With all this silencing going on, I have found out that keeping my mouth shut kind of stifles my writing efforts. It seems if I cannot blather on endlessly about nothing, then something substantial never materializes. Maybe not a huge problem if it were back in the hazy days of summer when I had no pressure to produce proper pieces, but HELLO!! I am in the middle of a 'Poetry Semester' and have to deliver some fine lines on a weekly basis.

Thankfully, my classmates are all feeling a little pressured so our very cool Poet/teacher (Mr. Gerry Hanberry) gave us a cool little exercise to get the creative juices flowing. 

Why not have a go yourself?

Portrait Poem

I am..........(a teacher, a mother? a few different things)

I wonder..........(curious about)

I hear..............(an imaginary sound)

I see.............(an imaginary sight)

I want.........(an actual desire)

I am..........(repeat first line)

I pretend...........(some fantasy)

I feel............... (something imaginary)

I touch.............(an imaginary touch - like the moon)

I worry.............(something that really bothers you)

I cry................(something real and honest)

I am................(first line of poem repeated)

I understand..............(something you know is true)

I say......................(something you believe)

I dream.................(a fantasy desire)

I try......................(something you make an effort about)

I hope.................(something real that you hope for)

I am..................(repeat first line of the poem)

So now that you get the jist of the exercise, here is my early morning attempt!

WISE Portrait

I am a writer

I wonder if I am a good writer

I hear voices in my head every day telling me what to write

I see the opportunity to write, everywhere I go

I want to do my PhD

I, am a writer.

I pretend that I am organized

I feel like I am drowning in a bog of brown and murky thick water

I touch the tip of my pen to paper and draw pictures when I am supposed to be ‘writing’

I worry that if I do not work hard at everything I do, I will fail

I cry when I loose my marbles

I, am a writer.

I understand that everyone has to die

I say ‘I love you’ to my partner every day

I dream that someday someone important will want to make a film out of ‘My Story’ 

I try not to get mad at my children every morning

I hope that they forget all the times I am cross and relish the memories of the good days.

I, am a writer.

Those are all the WiseWords I have for this very rainy 

(and even a little cold) morning here in Galway.

WiseMóna

Wise Irish Poetry

Before the onslaught of school starts tomorrow (for me anyway), I wanted to doodle a little ditty for my Mum. She is a lover of all things 'Nature'. She also assumes the primary care of our wee crumb catchers whilst we work and study. As we will return to 'the normal daily grind' tomorrow, so will she and God knows, she has the harder job!

So Granny, Mum, Catherine (and any other personality name you go by) This ones for you!

Window Watching Wonder

Tree tops smothered with icy fog,
birds are scrounging like a hungry dog.
Splashy skies of radiant hues,
pinks and yellows, mauve's and blues.




Freezing breaths of ice cold air,
this weather in Ireland is oh, so rare.
Snows white blanket on the ground,
for bundled babies a treasure found.




Blood red cheeks and fingers froze,
sparkly laughs and runny nose.
Crystals hang from rooftops edge,
so to nature’s beauty we make our pledge.




Protect our earth, our air and sea
so the little ones can squeal with glee.
With their happy cries of musical tone
we only hear 'There is no place like home'...




That is all the WiseWords I have for today,


WiseMóna
 

Wise Irish Poetry

Summer Sleeping


Cool, Dark, Damp
as I slide between the sheets
of my mid-summers bed, at night.


Distant murmur of local chatter
over bonfire, peaks my interest
as I slyly spy through shades.


Smell of smoke, ash and turf
wafts through my open windows.

Sleep will come so fast - and stay
'till the morning sun does blast us.



Happy weekend to you all from Sunny Galway,
That is all the WiseWords I have for now (it is only 8.30am!)

WiseMóna

Trickle………..Wine, from a Vine

The day began all gray and darkly dull, with clouds
so heavy and full, the sky was a trembling shroud of wetness
decanting.

A glimmer of sun shine glistening on a leaf, brings forth new
vines.

First leaves then precious blossoms swell, vining along eaves with sweet
smell.

The musty scent of grapes hangs thick in humid skies, as fingers sweet with syrup
stick.

The time has come for fruit to pick.


I had to work on a piece of poetry for my class tonight showing I could write something
with internal rhyme.

I really like this piece.

That is all the WiseWords I have for today,

WiseMóna

Barking Mad!

Red Hens, Little Pups, Yellow Ducks, Sly Fox.

Curious chirping, Nipping at heels, Downy ducklings, Slinking through fields.

Soft but timid, Sleeping sound, floating gently, skulking around.

Feathers Flying, Barking Mad, Bloody Quacking, Dinner HAD!

The image above was created by a man named Robert Kosara and it is his interpretation of Poetry 'visualised' . I love it. Check out his site. http://eagereyes.org/user/robert_kosara

That is all the WiseWords I have for today!

WiseMóna

Clean Boots

CLEAN BOOTS

By Móna Wise

He asked me to clean his boots today
I wore them you see, clam picking the other day.
Normally I would wear my own trusty soles
But the pup chewed a hole, so I double socked it and rolled.

His boots are so big, and much tougher than mine.
They almost got stuck in the sand, which was fine.
If it weren't for the weather being so miserable and cold
I’d rather be clamming, bare naked & bold!

The fact that he asked me to ‘Please clean my boots!’
Made me want to shred them, and hide them like loot!
But after he left, taking two brats in tow,
I noticed on my whiteboard this note he bestowed.

It said “Honey, I love you, you know that I do.
Enjoy a few hours of quiet, whilst we play at the Zoo!
The boots, they can wait until our late return,
Sit down & relax. Daydream, doodle or churn
all those great ideas for stories to tell –
in the hopes that someday a book you might sell!”

That is all the WiseWords I have for today,

WiseMóna

Match Tip anyone?

One of the assignments I received this week for homework was to

compose one single line of not more than twelve words

describing the head of a match.

Here is my attempt!

Pink and Perfect, Round and Raw,

Striking a Spark, Flame without Flaw!

That is all the WiseWords I have for today,

WiseMóna

Sestina D' Wise

Remember a few weeks ago I was working on this style of poetry called a Sestina?

Quick reminder - pick six words, create a poem (6 stanzas, 6 lines in each stanza) finishing each line with one of your chosen words and then finish your poem with the Envoi - 3 lines and using all 6 words. I picked very easy words - Man, Girl, Wise, Me, Him, Child.

It gets tricky and I struggled with it (partly due to the content too) but I got through it and have been nicely reminded that I promised to share it - so here you go! The theme is family love.

Oh, and one last thing...............I am not a poet, I have never claimed to be a poet and I have such great respect and admiration for ANY poets out there because it is the HARDEST bloody thing to write!


Sestina d’Wise

It’s been several years since that man
Fell in love with his wild Irish girl
And although everyone thought him very wise
It took a long time to convince me.
After years of sharing a life with him
The ice slowly melted as we both wanted a child

Years passed, several tries, still no child
Life and love was unkind towards this man
I had grown to love him
And he adored his lovely Irish girl
It was then the sadness smothered me
And I knew that our decisions had to be wise

So what to do now Mr. Wise
And how do you plan to bestow a child
Upon this girl you choose to wed – me
And show me that you are a man
I cried so hard, like a childish girl
I knew that my words were slicing through him

I ached with the pain I had caused him
My decisions were hasty, not wise
I wanted him to love his wild Irish girl
But knew that I was destined to have a child
I broke the heart of my first and my only love, My man.
The only way for him to heal, was without me.

The pain, the torture, the tears within me
The strength, the stability, the love from him
All gone. I was too foolish to see how great of a man
I had found, fallen in love with only to become Mrs. Wise
Surely this pain would subside if I only had a child?
Silly, Stupid, Selfish, insufferable Irish girl.

His heart ached for his wild Irish girl
He always wondered ‘Why did she love me?
When she knew all those years ago I could not give her a child’.
He pined for her daily, if only she would have not fallen out of love with him
She was too hasty,’why not wait?’, it would have been wise
To see how much he loved her, he would have shown the real strength of her man

This Man truly loved his Irish girl
He made Wise decisions and fought for me
A promise from Him, was a child.

© 2008 MGW