Reckoning

This poem was written in response to the March/April Writer's Digest Poetic Asides description by Robert Lee Brewer for the poetic form:  dizain.  The form requires 10 lines, with 8-10 syllables the rhyme scheme of ababbccdcd.  This was fun for me to do and I was surprised by the message that emerged, as indicated in the title of the poem.

It was Easter morning at my house
Neighbors bringing berries and wine,
Our gray cat sleeping like a mouse.
He is imagining the first time
He tries to catch one on a day so fine
As this--when the sun shines, church bells ring.
I put aside what tomorrow will bring:
More of the same or a fanfare of fear?
When will the rocks begin to sing?
When will the mad crowds begin to cheer?

Two "Reset" Poems

(from Writer’s Digest December prompts) 12.3.16 by acfonte

Reset Uno

Nothing is quite right today. It started with the porch light blinking in the dark—

A response to a feral cat, blustery breeze or errant footsteps?

Unsettling, my dreams were dotted with

Faces from the ashen past, names from an afternoon movie.

In the morning, my toast burned.  I put too much water in the plant pot

And water spilled to the concrete floor.

At the gym, as I bicycled in place,

My muscles trembled and heart fluttered.

Then, at the café,

My sample coffee was too sweet,

The room temperature shifted from heat to ac and back again,

My orange sweater was tight.

Finally, I laughed at the poetry prompt to “reset.”

Okay, so I have.

Can I get off that bicycle now?

Ovillejo: Reset Deux (a Spanish poetry form)

How can I stop trembling in place?

It takes less space.

I practice my balance with care,

Arms high in air.

Like a cactus of certain age,

Nature’s green sage.

She offers me another stage

Where fear is quiet and hope is high,

So I grab hold as faith flies by—

It takes less space, arms high in air, Nature’s green sage.