lol...

re: "Archeological disaster" is good!
Interesting poem, an unusual subject. Would Scrooge McDuck(here known as Tio Patinhas) be the rich duck in Sotheby's, Nine O'clock?

Never Inuit enough!-Liked again the unusual subject.

accordion/stripes/follow/banana/mirror

Clichè

A faint aurora
over the sea
The nostalgic sound
of an accordion
from afar
People relishing bananas
under a palm tree.

If you follow me
you´ll find
no stripes and banners.
Just an irreverent mirror
of identity.

https://www.adorocinema.com/filmes/f...iler-19537589/

Next challenge: river/skyscraper/ elves/Andalusia/ laughing

Wonderful poem :) Larger than life ! Had some trouble playing your video... A touching documentary I found contains a number of segments about Carmen :)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YpLyD2e1Bc


even the elves have gone - an acrostic
(river/skyscraper/elves/Andalusia/laughing)

A skyscraper rid the world of clouds -
Rivers and seas no longer refreshed;
Mountains divested of their snowcaps;
Andalusian dreamscapes once heralded
Gateways by Hemingway - scorched earth.
Ecosystems' equilibriums in full tilt toward
Death, extinction of all we loved and cherished.
Oh, how the mighty have fallen o' man -
No one's laughing - even the elves have gone

7/13/2022

Next: signature/thirst/rosette/penumbra/green

Ta ! (short for tarradiddle),
tailor

Thanks! And thanks for the documentary on CM!
Your poem-sad but true! The elves have moved to better worlds.

signature/thirst/rosette/penumbra/green

The Book of Magic

In the penumbra
of a dusty attic
there looms
more than lies
a forgotten green book.
It bears as signature
on the top of
a pale rosette.

How many
succumbed to its
dark secrets
through their
thirst of knowledge?

Next challenge: roaster/stratosphere/engine/randomly/bearing

Magical !

ejection sequence initiated / tanka

(roaster/stratosphere/engine/randomly/bearing)

in the stratosphere
an engine bearing amok
under the wide blue
randomly my roaster fails -
flames out - a bumpy ride down

7/14/2022

Next: mantis/brick/dancing/periwinkle/feeder

Ta ! (short for tarradiddle),
tailor

Drastic!


mantis/brick/dancing/periwinkle/feeder

The fairy and the mantis

Sailing over the
sun scorched fields,
dancing lightly, Periwinkle
meets a lonely mantis
sitting on a brick
near an empty feeder.

"What´s up, dear mantis?"
asks the little fairy.

"I´m just praying for rain,
neither too much, nor too little
to revive the dry plantation
and fill the feeder.
Can you help?"

"No, I can´t, dear mantis.
I´ve lost my magic powers.
Go on praying for rain,
neither too much, nor too little
to bring life to the dry landscape
and fill the feeder."
Without a word more
Periwinkle flew away

Next challenge: antlers/chewing/ horse/chromosome/door

Delightful !

CRISPR critters... Tanka https://www.newscientist.com/definition/what-is-crispr/ (antlers/chewing/ horse/chromosome/door)

all it took was chang-
ing five chromosomes - I walked
through the door and the
horse was busily trying
to chew its velvet antlers

7/17/2022

Next: carbon/yellow/box/vacuum/breathe

Ta ! (short for tarradiddle),
tailor

Thanks! Oh my!

carbon/yellow/box/vacuum/breathe

A dusty poem

This is not an interplanetary engine.
Only a yellow vacuum cleaner
in a cardboard box
breathing carbon gas.

Next challenge: gold/divine/galactic/herring/explore

More like a time machine then :)

"tttt tttt tttt tt..." / an acrostic sonnet of dubious nature

this galactic FRB most scintillatingly impressed -
technologist worldwide were universally obsessed
toward NGC 4631 - a barred galactic spiral dressed
too like an ultraviolet gold/silver herring at rest

that resides in Canes Venatici - a constellation best
thought of containing quasar TON 618, a coalesced
titan - one of the most massive black holes expressed
this side of divine creation - a visible quasar guessed

to be a distant 18.2 billion light-years away - yet assessed
to be about 10.8 billion years old ! - an L-a emitter blest
touting a special wavelength emitted by somewhat distressed
tonally neutral hydrogen, but I digress - as the FRB wrest

the laws of physics to its ultimate Einstein/Hawking test
tacitly exploring a signal reminiscent of the French Metal band Celeste

7/17/2022

Next: regret/solid/whet/dune/tunnel

Ta ! (short for tarradiddle),
tailor

Impressive! Can´t say that I understood each detail of it, but it is a true piece of intergalactiness and probably would look also fine in the astronomy thread.

regret/solid/whet/dune/tunnel

At the sight
of those dazzling
feats,
I modestly
whet my wit
Regretfully
retiring
into the
most solid tunnel
of the earth,
dreaming about
dunes, camels
and chameleons.

Edited to include the forgotten word "solid".

Solid !

I'll use the same challenge:

the captive of tinfou

gold dunes shimmering
no regrets for my escape
whetted blade thrown thus:
a solid footing adds force
tunnel vision guides its flight

7/20/2022

Next: gloss/paradox/deadpan/latchkey/itch

Ta ! (short for tarradiddle),
tailor

Lol! Got the message!
the captive of tinfou-Enjoyed the synthetic story.

gloss/paradox/deadpan/latchkey/itch

The Paradox

No use glossing over this
and I itch
to discover the truth:
How come that sublime speaker
deadpanned as soon
as he turned his latchkey?

I often pondered over this paradox.

Next challenge: ivory/ underwhelming/ sweets/ umbrella/ entertaining

Great poem !

I'm in Heaven

Sweet's the word tickling the ivories -
outside sheltered from the sun by an
umbrella the size of a small cabana
as the tide rolls on - I have my fans:
the coconut crabs who idle by, the shrill
gulls who find my playing laughingly
entertaining; it's only the bronzed gods
who find my playing underwhelming -
but I'm the one truly in heaven as I play

7/20/2022

Next: challenge/poise/fearless/thread/subtle

Ta ! (short for tarradiddle),
tailor

Very cute! A baby elephant?

Next: challenge/poise/fearless/thread/subtle

Diplomacy

A fearless poise
is ever a challenge
and so often a useless one.

An elephant in a crystal´s shop
Is bound to break
delicate dishes.

Being subtle demands tact
the numerous forum threads
bear witness to it

Next challenge: cushion/ plane/ synergy/ shimmering/soundless

Enjoyed :) Baby elephant ? (lol) Love the metaphor.

wing and a prayer

(cushion/plane/synergy/shimmering/soundless)

airplanes fly upon a cushion of air; their
synergistic forces on a wing and a prayer
shimmering tarmacs greet all who repair
to milieus where soundless hopes square
with no onerous expectations whatsoe'er

7/22/2022

Next: trial/door/album/lightning/puzzle

Ta ! (short for tarradiddle),
tailor

Enjoyed!

(trial/door/album/lightning/puzzle)

The mystery

No selfies,
no instantaneous takes:
When you go though the door
you see on the table:
a dusty brown album
with its faded photos
open on its last pages.

Time congealed the images
and muted the sounds.
Only bouts of. lightening
Occasionally lit the room
since the fatal trial.

What really happened here?
The puzzle remains.

Next challenge: footage/roadside/ chameleon/craft/planting

Interesting vignette and puzzle :)

critter cams

it's a craft to place critter cams - planting
them chameleon-like along enchanting
obscure critter path's roadsides where they
amble, romp, and sometimes stalk - so later
one may retrieve footage to reveal what may
the wonders of local wildlife at one's leisure

local critter cammer:
https://m.facebook.com/KateDouglas.a...5714185769176/

7/22/2022

Next: sailing/stars/brass/resolve/delusion

Ta ! (short for tarradiddle),
tailor

My latest Word Can poem from 11/3/2022:

"La Plume de Ma Tante"

(presume/plume/diverge/wild/session/retail/significant/replace)


“La Plume de Ma Tante” a diversion that Parker,
my pen, would presume while I in a wild session
of poetry study struggled replacing French verse
with English in translation; reading Beaudelaire, a
significant poet found on the web, library, or retail
- parsing out each and every nuanced poetic detail
as Parker listens in silence and loving admiration

11/3/2022 r. 11/5/2022 r. 11/6/2022

Ta ! (short for tarradiddle),
tailor

My Word Can poem from 12/15/2022…

Ascension

Ah, the carelessness of youth

In a biome rich with diversity
Recklessly I ascend
A firefly

Barely avoiding
A spider’s crosshatched
Fabricated orbed web

In ascension
I do not hide my light

12/15/2022

So the new challenge is using: (biome/firefly/fabricate/ascend/reckless/crosshatch) :)

Ta ! (short for tarradiddle),
tailor

Enjoyed so much! Cute and polysemous. Should be separated for the future book.

Much more simple (accepting the same chalenge)

Nature fabricates crosshatched biomes.
Green pastures sport
reckless ascending fireflies.

New challenge: music, lake, ring, jolting, thunder, serene.

Enjoyed !
Accept challenge :)

(music, lake, ring, jolting, thunder, serene)

the spirit awakes

an instant flash -
lightning strikes
jolting a serene lake -
rippling rings seethe
erratically at first

the music of the
rolling thunder
echoes through
the halcyon hills
awakening its spirit

12/16/2022

Continue this challenge :)

Ta ! (short for tarradiddle),
tailor

Enjoyed this tempest!

Accept challenge:

(music, lake, ring, jolting, thunder, serene)

The lake
No ringlets crease the surface
of the lake,
it´s inaudible music is serene
until
it is jolted
by the dissonant voice of thunder!

Next challenge:
(green, Christmas, roots, enthralling, fishes, intense)

Very nice :)

A Fishy Christmas

Word challenge: (green, Christmas, roots, enthralling, fishes, intense)


A fishy tale to relate of once upon a Christmas
Down, down, deep, deep in the watery below
Out near a jutting isthmus
Enthralled above with bitter snow

The waving deeply green kelpy fronds
Whose roots were anchored firm
Like Christmas trees each corresponds
With nary, nary, a living worm

For the fishys there are intensely voracious
When it comes to their fishy food
So when Santa visits he thinks them most ungracious
He leaves their fishy presents in a sore mood -

Below the green kelpy fronds decorated
With sea stars at the base and urchins everywhere!
Santa leaves the fishy's presents separated
From the waving anemones' and then tarries near

For the anemones leave Santa a snack
That has filtered down into the abyss
Left over from a bull shark's meal of quack
"It's the thought that counts" Santa says in bliss

Santa's greatest challenge is with the hermit crabs
Itinerant little beasties with their houses on the move
Yes, it's very hard for Santa to keep tabs
Using google maps and other apps that prove...

Totally inadequate... So Santa asks the lobsters
Who've temporally taken up residence in traps
"Have you seen the little hermit crabs pass by, monsieurs?"
"Have you word of the little chaps?"

But the lobsters weren't inclined and in a foul mood
For they were pondering their frail existence
So Santa left each one a gift you'd
Think they would've liked for their gruff non-assistance

That of rubber bands to play cat's cradle with
But the lobsters were sore unamused
Santa left them, he knew the hermit crabs weren't a myth
Headed toward a shallow shoal and bid the lobsters be excused

He looked high tide and low tide and then chanced upon
A defenseless sea snail sobbing bereft of its shell
Oh, ho! thought Santa and the thought did dawn
That the hermit crabs were pillaging this noel
And off with current's help they stealthily have withdrawn

Santa gifted the sea snail with a home it could lock
Then followed its directions to find his peripatetic prey
Planning on giving the hermit crabs gifts of schlock
But what did he find but the hermit crabs in full array

Singing hymns to the Almighty and His Son as a child
Christmas carols divine to all who came near
And nearby a buffet for Santa to whom they beckoned and smiled
Santa wept with joy and joined in with the songs of good cheer

The moral of this story dear reader if you've read this far
Is that the spirit of Christmas shines as bright as the brightest star... even for fishys

12/20/2022

Same challenge :)

Ta ! (short for tarradiddle),
tailor

Lol! Wonderful poem!
I have to think something out for tomorrow!

(green, Christmas, roots, enthralling, fishes, intense)

The green Christmas

Christmas in my country
is always green
because it is celebrated
in summer.

It might sound strange
But we use to have pines
for Christmas trees,
a rooted custom in countries
where the cold is intense
and nature covered by snow
is almost barren of vegetation.

As a child I used to be enthralled
by our big green Christmas pine
adorned with real candles.
Today the Christmas pines
are mostly artificial and
covered with led lamps
of all colors.
They aren´t as dazzling
as the real pines
but the natural trees
are more preserved.

And what about the fishes?
They are served as codfish dishes.

Next challenge:

(wood, shower, glass, beckon, quickly)

Enjoyed :) I've never seen a Christmas tree with real candles lit on them, it must be impressive.

Challenge : (wood, shower, glass, beckon, quickly)

beware the woodsman

:shower me with wood chips
said the coquettish young
semiaquatic rodent to her beau
:fill my glass with the freshest
river water and do so quickly
she beckoned with a swishy tail
:return with stout heart and hope
as I consider your token of troth -
tarry not and beware the woodsman

12/21/2022

Ta ! (short for tarradiddle),
tailor

AAIII!
(wood, shower, glass, beckon, quickly)

The Rain
While wandering through the wood
I was surprised by a shower of rain!
The water first poured down,
Than gradually, it fell
as pearls of glass.
Behind a bush, a squirrel beckoned to me:
"Quickly, quickly" he said.

Next challenge: (candels, tower, China, running, evergreen, softly)

Delightful !! :) Just out of curiosity, to whom was the squirrel talking to ?

Reality Check

Browsing thrift stores is a passion -
Looking for treasures overlooked...
Perhaps antiques from Imperial China
that one sees popping up on the news
on occasion auctioned at Sotheby's,
the ivory tower of riches, for a mint

Lowering my expectations I was sur-
prised to find a festive faux evergreen
sprig wreath with pine cones - perfect
for hanging on my front door, and some
running shoes suitable for softly sneak-
ing up on my neurotic cat Candlewick

12/22/2022

Ta ! (short for tarradiddle),
tailor

re: Lol! "Behind a bush, a squirrel beckoned to me/"Quickly, quickly" he said (to me).

re: Enjoyed! "neurotic cat Candlewick"-reality or fiction?

(candles, tower, China, running, evergreen, softly)

The Spirits of Christmas Past

When I was a child
We used to have a "real' Christmas tree
Out of a towering pine
and adorned with baubles, chocolates and candles.

Ornamenting the ever green tree
was an important pre Christmas activity
The baubles had to be handled softly
the candles carefully.
A misplaced candle could set
the whole array on fire.

In some years I provided also
a self made manger.
Out of cotton head and body
marked by a single silken thread
a flock of running sheep
was quickly made.
Put into the lower part
of an empty box of matches
the cotton figure would represent the Holy Child himself.
Maria was a small blue cloth,
Joseph a red one with a match for a stick?
None of them had a face.

In some years I modelled the Holy Family and visitors
Sadly some of these primitive "China" figures
Soon began losing their heads,
on account of being made
of garden earth and not of clay.
My parents kept these headless kings
for years.

Next challenge: ( ice, aquarium, sloths, meandering, regular, sound)

re: "neurotic cat Candlewick"-reality or fiction?" - fiction.

Enjoyed your poem very much :)

Challenge: (ice, aquarium, sloths, meandering, regular, sound)

taking it slow

slender icicles melting in winter
their languid regular dripping
sounds muffled in powder snow;
sloths in nearly all that they do;
me meandering an aquarium,
planetarium, or zoo: taking it slow

12/24/2022

Ta ! (short for tarradiddle),
tailor

Enjoyed! Enormous cold wave in US was in the news. Hope things are getting better and you are not too affected by it.
(ice, aquarium, sloths, meandering, regular, sound)

The intergalactic ice air ship

It went meandering through Via Lactea
The small ice air ship
It looked like a gigantic closed aquarium
With sloths in it instead of locks.
Not a sound came from the people
That one could glimpse.
The ice air ship
pursued its regular route...
meandering through the universe.

New challenge: ( book, flowers island, forward, gleefully, chiming)

A Sci-fi poem :)

Challenge: (book, flowers, island, forward, gleefully, chiming)

I Chanced Upon a Book

I chanced upon a book of art with
works in Gauguin's grand style while
did he in islands preoccupied imagine
then the absinthes of Van Gogh ? -
coaxing green færies in a forward
manner - they who wore red passion
flowers in their hair - the lightness of
their being chiming gleefully as these
pages turned bell, book, and candle

12/26/2022

Ta ! (short for tarradiddle),
tailor

Enjoyed the lightness of the poem.

(book, flowers, island, forward, gleefully, chiming)

While the bells...

While the bells chime in the new year
I open the book of 2022.

Turning the pages back
I encounter islands immersed in the see called time.
Islands gleefully cowered with flowers
but
also deserted islands hailing the errant ships.

Forwarding the last packages of the closing year
the genius of time may well ask:
"What will 2023 bring?"

(Next challenge: word, foam, frontier, beguiling, smiling, nasty)

Enjoyed ! The future awaits !

Challenge: word, foam, frontier, beguiling, smiling, nasty

future past perfect

beguiling frontiers, tie dyed dy-
nasties smiling await our words
of foam to decipher in the future

12/28/2022

Ta ! (short for tarradiddle),
tailor

Enjoyed this economical take! And the "nasty" solution was quite sly :D.

(word, foam, frontier, beguiling, smiling, nasty)

Words

Words spill over frontiers
like the foam of the sea.
Sometimes they wear
a beguiling smile
sometimes they are just nasty
But when they are sublime
frontiers disappear.

Next one: Suggesting a change in the rules. Each user suggests a new challenge for the next one.

Here is mine: artist, clay, moon, secretive, hiding, blissfully.

All too true... enjoyed :)

Challenge: artist, clay, moon, secretive, hiding, blissfully

Celestial Proceedings 12.27.2022

Weaving a gossamer veil of ice crystals this ev'n
the moon appeared a large crescent from Earth's
view to partake of Jupiter's counsel as Venus,
Mercury, Saturn, and red Mars flanked by Capella
and Aldebaran completed this rare celestial court

Men hiding in their homes of clay and wood and
steel this cold chill night were blissfully unaware
of this secretive conclave - where only Uranus and
Neptune deigned to abstain; Pluto having given full
proxy to Jupiter for having dealt with rogue comets

Only an artist and a poet were made privy to the
celestial seriousness this tapestry availed to men
other than the veiled moon who communicated to
them through dreams that indeed celestial scales
still tilt in man's favor - but much less than before

12/28/2022

My challenge: photograph, clash, spectrum, ice, meadow, speculate

Ta ! (short for tarradiddle),
tailor

I loved this astrological poem!

(photograph, clash, spectrum, ice, meadow, speculate)

The Spectre

An old photograph made me speculate.

I mused about the color clash,

all colors of the spectrum were present,

blurring the image of a strange figure,

lean and white,

with rainbow margins.

It stood on a meadow,

with mountains in the background

wearing an iced sugar coat.

Next challenge: turkey, glasses, warmth, songs, lively, snoring.

Very nice ! (Might want to change crash with clash though)

Challenge: turkey, glasses, warmth, songs, lively, snoring

Thanksgiving Revisited

Lively songs are sung of turkeys
whose warmth from the oven
create aromas of anticipation
that meld with fresh baked rolls

Glasses clink in salutation to the
holiday throng, and those whose
appetites survive eat desserts that
leave many torpor, some snoring

https://www.morganmanagesmommyhood.com/turkey-songs/

12/30/2022

Next: sea, charm, leaf, glide, time, superior

Ta ! (short for tarradiddle),
tailor

Charming poem!
sea, charm, leaf, glide, time, superior

The leaf

The last leaf of the calendar
glides charmingly
into the vast sea of time.
Will the future
be superior
to the present?
Who knows!

Next challenge: Flowers, auspicious, sand, toiling, secretly, herald.

Very nice :) I hadn't thought of turning "the last leaf of the calendar.".. excellent !!!

Challenge: flowers, auspicious, sand, toiling, secretly, herald

Asparagus / an acrostic

An auspicious start to the New Year -
Sandbags needed to quell flooding in many
Parts of our locale to herald in Auld L-
Ang Syne - Secretly, as I cough and ache and
Rasp, I am grateful for the respite, the
Absence of snow this season but for a
Good dusting a month or so ago where the toiling for
Us was much less hazardous than last year's
Snowmageddon which smothered flowers & spirits

12/31/2022

"Winter refreshes us, and asparagus represents the hope of renewal and the optimism of what spring might bring."... https://www.chefs-garden.com/blog/ma...0might%20bring.

New word challenge: patience, rainbow, mosaic, stars, reveal, reality

Ta ! (short for tarradiddle),
tailor

Enjoyed! Love asparagus! Though if you brake the third line at a different point, you'll get an "a".The new poem comes tomorrow. A blessed, happy and lucky 2023! :)