From Grand to Swirl

A week of poetry prompts

Continuing with the challenge from

Beth Kempton

to write a #tinyautumnpoem each day until the end of November, here are my poems from November 17-23 2024

Day 11 GRAND

Tears streamed and my heart lurched

when I saw Canal Grande for the first time

and yet my soul knew it well

every cell sang of home-coming

echoes of memories, lost in a mist

surfacing now like fire in my veins.

As we sailed the ancient waters

each new sight sparked

another flame of remembrance

an unknown knowing

that pealed through the clouds

of time like lightning

calling me back.

Day12 SUITCASE

Old and battered, rusty hinged

bearing the initial M. J.

the lining faded crimson

this suitcase was once splendid

a lady’s vanity case perhaps

filled with lacy lingerie

pink powder puffs

and velvet gowns.

Now it holds my treasures:

hand-made cards for Mother’s days gone by,

first attempts at poetry

each letter carefully formed,

a dog-eared programme,

mother’s fine silk scarf

still holding her fragrance,

letters tied in blue ribbon,

curling pictures, fading flowers.

Day 13 VOLUMES

I wrote this poem after attending a Lampeter Writers poetry workshop with Samantha Wynne Rhydderch. I wrote my first Triolet during the workshop, and this poem is my second.

There are volumes of books at the library

all of them completely free

to borrow. We can find wonders literary

there are volumes of books at the library

fiction, memoir and poetry

to close it makes no sense to me

there are volumes of books at the library

all of them completely free.

Day 14 Delicate

I was expecting snow flakes

delicate ice crystals

drifting soft and slow

past my window

as I cosy up beside the fire.

Instead, we had great balls of ice

cacophoning on roof and glass

bouncing on the patio

stinging skin and breaking

off the remnants of autumn.

Day15 SCISSORS

I hide my good pair

they’re for cutting material

and nothing else!

Paper scissors in the desk

and kitchen scissors

-always stiff and slightly sticky,

sit with the cutlery.

We have our own nail-scissors,

his are long and strong,

mine curved and delicate.

And outside, in the shed,

the jack-of-all-trades pair,

for cutting string,

and opening composts sacks,

trimming bulbs and harvesting leaves,

and all things gardening.

Day 16  UP

Elfreida visits the Mulberry Bush Cafe

She kicked her wellies off

as soon as she arrived,

grabbed a book from under

the coffee table and cuddled up to mum,

for a full three minutes,

then wriggled away,

bounced on the sofa,

fell, cried, cuddled again,

her bright-eyed elfin face

impossibly adorable.

I wanted to take her home.

Day 17 SWIRL

The daughter of my daughter is a dancer,

age two she joined Miss Sally’s Little Movers.

I watcher her as she twirled and swirled blue streamers

while skipping joyfully across the stage.

Age twelve she danced a solo in a tutu

en pointe, and graceful as a swan.

And now she’s in her final year at Uni,

she dances like a rippling of cornfields,

like water, lyrical and free.

You can buy my book here if you like, available in Kindle also