Morning
Is born with a caul
Of mist on sharp, clear light,
Ripped by the raucous call
Of leftover scraps of night:
Coal-dusted ravens and crows
Hunched in ragged rows,
Their sharp eyes like sloes
Clustering in the blackthorn.
In moisture-laden air, time slows
In anticipation of dazzling hues:
Ochre, rust and foggy blues
To brighten up a stark, dark October
Mourning.
© Kim M. Russell, 2016
My response to dVerse Poets Pub Poetics – Homophone Me!
Today’s Poetics is hosted by Lillian, who has been thinking about how reading and writing have changed over the years: from cursive writing lessons about the beauty of curves to understanding abbreviations like Ibid and et al to tweets with LOL, OMG, and WTF. She reminds us about grammar lessons: learning about synonyms, antonyms and diagramming sentences which, in essence, was deconstructing form. As a linguist and retired English teacher, this is right/write/wright/rite up my street!
For today’s prompt, Lillian would like us to write/wright/rite/right one poem that contains at least two homophones, for example, air and heir; bow and bough; allowed and aloud; sole and soul. Homophones are two words that sound the same but have a different meaning. They can, in essence, be a perfect rhyme. The challenge is to let the sense of the poem flow naturally, even as it includes homophones. We can even add more than two!
Oh those Ravens and crows hunched in ragged rows — a dreary October mourning they make! Did not remember you are a retired English teacher…me too although very early on in my career path. You’ve gone for it here — especially like the call one!
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Thanks Lillian!
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Beautiful!!
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Thank you so much, Martina, for reading and for your kind comment!
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This is a splendid imagery… the eyes like sloans what a fantastic image for the crow’s eyes.
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It’s ‘eyes like sloes’! Black berries on the blackthorn – we make gin from them! Sloanes are posh Londoners! 😀
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sorry sloes… yes I do know about sloe, we have them here as well… used to make soft-drinks here.
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Ooh, soft drinks! What kind?
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It’s more a syrup that we mix with water later… very good if you have the patience to do it… The name is slån in Swedish so I guess it’s the same word.
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Probably goes back a long way. I like the sound of that.
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Absolutely beautiful. You amaze me with your verse. Now, this is poetry!
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Thank you, Jane. if only poetry publishers thought that too…
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What a fun exciting challenge! 🙂 Jen
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😊
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Perfection. I would never have known what you were up to, had I not read the prompt. Just a lovely poem with a perfect balance of sounds. And oh, those visuals, as usual.
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Thank you, De. I haven’t seen one from you yet – can’t wait!
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Thus the explication for sloe-gin, which I always thought was thick & poured slowly. I love this piece, Kim–
perhaps my favorite so far out on the trail; for prompt or no prompt, you never forget that you are a poet. I confess that I got a bit giddy, & fell into a limerick mood. Your poetics cheers & sobers me up.
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Thank you so much, Glenn. That is true praise coming from you and makes me happy that I can reach out to you when you are the other side of the pond.
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I forgot to say I adored your lines /ripped by the raucous call/of leftover scraps old night/; smile.
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That is exactly what it’s like !
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Oh such gorgeous imagery here Kim 😀 especially love “In anticipation of dazzling hues: Ochre, rust and foggy blues To brighten up a stark, dark October. Mourning.” Beautifully rendered.
Lots of love,
Sanaa
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That’s the great thing about autumn – the colours! Love Kim xxx
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The dank imagery is so rich.
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Yes, dank is the word – it’s more like soaked this morning as it has been raining all night. But I do love those dank mornings.
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Beautiful, subtle use of imagery and homophone. Splendid how you began and ended this.
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Thank you, Victoria!
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Very atmospheric, and wonderful for this time of year. Enjoyed finding the word pairs! 🙂
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Thank your for reading and commenting! 🙂
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I love this, morning to start and mourning ending at the end; and “born with a caul.” Great poem!
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Thank you so much! It’s early morning here and I’ll be reading more poems over at the dVerse Poets Pub in a short while!
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Charming and delightful. 🌹
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Thank you kindly!
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Coal-dusted ravens and crows
Hunched in ragged rows,
Their sharp eyes like sloes
Misty mornings may not be all that cold and quiet after all! Rightly so Kim!
Hank
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I love the sound of ravens and crows – seeing them lined up in the trees gives me dark comfort.
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great work….
In moisture-laden air, time slows
In anticipation of dazzling hues:
Ochre, rust and foggy blues
To brighten up a stark, dark October
Mourning.——————-loved these lines so much…
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🙂
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This is brilliant, and I really like “eyes like sloes”. Moody, fun, colourful – it has it all, Kim.
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