Ghosting

Gnats perform a ghostly slow gavotte,
gathering like clouds in shafts of light,
weaving, willowing wisps of curling smoke,
drifting upwards and into the night:
gathering, merging and dissipating,
solemnly they join the twilight dance,
fickle vampires flirting, mating,
malign miasma of the Renaissance.

Kim M. Russell, 2017

cloud-of-gnats-at-dusk

A swarm of gnats. Photograph: Martin Siepmann/Alamy found on http://www.guardian.com

This evening I am hosting the dVerse Poets Pub Quadrille, for which I have asked poets to write a poem of exactly 44 words (not counting the title) which includes the word ghost.

60 thoughts on “Ghosting”

  4. Gnats can be a nuisance. I can see how they might appear ghostly in a certain light. They probably serve some value, however. I remember stopping once at a remote park in northern Wisconsin to see Lake Michigan and many of them settled on the warm car. That was my most recent experience with them. I assume they were gnats.

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  6. A grand quadrille fluttering to a gavotte. Your rhythms & alliteration shore up the brevity for sure. I could see, while reading this, the swarming gnats forming images of famous people.

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    2. Thank you, Glenn. I haven’t had a chance to look at yours yet but Lillian mentioned a problem with the link – just as I typed that, Bjorn posted that he has corrected the link – I’m off to read!

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  8. Oh, read it once and then again aloud. LOVE the sounds in this….and the idea of that swarm of gnats — vampires dancing a gavotte! So MUCH I love about this one! Sometimes we used to call gnats “no-see-ums.” Fits right in with ghostly theme 🙂 GREAT word! So nice to see you back, Kim.

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      1. I reckon they’re in the potting soil, and as soon as they feel warm arm — bzzzzzz, they come alive. I have half a mind to tell Waitrose that their herbs are buggy!

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    1. I wonder what’s in store for us tomorrow in Poetics – it’s Valentine’s day. I’ll be joining in late as I have an online chat between 7 and 9 our time.

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      1. I don’t know. all I know is I’m doing pan roasted fingerling potatoes and asparagus with white wine and lemon drizzle along with some freshly grated parmesan. That’s my story and I am sticking to it.

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    1. I’ve just found it in my emails – I must have moved it into my dVerse folder while I was away – if I do something on my Kindle, I often forget! I have written a short poem for it – a bit dark but definitely a valentine’s poem.

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