On the village green,
bones of goalposts lean
at both ends of the empty pitch.
I ring-a-round-a-rosy,
hugging sidelines, daisy-stitched,
tanging of cut grass.
Each time it passes,
it fractures the stillness,
the arrhythmic ebb and flow
of traffic as it comes and goes.
Kim M. Russell, 2017
My response to dVerse Poets Pub Quadrille – Still
Grace is our host for this week’s Qaudrille. She says that she hopes we’re ready for another week of poetry challenges. And for those participating in the NaPoMo, we are almost at the finishing line.
Our word for Quadrille Monday is ‘still’. we can use it as a noun, adjective, adverb or verb. We can also combine it with another word like stillness, stillwaters, stillborn, stillrooms, or even standstill. Our challenge is to write a poem of precisely 44 words, not including the title, and including ‘still’.
Goodness, but “bones of goalposts” is just brilliant.
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Thank you, De!
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I also liked the bones of goalposts and the photo illustrates that well.
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Those poor old bones of goalposts have been missing their nets for a while. I suspect they remove them after a match in case they are stolen. They just look so naked and ashamed without them.
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Cool poem. I like the unforced rhyming pattern.
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Thanks Justin!
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Each time it passes,
it fractures the stillness,
things that cross and change the course of life, I wish I could stop it sometimes, this was a lovely line on how events structure lives
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Thank you, Gina!
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‘fractured stillness’ and ‘bones of goalposts’ are wonderful phrases. Timeless imagery.
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Thanks Paul!
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I love the quiet and stillness ~ My favorite part Kim:
it fractures the stillness,
the arrhythmic ebb and flow
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Thank you, Grace!
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Me too–what they said. It is significant that a city in motion, the stampede of traffic, can only be ignored for a moment before its roar imprints itself on many moments to follow.
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Thank you, Glenn! We have some traffic through our village but the main road from one market town to another crosses the nearby fields. As there is not much else in the way of noise, the traffic can be heard clearly from the football pitch. So different from living in London, where the odd fragment of silence was a welcome surprise! Especially when we lived below the Heathrow flight path and Concorde was still in use, the boom always made my then six-year-old daughter jump – the record player too!
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Such good imagery in this:
I ring-a-round-a-rosy,
hugging sidelines, daisy-stitched,
tanging of cut grass.
And the use of “fracturing” works well.
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Thanks Victoria!
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I like this take on the prompt. I really like the rhyming pattern in this piece.
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Thank you!
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The first time I read this I was thinking lawn mower fracturing the stillness – until I got to the end.
Your words transported me to this lovely green
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Thank you, Candy!
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Everything you write is so stellar.
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Thank you so much! That’s such a lovely compliment 🙂
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What a beautiful picture of the stillness of your soccer field interrupted only by the ebb and flow of traffic. Sounds like a great place for a kid to play.
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It’s where local teams play football, usually on Sundays, and where we have the village fete. I’ve seen people running, flying model planes and kites over there. Unfortunately, the day nursery that used to be in the village hall has moved, so not so many children play here in the week.I think it should be used more as it is such a lovely space.
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For sure. Our town had a great soccer field, but the city dad’s decided for us that we need a new xx million dollar stadium and visitor’s center out in the middle of nowhere. Now the old field will sit empty.
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This is soo powerful!❤️ I love the phrase ‘bones of goalposts’ ..Kudos!❤️
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Thank you, Sanaa!
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You evoke a playground so well – ring-a-round-a-rosy and daisies…very good.
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Thanks Sarah!
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Such an ordinary scene, made so magical and alive. Nicely done.
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Thank you, Sabio!
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bones of goalposts..abandoned playgrounds… great images.
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Thanks!
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I love how you capture the feel of a village playing field and ‘I ring-a-round-a-rosy, hugging sidelines, daisy-stitched’ is a poetic wee gem :o) xxx
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Traffic does fracture stillness as it does in your peaceful scene.
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Thanks Janice.
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I can feel the quiet and stillness reading your poem …no crowd around~
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Thanks for reading and commenting, Kathy!
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Love the contrast between the stillness and the noise…
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Thank you, Bjorn. That’s what it’s like here pretty much all the time.
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Oh! Fabulous!
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Thank you, Dorna!
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