Sad Pathetic Fallacy

The world was disappointing,
dry and thirsty,
full of sadness, longing
for some artistic creativity,
when the slate sky flickered
with metallic electricity.
Thunder rumbled. The brawling river,
rushing with rain-swollen flow,
swung into a roaring curve below
towards a thundering waterfall,
rearing in glassy surges,
snagging on the riverbed,
like King Lear on the heath:
turbulence above,
landscape of sadness beneath.
We ride thunderstorms,
memorise their moody tantrums,
wear their sullen colours until
sun lights up the jumble of our brains
and, unsullied by wind or rain,
we ascend from the dark
like larks.

Kim M. Russell, 2017

Sad Pathetic Fallcy

My response to dVerse Poets Pub Poetics: Sensory Play also shared on Imaginary Garden with Real Toads Tuesday Platform

 Today Mish is our host and she talks about the importance of using the five senses in our poetry and how it enriches the imagery for the reader. A scene of nature, for example becomes more alive with the scents of wildflowers wafting in the wind or the high pitched trill of a songbird. We use the senses regularly to describe a physical setting, person or concrete object. Presenting something abstract becomes a little more challenging, for example: What does blue taste like? What is the texture of anger? Describe the scent of contentment. What are the sounds of perfection? What does hope look like?

 Mish says she knows that we can come up with many more of these and asks us to choose something abstract such as a colour, emotion, idea, concept, a quality, trait or situation, and bring it to life using one or more senses. We could also choose something more concrete, as long as we use senses that are not normally associated with it. For example, ‘moonlight’.

52 thoughts on “Sad Pathetic Fallacy”

  2. I love the artistic sadness of your lines, then the turn to the sunlight, like larks ~ Seems like our weather today, gloomy in the morning, then now its all bright and sunny ~

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  8. Lovely imagery. I think this could stand alone…so powerful.
    “We ride thunderstorms,
    memorise their moody tantrums,
    wear their sullen colours until
    sun lights up the jumble of our brains
    and, unsullied by wind or rain,
    we ascend from the dark
    like larks.”

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. We all need to be sad sometimes, Hank, but when it starts to be all of the time, a little sunshine reminds us that we can be happy again.

      Like

      Reply

  22. Somewhere in there is a metaphor or two, mysterious, mantled; enjoyed it a lot. The close is killer, but the chaos of the day covered by an animated media make me think the lark will not meet up with doves, rather a murder of crows, or hawk, or eagle. Alacrity colors everything for me it seems.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. It depends on how you’re feeling and how you look at it. The sunshine is a glimmer of hope and rising with the larks isn’t so hard – it’s what comes after the calm after the storm. Waves of sadness…

      Like

      Reply

Leave a comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.