She lurks in the shadows,
her grey-brown trunk short,
furrowed and corky,
long branches pointy
winter wands, charming icicles,
writing spells with frost
and disappearing into mist.
She has already drawn the path
of winter’s exile in her elder scrolls,
plotted the return of spring
with a joyful blossom blast:
choirs of birds and drone of bees
among petals bright, buds swollen
and bursting with sweet pollen.
Kim M. Russell, 12th February 2019
My response to dVerse Poets Pub Poetics: Games Night, also linked to Imaginary Garden with Real Toads Tuesday Platform
Sarah is hosting Poetics today and she invites us to have some fun with computer games.
She says that computer games are big business, almost as addictive as writing poetry, and probably more addictive than chocolate, and she wants us to fight back and wreak poets’ revenge on the digital seduction.
Sarah asks us to choose three names from a list of computer game names she has provided and somehow or other wrangle them into a poem. We don’t need to know anything about the game but should let the names inspire us.
I’ve chosen Blossom Blast, The Elder Scrolls and Path of Exile.
Ah, Mother Elder? I love the way you’ve incorporated the names, and the wintry tree planning for spring. Great personification, and such joy at the end.
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Thank you, Sarah!
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I love the elder so much… we always make syrup to have some flowery lemonade in winter ….
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I love elderflower lemonade!
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Elder! Of course. Clever of you to have picked that out and written such a lovely poem for her.
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Thank you, Jane!
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🙂
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Ah, the language and life of trees; wonderful, like green poetics, smile.
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🙂
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I saw a tree and the birds and buds moving in, but elder and its double meaning works too.
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Thank you, Colleen.
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I never would have guess this used computer games as a prompt. A lovely poem with magic in every line. Elder flowers – lovely things and they make such a wonderful syrup. My Swedish neighbors showed me how.
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Thank you, Tony. I love anything with elder flower and berry in it.
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Beautiful, oh my goodness! ❤️
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Thank you very much!
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This is enchanting Kim. “Choir of birds drone of bees among petals bright” beautiful!
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Thank you so much, Rob!
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Such gorgeous use of language and imagery here, Kim 😍😍😍 I love “charming icicles, writing spells with frost and disappearing into mist.” ❤️❤️
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Thank you, Sanaa. I couldn’t read and comment last night, so I’ll be getting on with it shortly. 🙂
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love where you took these games!
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Thanks Candy!
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Even nature can’t hold back those blossoms bursting with pollen!
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The birds are back, singing their hearts out – spring is in the air!
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How wonderful!
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It is sad isn’t it that just when plants are sexiest and bloom with flowery love we humans cut off the blooms to watch them die indoors.
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I prefer to see them growing outside, Robin.
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Spring is leaping off the page here Kim!
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🙂
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Ah, you gathered the words into sweet promise of spring. I love it!
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Thanks Bev!
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I like the cork oak image at the beginning; hadn’t thought of that tree for a long time.
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Trees are fascinating.
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Love it, Kim. Like the elders.
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Thank you, Sara!
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Damned clever use of the video game titles. This is a charming piece with enchanting imagery.
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Thank you, Rommy.
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Excellent. And it makes me long for spring. 🙂
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Thank you, Sascha. 🙂
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I like how spring’s return needs to be plotted: “plotted the return of spring”
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Thanks Frank!
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Love the personification here and most especially the connection you’ve drawn between the actual elder flower coming in spring and the Elder Scrolls game. Such subtle use of the game names within the flow and meaning of the poem.
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Thank you, Lill!
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Clever, I enjoyed the way you incorporated the gaming in to the poem.
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Thank you.
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A sweet tribute to Mother Nature. I very much like your incorporation of “path of exile”, by adding another word. Sorry for the late response.
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Thank you, Mish. No need to apologise, I’m struggling to keep up at the moment. 😉
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