Risky business

Day 26: 'write a poem that involves alliteration, consonance, and assonance. Alliteration is the repetition of a particular consonant sound at the beginning of multiple words. Consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds elsewhere in multiple words, and assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds.'

Great,  I've been wanting a format challenge and now I have one,  but what to write about? I'm going away on the 1 May - perfect timing - and one of the first things we're doing is a helicopter ride over Victoria Falls. I was really excited to book it,  but now my risk aversion has kicked in and I'm wondering how I'll get through it!


What was I thinking? 
I could kick myself, 
The fear of flying over the abyss
Outweighs the bliss I felt before
Reality set in. 
This is the person who felt the impossibility 
Of passing from solid floor
To glass parapet, who cowered 
At the top of the Blackpool tower,
Opting to take the picture -
Far better than the pitch and roll
Of vertigo.
This is the person who gave the gift
Of a balloon ride, loving the idea,
Whose fear of falling made her choose 
To eschew the thrill,
And follow safely on the ground.
At sixty seven, it's surely time
To grasp the nettle, new undiscovered mettle,
Screw my courage to the sticking place,
Finally face my fears.


© Copyright 2024. Chris Auger. All Rights Reserved

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Directions

Day 30:  write a poem in the form of a series of directions describing how a person should get to a particular place. It could be a real place, like your local park, or an imaginary or unreal place.  There's an old joke about someone asking directions,  and being told "I wouldn't start from here." But that's the only place you can start, whether it's a real journey,  or your journey through life.    To get to where you want to be Start from where you are.  Take the first step,  then - most important - Keep going in your chosen direction.  Take along your close companions If you're worried they'll be left behind;  Trust you will meet new friends In unexpected places. You may get lost along the way,  Blundering your way back on track After several false starts Before you find your destination.  You may choose to stop, distracted By the bright lights of interesting diversions. Take time to decide if you need to back track Or if th...
Read more

A Life Lived Well

Another friend has passed away, and will be dearly missed. Yesterday our book group honoured her memory by attending her funeral,  and spending time back at her house amongst her family and friends.  I always find it odd that we find out more about a person's life after they've died than is ever shared while we think we know them.  Our quiet friend, of firm opinions softly spoken, Will never again welcome us into her home,  To discuss her choice of book, relish her homemade cakes, To admire her eclectic collection of postcards on the loo wall, To envy her stream-fed pond, her rambling cottage garden.  Instead, her family warmly welcomes us in, The house humming with tales from those who knew her well,  Who somehow know us: our names, reputations, book choices, Our faces smiling out from frames set among family photos; All of us sharing stories of her love of nature, books, travels, All of us honouring this steadfast, self-effacing woman, Between us cherishi...
Read more

The unhappy bride

Inspiration from unexpected sources - The Unhappy Bride You can often be inspired by seeing something unexpected,  out of the norm. In this case it was a series of photographs taken of a woman wearing a bridal gown standing outside a locked church, walking by a river,  and finally wallowing in the mud,  ruining her dress.  It made me wonder about her back story, and i came up with this poem,  written in a ballad form reminiscent of the days when I used to go to a folk club.  The ballad form is written in verses of 4 lines,  with 8 syllables in lines 1 and 3, 7 syllables in lines 2 and 4, and a rhyme scheme of abab. The girl is young,  she meets a man Who tells her that he loves her They meet at night,  whene'er they can He soon becomes her lover. Oh sailor boy,  stay by my side Don't leave me here to moulder Please say that I can be your bride Before the moon gets older. The man agrees,  to keep her sweet, Meaning jus...
Read more