Regal Bearing

                                                                                     Artist: Richard Ansdell

Image: An Ewe, Lambs and Heron Beside a Loch

Sourced through Wikimedia Commons (here)

Standing tall majestically well-bred

Mother’s call stamped authoritatively

Within proximity a protector

Where a  heron is considered a threat

Sauntering a regal pose glaringly

undaunted, unflinching all to savor

Fluffed coat of noble breeding suavely decked

Furtively fragrant and impeccably

placed blessings rightly procured to endure

Ewe, vibrant unwilling to segregate

Gregarious thriving nature of fairly

accepted  friendship, a sober gesture

Young lambs of safely groomed family trait

An outlandish future cautiously made

Note: An ABC ABC ABC ABC and AA structure. Kept to the 10 syllables on each line

Written for Sam's hosting of Forms for All at d'Verse - a Trireme sonnet

Dry Humor

                                                                             Artist Karlis Padegs

Image: Red Laughter
Source: Licensed through Wikimedia Commons (here)

A fabric of like feelings

Feigning a laughter of sorts

Illicit in its nature

Patterned by a show of pranks

Precursor of base humor

Ravenous in its desire

to cause glee but lacking witticism

Reckless stimulant  to stricken pride

Exhausted in its bid

to stoop so low

to torment

those not led to

enjoy some chuckles

the straight faced

the serious

those unworthy

of vibrant nature

to just trudge along

with no sparkle in life

Written for Poetry Jam with prompt - illogical-

Caterpillar

Image:1 Old World Swallow Tail Caterpillar

Image:2 The Eventual Butterfly that it becomes
Source: Wikimedia Commons (here) and (here)

Soft tissue wriggly
Spurned by the squeamish,welcomed
food chain provider

Vibrant,immersed in
myriads of colors,unfazed
eventual winner

The ugly duckling
story repeated,rebuffed
but hailed as beauty

Written for Chev's haiku CARPE DIEM #131 with prompt caterpillar and d'Verse OpenLinkNights #85

A Lady's Plea!

                                                 Venus de Milo with Drawers 1936 by Salvador Dali

Image: Courtesy of Tess' Mag

Ganging up on the lady

Is that it?

Whose idea is that!

Drawers !!

Conveniently

attached at my strategic knocks

and right places

Sacrilege!

I'm better off without just my arms

That’s all!

That's how I'm always seen

It cannot be any better

that’s how I've always been

Shatter-proof glass luxury

Mona had it easy
Short end of the stick for me

Glaringly
homesickness gnawing

on my raw nerves

Begging you!
Please take me back

Take me back to the Louvre

Venus belongs there too
Not just Mona!
Do you hear!

Do you dare!

You gentlemen care?

Written for Tess' Magpie Tales #157

Hustled

                                                                   Attribution to Kelvin S.M
Image: Empty Dinner
Permission: Thanks for allowing the use of your art, Kelvin!

To the kitchen he headed
But it broke his little heart
He spied a visual he dreaded
He reacted with starts

How could he disclose
A shoddy round
Sure for now it was not his boast
His room-mate had gone

Juxtaposed on the table
Plates on the ready he assumed
But alas, none of the edibles
He had brought home to consume

He lost, it was one down
A fatal mistake he quipped
Should have tucked in
earlier he frowned
His buddy rifled the goodies
when he fell asleep

Written for Kelvin's hosting at d'Verse Poetics: Dominant Impressions in Artistic Description

Shielded

                                                               Attribution: NASA Earth Observatory
Image: The Crescent Moon
Source: Licensed through Wikimedia Commons (here)

Overcast clouds surged

slave to widening movements

to provide cover

Diffused heat enhanced

relief of those sheltered with

quivering delight

Gathered in radiance

repugnant of shimmering

feel of annoyance

Wretched the feel of

letdown of those entrusted

who failed the paltry

Written for Leo's Haiku Heights #210 with prompt - shimmer-

Castle

                                                                                          Author: Misterzee
Image: Bodiam Castle in Sussex, UK
Source: Licensed through Wikimedia Commons (here)

Mysterious, massive
monstrous, lording on peasants,
a power unit

Secured with a moat,
buoyed by its own tax structure
Lord of the manor

Personal army
with arbitrary powers
completes the picture

Takes much of one's time
Building castles in the air,
just an illusion

Written for Chev's haiku at CARPE DIEM #128 with prompt -castle-

Graffiti

                                                                       Image:Attribution to Infrogmation
Image: New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina
Source: Licensed through Wikimedia Commons (here)

Stuck at strategic locations
It's no more just at the outskirts
Right in mid-town spots
Opening up to the freedom of expression
Which may appear strange at the outset

It's outrageous!
It's palatable!
It's humorous!
It's bawdy!
Outright obscenity!

Blatant disregard of accepted norms
The palette in hand running wild

Do they serve a purpose?
Yes!

City fathers accompanied by local authorities
Can take a look-see
Even a cursory glance sufficed
of graffiti all over the city and
of what's ailing in the locality

Lack of facilities
Level of poverty
Employment setbacks
Profusion of delinquency
Illegal immigrants wanting to be heard

Supplementing graphs,figures or write-ups
solutions may not be to the dot
Accuracy is not the objective
But the big picture can tell a thousand words

Apparently the preponderance of graffiti
on bathroom walls is indication of frustrations
outside the walls!

Is this true!

Written for Anna's hosting at d'Verse Meeting the Bar: Graffiti Poetry

Courage

                                                            Author: Lite at ru wikipedia
Image: Order of Courage
Source: Licensed through Wikimedia Commons (here)

Courage is often
equated to swashbuckling
style and recklessness

Pushed beyond limits
Needs stimulus to perform
Not quite rational

When it is all said
and done,only then they ask
how did they do it

Written for Chev's haiku at CARPE DIEM #127 with prompt -courage-

Hope

                                                                          Atrribution to Taran Wanderer
Image: Promise of Hope
Source: Licensed through Wikimedia Commons (here)

Glimpse in the future

Faced with uncertainties

Hope for salvation

Slipshod assessment

Picture not clearly defined

Arsenal is drawn

Snared and snarled at a

displaced soul and society

at each other’s throat

Rich against deprived

Check the forces and face up

There is a way out

Written for Chev’s haiku at CARPE DIEM #126 with prompt -hope- and d"Verse OpenLinkNight week #84     Yes

Wisdom

                                                             Attribution to Novotel Century Hotel HK
Image: A Quiet, Corporate Meeting Room, at Novotel Century HK
Source: Licensed through Wikimedia Commons (here)

Wisdom makes a man
Judicious in his make-up
inputs awaited

Commands respect for
contributions to the group
Quells bad attitudes

At times wisdom comes
too late. Refusal to be
involved damaging

Decision making
with leadership imposed can
well purge time wasters

Written for Chev's haiku at CARPE DIEM #125 with prompt wisdom

A Destroyer

                                                                        Image Attribution to Leo za1
Image: An Iguana at the Butterfly World, South Africa
Source: Licensed through Wikimedia Commons (here)

The fabric of life's macabre vision

Expounding its will on the morrow

Those threatened scrambled for positions

Not to pulsate in throes of sorrow

Embroidery set in sophisticated patterns

Salient in rough skins of colors so loud

Seldom to malign strong lyrics in rhythm

A character prim with extraordinary clout

Can life be so planned to wield such power

A creature with sentiments all set to sire

Satiated with elements regal in nature

Pandemonium unleashed to emerge a destroyer

Written for Open Link Monday at Real Toads and One Single Impression #260 with prompt - embroidery-

Curiosity

                                                 Image: Wind of History  by Jacek Yerka

Image: Courtesy of Tess' Mag

A house far out the country-side

Ignited a curiosity in one's mind
Abandoned but mysteriously prone
to frequent probes of unseen visitors
Tyre marks visibly awkward but in abundance
From the  gates to the house and back
But oddly enough avoiding a drive through
Where an open gate offered least resistance
But strangely no one took the route

A white car stuck in the mud for
as long as one could remember
None so brave as to venture out to see
Heard say there were four occupants
Who refused to exit and were now skeletons
Basking in the heat of summer
Shrivelled in the cold of winter
as if huddling close together for warmth
Eerie and frightening, no one dared
to take a peek but rather letting
the many mysterious visitors to keep
their secret with a discovery morbid
or otherwise, no one cared to question!

Written for Tess' Magpie Tales #156

Stood Up

How come you are dressed up this way

I would have to for him

But the other girls have all gone

That was some time ago!

Well...

I do not know

I…

I just cannot think now!

He is supposed to pick you up?

Yes, like other freshies

Well, these seniors are just hustlers

There goes your Valentine!

Note: 1. Freshies often got stood up by seniors in College for dances earlier arranged. Rather ungentlemanly but these things happened
Note: 2  Shay challenged all Toads “to write a poem using iambs, of 3 stanzas of four lines each. The first and third stanzas will have four lines with syllable counts of 8,6,8 and 6. The second stanza will have a syllable count of 1,4,1,6."

Written for Shay aka Fireblossom's hosting at Real Toads to write using iambs (didn't conform to the stresses but I'm only sure of the syllable count)

Jealousy

                                                                                  Attributed to Ripton Scott

Image: Two Lovebirds on a Perch
Source: Licensed through Wikimedia Commons (here)

Resentment and fear
Notions of rivalry and

suspicions of threats

Negative feelings,

distrust, pent- up ill will

of others’ assets

Facets of business,

romance, appearance, career,

subject to onslaught

Destructive outcome

Panacea of ethics lost

to fatal pretexts

Written for Chev's haiku at CARPE DIEM # 122 with prompt - jealousy

Greed

                                                             Author : Hersfold (talk/work)
Image: Currency Symbols
Source: Licensed through Wikimedia Commons (here)

More than pandering
to basic wants, greed creates pangs
of evil psyche

Slick in nature, sly
in tendencies, profusion
of selfish actions

Stealth in strategies
Dark in yearnings, slaughtering
and slashing routines

Friends and foes alike
Fair game without recourse for
ruse and trickery

Written for Chev's haiku at CARPE DIEM #121 with prompt - greed

Sacrifices

                                                                                Picture by James Gathany
Image: A Black Widow Spinning its Web around a Tree Branch
Source: Licensed through Wikimedia Commons (here)

Decisions defying reasoning
Often circumstances demand
Done with precision
Spontaneous but outwardly
irrational

How to explain the sexual cannibalism
of the Black Widow eating its mate
after mating. The reverse is true
in suttee. Self immolation of a widow
at her husband's funeral pyre

The ultimate sacrifice!

Diving kamikaze pilots and harakiri
disembowelment performed by the samurai
Heroic acts accepted and revered by
their society. If only good sense
prevailed in place of dogged patriotism

Some things are best left unsaid for their
reasons are beyond reasoning!

Written for Poetry Jam with prompt - sacrifice and shared
with d'Verse OpenLinkNight week #83

Windmills

                                                           Attribution: Quistrix at nl.wikipedia

Image: The Crowned Poelenburg at Zaanse Schans
Source: Licensed through Wikimedia Commons (here)

Tulips and windmills
Of canals and maple trees
Den Haag and Centrum

Wooden clogs and Delft
blue. Herring in onions
Fries, with or without?

Dining is bliss, hot
pizza, Indische rijsttafels
Chinese takeaways

Edam, cheese galore
One or in separate bills?
Astublieft and Dag.....

Written for Chev's haiku at CARPE DIEM #119 with prompt - windmills

Stork

                                                                       Picture by Adrian Pingstone
Image: White Stork at Bristol Zoo
Source: Licensed through Wikimedia Commons (here)

Storks,decidedly
assigned the obligation
of bringing babies

A tall order but
a responsibility
of necessities

Laborious job
Not for the faint-hearted but
wherefore the ladies?

Written for Chev's haiku CARPE DIEM #118 with prompt - stork

Loving You!

                                                                     Image: 'Artwork' by Joseph Lorusso
Image: Courtesy of Tess' Mag

You had sounded so tense and desperate
I rushed over here when I got your tweet
What's up? I told myself not to be late
Nothing pressing I thought we should meet

I'm really so glad nothing's the matter
You had me worried for one brief moment
Been meaning to call but something or other
Got in the way that got me off tangent

I thought we agreed to meet in a few days
That was the reason why I was so afraid
I'm sorry Honey, I was aware but as I laze
thoughts of you swirled wildly in my head

Best we meet I decided to call you anyway 
I just can't wait to call you this time
I know it may just be another few more days
But I'll kiss anyway for Happy Valentine!

Written for Tess' Magpie Tales #155

Sakura

                                                                                   Picture by Hans Braxmeier
Image: Beautiful Cherry Blossoms
Source: Licensed through Wikimedia Commons (here)

Precious Sakura
Beautiful cherry blossoms
Adorning the scene

Taiko drums leading
Sakura music of spring
of colors and sounds

Songs of old,since the
Meiji Restoration likes
of modern Japan

Written for Chev's haiku CARPE DIEM #117 with prompt  'cherry blossoms'

That's Greed

It’s embarrassing to say the least
When caught with their  pants down
With connivance they expect a feast
Determined to scrounge so profound

No qualms about making an assertion
Such poor taste one cannot readily fathom
When without batting an eyelid they fashioned
Ways and means to get even

Ways of the world are plain indeed
Outwitting the unsuspecting an unending form
Easy way out and fostered by greed
But it’ll catch up and backfire that’s the norm

 Written for 3WW with words embarrass, taste, and backfire

Happiness

                                                                               Picture by Marcus Yeagley

Image: Frog Prince Waiting for a Kiss

Source: Licensed through Wikimedia Commons (here)

Stellar happiness

Joyful  exuberance not

holding back a glance

Complacency rears

its ugly head confounding

joys of nostalgia

Decadence of feel

Decimating youthful thrust

Fabric of folly

The elderly quells

designs to cause mischief but

sentiments wobble

Submitted for Chev's haiku at CARPE DIEM #113 with prompt - joyful and d'Verse's OpenLinkNight week#82

A Library

                                                                               Picture by Robin Gosnall
Image: Central Library, Manchester
Courtesy of Tess' Mag

You look spiky for the whole world to see

Mayhem of construction works manifold

Mandated from 2010 till two-zero-one-three
Man had decided that you remained closed

Considering you had been around since 1934

Old age demands to restore moments of splendor
There are enough reasons to thwart the specter

The indignity of refurbishment you are to undergo

Thus once again to the masses of Manchester

To emerge vibrant and to rally unflinching enthusiasm

Of a service and facility sturdy without stutter
The City Fathers had taken the momentous decision

Fervent in educating the enthusiastic youngsters 

Sober adults, golden oldies, with hopes of sincerity

In all those good old fashioned reading ventures

Modernized facilities to maintain its 'structural integrity'

Written for Tess' Magpie Tales #154

A Raintree

                                                                                       Picture by Tau'olunga

Image: A Raintree at The Post Office of Nuku'alofa

Source: Licensed through Wikimedia Commons (here)

Process note:  There was a row of tall raintrees in my old neighborhood which

must have been about 80 years by now.  They were already there for as long as I could

remember and still standing though some made way for development. The pic above
is similar to those that we had.

Casting a net on the outset

Barely on the outskirts of imagination

Amidst a pall of outward intrusion

A smokescreen of shadowy apparition

Pungent in a quaint whiff of cool breeze

Purporting of quiet movements

In intermittent bright and dark shadows

The swarthy old raintree extending

a canopy over the neighborhood

Unabated it stood tall and menacing

In sudden bright sunshine or drab stupor

Smirking in light smog and drowsiness

A shrewd measure of strength

Written for Karin's hosting at D'Verse of Poetics of Groundhog Day - Bright Shadow

Pride

                                                                                      Picture by Mcast1286
Image: A Fall's Pride - depiction of oak in Autumn
Source: Licensed through Wikimedia Commons (here)

Hold on to one’s own

Arrogance comes along side

Pride in one self

Pride before a fall

Not  a reason to quarrel

Humane in belief

Humility nudged

Being aware is being wise

A classic end all

Written for Leo's Haiku Heights #207 with prompt - pride