Drats! Feeling scared?

                                                                           Author: Luis Miguel Bugallo Sánchez 

Image: Olin's Kins are not that Mean (here)

Drats! Feeling scared?

Not this Cat.

Orlin at Pat’s  (here)

Holds the trump card

Rhyming smart

Sets its mark

A morning lark

Gets ready at 7

Sets in motion

Great motivation

To be #1

There’s usually a scramble

For those who are able

Though some still on the road

Others cashing in on a load

Missing the boat

Some still snoring

Perhaps a good dream

While some had gone missing

Lately are not seen

Where are the good guys?

No, not dropping from the sky

Do come by

No, not likely to cry

Just a good buy
To have a try

To keep company

For a morning spree

Blue’s cut and paste

Hank chasing in haste

Blue holding onto #1

Gives Hank a fine run

All in good fun!

For Bjorn's hosting at d'Verse OLN #161 and
Yves' at MLMM's Music Friday Prompt #18:
 - Everybody Wants To Be A Cat

Thrilling Shotover Jets of Queenstown

                                                                                 Attribution: Alex Proimos
Image: The Shotover Jet 'Big Red' (here)
(Skimming past rocky outcrops at close range 
twisting and turning through narrow canyons 
at breath taking speeds  -  Alex)
.
3WW given words:
wiggle distracted venom

Starting rather small perhaps a trickle
Wiggling along the heavy jungle clusters
Then madly tumbling over falls that sparkle
Rushing through rapids and rounded boulders

Canoeing and rafting pastimes for enthusiasts
Or drastic and thrilling Shotover Jets of Queenstown
Midstream distracted by trade and commerce
With infrastructure of hydro-power generation

Snaked across plains would have been spent
But venom spilled through floods and destruction
Damages and sufferings disgraced it as a friend
Such were rivers extending mixed collaboration

For Sumana's PU's Mid-week Motif - rivers and
Thomg's 3WW week#453

He was utterly Figimaled

                                                                                     Attribution: Aleksandr Abrosimov
Image: Osmussaar Lighthouse(here)

the 11 out of 12 given words:
Aarambham (via Two Paise Poems) Indian for the beginning.
Avasaanam (via Two Paise Poems) Indian for the end.
Figimaled (via Jules) Primarily Farklempt; distressed,
confused, annoyed, dismayed.
Shiprighteous (via KO) A smugly moralistic ship.
Cagestruck (via Yves) to be clueless of the customs,
dialect/language/slang, and haunts of an unfamiliar city.
Skuddling (via a darkened house) side-ways, skitterish motion
Ardle (via Michael) a person who urinates whenever
and wherever the mood strikes them.
Maganda (via Ladyleemanila) Filipino word for beauty,
refers to the beauty of both form and spirit.
Sayang (via Hank) Malay/Indonesian word referring to a
loved one. Also used to express one’s affectionate
feelings to a lady – whispered softly while nibbling the ear lobe.
Appraisal (via Ranted Crow); The act or result of judging
the worth or value of something or someone.
Punarjanmam (via Two Paise Poems) Indian for rebirth
or reincarnation.

Was it an Aarambham or
Was there an Avasaanam
He was utterly Figimaled
How he wished to be in the
Shiprighteous mode

Lost in this big city
How did it happen?
Stuck there for the past week
Cagestruck he could only stare
Right through the open window
Staring into nothingness

His thoughts went the far distance
He looked out again
He could spy down below
aiming precariously
in a Skuddling manner
an Ardle
Something familiar at least
Reminding him of home

But he would rather savor the lighthouse
at sunset further yonder
Awe inspiring Maganda
His mind went haywire to the far distance
again!

How he instantly missed his Sayang
How he missed those lingering hours
When time stood still
When together they shared
Dancing slow fox-trot
nibbling

No, an appraisal was in order
Even though the salary offered was fantastic
He was certain he could not survive
Not even following a Punarjanmam 
He thought hard

A lower-paying job was still bearable
He would have to go back home
For his Sayang and more!

For Amber's hosting at MLMM's Bonus Wordle and
Marian's at Real Toad's the tuesday platform

Poppies evoked poignant feel

Image: Courtesy of Tess' Mag (here)

Poppies evoked the
poignant feel to relate to
heroic exploits

Happiness to the
soldiers to be remembered
How we were steamed now

When knowing ills of
the drug scene emanated
from the poppy plants

For Tess' Mag #293- the remembrance day
Chev's CARPE DIEM #854 -  happiness and
Haiku Horizons  - steam

A dance so queer

                                                                                                    Attribution: Dantor
Image: A  Katzenauge (here)

the given words:
dance dream trample
vapid (flat,flavorless,dull)
pictures,spin,stun,pan
translucent (allowing light to pass
through but not transparent)
seem
grid (network of lines)

A dance so queer in his dreams
Passed fleetingly through
Trampling on various occasions

Rather vapid it registered vague pictures
Whereas ocean waves lapping the shore
Were rightly more consistent

He could spin a story most likely to stun
And to pan to the curiosity of friends
But he held back

It was translucent and
Seemed nebulously myterious
It was picturesque and grid-like
A dramatic concert but still
Frighteningly kaleidoscopic

Never had it so good
But at odds to have it shared

For Brenda's Sunday Whirl #224 and
Mary's at PU's Poetry Pantry #277

Pressures can impinge

                                                                        Attribution:  Dietmar Rabich
Image: Labyrinth “Werschrummschloeff” in Berdorf, Luxembourg (here)

High walls moss-laden
Like maze runner stultified
Standing dumb-founded

Beauty is neutral
In eyes of the beholder
Fulfilled desires

Pressure can impinge
But high resolve is savior
To each his own whims

For Chev's CARPE DIEM #853 Mother Earth/Mother Nature and
Kerry's the Eye of the Beholder - micro poetry at Real Toads

Strokes from a master's hand - A Haibun

                                                                                                        Artist : Van Gogh
Image: View of the Church (here)

The Prose

The beauty of Autumn is in the anticipated change of visual rapport of man to nature. 

It alleviates the extremes of sweaty Summer on two fronts.The reduction 

progressively of the warmth of the weather to the progressive change of the 

visual greenery to the copper brown

The beauty of Van Gogh is also on two physical aspects that impact hard on the

consciousness. They are the wavy lines and also the tendency to fill the whole of the 

canvas with such a wavy spectacle.Lesser known or otherwise, this masterpiece 

can immediately be recognized as that of the old master's on account of the 

two characteristics.

The other that leaves imprints on the mind is the signature facet of the 

sunflower as a subject. Van Gogh perhaps wants to maintain the adherence 

to hues of yellow,orange and gold apparent in the above masterpiece and 

in many others. The yellow tallies also to that of the sunflowers' colors. 

Van Gogh's still life of sunflowers is a stimulant to the art scene 

most profoundly accepted.

                                                                                      Artist: Van Gogh
Image: Three Sunflowers (here)

The Haiku
Strokes from a master's
hand to relinquish burden
of talents bestowed

For Bjorn's hosting at d'Verse - Haibun Monday #3 and
Kerry's The Tuesday Platform at Real Toads

What to make of this? - MF

Image: Courtesy of Grandma's Goulash (here)

A Micro Fiction of not exceeding 140
characters with word of the week  -  evaporate

What to make of this?
He passed through this way
But where is he?
Must he evaporate into
thin air just like that!
Creepy,this spot haunted?

(140 characters)

For Linda's Succinctly Yours week
#239 at Grandma's Goulash

golden hues alluring

                                                                                            Attribution: Forestwander
Image: Changing Landscape towards Autumn (here)

Note: Trinet is a micro poem with 

a syllable count of 2,2,6,6,2,2,2

joyful

feelings

looking forward to change

golden hues alluring

nascent

winsome

show-piece

For Georgia's hosting at MLMM's  -  the trinet

Tango-no-Sekku, the Boys' Festival

                                                                                           Attribution: coniferconifer

Image: Carp streamers or Koi-Nobori 

hung to catch the Wind (here)

Note: The carp has become a symbol of
the Boys' Festival. So full of energy and
power it stands for courage and manliness  -  Chev

Young boy shows promise

Great physique good character

Ideal samurai

Trailing in the winds

Carp of pride in all colors

Grandpa kept smiling

Family tradition maintained

Lineage of greatness intact

For Chev's CARPE DIEM, #839, the boy's festival

Needing to take a breather every time

                                                                          Attribution: Alina Zienowicz
Image: Daughter Progressing towards Obesity (here)

the given words:
breathing needing seams beneath words crisp
 wooden rocking glass slapping halfway daughter

She had been through this
A recluse for the better part
Doctor's orders kept echoing
in her ears, exercise!..exercise!..

Breathing heavily on long walks
Needing to take a breather every time
Determination seemed lacking
Bursting at the seams
Her girth kept increasing
It was not beneath her
To seek ways and means
For some dieting
But she was still thinking

Words the only consolation
From a concerned husband
She longed for the crisp and slim self
of yesteryears lazing on the
wooden rocking chair
with a glass of cool drink in her hands
But not anymore

There was still the friendly banter
Hubby slapping lightly on the back
Avoiding the nostalgic hugs
(as his hands could only reach halfway
 not wrapping around her like before)

He could only lament
Mindful of an impending problem
For their daughter now fast catching up!

For MMT's hosting at Sunday's Whirligig #29 and
Bodhirose's at d'Verse's OpenLinkNight's #158

It would then be a foe beyond control

                                                                                         Attribution: Malene Thyssen
Image: Mid-summer bonfire (here)

Fire that phenomenon of benefit

Lighting and warming the homeless

Profusion of power though when lit

Mindful to keep it in check the best

Fire thus a friend when sorely needed

Providing on the one hand illumination

Alleviating searing cold when required

Extending warm protection to the jubilant

Misfortune may rear its ugly head though

When fire may engulf combustible structures

It would then be an enemy beyond control

No more a friend but an agent of disasters

One would rather have fire in the heart

Of lovers sharing a warmth of togetherness

Would take lots of efforts to tear them apart

Burning in all of its glory without harness

For Sumana's hosting at 
PU's Mid-week Motif  - fire

Cave paintings were certainly 'carved in stone'

                                                                                                   Attribution: Bjorn
Image: Courtesy of Bjorn's (here)

3WW given words:
 ignite hellish greasy 

Cave paintings were certainly 'carved in stone'
With no possibility to have them changed or disturbed
Treasured as heritage sites no denying their presence
Preserved for long in many parts of the world unperturbed

Tugging at the imagination to ignite lots of questions
Were they creative manifestations of a caveman's life
To while away boring times in such a fashion
Instead of clubbing women's head to drag home a 'wife'

Or perhaps a recording of a hellish experience
But announced to his peers as an encounter of fun
Of having been chased by a prehistoric serpent
And lived to tell the tale to everyone

More morbid yet perhaps a record of circumstances
That led to the 'greasy' demise of one so unlucky
Where generations after were the better informed
Of how life could be snuffed out in a jiffy

For Thomg's hosting at 3WW week #449 and
Bjorn's at d'Verse's Poetics: carved in stone

Individual or shared placentas

                                                                                             Attribution: Hawken King
Image: Twins - inseparable even though separate beings (here)

Note: Twins can have individual or shared placentas,  A single egg/sperm combination that splits after conception will have an impact.If  it happens within a few days, they will implant separately in the uterus and will develop separate placentas.However, if the split is delayed the embryos will develop with a single, shared placenta  -  Wiki

MLMM given words:
written placenta twitch
melancholy (depression of spirits,a pensive mood)
anemic (lacking force, vitality, or spirit)
ravine assist
laotang (a relationship within Chinese culture that bonded two girls together)
katydid (grasshoppers with an organ on the forewings of the males that produce a loud shrill sound)
lychee (a Chinese fruit)
nocturnal
vacillate (to waver in mind or opinion, be indecisive)

Already written in the stars
Twins were a blessed breed
They could have shared one placenta
Which explained their shared spirits

A twitch in one felt by the other easily
Melancholy mood and anemic emotions
Would rub on both simultaneously
Even separated by ravines or long distance

They could feel the pull of strong laotang
Not possible in other siblings even with same DNA
Absence of similar cries of a katydid sound organ
Would not deter twins to assist without delay

Akin to a lychee sweet and succulent
In nocturnal hours or day-time digestion
Twins savored sweetness of interaction
Not having to vacillate on a unique existence

For Yves' hosting at MLMM's Wordle #82 and
Marian's The Tuesday Platform at Real Toads

Does it give you a chill

                                                                      Attribution: George Tooker,self-portrait

Image: Courtesy of Tess' Mag (here)

Sunday Whirl given words:

chill courage link matter letters
minute urge trip risk traffic 

Look in my eyes
Does it give you a chill
A stern and piercing look
That sees through you
and not at you

It takes courage to link
a matter conveyed not
through letters but whispers
of the oceans

Minute in sounds but hazy
not rightly audible with that
lingering monotony

Is it to urge a trip at great
risk uncertain of the traffic
across the blue yonder
Does one feel safe on a cruise
ship in the deep ocean
Is it safe for a non-swimmer?

It gives a chill, yes!

For Brenda's Sunday Whirl Wordle #220
Tess' Magpie Tales #289

Isn't that being nice?

                                                                               Attribution: Victoria Williams
Image: Calmness -  feeling nice! (here)

To use a minimum of 2 sets from
the Get Listed list given below for
a new poem:
Grim / grin
Pair / despair
Naught / naughty
Ever / every
Thrift / rift
Wonder / wander
Pander / ponder
Illumination / nation

Looking grim but can still afford to grin
Where can one get a pair in despair
to be happily confounding their critics
Isn't that being nice?

It is naught at being naughty but just saying
One can never be sure
but must be ever ready every day
It can be a face-saving device
To snuff off unwanted conspirators
Isn't that being nice?

No small wonder one need not wander off
from that of a midget's test of tolerance
Is it better to a thrift of retorts against those
causing a rift about heights of concern?
Better to avoid in the presence midgets
from trying to belittle or provoke about heights
Isn't that being nice?

One need not have to pander
to odd pieces of opinions but
to ponder on solving the problems
It is an illumination of a nation's pride
to be able to answer intelligently
to hecklers out to test one's patience
Isn't that being nice?

Note: Too good to pass
off the opportunity from
using all of the pairs

For grapeling's Get Listed at Real Toads and
Mary's at PU's Poetry Pantry #273

Colorful and delicate

                                                                                                    Attribution: Kanko
Image: Japanese Lanterns (here)
(In conjunction with Setsubun)

Note: Setsubun is an annual Japanese festival which
falls on February 3rd. It is also the beginning of Spring
according to the old Japanese lunar calendar

With flickering lights
Colorful and delicate
Much fun for the night

Last gasp of coolness
Path lighted towards warmth of
early spring evenings

For Chev's CARPE DIEM #834
Setsubun Mantoro (Lantern Festival)

Bereft of motivation to thrive and excel?

                                                                           Author: Tulane Public Relations
Image: Students in Class (here)

3WW given words:
absorb certain empty

Bereft of motivation to thrive and excel
With right knowledge generously extended
Some caught unwittingly under an evil spell
What could be the difficulty to absorb

Chanced on those truly prepared to learn
From good teachers dedicated to their wards
Certain to be appreciated by most students
Pursuance of knowledge beget just rewards

Resurgence of diligence promised good returns
Not to reproach efforts and good intentions
Empty squabbles among peers from those defiant
Would not deter teachers in their redemption

For Susan's at PU's Poets United Midweek Motif
  -  teacher, one who teaches and
Thomg's at 3WW week #448

It hurts twice as bad - A Haibun

                                                                            Attribution:Whispers by Mala Lesbia
Image:  Courtesy of Nekneeraj (here)

"Friendship is always a sweet responsibility, never an opportunity"  -  Khalil Gibran

The Prose
It had been playing on her mind. She was becoming more vulnerable.
she thought. She reflected with disdain on her folly

He came with a sudden entry barely months ago, disheveled and
hungry.The day was pleasant, clear blue skies above. The sun's
rays extended a swathe over the yellow dandelions.Nothing
prepared her for the faint shadow of a hunk coming her way
to suddenly stand at the front porch menacingly surveying
the surroundings

They hit it off somehow he looking for assurance from an empty
stomach and roof over his head, she longing for someone
to talk to, to appease a lonely heart.

He turned out to be a likable person whom she proudly presented to
her close friend who was just as happy with his gregarious nature and
friendly personality.

No more a recluse nor a stranger to them both.Her friend seemed to
be having reasons to drop by more often than before. Trustingly she
could even leave them alone together in the house to go on short errands

One day she came back to find the door left ajar. Her bosom friend who
was there when she left was not there anymore and neither was he

The Haiku
Profusion of guilt
When struck by friendly fire
It hurts twice as bad

For Nekneeraj's MLMM's Photo Challenge #81 and
Bjorn's at d'Verse  - Haibun Monday #2

Thinking outside the box smack against reality

                                                                               Artist : Jacek Yerka -  Dream (2011)
Image: Courtesy of Tess's Mag (here)
(Jacek is a surrealism artist)

Surrealism as an art form is to present a painting
that may appear to be unrealistic. In fact it is pushing
the imagination beyond normal reasoning.

MLMM's given words:
warehouse board concession personal
animal gasp ferment scab tin sugar
scurrilous (grossly obscene, abusive)
rivet (a metal pin in two or more plates to hold them together)

Rightly a concession to personal preferences
Being surreal is giving way to rationality
Unlocking the extensive powers of imagination
Thinking outside the box smack against reality

Warehouse full of ideas getting on board
Where repressed inner desires of sexuality
Scurrilous in nature set their leanings to rivet
to dreams of animal instincts unwittingly

Gasps of perplexing intentions revealing
Coated in sugar to mask its sourness
Fermented ideas bandied about swirling
Taken out of a tin and presented in all fairness

Such is surrealism in art to bypass good reasons
Where revelations of emotions are still palatable
Connoisseurs wrested out of their comfort zones
Peeling off the scab to announce it as acceptable

For Tess' Magpie Tales #288
Yves'  MLMM's Wordle #81 and
Kerry's at Real Toad's Tuesday's Platform

Creation in ice

                                                                           Attribution: G.Goodwin Jr. and Snark
Image: Mysterious Pearl (here)

The ice festival is held at Lake Shikotsu
hot springs in Shikotsu-Toya National Park.

Creation in ice
Frozen from clear hot springs to
dazzle on-lookers

Raw talents invoked
Unflinching sculptures glisten
in the morning mist

Had life of its own
Human forms prim and pristine
but slowly dying

For Chev's CARPE DIEM #833  -   Lake Shikotsu Ice Festival

A Royal Flush was a very strong hand

                                                                                      Attribution: Stefan

Image: Friendly Card Games
without Money Stakes (here)

Sunday Whirl given words:

threats flush call wind

nexus (connection between
​parts of a ​system or a ​group)

left list one press share swear tender

Felt somewhat jittery but no clear threats

Sure it was unsure, a cloud over his head

A Royal Flush was a very strong hand

Twisted smile and a call with a bang

Struck with confidence and hidden smile

Took the winds heck off their sails

Nexus between them took a different path

Left the round with a big laugh

Card games listed one of his strong points

At odds to press his luck too often

Did share great moments with friends

He could swear always with a good hand

The sad truth in gambling with money

Among friends would be a curse in strategy

Relationships would invariably be strained

Hole in the pocket tendered as a blame

For Brenda's  Sunday Whirl Wordle #219 and

Mary's at PU's Poetry Pantry #272

My baby is no crank! - MF

Image: Courtesy of Grandma's Goulash (here)

Happens to possess special powers
If he decides you are up to no good
rays from his hands can stop you in
your tracks. My baby is no crank!

(140 characters)

For Linda's Micro Fiction at Grandma's Goulash
Succinctly Yours week #237 with word of the week  -  crank

Paltry in strength no match to the slight

                                                                                        Attribution: Jessie Eastland
Image: Confusion in the Sky (here)
(wall of air from westerly winds, keeps storm approaching
from the east at bay, during twilight in the Mojave)

Poem inspired by:
So at this hour without delay
Pluck the vibrating string
(part of lyrics of the song O Fortuna
featured in the movie, Excalibur).

The Flash 55
Pall of smoke twirls clouding his mind
Pressures building up blinding his resolve
Insist he must and begin the slow climb
Delay giving vent to a contending force

Songs of love there to accord peace
Paltry in strength no match to the slight
Pacifying inner aggression at the very least
Facilitating a face-saving gesture outright

(55 words)

For Kerry's hosting at Real Toad's FLASH 55 PLUS

Gaiety of radiance overwhelming!

                                                                                   Author: Lezumbal Aberenjena
Image:  Balloons at Gatineau (here)

Note: Haiku of a 5-7-5 syllable count

Bright sunshine descends
Rush of festivities set
to flutter early

Gaiety of radiance
overwhelmed the mystical
in celebration

Vivid Autumn twirl
Resplendent in loud colors
Jubilant outing

For Chev's CARPE DIEM Special #170
- Michael's 1st roar of the midway

Blast for the future

                                                                                                                                   Attribution: CE Price
Image: Dark Clouds -  a Damper
for the immediate Future (here)

Note: A quickie 5-7-5-7-7 tanka offering

Blast for the future
Looking forward to good times
New Year's abundance
Not to dwell on the past but
new horizons to achieve

Silver lining seen
despite depressing window
on current affairs
but global economic
health not anywhere better

For Chev's CARPE DIEM #830  - New Year
(commemorating third anniversary of Carpe
Diem Haiku Kai on Oct 1st and extending  a
'Happy New Year' for the ensuing year) and
Bjorn's at d'Verse's OLN #157

Salacious episodes popping like crackers

                                                                                                              Author: NASA
Image:  Sounds of the Cosmos (here)

Sunday Whirligig given words:
fragments erotic light dark gone  change 
dream watch clock eye theft leave erotic

3WW given words:
woozy uptight thoughtless 

Fragments of his memories or
just figments of his imagination
Salacious episodes popping
like crackers all heavy and juicy
Light and dark images dancing
in the shadows gone berserk

Nothing had changed in his routines
But must dreams raucous and ravenous
keep appearing in the still of nights

He watched the clock ticking when
startled from his slumber eyes blurry
Theft of his sleeping hours would leave 
him woozy but he remained uptight

He kept asking but answers eluded him
What could he do to rid off the dilemma
He had not been thoughtless but still his
head kept spinning his thoughts numbed
Not that young to be privileged with
erotic dreams he persisted to get answers
He would like to dream again tonight!

For MMT's Sunday Whirligig #27
Thomg's at 3WW week 447 and
Susan's PU's Mid-week Motif

Emblazoned across a single bosom's sanctity

                                                                                        Attribution: ade_santora 93
Image: Courtesy of Nekneeraj (here)

Shouts of freedom deranged as they did  sound
Pitched higher maximizing a wholesome impact
Shrilly stabbing the night sky in lashing torrents
Sadly just noises a melodious strain they lacked

Emblazoned across a single bosom's sanctity
Rounded moon extending shines in generous lights
Spectacle in awe in subdued offerings of beauty
Daily musical phenomenon torrid in its delight

Prophetic human gatherings just as boisterous
Caught in enthusiasm of gregarious pleasures
Human reactions just as reverberating but curious
Ideal to let off steam though given life's pressures

For Marian's hosting at Real Toads's  - the Tuesday platform and
Nekneeraj's at MLMM's  -  Photo Challenge #80

Furtively through her heart though prancing

                                                                                    Attribution: Gerrit Photography
Sunday Whirl the given words:
sighs mess spin music dressed 
system visit kick level trump bust

Sighs of dismay permeated her thinking
Racing through the mess cluttering her mind
Furtively through her heart though prancing
Happily on with a spin of good music to dine

But alone ostensibly busy facing the screen
Dressed but chained at both hands disabled
Anxious her system inside beginning to scream
Visit long awaited but nowhere seemed probable

Kicked up a fuss earlier preparing a hot meal
To a level beyond that she was used to do
Trying to trump a good impression to seal
a relationship well nurtured and way overdue

Heat of romance seemingly like a hot summer day
Overwhelmed with a cloak of floating snow flakes
Was it going to be a bust his presence a long delay
She was stood up again by yet another of the fakes

Brenda's Sunday Whirl Wordle #218 and
Tess' Magpie Tales #287

brazenly rising to the occasion

                                                                                                                                     Author: Jon Sullivan
Image: Dew Frost flowers - the first
sign of the upcoming winter (here)

Note: Non-Rhythmic tanka
of a 5-7-5-7-7 syllable count

Dew frost plays its part
Tenaciously hugging them
ever so lightly
Purportedly happy to
welcome the cold months ahead

The foliage likewise
brazenly rising to the
occasion as a
willing partner dancing to
nature's choice of soft music

For Chev's hosting at CARPE DIEM Haiku Kai
Time Machine #17 Tsuyujimo  - dew frost and
Mary's at PU's Poetry Pantry #271