I ... entered the poem of life, whose purpose is ... simply to witness the beauties of the world,
to discover the many forms that love can take. (Barabara Blackman in 'Glass After Glass')

This blog is not, 'Here are my very best poems'. It's for work in progress, subject to revision.
Posts may be updated without notice at any time. Completed work appears in my books.

Announcement (19 May 2013)

I won’t be writing so many new poems for a while — though there will be some. I want to spend more time on revision, and more time working on memoir (in prose!). I'll continue to participate in my online poetic communities, sharing poems already written.

3 November 2010

Leaving Bali

I wasn’t ready yet to leave
the tiny island, nor to grieve
so heartbrokenly and so long
as I knew I must. It was wrong,
I said. Indeed, I still believe
I wasn’t ready.

For all my mourning, no reprieve
was possible; I had to leave
the colour, the fragrance, the song.
I wasn’t ready

to farewell new friends: either give
them a last goodbye, or deceive
them and me with, ‘It won’t be long.’
My companion told me, ‘Be strong!’
How optimistic, how naive —
I wasn’t ready.


November PAD Chapbook Challenge 2010: 2
Prompt: a ‘not ready’ poem

(An attempt at the rondeau form)
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2 comments:

  1. Well done. There's movement and progression. The form ecourages content not holding it back.

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  2. I'm very glad you think so, Pearl. I was afraid this one didn't quite cut it.

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