He was a man of luxurious means Always able to indulge his fancies Living life fit for the glossy magazines He had no time for wind singing through trees
Away on one of his impulsive journeys One day he met the girl of his dreams Seeing her his restless soul appeased Her warm smile like caressing sunbeams
Yet, he found her wants as elusive as moonbeams She didn’t desire being a spoiled jetset wife To her happiness from nature’s wonders stream Irreconcilable differences lost him the love of his life
To never forget that money can’t happiness buy He daily puts a flower next to his eye
When dusk comes in the middle of the day The sun reduced to a pale ring of fire What were the ancient learned wise ones to say When scared superstitious people inquire
That their actions attracted the Gods ire And now they have to pay the bloody price To avoid consequences most dire The most precious they must sacrifice
Or the world will turn to cold barren ice Devoid of all the Sun’s life giving warmth No longer this Aegean paradise But eternal night as in the far north
As the sacrifice bled and died they did say Now the sun will rise again day after day
Whitby Abbey in the harbour town of Whitby on the Yorkshire coast. The location where Count Dracula arrives in England, Stoker’s visit to the town in 1890 provided him with atmospheric settings for a Gothic novel, and a name for the vampire. – From Wikipeda and Clementp.fr, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Serpent’s Kiss
She’s bathed in pale ethereal allure. Drawing men to her as honey draws flies. Fighting each other to be her amour. Glamour hiding that her chosen will die.
All they see are her lustrous pearly skin. Lust filled eyes shining dark bottomless pools. Hiding the blood hungry demon within. A shriveled heart drinking others’ as fuel.
At length, the battle yields tonight’s champion. Lust raging, he’s ready to claim his prize. Proudly he beams as she smiles and beckons. Thinking the night will end with his pleased sighs.
Lying close before that last draining kiss. Her intended meal hears a serpent’s hiss.
Until yesterday I didn’t know there was such a thing as World Dracula Day, but if the cinnamon bun has a day then the world’s most famous vampire certainly deserves one. Seeing the call for submissions on The Wombwell Rainbow I remembered a draft I started a while back but didn’t finish. So I went back and finished my vampire sonnet.
Featured on the Wombwell Rainbow for World Dracula Day May 26th.
Goddess of water and star filled heaven Nurturer of the awakening soul Guide me in my journey through the seven Lead me towards wisdom to make me whole
Shower me in the water from your bowl Cleanse me with every colour of starlight Show me how to define a new life role Grant me creative visions that shines bright
Let my passions soar the heavens in flight Ignite and burn this nest of abuse thorns Teach me to understand mystical sight Help me to in hope and faith be reborn
Bless me as my inner fire flame and glow As stars above reflects soul sparks below
I can’t believe how fast April has gone. Last year I struggled to write something every day. This year, with the ekphrastic challenge to guide me, the only struggle has been finding enough time to write as much as I’ve wanted. Some days I’ve even written and posted more than one poem. Will sit myself down to reflect and praise myself this weekend, and think about where to go from here. The praising part is one that I have real struggle with, normally I discredit my work and move on to the next thing. So will endeavour to change that this time.
The last ekphrastic poem became another Spenserian sonnet, with the linked rhyme scheme of ABAB BCBC CDCD EE.
I had to laugh a bit when I wrote it. I’ve stayed away from trying the Spenserian one because I thought the Shakesperian ones were hard enough. But it turns out the linked rhyme scheme, reminiscent of Terza Rima suits me much better.
Actually really pleased with this one. Feels like ending GloPoWriMo on a strong note.
Wanted something lighter after yesterday’s shivers, so I chose this picture because of all the striking colours, even if fall harvest feels a long way off when spring has barely started.
This sonnet is in tetrameter instead of the classical pentameter, just because I wanted to give that a try.
John Law
“Am 68. Live in Mexborough. Retired teacher. Artist; musician; poet. Recently included in ‘Viral Verses’ poetry volume. Married. 2 kids; 3 grandkids.”
Bau-Gula Goddess of dog and healing Sweet mother of seven holy daughters Bless this supplicant before you kneeling Protect her from the hunting soul slaughters
Caring healer of the lonely broken Queen of the tempest, grower of green herbs Accept this crafted clay offer token Teach her magic to dark demons deter
Lady of shelter and transformation Star of divine knowledge and bringer of life Lend her your holy regeneration Let her understand your sage advice
Bau-Gula Goddess of dog and healing Evaporate this depressive feeling
Kudurru, boundary stone. Kassite period, 15th-11th century BCE Osama Shukir Muhammed Amin FRCP(Glasg), CC BY-SA 4, via Wikimedia Commons
I’ve always loved ancient mythology. So on the top of my head I can name several Goddesses that usually are portrayed with dogs or wolves. Artemis, the greek Goddess of hunt and moon, Diana her roman equivalent. Hecate the greek Goddess of witchcraft and the underworld, that later has a triple aspect. From my native Norse mythology Hel Goddess of death and ruler of the Underworld which gates are guarded by Garm.
As I looked at Jane Cornwell’s art work I thought of two things, Tolkien’s elves (because of the headpiece) but that didn’t lead to any inspiration. And a Goddess with a dog. As I googled it I was unusually lazy and just wrote, Goddess dog, in the search field. Expecting to refresh myself on Artemis and Diana. Even though the dog looks way too kind to be either a dog guarding the gates of Helheim or a hunting dog.
In the – others have asked section – there was the question: Is there a Goddess of dogs? Curious as I am I opened the question and ran across Sumerian Bau and Babylonian Gula, whom I never heard of before so I kept on reading. And found this.
“Her iconography depicts her always with a dog, sometimes seated, and surrounded by stars. She is associated with the underworld and transformation.”
After that I just had to read more so that I could write something inspired by Bau/Gula. And spent a happy hour or so chasing more information, even reading parts of A History of Sumer and Akkad – History of Babylonia vol. 1 by Leonard William King from 1910 that I found on Project Gutenberg.
Jane Cornwell
likes drawing and painting children, animals, landscapes and food. She specialises in watercolour, mixed media, coloured pencil, lino cut and print, textile design. Jane can help you out with adobe indesign for your layout needs, photoshop and adobe illustrator. She graduated with a ba(hons) design from Glasgow School of art, age 20.
She has exhibited with the rsw at the national gallery of Scotland, SSA, Knock Castle Gallery, Glasgow Group, Paisley Art Institute, MacMillan Exhibition at Bonhams, Edinburgh, The House For An Art Lover, Pittenweem Arts Festival, Compass Gallery, The Revive Show, East Linton Art Exhibition and Strathkelvin Annual Art Exhibition.
Her website is: https://www.janecornwell.co.uk/
The Aurora male, wingtips like golden dawn Peek out from the shadowy forest edge Letting his wings flutter awake and yawn Hoping he his chances enough has hedged
Is there enough big flower heads nearby So far devoid of other females eggs Is the soil deep, rich and suitably dry Are there any quick hunters with eight legs
Wondering if it’s a warm enough day If he’s chosen a path with enough light For a female to at last fly his way To him the meadow is luminous bright
The male awaits being picked by a queen Dreams of a female in gold speckled green
John Law
“Am 68. Live in Mexborough. Retired teacher. Artist; musician; poet. Recently included in ‘Viral Verses’ poetry volume. Married. 2 kids; 3 grandkids.”
Eyes meet for the first time, not behind screen The busy central station fades away Butterflies like an ingenue of eighteen Your smile and look a hint of foreplay
Hands touch for the first time, skin on skin Light dawns, hope rise, connection is real Nervous faces melts into happy grins Maybe there’s another who share how I feel
Lips meet for the first time, tender kisses Breath catches, heart races, love and care flow Each knowing what the other most misses What’s needed for that radiant glow
The alarm clock abruptly rips the dream A longing lonely soul sorrow screams
The world according to RedCat 
