venus goddess of love

(Acrostic in Open Form)

very interesting question really (really it is i say) really
engaging as any discussion should (need i remind you)
naturally i suspect nothing else would, nothing else could
unite my lonely heart (perched like a water melon
sensuously i crave) for the fuse to spark, for i to light my way to you

grantedly you did not expect such an answer (my, my i disappoint)
obviously your concern i respect more than a cluster of grapes on lips, i
don't expect simple answers (never did) nor would i
derail the actions of your love (i love you like a snowcone) and my
emotions keep me soaring (like a weather balloon falling)
stinging my heart with pulsating rhythm peeling away gray skies from eyes
swimming, like a water lily (i bask in the glow of your love)

overwhelming though it is upon my crest (i cling to know) that
friendship grows the vine from which my

love flows from jolts of aftershocks
out of every crack upon my beastly hide (my perspiring love) more
valuable than any diamond washing the shores of
ebay, couldn’t spark the love i have for you (i carry it in my heart)

© Paterika Hengreaves

Comment:

This Acrostic poem on “Venus goddess of love” is written in Open Form which is really Free Verse. It looks like metered poetry at first glance.  However, it does not conform to established patterns of meter, rhyme and stanza. It derives its rhythmic properties from the repetition of words, phrases or grammatical structures, the arrangement of words on the page, or by some other means. The Twentieth century American poet E. E. Cummings is well known for writing Open Form Poetry. Indeed, his poems do not have measurable meter, but they definitely have great rhythm. He experimented radically with structure, punctuation, spelling and syntax. As it were, he abandoned traditional techniques and created his highly idiosyncratic means of poetic expression. His critics said of him that he settled into his signature style and did not bother to carry his work to the next evolutionary level. Be that as it may, Cummings’ simplistic poetic language, his playful mode and obsession with topics on war and sex continues to capture the poetic hearts of young readers. Edward Estlin “E.E.” Cummings came to this earth on October 14, 1894 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. He died on September 3, 1962, in North Conway, Conway, New Hampshire, USA. His poetic style lives on.

Hurricane Preparedness Watch

(Didactic Poem with Iambic Pentemeter Quatrains rhyming aabb)


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Hurakan is blowing its breath again;
Aimed at devastation and heaps of pain;
Twenty-one for twenty hundred and four;
Eight of them have killed millions and more.

Each hurricane on the list bears a name;
So with ease we track them before they maim;
Their names start with letters from alphabet,
But q u and z are not in the set.

Names of tropical storms on six-year list
Are Atlantic storms; their big eyes can twist;
Of French, Spanish and English origin;
Named after major borders they do spin.

Retired storms have marred our history;
Killer-canes of this twenty-first Century;
For now, the worst ones on the list will show
Katrina, and Rita outdid Hugo.

These tropical cyclones cannot be stopped,
Because each has a huge eye that will pop;
Upon reaching Gulf States, and island sands
At speeds, that Saffir-Simpson understands.

We ponder on the things to do each year;
When Cyclopes, and wind dragoons are near;
We fight them tooth and nail in every way;
Come August to November every day.

We keep watch, wait, and offer up a prayer
For all these hurricanes to disappear
From Gulf coast, and islands within the chain;
Then on to storm preparedness watch again.

We berth boats in the basin of the bay;
Heed what meteorologist has to say;
Branches we clip, and items that can fly
We store them with canned foods, but no fish fry.

We’ll close stores, and folks will find their abode;
September! We are in the waiting mode;
Good grief! It is a category five;
Take shelter for its devastating dive.

© Paterika Hengreaves
September, 2005/Barbados

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