Darren White Poet Free verse

Notes About The Poem

Meet Al-Mutanabbi, the subject of my thesis, and if I am lucky, also of my subsequent PhD. I owe the man a lot, he was a fascinating figure :)

The Battle of the Words

The desert knows me well, the night, the mounted men,
The battle and the sword, the paper and the pen.
- Al-Mutanabbi to Sayf ad-Dawla


***

Sanddune ripples, 
air tears through sand.

Paralyzed
     desk waves in oak patterns
     pen pierces swelled surface 
     in desperate hope for inspiration

Gallop resonates:
     his court
     his caravan
     my pen his sword
     my words not mine
I write his life

5, 6, 7, 8
     lift, blow
     scratch, tear
     plié, fold 
     this empty paper in 4

The saddle bag
The back pack
Sails the desert through waves
     too far to remember
     or falsely related to distorted time dimensions,
     simmered mirages

Reach up, make words
     land on my hand

5, 6, 7, 8
jam...
(What is home anyway but a bunch of false memories)

***

June 26, 2017 
Copyright © Darren White

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Muhammad Imtiaz February 23, 2018 at 12:24 PM Hi Darren you have a great art of perfection of words........... thanks muhammad

Darlene De Beaulieu October 15, 2017 at 6:12 PM You have a good imagination my friend. have a nice evening my friend. Darren White October 16, 2017 at 2:17 PM Thank you, Darlene :)

Freddie Robinson Jr. July 12, 2017 at 5:21 PM Very avant garde poetry, Darren. You stretch the mental muscles w/this piercing poem of a muse's constant battle for creativity to prevail. Outstanding write. Keep up the good fight, my friend. Love always Darren White July 12, 2017 at 11:43 PM Thanks Freddie, and you have understood this poem extremely well :)

James Swartz July 6, 2017 at 4:14 PM Wow. This might be my favorite poem ever. Too perfect. Darren White July 7, 2017 at 12:22 AM That is a wonderful comment James, thank you so much!

Gregory Richard Barden July 2, 2017 at 9:46 PM So creative and imaginative ... wonderfully penned and phrased to perfection. Loved this. Darren White July 3, 2017 at 12:00 AM Thanks Greg, I loved writing this combo ow=f writer's block, and my thesis :)

Funom Makama June 30, 2017 at 9:57 AM This is fantastic, so fantastic. Coming to this page feels predestined because I feel so satisfied. Thanks for the wonderful share. Darren White June 30, 2017 at 10:07 AM Thank you so very much, I am happy you like this :)

Arthur Vaso June 28, 2017 at 11:12 PM There is no sandstorm here, yet there are tears in the wind, beautiful poetry and what else can one expect from such inspiration. This is amazing. Darren White June 29, 2017 at 12:55 AM Thanks my friend. Those lines are wonderful, that little clip is too, and it's very inspirational :)

Paul Dandrea June 28, 2017 at 2:03 PM I watched the video. Facinating piece of work visually as well as spoken word. Is that your voice reading? Darren White June 29, 2017 at 12:53 AM Paul, no I wish! I do try from time to time to read, but no, I clam up entirely, doesn't work.

Ingrid Showalter Swift June 28, 2017 at 12:06 PM Darren I saw your writing today in my email box and love your poetic voice...you write with titanic passions! Bravo! Darren White June 29, 2017 at 12:53 AM Ingrid, thank you! Glad you like it. :)

Maureen McGreavy Pigeon Tart June 28, 2017 at 7:30 AM Oh my. Fave. This, this one ripples through my very soul dear poet. Darren White June 28, 2017 at 7:50 AM Happy you like it ma mo, also happy it is a fav for you!

Paul Dandrea June 27, 2017 at 11:54 PM there's something deadly serious in this poem. It's like a warrior who gallops towards his enemy to finally finish the business between them. Very lean, nothing spare. Darren White June 28, 2017 at 12:05 AM I think you summed up the whole of the metaphor there! That was exactly right :) Thanks my friend.

Jeremy Smith June 27, 2017 at 10:43 PM It looks like your past the writers block :) Darren White June 28, 2017 at 12:05 AM Hehe, no, but at least I put it into words.

White Wolf June 27, 2017 at 10:39 PM You never cease to amaze and dazzle me with your work, Duir! An outstanding piece to add to my crane bag! Darren White June 28, 2017 at 12:06 AM Wow, that crane bag of yours is getting full!

Maria Williams June 26, 2017 at 10:51 PM Love your analogies to nature – Sand-dune ripples (do you crumple sand colored paper through?) – Frustrated pen thrusting like the knight’s sword into the grained oak desk .Tsk Tsk!!Calls for sand papering now. Then there’s that exasperation - ‘lift, blow scratch, tear’, the ballet step of ‘plié, fold’ – the intangible images in the ’simmering mirage’s. Very clever my friend. Did you say your Muse had left you?!?! - I wonder? PS Darren, it’s so weird – both writing about the opposite side of the Muse at exactly the same time - You in this, and me in ‘My Shadow Muse’ – Alas! She disappears with the shadow, then appears!!... Maria xx Darren White June 27, 2017 at 1:41 AM You understood the analogies very well :) Thank you my friend. I will have a look at your poem now.

Chris Green June 26, 2017 at 7:21 AM Whoa, now this is really cool, quite abstract but a single thread seems woven throughout. Some sadness and desperation but still a stead fast delivery that concedes to the talent in every phase. Darren White June 26, 2017 at 8:54 AM It is abstract indeed isn't it.... I extended that metaphor of the pen that has nothing to write on and about all the way through the desert and I even danced there for a bit :) Thanks my friend!

Tim Smith June 26, 2017 at 7:14 AM Wow, you captured the essence of the quote so we'll...great poetry Darren White June 26, 2017 at 8:51 AM One enormous battle... That poet (al-Mutanabbi) wielded both pen and sword, such was the life of the right hand of a prince back then. Made for fascinating poetry... And inspiration for word-desperate poets like myself ;)