A BRITTLE RETROSPECTIVE
provocative
innovative
sensibilities
seminal
decorous
imitations
experiments
impeccably
ingenious
determination
of
febrile
serendipity
in
possibilities
of
myriad
perspectives
Alan Turing,
in history you were securing
the place that you would be taking
by vital and ingenious code breaking.
Every door Nietzsche opened ... And darkened, heightened and brightened the horizons of ingenious consequences.
A silver symphony of sins shine
Like a star from an envious heart
Where words wither when ingenious
Hoping to hide in their colorful presentation
Faking sincerity in hopes as vague cloak
To cover the insanity of violet vanity
We waste turquoise time battling
Twisted vines of self serving lines
That trap instead of offering freedom
Of speech despite the sands on beach
Sinking underneath shuffling feet
Weary from karma’s treats or defeats
Trying to keep up with the Jones’s
Not realizing or ignoring that they too sin
Therefore in the end we must learn to
Appreciate our jaded journey of learning
Set jaundiced jealousy on a shelf
In a jar beside hardened heart
Reaching for the light and enlightenment
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Henry the squirrel with his pals conspired~
a silent coup, a plot so ingenious, so inspired.
They stole an hour from humans’ sleep,
hid it where the night is unfathomably deep.
Henry decreed: For gathering nuts more daylight is required.
We humans woke confused, rubbing our eyes,
betrayed by dawn’s deceitful rise.
The forest creatures, too, awoke in confusion,
their internal clocks spun in chaotic delusion.
So here we are: victims of Henry’s temporal enterprise.
an Oviellejo*
A quiet explosion of joy today
a bursting bouquet,
your old smile a comforting reminder
of a much kinder
time when life was just beginning to bloom;
ingenuous loom
just beginning to weave life’s droll costume,
the facade we learn to wear as disguise,
but for now your smile is a nice surprise ~
a bursting bouquet of a much kinder ingenious loom.
*An Old Spanish verse form (derived from ovillo, a ball of yarn). A stanza consists of 10 lines, with a rhyme scheme of AABBCCCDDC. The second line of each rhyme scheme, Line 2,4,6, is short line up to 5 syllables. The last line is a "redondilla," a "little round" that collects all three of the short lines.
surprised
emotions
unforgettable
pleasure
blossom
in
dreamlike
atmosphere
of
radiant
shadows
of
silhouetted
significance
creativity
& inventiveness
mismatched
yet
recounted
in
retrospect
a
gestured
reminesce
of
ecstatic
eruption
recalled
pure joy
enigmatic
obsessions
in
collaged
contemplation
both
ingenious
&intense
transcendent
evoking
the cryptic
Formula Fe2 O3
Iron is just awesome – let’s see!
First it was prehistoric man
Who was always an iron fan
Iron is a third of the earth
Industry is iron by birth
Pritchard designed and Darby made
Iconic Iron Bridge won’t fade
Smelt pig iron from iron ore
Produces cast iron galore
Backbone of skyscrapers, bridges
Organs of cars, washers, fridges
Clever Bessemer carbon gone
Heralded steel for everyone
Mankind’s most ingenious feat
Turning raw earth to steel – so neat!
Iron’s compounds are versatile
No wonder it’s used all the while
Inks, fertilisers, pesticides
Paints, enamels and more besides
Many iron phrases pervade
Each as an English language aid
There’s ironclad, iron curtain
Iron grip and more for certain
We need it in a small amount
For on haemoglobin we count
Open your eyes and look around
Everywhere an iron surround
Iron has magnetic appeal
First place must be iron with steel
Despite your intelligence mimicry,
You still come far short in your gimmickry,
Throwing down the drains fine masterpieces,
Flushed away as a fresh bout of faeces.
Nights without sleep to pen wonders on sheet,
Yet a lame detector brands one a cheat,
An app claiming to be a true genius ~
Is far from being labeled ingenious.
How long will your pretence rule human minds,
Before you're swept off by the southern winds,
That your charade may stop to fool the world,
And your foolishness may at last unfurl.
Strange how your fanbase keeps on increasing,
Even the most smart, you're daily fleecing,
These cursed detectors come in many brands,
Some free – yet some charge dollars and rands.
I'm amazed you didn't claim this was by you,
This bitter pill, your pride has had to chew,
But that won't stop me from calling you out,
To nip in the bud your infamous clout.
At Arromanches Les Baines, the British used a massive artificial harbour, known as Mulberry Harbour( specifically Mulberry B) to facilitate the landing of troops and supplies after D Day. It was ingenious.
Mulberry B
They lie half buried in the sand
Parked like huge metal flat beds
Under heavy weather barrages
Once they ebbed and flowed with the tide
That now washes over them
a stark reminder of sufferings
bravery and sacrifices
Invaded by moss,
they rust together
Undefeated in their history
yet their freedom doomed
There are no gravestones
at Arromanches Les Baines
Just revered metal allies
03/04/2025
Have you fallen into the oldest of traps, before?
(A lone voice whispers)
Be Illuminated.
Don't be like the many and fall into a readers' mindset, and believe everything you read is true.
Be sophisticated and ingenious.
And when reading poetry, be conveniently adventurous.
Don't always think it personally relates to the author:
For that trap is the oldest of the old.
Going back to poetry's first beginnings.
Poets do sometimes relate their stories to be told, but generally, perhaps:
They're really creating secret escapes.
Imagery, emotions and landscapes, for those seeking shelter.
From the cold, unforgiving, light of just living.
(C)
Copyright John Duffy
If the Muse bolts from me, I'll love her more
still and pen heartfelt songs of forlorn rhymes;
yet, I'll still wilt within internal climes
of gloom from her forsaking me before
I empty her spirit, for I've sometimes
gone to cruel lengths to dash her gentle heart.
So, having erred, the consequence for art,
and ingenious meters, thus makes betimes
my Muse's faithfulness to then depart
(from me). To shortly beg her forgiveness,
I take my medication, lower my stress:
renew my efforts to make a fresh start.
For my patient Muse, a Pierian empress,
inspires my dark, bipolar mind's fitness!
Men and women are different
but they are not adversaries...
They are opposites, but they are not rivals...
But they are equal before the Lord,
and ingenious creatures of the Creator...
Mojito Conjuring
When the bruja in the red dress
sends me out this time,
it is for the taste of
sour oranges and garlic.
Once, when I plied her
with a cigar called Hoyo de Montyerrey,
she coiled the smoke,
said that I was still feral and untamed,
sent me out for sugar so that
I could learn my true name.
Scythe-swinging, field-slave-singing,
I could not return to her coven of one
until I had learned that my “Suarez”
meant that I was the son of sugar itself –
the child of wild ingenious devouring
the rows of cane like a dragon.
Now, red-dress bruja breathes out
clouds of tobacco *****,
turns the cigar round and round,
tells me to gather garlic and aurantium oranges
so that the sour and the sucre may jibe
together in me,
and leave me properly christened
for when it is time for me to work,
time for me to sweat,
time for me to sing.
She was imaginative, artistic and clever.
An inspired visionary who never said never.
A poet, dancer, singer, choreographer, artist too.
Bright, personable and ingenious, my sister Sue.
We knew with these talents she would go far.
But she fell in love with a controlling ass named Jar.
Jar told her how high to jump, how to climb the stairs and such.
Her life was simple and joyless after that; we did not see her much.
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