PIROUETTE
Dark, the clouds
Move the sky
High above, the rain
Begins it's fall
Unties the towel
Loose, around your waist
The first drops dance
Across your back
You wrap, and run away
You turn to pirouette
So proud
Bow, the clapping waves
A long ago memory of a girl i knew. A ballerina.
When it would rain we would travel to the beach.
Alone, because of the weather ... She loved to dance in the sand.
Pristine pink pumps press
past the pale pine,
Placing poised pirouettes,
perfectly prime.
Proudly, she pauses, portraying
pure grace,
Pacing the platform, a phantom
in lace.
She spins sweet symphonies,
swift, soft, and still,
Soaring so splendidly, showing
sublime skill.
Silken skirts shimmer and
shadows start sliding.
ready for black belt test
green is the arena
protected by aura
fairy umbrella dewed
like teddy
eddy whorls
but steady
spready tail
winning wed
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unmindful time sneaks past
the stage of perfect life.
Quick as dreams take their place
nostalgia clings tight.
Embrace fun,
run the course,
laugh a ton.
None fathom
when it's done.
Snakes’ own hypnotic trait,
rare hood sharpens the dread.
Bullies, they snake across,
rising, their ground they stand
.....Warning wakes and
.....shakes your nerves,
.....an even break, he
.....stakes his claim
.....as you quake.
Thrill, that snake is scared too;
he sees you as the threat.
Venom Is his defense;
extreme caution is yours.
.....Back off, kill the
.....will to run
.....calmly fill that
.....bill which keeps the
.....bully still.
any projection weird
can be refracted seared
humans looking for canvas
on which to shine stories
my glory
stories fly
light and gory
sorry might
age sparry
__________________
[Poet’s Note : this is a wry autobiographical memory written in traditional pirouette verse viz. 2 quintains, line 5 & 6 repeat, which is the toe turnaround. I wanted to write a narrative of a weird syncopated vignette, when I was knitting a pink mohair jersey at the time of my imprisonment. I reduced the narrative to a pirouette. When in prison, one of my interrogators was knitting the EXACT jersey in the exact colour & exact wool ! ie. in the final analysis, (in retrospect) everything in human life can be reduced to a pirouette, a turn-around dance ! ]
knitting a pink jersey
mohair with cables fine
to process flying thoughts
political activist
south africa turmoiled
south africa turmoiled
security police
came with casspirs and cuffs
interrogation chamber
police knit jersey pink
~~~~~~~~~
autumn lingers unfinished
though cold drops november
rain and waits undiminished
'til native summer sun remembers
what could unmake
when days full ache
bloom autumn colors
quick winter all borders
golds greens yellows
reds purples browns
a rusted rainbow frowns
as leaves scoot over meadows
fallen from mountain forest
after fields have given harvest
a father of one teaches his son.
chase catching leaves for fun
they twist turn swivel pirouette
lunge leap slide slice 'til earth is whet
while boy staggers with arms stretched
missing while dad knows misdirect fetched
two and three leaves while son fustrated
cries to quit but egged on infuriated
at last by chance or by experience
claps and traps one in victory dance
Copyright © Cornelius Brantley | Year Posted 2024
GEOFF: A Whet Pirouette Poem
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
furry, spry squirrel, Geoff
Chaucer he doth channel
"Come and 'whet thine whistle'."
"Poof! abracadabra!"
Really?
Now Georgie,
you're silly!
be smiley,
beguilely!
Tucked away glinting thoughts
like seeds beneath the bark
of half-remembered dreams
that echo autumn’s needs
tend to duck.
Pluck them out
under muck
stuck well fast—
they bring luck.
Silly ninja squirrel
thinks he can stop the rain
and save his furry hide
from dampened disarray~
now chilly,
Willie boy
still willy-
nilly for
his Tilly!
Written: March 21, 2025, for contest Sponsored by: Constance La France
Quote": The bliss derived from the splendor of nature, adorned with a stunning variety of flowers is a delight for all the creatures that occupy this earth. By Poet
****************
A crimson tulip basks in the sun-drenched meadow
Luring a dancer dressed in a jewel state of ecstasy
Tender, an array of wings glides across Kismet Gate
Pirouettes with delight mutter on velvety petals
Sipping aromatic ambrosia amid the bloom
Soaring across the air, seeking honeyed nectar
Butterflies flutter over radiant flower shadow!
elfin pirouette
flaunts prettiness of peacocks
redefined rainbow
You are the night
that makes pupils dilate,
illuminates the stars,
and conceals mistakes.
You are the night
that renders silence
a piercing, echoing,
dizzying, ring.
You are the night
cradling one to sleep,
and keeping another one
wide awake.
You are the night
which weaves reveries
---an urge to anticipate.
You are the night
which makes souls pirouette
and dances with their silhouettes.
Movement pivots lid lifted, Pandora astonishes
Actions perpetual pirouette dancer acknowledges
Glamour glues sockets smooth, figurine believed
Image incorporates graceful, a fighter bereaved
Curtsey in zenity as her stage lazy susan circulates
Tulle tickled hips scissor, treasures sage congregate
Rules spurred by war spring away from delicate damsel
Intimate fleshpink stretch legs enter audition to dazzle
Craft to elicit captivation tunes ballerina's true energy
Kills a brash sword brandishing cavalier, buried enemy
Entertaining Eighteenth of January
MAGIC TRICK
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