That summer of 1969 in Venice still resonates within me...
A Slovak boy, Mario, and an Italian girl, Laura – fourteen and thirteen years old.
She had long chestnut hair and captivating eyes…
We sat on a bank by a bridge in the evening,
while illuminated boats floating on the lagoon.
The song Sotto le stelle, Beneath the Stars, played from a nearby bar.
I listened with amazement to that melodic speech, watching her charming gestures.
I didn't understand a word, yet I felt a blissful warmth in my heart...
Suddenly, heavy rain began to fall; Laura gave me a quick kiss on the cheek
and vanished under the arcade of a weathered building.
Just then, a shooting star fell...
I have carried the imprint of her lips in my heart all my life.
Maria Bartuszova Slovak national
of Haptic form you may recall
Sculpture to touch&feel
with individuality to reveal
Paul suffered a stroke at the young age of ten,
He was born 3rd October 1985 in Swansea,
He had been a keen footballer, it was his den,
So was introduced to table tennis for his tee.
At the age of sixteen he was selected for GB,
For the Paralympic team which goes everywhere,
And immediately won team bronze, dexterity,
At the European Championships, he had dare.
He took part in the Beijing and London Paras,
But was tots disappointed at his performance,
But in 2013 Paul collected very many medals,
In the Hungary, Slovenia and Slovak dance.
So in the land of Italy at the European Champs,
Paul picked up a bronze with mate Will Bayley,
Won the US Open in San Diego with clamps,
So that in 2014’s China Worlds, a bronze relay.
Vejle in Denmark, 2015, and Paul won silver,
At the Euro Champs in the team competition,
And he also won in the singles a bronze feather,
‘Cos his opponent had home crowd adulation.
At the Lignano Master Open in Italy in 2016,
He proudly won team silver and singles bronze,
Which selected him for Rio but he was beaten,
In the group matches. Born with energy, eons.
Slovak Widow On 59th Street
Chicago, South Side
She’s 84
and when she stands,
everybody hears the chiropractic crack
of eon bones
and everybody tries so hard
not to look
that half second when
the chamois’s taut
across protractor features.
Donal Mahoney
It was the
middle of the song
and all the instruments
kicked in,
keyboard, guitar and accordion,
two trumpets blasting,
the drummer pounding out
the one-two, one-two beat
of the Chicago-style polka,
the young couples hopping
and rocking side-to-side,
old couples sliding their feet,
when he began to twirl,
going 'round
and around,
keeping the beat,
from one end
of the crowded dance floor
to the other,
past the bride and groom's table,
past the bar,
everything reeling
in a a whirlwind
of colors and shapes,
smoke and beer and wine,
whoops and shouts
in Polish and Slovak,
"Hej! Hupaj siup!"
his partner laughing,
dancers stomping,
clarinet wailing,
the one-two, one-two
in him now,
pulling him in circles,
a dervish spinning,
right palm raised.
Looking for the formal definition, structure, and history of this poetry form? Visit the Poetry Dictionary entry below. Then return to explore how PoetrySoup members bring the form to life through their own poems.