Tympanum Poems | Examples


List of Member Poems

Night of Rain

'Tick', 'tock', 'tick', 'tock', the ticky-tocky click of the clock continued to beep
'Ree-raw', 'ree-raw',  the roaring of the frogs was heard over and over in the deep 
I stood awake to solve a riddle, a jigsaw puzzle, denying my eyes of sleep
Caged in a cottage of low rentage my wage could pay, hoping I did keep 

'Ko', 'ko', 'ko', 'ko', was the jangly sound from the corner where the roof did leak
Hitting hard my tympanum as the woodpecker does the tree with its beak 
"Oh no!, I'll have to go" were the very words my sullen mouth could speak 
Indeed!, first thing before noon, it was the Thatcher that I'll have to go seek.

Worlds Apart

Like two hungry wanderers,
We met.
I, from the direction
You were set.

I was cupping a story
And all you had was beauty.
I poured my powdery story
On your breast
And then on your head.

With my tongue, I drummed
On your tympanum
Till you danced the dance
Which carried to the distance
The thump… thump… thump
Of our leathery hearts.

Briskly, briskly till they split.
Now, riven
Forever by too much passion.

The miasma of stillborn feelings
Hangs on within like an undying warble
To garnish our memories.

For it was such bloody ambrosia
That stripped us
Absolutely of all:
Garments, flesh, and bones;
Heart, mind and spirit.

Disappointment

Grandma promised me a dove
From her heart's inner deep
To me to forever keep
In my heart's nest
Perfect for her sound rest

Grandma setout among the clouds
Thence millions cooed out loud
Into the tympanum of an azure sky
As the soared afajato high

Grandma set her aging eyes round
a dove in a million was found
That I wanted she'd it all
But did not heed Nana's call


You Ask Where I Am From

I am from a woman
who stretched out her breath
upon a hundred years,
and strikes upon this day
a distant voice,
a thunder tympanum advancing
low across the sky,
a heartbeat rising from the earth,
more eloquent because she is and was
a symphony without a score...
a dialogue of resonance within
that stretches out the years instead
and  makes their number meaningless.

I, a part of the premiere,
partaking of the air that left her nostrils,
of the milk that drained her breasts,
am from a heritage of love;
a quiet patience that was her bequest,
adorned her like a jewel
too lovely to display its fire
but from her open heart.
                   ~

Disrespected Youth

Disrespected youth, bug guts on a windshield
Happiness confronted with indifference
Sealed with plastic, it crinkles my tympanum
Washed aloft a cerulean sea
Blankets keep me warm, not safe

D I S S E C T I O N

The frog jumps from pool to puddle...
       brain-death spark
       exhibits its unconscious species net
       no more heartbeats
       the cold amphibious skin is icy...
       scalpel  drill  claw  tweezers
       cuts butter-like biceps
       triceps tympanum
       that will spend the night
       in the formol thrash can...
       radius  tibia  will be eternal
      in the skeleton stand...
      hyperclean surgical gloves
     among soap pumps
     clean hands
     all sterile
     one or two tears
     a small dignified silence
     and all has ended


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.

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