I have been struggling with hurt pride

OK, that title is the first line of a poem - but I have noticed that in blog world 'disaster strikes' gets more page views than 'everything is going swimmingly'. Lately my 'patchwork poems' (pieced together from scraps of language I encounter in a day) ) have been more informed by personal issues. Things I have written, whether from the heart or for mundane or functional reasons, are interwoven with other people's words, from texts, emails, books I am editing, news updates, articles and even things I overhear in the street. A challenging time of hurt pride and frustration in 'real life' was followed by an upturn in my writing fortunes as I found a writing mentor and began to work productively with her. This form of poetry is both a form of expression and a great place to hide!

Have a look at these three short offerings – they are unpolished but seem to carry the essence of what I want to say more effectively than a more usual blog post.

1)

Courtesey of romanceoverseas.blogspot.com

I have been struggling with hurt pride
But am starting to get some peace.
Once again, I’m sorry for the oversight
I should have made sure your book was promoted.

I’m sure God is whittling me on one of his walks.
I was floundering and clueless for a while,
But am now attaching chapters one to three.
Use the golden leaf brush to paint the sea.

We do not have a high priest who is
Unable to sympathise with our weaknesses.
I was cutting an apple with a penknife
When I sliced across a knuckle.

Paint the detail at the top of the lighthouse
Using a ruler to help you with the lines.
He was tempted in every way, as we are,
But did not sin.

The day wilts like the roses, blood-heavy, bloated and blown.
Use masking tape to mask out the horizon.
This brief is a great example
Of the kind of thing I had in mind.

I was feeling much better, and have then been stupidly upset
By another email. I have left behind me
Young men working long hours in the hot sun
For the minimum wage.

Cast-on stitch is used in Brazilian embroidery.
The next batch are easier, so why the price hike?
The rate we estimated didn’t really work for us.
I mean, what, really, am I doing with my life?

2)

courtesy of its.caltech.edu

The air is full of plans and congratulations
That fall as stony weights on my unfaithful heart.
I am very surprised that I am not due any payment.
Personalise yours with motifs of your choice.

How to stop worrying and love your opening!
Use the templates in this book, or your imagination.
Harris hid a demon under his charming exterior.
It’s RGB white and two per cent K.

We need to find a way to resolve this more fairly.
It’s unreasonable; it’s my work and nobody asked me.
My opening was crammed with backstory
And changing points of view.

Juan to check my knocked back braids.
The numbers will not move, or not enough.
On the next table is the vicar who danced down the aisle.
She has seven million hits on Youtube.

We have sinned in thought and word and deed.
Heads roll, blood spurts and heads crack.
Turn through neatly; gently roll the seams.
These graphic depictions caused some people to faint.

The prognosis is not good. I shouldn’t have looked, but I did.
Please put the dates in your calendar and I’ll let Jeff know.
If we slow down now, we cannot counter the lies.
See the snowflakes at the back for inspiration.

It could have made a difference in saving their lives,
Had the circumstances only been different.

3)

courtesy of www.baseops.com

A war correspondant remembers young soldiers
Feared and reviled, coming for help.
‘We haven’t been able to call home in ages.’
They almost always phoned their mothers.
From the other side of the room
I’d hear the phone sound in Idaho.
You look like a chavvy I was in prison with!
I thought you was him.

There are no parallel lines that meet in the distance
And things are less detailed when further away.
Let us not give up on meeting together
Let us spend time and rekindle our faith.

Our son is disgruntled about travel expenses.
‘You didn’t hold back from helping Ben’.
I dream of a baby, found in our care
‘We haven’t even been feeding him!’

We regret that we can’t accept stories by email.
If your writing shows promise, we will contact you.
There is not much to beat an English June
With roses, strawberries and tea on the lawn.

We are going to swarm on Downing Street
To hammer the message home.
God willing, this force will be successful
And destroy the terrorist dens.

Eating cupcakes is a vital part of my life
It is there to be eaten – do not forget.
They wandered in deserts and mountains
In caves and holes in the ground.

A mini cupcake is a tiny canvas
The decoration is there to create its effect.
Who will look back at your name with gratitude?
Who are the fathers and mothers of your faith?

Make Patchwork Poetry From the Words that Bombard You All Day

Words come at us all the time, in texts, emails, conversations overheard, facebook updates, news feeds and more. Needing a boost for my flagging creativity, I recently decided to write a poem for every day of the working week, piecing together snatches of these words, patchwork fashion. I edit art and craft books, and the instructional text I deal with can be banal, or strangely evocative, so I scribbled down bits of this too, along with some of the bizarre things that get called across my office.

My five poems were informed by books I was editing on sewing and Manga, daily reflections from the vicar, a poorly spelled review, a visit from 7-year-old twins, online articles, a church notice about a food bank, a Tony Benn quote on the day he died, a text from my son about a minister visiting his school, and in spring-like weather, people calling from windows or talking on doorsteps. They were also haunted by the missing Malaysian Airlines plane, and the trial of Oscar Pistorius.

Thanks to abcnews.go.com

Thanks to businessweek.com

Whether you usually write poetry or not, I urge you to have a go at this. Scribble down the words as they strike you, and then look at them at the end of the day and begin to put the various lines together. Some of the juxtapositions will be funny, others poignant. You can of course add personal reflections from your day. I guarantee the results will be fresh and vibrant, and will surprise you. 

Working Week

Monday

Slim young men in misty sunlight talk:
She actually stood up for me, which I was quite pleased about.
I burst into harsh neon, lost schedules, failing machines;
Add downward-pointing thrusters on the backs of the thighs.

May is new today, but copes impressively while I sift through ozalids.
Already on my mind, I’ve got a big dilemma with Martin;
They went blah, blah, blah, and then they went off on a tangent;
Exploding at speed across an alien planet.

What do you think of this comment, and how should I reply?
Is there a way for us to not let our hearts be troubled?
Edge the smoke with greys.
On top of all that, they’re only offering half a page.

The unattended bath will flood the room, the unfilled car will stop.
Lord, we don’t know where you’re going, so how can we know the way?
They think they’ve found a life raft.
We are every hour, every second, looking at every area of the sea.

The families of the passengers have been told to prepare for the worst.
However, their aren’t any of the process of making them.
I think it would of added something to the patterns.
Love you and so glad you are feeling better.

Grab a pen and write a thank you note to someone.
This size is more efficient; we get better printer prices.
I think it might be paternity leave. It’s such a precious time.
The dummies are on the way.

Thanks to ever-increasing work pressures,
Workday lunches are when good intentions nose-dive.
I don’t know, I think the cupcakes had more impact.
By shutting the door, we could chat more freely and noisily.

I step out into grey, cold wind and make my way homewards
See a devil-faced dog, white with pink eyes,
And remember ancient shame, stuck up a tree
In a childhood garden, under barked attack, the only one afraid.

Tuesday

Two hundred people and an aeroplane
Swallowed up in mystery
And none can fathom where or why;
If the sea knows, it won’t give up the secret.

I must try to disentangle the workings of my office.
That’s not the usual procedure we go through.
There was no distress signal or radio contact
indicating a problem.

It’s very bizarre; I’ve had all these emails.
We are studying the behaviour of the passengers.
Mary is screaming for something now.
Maybe she was rushing and panicking?

Thread is an absolute must for any stitcher.
Not just a head, but a head with a body; perhaps arms.
The marabou has a fluffy mind of its own;
Blow on it while stitching to reduce entanglement.

On the homeward path, a small child passes
Chatting with his Dad. I am tugged, winded, snatched at
By the instinct to nurture, outdated and irrelevant
But still so fierce.

Wednesday

It’s not depression; he isn’t depressed.
He has been with us seven years, which is six years longer
than any of his relationships have lasted.
A passer-by thought this was dog was a pile of trash.

It ended about three weeks later.
Last words from the cockpit were, ‘Alright, goodnight.’
Finally, attach the firecrackers along
the entire length of the ribbon.

The last communication suggests everything was normal
minutes before it went missing.
Sometimes you feel she could turn on you at any time.
I waited for a second to see if they had guns.

It’s a different question from ‘where have all your dummies gone?’
We feel that the word ‘character’ is really important.
Could you tell her that I’ve left for the day and to call tomorrow?
I’m getting close to being unpleasant.

It wasn’t Mummy’s fault they broke up; it was hers
She used to sneak down in the night and eat all our food.
Divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived.
Beheaded means your head comes off. What’s ‘divorced’?

Thursday

There are forty-three ships and forty aircraft
searching the South China Sea.
With right sides together, pin then sew around the heart.
The mist of mystery is dissolved by the words of the Son.

There is a shape somewhere in the sea
that might be a plane.
If you prefer a fuller heart,
Make your template with a five-inch depth.

Zilch reply from anybody!
We’re all away that week. We’re out buying yarn.
Watch while angels on a plane
Bring a baby back to life.

There were trophies and medals in the house,
And a jacuzzi, but no blood.
I could not find the words to vocalise my state of mind.
I was stopped by the incredible kindness of a stranger.

I was taught everything at school
Except how to look after my wellbeing.
Part-baked bread and unisex deodorant.
What a shame your experience was ruined.

These items can be delivered to the Christ Church office.
Money, sex and power. Carl Beech
Will talk about these battleground areas.
No teabags, beans or soup at the moment, thank you.

It’s ok not to be popular or funny.
They would have no cars and no clothes
So might find public transport draughty;
Otherwise a good start at cultivating a grateful heart.

Gove turned up late to the whole set-up
and talked to one fit Year Twelve, before buggering off.
Where is your God? I don’t see your God here.
These were the words of the judge appointed to the trial.

The air has a chill whiff of spring and rings with voices.
I said to her, have some dinner first before going round there
I ain’t going round and starving all evening.
I didn’t know nothing about it
I’ve never run out of gas or electricity,
And now she thinks I’ve got the hump with her.

Hello darling, it’s mummy.
Can you make me a cup of tea please?
I’m nearly home.

Friday

I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a boring book in my life.
She started off really, really enthusiastic
And then she started getting shirty.
It’s going to take every ounce of my talent.

An additional search may be opened in the Indian Ocean.
I leaned back and inhaled, and it went down the wrong pipe.
The worst case scenario would be
Halfway between Madagascar and Australia.

I have told you now before it happens,
So that when it happens, you will believe.
The poor, the addicted, the sinful.
I did my critique, and she got really curt with me.

Why shouldn’t your jam jars be well-dressed too?
I have told you these things so that you may have peace.
This cap will make your homemade jam feel special.
The boring, the stupid and the weak.

People we laugh about, or even at –
People we try to avoid.
One half know better and the other half don’t listen.
Pomposity has rocketed since you joined.

Mussolini’s headquarters was a supervillain lair
Perfectly presented for the picnic table.
When the balloon goes up on Monday,
I’m not getting involved.

I’m not getting through here, am I?
Is everyone listening now?
The court saw graphic images of the crime scene
Including a toilet streaked with blood.

To whom are you accountable, and how can we get rid of you?
Because he’s a celebrity, they may remove things from his home.
May the peace of the Lord, a peace the world cannot give
Fill our hearts and minds.