PROMPT #17 – CH-CH-CH-CHANGES

/ Poetic Bloomings

Changes are afoot! Autumn is rapidly approaching and whether you like change or do not like change, it is inevitable. And we have encountered some changes that are good and some that haven’t turned out so well. Write about change. Something changes, one thing becomes another, spare change in your pocket or change of attitude. Would you like to change something about yourself, or someone else? Write about it before you change your mind!

Marie Elena’s Change:

NOW WHAT?

Acclimatize, familiarize,
Revise, amend, and bend.
Rework, adjust
(you simply must),
Then modify and blend.

Find your footing,
(no off-putting)
Settle in, and then
Get a feel for this new deal, and
Learn from where you’ve been.

Walt’s Transition:

NO MORE

I can’t live like this anymore.
My battle waged in the war of words.
Mine: smooth, poetic, full of passion.
Yours: denigrating, non-supportive, full of shit.
It seems we’ve played this aria before,
it’s time the record changes.
Same old song; no more.

81 thoughts on “PROMPT #17 – CH-CH-CH-CHANGES”

  1. Walt – who’s been rattling your cage? I’ll see ’em off for you!

    Marie Elena – clever title for a clever poem. It reminded me of the Rotarians’ motto: “Adopt, adapt, improve.”

  2. ch-ch-c

    Something changed in the night.
    With a mighty crash, and sparks
    spitting like a dozen pissed cats,
    up, in the sky, the dam that was
    holding back the weather, broke.

  3. Never Judge a Book by Its Cover

    For years she tried to alter
    her appearance; plastering
    a smile on her face at all times
    tanning in a coffin, shrinking body

    size unconventionally. A funhouse
    mirror hung in her mind, warping
    self-image with each sideways glance
    while inside she withered away.

    ~laurie

  4. UNTITLED

    For years I couldn’t look at you—
    Hate and her cohorts filled the courtroom
    of my heart, gavel-pounded, judgment pronounced.

    I couldn’t tell you just what happened,
    but given time and maturation,
    impurities leach out.

    A space emptied of its dross is larger than imagined.
    Heart holds the two of us together now,
    and room for many more beside.

  5. For the Good

    Each sunset we grow a little older.
    Every morning brings a fresh new start.
    Wars are won and lost thru countless battles.
    Peace is brought forth when you do your part.

    Changes in perspective don’t come easy.
    Move about the plane to shift your view.
    Seek to see the glory here in all things.
    Know that love comes from deep inside you.

    To start today or waste away?
    To do, to go, to be?
    Live the life that you were always destined.
    That mission in your mind you clearly see.

    Take a tiny little step today.
    Take a giant leap then, if you dare.
    Crawl or walk or run on toward your great goal.
    Moving forward, somehow you’ll get there.

    There’s a moment, everlasting vision.
    Dwell not on the could or would or should.
    If you dream it, do it with a passion,
    so long as it is rendered for the good.

    By Michael Grove

  7. Time for a Change

    Your spirit is restless each day
    You’re wishing to go your own way
    Discontent comes in a wide range
    So maybe it’s time for a change

    What fit like a glove does no more
    What once intrigued begins to bore
    What was familiar now seems strange
    So maybe it’s time for a change

    You balance the pros and the cons
    Concepts disillusionment spawns
    Priorities can rearrange
    So maybe it’s time for a change

  8. IF I HAD POWER
    (A Diminished Hexaverse)

    If I had power
    To change the whole world,
    Utter magic words
    And make all things right,
    Say, “Let there be peace,”

    I would do it
    In a heartbeat,
    But who am I
    To change the world?

    Just a man
    With a dream…
    Powerless.

    I pray
    God grants

    Peace.

    #

    • Sal, the power is not only in the prayer, it’s in each one of us to show our love constantly to others. Who are you to change the world? You are a poet. You are a dreamer and believer. Sometimes, it takes many to gather to bring about the change… not just one Dr. King and then everyone gives up, disheartened. Many Dr. Kings, as he lives inside all who remember him; many Gandhis, many Christs.

      A wonderful meditation, Sal. Amy

  9. HIGHSCHOOL ACROS(tic) THE STREET

    Happy to move on, but
    Insecure at the start.
    Getting lost looking for the pool,
    Hearing it doesn’t exist.
    Seeing new faces (and new boys),
    Catching up with old friends.
    Homecoming around the corner, if
    Only HE would ask!
    Ordinary yet not the same, how I
    Look forward to the next four years.

  10. Change of Address

    South Philly row home
    tiny, narrow, steep-staired
    gives way to
    West Philly care home
    spotless, loving, God-centered

    Time has wreaked erosion —
    brittle bones
    weakened limbs
    vanquished spirit

    What does the future hold?

  12. OK, hope this isn’t too racy for the Garden! Amy On my blog at:
    http://sharplittlepencil.wordpress.com/2011/08/22/the-big-change-poetic-bloomings/

    The Big Change
    How to explain the changes ahead of me.
    First, Mom needed gin, just a snort
    to abort the mortification of
    the dreaded subject at hand: Sex.

    On a page in her steno notebook,
    she drew crude diagrams:
    Ovaries, tubes, uterus – utilitarian scrawls,
    later to be thrown away in disgust.

    “The egg starts in here,” pen on ovary,
    “travels down through here,”
    tracing Fallopian Lane,
    “and ends up here. Once a month.”

    Another jigger of gin for courage.
    “If the egg gets fertilized, it stays here
    and becomes a baby. If not,”
    siiiiiiigh, “you bleed and need some equipment.”

    She pulled out the mysterious
    blue box, used heretofore only by
    Mom and my big sisters. Removing
    napkin and belt, she trussed me up.

    That was the extent of Sex Ed with Mom:
    There were eggs (aren’t eggs big?).
    There were tubes and a place
    you might make a baby (is fertilization about peat moss?)

    Later I found out the good stuff…
    recalling Mae West’s immortal wisdom:
    “No man ever loved me
    the way I love myself!”

    © 2011 Amy Barlow Liberatore/Sharp Little Pencil

    • Very nice work Amy. I like the Mae West reference at the denouement. Ha! Moms gin for courage speaks to the uncomfortable situation at hand there. Not a lot of detail in those crude line drawings. I remember my “talks” with dad and mom separately. A little different perspective.

  13. Marie and Walt – both great poems. Walt, yours is like a waltz with Gravy Train where the orchestra never takes a break. Marie, that’s a change I can embrace. Good work, guys! Amy

  14. in another time and another place,
    i gave myself to art: scribblings on moleskine,
    the soft caress of watercolor. poetry,
    lighter than sole meuniere, and fiction,
    darker than chocolate.

    once upon a time i was the girl who was fated
    to be an epidemiologist, who kept lists of facts on
    the palm of her mind. who shook herself to sleep
    with nightmares of smallpox, cholera:

    when i miss my factual self, all i can do is write.

    • Welcome, Jessica! I’m not sure how you discovered us, but I’m glad you did.

      Marie Elena

    • Jessica, I do hope you stick around a while. It will be interesting to see your muse develop. I can see some amazing “blooms” coming in the future. Take root a while and grow with us!

  15. A big welcome to gospelwriter and mama zen. Mama, feel free to join in the fun!

    Marie Elena

  17. Pingback: Poetic Bloomings: Change (an acrostic) « echoes from the silence

  18. Stay Within the Lines

    The box spilled
    its contents rolled
    and grass and flowers grew
    then trees with swings
    and birds flew
    beyond the buildings
    to the clouds
    till Mama said,
    “You can use a different crayon.”
    But I colored everything
    a happy orange
    until I knew
    what black and blue meant
    and put my colors
    down.

    • Patricia, Lady you “paint” a picture. Wow! We all seem to find the “black and blue”. How unfortunate that such worded wonder springs from that horrid combination! Nice work.

  19. Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes

    All of a sudden, it seemed, everything shifted.
    I mean, now I look at myself in the mirror,
    never have gotten stuck doing that before,
    It’s my body, all right – skin grafts, check,
    stitching scars, check, sagging lower belly, check.
    What the hell, it’s a used body, this one, well used.
    No, it’s not the body, at least not the externals.

    There’s movement and change, I think maybe growth.
    Never been a churchgoer, but I’m there now.
    They don’t call it a church, it’s the Unity Center,
    but what’s in a name, really? It’s a church.
    There’s singing and praying and meditation.
    There’s sermons and thoughts for living.
    It’s a church, all right.

    Even my dreams have been altered,
    by cosmic forces or aging nostrils, who can tell?
    Hopes and aspirations still abound, different now.
    I’ve bought enough stuff, sold enough homes,
    moved enough times, looking, seeking, reaching.
    Now the goals are inward, searching for that place,
    no, not a place, waiting for that spirit to touch me.

    I’ve been poor before, really poor
    No food, no money, no job, no ideas,
    always been afraid it could happen again.
    Careful as I am, it’s not going to show up soon.
    How, then, will success be measured?
    Perhaps it’s in how well I manage change.
    Maybe it’s in just letting the change occur.

    Whatever’s coming, there are a few things I know.
    I want to laugh too much.
    I plan to cry when it’s necessary.
    I intend to be happy, healthy and at peace.
    So, it’s not really change that’s due, at all.
    It’s simply transformation.

  20. Change is Inevitable draft 1

    Change is inevitable
    Change is coming
    Change is here
    Change is everywhere
    We embrace it
    We reject it
    We affect it

    We are the emodiment change
    We give, We achieve
    We take, We receive

  21. The equilibrium of life

    The equilibrium of life is the ever constant dynamic flow of internal and external changes
    that spontaneously takes place within us and the environment
    physically, psychologically, and spiritually in all things

    Whenever this flow is interrupted or stops
    there is not only imbalance but an unrest in
    our being that leads to a deep
    severe unhappiness and a
    bitter dysfunctional state.

  23. Change is inevitable
    The sun rises and
    the day dawns
    without our consent

    The weather changes
    upon a dime
    without notice

    The Sun sets
    flowers fade
    leaves fall away
    against our advice

    The earth spins about
    upon its axis
    rotating
    without any effort
    on our part

    People die
    and we don’t know why
    change is inevitable

    New life begins
    with every birth
    a new generation
    to change yet again
    an ever changing planet

    Old things fall away
    New things emerge

    Every day brings change
    The good, the bad
    The positive, the negative

    Relationships change
    Jobs change
    People change
    Hearts change

    Change is inevitable

  24. Excellent string, Benjamin! Obviously, you’re good with change (or at least waxing poetic about change!)

    Daniel my friend, I wish you the transformation you aspire to. Wonderful piece.

  25. Keep Your Coins, I Want Change.

    Who do you think you are now?
    says the Dali painting from the floor.
    You look the same to me.
    the dusty Nomar Garciaparra baseball card.
    The real challenge won’t be the Northeast Extension
    or the move south,
    but it will be putting the rubber on the tiles in that basement
    without falling back to the knees which crawled out of it.
    But faced fears are converted into assets
    and growth,
    and all roads go through New Jersey.

  26. Summer Solace

    as one thing ends
    so another starts
    the long hard graft comes to a close
    six weeks of rest and fun begin
    a change of clime
    a change of country
    a change of clothes
    a change of rhythm
    a time to take it easy
    a time to make the most of
    a change of pace
    a change of style
    and a chance to recharge
    the emptied batteries
    and get ready to
    change again

    Iain

  27. Digital

    A few judicious changes here and there
    some what-do-I-care, some techno-verve.
    I’ll take my well deserved vacation, on my own in Photoshop
    I’m going to copy my feet and paste them in the sand
    of Grand Cayman. I’ll take my pasty toes
    and filter them rosey from the sun,
    and while I’m having fun, with the ocean and the breeze,
    maybe I’ll go ahead and pixilate my knees then work my up
    til I layer in a grinning me, barefoot in the best surf I can find
    on line.

  28. Walking away

    When did you grow so tall, my boy, or lose
    The ring of curls that framed the infant face
    Which met me only yesterday? The pace
    Of change can sometimes leave me gasping. News
    From you comes slowly, wrapped in teasing clues
    Regarding work, and girls. Never a trace
    Of trouble, though that also has its place
    I’m sure, just stored up for the time you choose.
    You carry each emotion on your back
    Hunched over with biology, until
    You fling that load where no one else can see.
    How well I recognize this well-worn track.
    Sometimes I wish that I could hold you still,
    But now you need to walk away from me.

  29. Thanks to Amy, Meg and Walt. It’s good to be back, although I’ll probably be in and out as time allows. Feels like coming home again. Thanks for this great site.

  31. A little late, but here it is:

    The Last Time:

    She wears long sleeves in August; laughs
    about her fat arms. Sunglasses
    hide her blue eyes. Please don’t call the house
    after six; her daughter may be sleeping.
    She’s taken to buying dark make-up and
    waterproof mascara.

    He swears he’s going to change
    This was the last time

    The questions come more often
    The looks, the whispers too
    How many times can she say she
    bumped into a door?
    tripped on the stairs?
    Besides it’s not all his fault; she
    has a temper too and
    they both drink too much.

    He swears he’s going to change
    This was the last time

    She thinks about leaving him when
    her daughter starts to cower
    But where would she go? Who would she tell?
    So they drink too much and yell and it was
    the last time; in a beautiful dress meant for a party
    a little girl helps bury her mother.

    He swears he’s going to change
    This was the last time

  32. Elusive

    They say wisdom comes with age –

    She dyed her hair to hide the gray,
    she bought new clothes for self-esteem,
    she played games with words
    whether cutting or witty,
    positive being brutally honest
    would be less hypocritical
    then telling white lies.

    Then she changed –

    She embraced her hair with grace and wit,
    she bought new clothes for fun,
    she played with words on paper
    and tried to only speak words
    of kindness and love
    and she found that sometimes
    not telling the complete truth
    was kinder to the recipient.

    And she discovered –

    She found more joy in her life,
    loving herself and giving of herself
    to others via time, word or deed
    than in any other time in her life.
    She took more joy from the small
    things in life, she slowed down
    the pace and smiled at the person
    she was becoming, knowing she
    was finally on the right path for her.

    She is still changing.

  33. Pingback: Friday Freeforall: Come and Get Your Poetry Prompts « Margo Roby: Wordgathering

  34. Pingback: CHANGES? | The Poet's Quill

  35. CHANGES?
    by Mike Patrick

    Would I change that which you are?
    Your smile perhaps, in evening’s glow?
    It still delights, and etches beauty lines
    along the corners of your eyes.
    Could I improve your eyes?
    The blue that haunts my waking hours
    and wakes me from my sleep?
    Your lips . . . I cannot improve,
    they seem to still fit mine.
    The softness of the hands
    that caress my cheeks?
    No . . . no.
    Tis not for me to interfere
    with what the hand of God has shaped.

  36. Late to the party (you’ll know why in a sec.) BIG changes at my house…

    Bone of Contention

    There’s a puppy in my house
    and everything’s a mess.
    It’s total, utter chaos
    and more than a little stress.

    There’s a puppy in my house.
    Yes, the floors are kind of damp.
    And we’re already learning
    she’s part lady, and part tramp.

    There’s a puppy in my house
    so there’s barking, pooing, chewing
    ignoring and imploring
    and oh, what are we doing?

    There are days I want to give her back
    and then I realize with a start
    that this puppy in my house
    has made her home in my heart.

    • Hi De!
      Love the bone of contention. You definitely have changes going on in your house as well as your heart. What’s the puppy’s name?

      • Thanks, Benjamin and Shannon. She’s a rescue pup, 6 months old, and came to us with the name Kiera already (which she answers to, so we kept it). Being word folk, we had to add some of our own. So she is Kiera-Kai Love Jackson. Kai means “ocean” in Hawaiian, and we looked up Kiera, which means “dark” (which her sweet face is). Come to find out since that Kai also means “dog” in Cornish, and “love” in Nigerian. Perfect. 🙂 The “part lady, part tramp” line is soooooo true. 😉

  37. Possibilities of Change

    Fragmented thoughts
    jumbled together,
    flushed from brain to page.
    A tangled web of run-ons
    and errors
    awaiting the next phase.
    Shuffling and sorting,
    striking out, simplifying;
    ridding the draft of
    redundant thought and phrase.
    Each word weighed and measured
    then pieced back together
    unearthing the possibilities
    of change.

  39. Nature’s Wild Card (Alphabetic Poem)

    Absolutely atrocious
    Being battered by
    Calamities causing
    Deep distress
    Eastern earthquakes
    Frantic families
    Gallant guardsman
    Helping hands
    In Irene’s
    Jeering jaws
    Keen kiss
    Lamenting losses
    Mourning memories
    New York, North Carolina
    Observing Oblivion
    Producing Pandemonium
    Questions, quanderies
    Radical reasoning
    Still sounding
    Til
    Understanding
    Verifies
    Why Weather
    X-tremes
    Yearly
    Zeal

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