The last time out, we gave you a list of words and asked you to use your thesaurus to find alternate words (synonyms) with which to write your poem. Today we dip back in to find something contrary (antonyms) to the words provided. And once again use these to write your poems. The words come from “The Stories of John Cheever.”
THE LIST
impair timidity
chaste sober
power loudly
angel transparent
skulduggery problem
MARIE ELENA’S CHALLENGE:
Relatively Speaking (a haibun) Before the sun rises, he starts his day with strong coffee and a shot glass. He is soft-spoken and trustworthy; never lewd nor aggressive. Incompetence is not in his nature. From dark to dark, he drinks hard, yet works hard – finding solutions where others stumble; aiding those in need, giving no heed to whether they be angel or devil, “deserving” or not. He battles his own demons, and judges not his fellow man. I’ve never known him Not inebriated, Yet never known him drunk © Copyright Marie Elena Good – 2013 Impair: aid Timidity: aggression Chaste: lewd Sober: drunk, inebriated Power: incompetence Loudly: softly Angel: devil, demon Transparent: dark Skulduggery: trustworthiness Problem: solutionWALT’S DILEMMA:
THAT VOICE IN YOUR HEAD
The solution is not an easy fix,
but it’s the concrete truth.
It’s just a weakness that’s been exposed
quite early in your youth.
“It takes some guts to get spoiled drunk!”
whispered your demon; devil punk.
© Copyright Walter J. Wojtanik 2013
Replaced with these words: impair – fix, timidity – guts, chaste – spoiled, sober – drunk, power – weakness, loudly – whispered, angel – demon, transparent – concrete, skulduggery – truth, problem – solution
POETIC BLOOMINGS 
Responses
Wow! You both did a terrific job! And what an interesting list of words. This oughta be fun!
Agreed, Erin! Both poems made me want to have a couple-twelve brewskis… er, to the contrary, a mild cup of decaf!! Amy
Joining the praise train…both of your pieces are excellent, Marie and Walt…two facets of a similar and common, (for lack of a better word), condition.
As I Grow Up (a Rondeau)
As I grow up, I start to see
The *corrupt*, *crazy* part of me,
That little *devil*, my own flesh,
I start to see my *helplessness*,
How quickly *dark* takes hold of me
When I refuse all *truth* and *aid*,
And push away the gifts God made.
I start to see how *quietly*,
As I grow up,
That little voice, that driving force
Pushes me back, so rude and coarse,
As all the proud *strength* slips from me,
I rest their in His arms: safety,
Security, I feel at *peace*,
As I grow up.
© Copyright Erin Kay Hope – 2013
Here are the words I used:
impair – aid; chaste – corrupt; power – helplessness; angel – devil; skullduggery – truth; timidity – strength; sober – crazy; loudly – quietly; transparent – dark; problem – peace
Succinctly said, Erin and I can relate to the sentiment of that little voice. Quieting to listen to the other takes practice, I find. Beautifully honest piece. ♥
Thanks, Hannah! It does, especially since there are so many countless other voices opposing it. Thank you for your kind comment. ❤
You’re so welcome. ♥
Nicely done, Erin. I enjoyed the rhyme and form and seamless use of the antonyms.
Thank you, Jane! I’ve always loved this form, and I’m always thankful for your input. 🙂
What a clever and meaningful use of all the antonyms, Erin! Well done.
lovely haibun, M.E.
“The Poet”
Due West
I daily travel
seeking my Elysium; the PERFECTED phrase:
BRAVE, startled thought expressing love
SOFTLY, its long lines stretching to eternity.
I trace
the same worn pathway
as Ulysses; DRUNK with desire, pitched against
that HAZY horizon where no sound; nothing bounces back
EVIL, DEVIL-black!
Now comes the sound; ANGELIC voices spiraling through the dusty ether.
I pause in reverence of my soul, alone; God-like.
I clone myself in circles; writing momentary sounds of Now!
So hungry for the more than WEAKENED, wing`ed phrase;
the SOLUTION to set my poem free…
and split infinity.
impair/PERFECT; timidity/BRAVE;chaste/EVIL/;sober/DRUNK; power/WEAKNESS/ loudly/SOFTLY;
angel;DEVIL/transparent/HAZY/skulduggery/ANGELIC;
problem/SOLUTION.
How beautiful! I love “the solution to set my poem free…” Lovely lines, Jacqueline!
Poetic Justice
Honest officer. This sounds crazy
so bear with me.
I was at home enjoying a nice game
of scrabble with my daughter
when Murry Waltz and his
beautiful sidekick Bloom came
bursting through the door.
Two editors with red pencils flashing!
I took a No. 2 straight to the sternum.
Bad PR! O.B. Lamaze classes
were nothing to how this hurt.
Murry chased us through the living room, yelling:
Do you have a room you could
try and spare? Rent it to me!
That voice in my head told me
no doubt, they were after
something. Like they say in the old
country, you never rob lemmings
unless you are lost. I feared
they knew about the secret haibun stash.
Bloom pushed us into my office, and whispered:
Tell him what it’s called, Doug, or he will
grab your little imp here and
kapow! Her cries of “Help! Help!”
that timid ditty, will never be heard
again! (Relatively speaking, of course.)
Sorry, not allowed!
Leaning over my desk I hit the panic button,
And alarms started to blare. Get out! I yelled.
Plagiarism and puns are never victimless rhymes.
I mean what I say – sort of! And they high-tailed it out of there.
I am so shook up my knees remain jello just thinking about it…
Now, please, I just want to change the locks before they
come back for my metaphors.
Andrew – I totally love this!!!
Andrew, I like this…poetic justice, indeed…
How creative! Murry Waltz and Bloom…too funny!
😉
LOL–the secret haibun stash! Oh, no!
HA! So creative and funny!
Marie Elena
FIGHTING DEMONS
(A Petrarchan Sonnet)
Don’t try to beat a demon at his game.
To fight fire with fire is a waste
of time. What weapons we choose should be based
on what will strengthen us and not that same
Old same old, like pouring oil on a flame.
Decide on a solution, not in haste,
but quietly armed with courage, faith placed
in God, march to war with His Holy Name
a prayer on your lips. Through a glass opaque
stare down the beast. Show no weakness to him.
The frivolous, the impure––strike him down!
With light, kill the darkness for your soul’s sake.
Destroy the tempting devil limb by limb.
With honesty and grace peace will abound.
#
antonyms used: demon, strengthen, quietly, solution, courage, opaque, weakness, frivolous, impure, honesty
Well done, Sal!
Wow!
Here I am 🙂
###
Springtime *boldness* of desire, *sanctioning* our *weakness*,
*Corrupted*, though *naïve*, just whispering
In *sotto-voce*, like a *demon* struggling
To *obscure* our judgment, our better wisdom
And fighting back the *purity* of frost
The silent *strength* of winter in our souls,
Is here.
###
My words: impair – sanction; timidity – boldness; chaste – corrupted; sober – naïve; power – weakness; loudly – sotto-voce; angel – demon;
transparent – obscure; skulduggery – purity; problem – strength.
Lovely!
A Bit of Advice
I say, with all sincerity,
there is no panacea, dear.
But nonetheless, temerity
will get you through when all’s unclear.
You wish for popularity?
No pianissimo. (Don’t sneer.)
There is no panacea, dear.
I say, with all sincerity,
flamboyancy, dexterity –
they’ll trump paralysis and steer
a wanton churl into high gear.
I hope you’re buoyed. Verity,
I say, with all sincerity.
Antonyms: Skulduggery/sincerity; problem/panacea; timidity/temerity; transparent/unclear; loudly/pianissimo; sober/flamboyancy; power/paralysis; chaste/wanton; angel/churl; impair/buoyed
(Boy, this was a challenge, trying the list in Rondel form! Thanks! :D)
Great job, everyone!
Good one, RJ! I especially like your second stanza.
You, Marie, and Walt make this look easy. I’m appropriately WOWed every time.
I am impressed with the flow and fun of this one, RJ.
Fun game, kids.
Musical Charity
Hello you, passers-by.
Hello, you here-to-theres and there-to-somewheres.
Hello, opaquely shuttered eyes.
Hello, word-sucking mouths and muffled ears.
A moment, upright citizens:
to take our bald-faced charity.
A moment, if you will, you sinks and drains,
to snatch a rhyme and a song, or three
A fiddle tune’s the key to doubt.
Rhythm’s strung with answers.
Nothing shackles a tapping foot:
Boldness! you giddy dancers!
Be wanton music, hide and hair,
Be kicks and bounces and devils-may-care.
—–
impair=sweeten timidity=boldness
chaste=wanton sober=giddy
power=drain loudly=muffled
angel=devil transparent=opaque
skulduggery=charity problem=answer
What a fun song you have sung, Barbara!
Night Vision
How quietly the twilight aids the night
from its first brazen sip of darkness,
gradually making a demon of the light
and all things that survive in starkness.
A tipsy weakness cloaked in shade seems fair,
ready solution to wrongs hidden there,
but impure as we are, we need night eyes,
to guide us to see stars in blackest skies.
Loudly=quietly; impair=aids; timidity=brazen; transparent=darkness; angel=demon; sober=tipsy; power=weakness; problem=solution; skullduggery=fair; chaste=impure
Oh, love your last line! You have such a wonderful voice, Jane! I love your poetry…
Thanks, Erin. I love yours too, chick.
Aw, thanks! 😀
Beautiful poem, Jane.
Integrity
Demons smile at unfaithfulness,
wink at weakness
and dance to drunken delirium,
but their confidence soars in deception,
in opaque souls concealing sin.
Demons are fine with quick fixes
and seemingly sound solutions
based in human reasoning.
But they quake at integrity
and those who quietly trust in God.
demon, unfaithful, weakness, drunk, confidence, opaque, fix, solution, integrity, quietly
Oh how true that is! Nice one, Connie!
Nice one, Connie.
Whoa… I have known those folks, Meg & Walt!
Haunted
It wasn’t just the children spooked by the house
or the old man inside, the one they rarely saw
outside his door, much less the yard. Parents,
mailmen, even the Mormons left him alone,
passing the place in whispers, cutting their eyes
quickly as if they might catch a glimpse
through the windows, not merely opaque
but curtained in grime. He hadn’t always lived
alone there. At least that’s what the old folks
claimed; some say he had a daughter, ravaged
not by men but time, weighed down by weakness.
Others said she was his sister, a frivolous girl
unable to repair the damage, the loss that left him
her captor, her keeper. The devils haunting them
both offered no solution to the puzzle they posed.
She finally escaped his smoldering anger, unleashed
sometimes in nightmare screams, suppressed
at others, white hot or stone cold. She ran away,
they say, carving a goodbye note by pen knife
in the tabletop, her only attempt at bravery or honesty:
The girl is gone. Don’t seek her. Ever.
antonyms:
impair repair
timidity bravery
chaste ravaged
sober frivolous
power weakness
loudly in whispers
angel devil
transparent opaque
skullduggery honest,
problem solution
Haunting…you made me shiver!
I love it, as always. Does every small town have one of these places?
CHOKA – (Tell a story)
Robust* team members
awash with wayward* spirit
cave-in* ‘neath edicts
set to curb ever
last reckless* antic of the
energized* hellions*.
The captain’s ‘take’ on
misconduct reflects his deep
confidence* at play
as shown in his hushed*
obscure* explanations* of
future reprimands.
Impair, chaste, power, timidity, sober, angel, skulduggery, loudly, transparent, problems
Nice!
Good one, Marjory!
Thanks Erin and Sara – I am trying to get back in the swing of things. 🙂
I’m tinkering with a new sonnet form here: anapestic tetrameter with a wonky rhyme scheme, especially in 3rd stanza. Well, maybe the only thing sonnet-like is 14 lines…
Saturday Nights Redux
Must Saturday nights go to pushers and thugs?
Can a devil speak softly, repair us with drugs?
Must the music strut proudly, get drunk on the dark,
while our weaknesses dance on a pole for a lark?
There are fireflies to capture, starlight in a jar;
there are ball games and cookouts wherever you are.
There are picnics with symphonies, rock bands, and fun:
there is light in the darkness—no need for a gun.
Do we dare a solution to foulness and frights,
turn our bold honest faces from mumbling and shrugs,
and release all the children to play in the park?
Could we teach generations to love who they are
so they can face a Sunday when Saturday’s done?
Can we take back the joy of our Saturday nights?
Angel=devil; loudly=softly; impair=repair; timidity=strut proudly; sober=drunk; transparent=dark; power=weaknesses; skullduggery=bold honest; chaste=foulness;
problem=solution
This is really good, Jane! Your old Saturday nights sound like fun to me!
Me too, Erin. Every week, the reports get worse of Saturday night murders, mischief, and mayhem, often in neighborhoods that once had fun and faith. I suppose this is true in many places, but Durham has some problems.
😦
TENDER MERCY
Confidence shaken,
I spiral
in corrupt ambiguity,
yielding to self-
indulgent ways
of the enemy.
Inaudibly
He speaks to me.
Asking for honesty,
offering a solution:
a chance to be
cleansed.
2013-03-10
P. Wanken
*****
WORD LIST:
impair — cleanse
chaste — corrupt
power — yielding
angel — enemy
skullduggery — honesty
timidity — confidence
sober — indulgent
loudly — inaudibly
transparent — ambiguity
problem – solution
Lovely testimony!
Wonderful, Paula.
[…] by Poetic Bloomings #98: Mean What You Say – Sort Of. (We were given a word list and we were to find an antonym of […]
[…] MEAN WHAT YOU SAY… SORT OF – PROMPT #98 […]
Invisible Battlefield
Dark forces quietly slink
in the unseen realm
just beyond the impervious veil.
Source’s shroud-
comfort and covering,
if she’ll assume it,
will be means for control
over intoxication-
over feeble mindedness;
an answer if she’ll hold it-
harbor her ultimate Enabler
in the abysmal unbidden places.
The narrow road’s not easy
but honesty to true self is filling,
like the heavy hush of silent wood,
yes, forthright and freeing
and eventually there’ll be victory.
Her heart will be boisterous-
rowdy with real and genuine joy.
She’ll have learned to tap into It,
to draw from the Divine within,
to receive this gift swathed in grace.
She’ll drink from the flawless stream
imbibing instead in the Water of Life;
it trickles happily like a song over stones,
it spills from the Mountain of Transcendence.
Peace leaches into her every empty space,
nourishes roots that had shriveled –
fed tendrils spiral deeper into the Light.
Copyright © Hannah Gosselin 2013
THE LIST
Impair (enable), timidity (boisterous)
chaste (tainted, polluted), sober (intoxicated)
power (feeble), loudly (quietly)
angel (dark force), transparent (impervious)
skulduggery (forthrightness, honesty)
problem (answer)
It just occurred to me that I didn’t use my antonym for chaste…
Hmm…I’m sure I could puzzle -fit it in somewhere but…
not right now.
Smiles to everyone!
Gorgeous, Hannah!! I’m so glad you could post this week! I really missed reading your poems last time… ❤
Erin!! Thank you SO much! I was daunted by last week’s challenge…realized I needed to do physically rather than be literal what the prompt requested and I took some time this week to be more Zen. 😉
Thank you, it feels special to be missed. ♥
Haha! I get what you mean! I too am being more Zen…and drinking Zen tea…and doing yoga…why didn’t I write about that?! Anyway, glad your Zenness has helped you be able to write for this one. 😉
You’re awesome, Erin…yoga and tea are always a piece of Zen for me, too!! Smiles and a happy week to you!
You too!! 🙂
Wild One
By David De Jong
His only weakness was his confidence
Red eyed appaloosa unable to fence
Attempts to confine corrupted him more
The pale-face were demons all to abhor
A spirited game of frivolous chance
Saddles and riders just enhanced his dance
Where she came from was mystical, unclear
Softly she coaxed him closer, absent fear
Flowing braids of honesty, eyes of love
Answering hope upon white wing’ed dove
She called him by name as no one before
A child’s pleasure his stride forever more
Antonyms used:
Impair – Enhance, Timidity – Confidence, Chaste – Corrupt
Sober – Frivolous, Power – Weakness, Loudly – Softly
Angel – Demon, Transparent – Unclear, Skullduggery – Honesty
Problem – Answer
Entangled
She prayed for a solution. Let some
brave, solid soul come stepping
softly along, help improve
her life of strife, suffering blows
from a drunken, devil of a man,
an immoral lout with a pig’s snout,
who bullies night after night, threatening
her. If she tries to run away, he says
she’ll pay, but one day the truth
will come out, and the mighty
become the weak.
Use antonyms of: impair, chaste, power, angel, skulduggery,
timidity, sober, loudly, transparent, problem
THE SOUND OF DANCE
Her dance is enhanced by faint restraint –
tainted by opaque weakness of foot,
yet sparks spill and streak, a demon’s
bleak song upon easy stride,
and we are honestly lost
in the quietness of her dance.
Our hearts are carried on the brash
clash of cymbals, feeling the depths
of steps echoed on silky skimmed drums,
and we fall drunk on a song
that so easily pleases our ears.
Words – Antonyms
Impair – enhanced
chaste – tainted
power – weakness
angel – demon
skulduggery – honestly
timidity – brash
sober – drunk
loudly – quietness
transparent – opaque
problem – easily
“The night thief”
Bawdy, he was, that Old Bogy—
Those who seen him say
he were the kind tha’ swept young ‘uns,
befogged in frail dreams,
‘tween pages o’ fairy tales and ink wells,
he cannot laugh
his hugs are broke
Johnny Parke once hear’d him speak
and told he’s square-shooting and cheeky.
Most nights, you ken find th’ masters,
cottage-dwelling proud,
murmuring ‘hind pub doors,
bandying fix after flummery fix,
as means to mendin’ their ailing brood.
By dawn the pap’s are pickle-eyed,
needin’ a shave, but finding
a kind o’ joy that de Old Bogy deprived
them ‘nother night’s snore
aside Ma’s wintry bosom.
* * * * * * * * * *
~Bawdy, Old Bogy, befogged, frail, square-shooting, cheeky, murmuring, fix, mending, pickle-eyed.
While you wait
Before they built the underpass there was
an oil change place by the railroad crossing
on Main Street. Stuck waiting for a train?
their brazen candy-stripe sign inquired,
Have your oil changed while you wait!
and I often did, screwing up my courage
to sample their outrageously strong coffee,
thick as 10W30, hot as the devil’s arse,
while the train rattled slowly past and the
grease monkeys scampered around the bay.
One time I read a book on their table about
sibling rivalry. Another I remember staring
out the dirt-smeared window at the quietly
falling snow. I thought great thoughts there.
I decided straight-up God loved the railroad.
But in the end nothing could help against
the wrecking ball of progress. I don’t wait
for trains any more. I get my oil changed in
a place with a giant stuffed bass on the wall.
There is no God there, and the coffee has no soul.
——
Skullduggery-Straight-up; Impair-Help; Timidity-Courage
Chaste-Brazen; Sober-Outrageous
Problem-Progress; Power-Stuck; Loudly-Quietly
Angel-Devil; Transparent-Grubby
This is a wonderful poem, Andrew. I love it…maybe because of the places I’ve gone to change oil and think giant thoughts. Love it.
Thanks, Jane! How many giant thoughts can one have in 10 minutes? 🙂
A dozen or so in rapid succession…some more brawn than brilliant 😉
Love this, Andrew, especially the ending.
Oh, cool. I love the way the last lines comes up and knocks you over!
This is my late offering. Just now had a moment to figure out something, though I’m not sure where this one came from. It was just there, staring at me from the other side of the paper. I’m not sure, but I have a feeling it was glaring at me. I don’t vouch for its sense, only for its originality.
Paradox
Cloudy vision, a devil’s tool,
Asking honesty for reprieve;
A convenience leading to
Wanton surrender’s loquacious
Passage through night-tme’s valiant
Bid to cleanse one’s thoughts of growing
Awareness in life’s mock subtlety.
My words chosen:
Impair=Cleanse Chaste=Wanton Power=Surrender Angel=Devil Skulduggery=honesty Problem=convenience Loudly=Subtlety Transparent=cloudy Sober=Loquacious Timidity=Valient
Nice, Claudsy! Paradoxes always make me think of Gilbert and Sullivan’s “The Pirates of Penzance” so I got a laugh out of this one as well. 😉
Thanks so much, Erin. I love “Pirates.” Glad you enjoyed it and it made you laugh.
Grabbed me from the start!
Aw, thanks, Sara. So glad you liked it.
“… life’s mock subtlety.” Ha!
🙂 ❤ Kate
[…] Mean What You Say… Sort of – Prompt #98 (poeticbloomings.com) […]
(Revised Version)
THE SOUND OF DANCE
Her dance,
enchanted and enhanced by faint restraint –
painted and tainted
by opaque ribboned feet.
Fleet sparks,
spilling they streak across stage,
demon’s dance,
sleek bleak refrain on easy stride.
We are truly
swept up and lost in the still quietness
of dance,
our hearts carried on brash cymbal crash,
deep waves
of her steps echo on silky skimmed boards,
and we fall
drunk to the rhythmic song of dance,
a tune
that so easily pleases our ears.
Loving the internal rhyme here, and all the sound-repetition that’s not rhyme, not exactly alliteration… whatever it is, it reads wonderfully.
[…] ….Words – Antonyms Impair – enhancedchaste – taintedpower – weaknessangel – demon skulduggery – trulytimidity – brash sober – drunk loudly – quietnesstransparent – opaqueproblem – easily…Poetic Bloomings prompt# 98 Mean What You Say […]
Love is Blind
He was easygoing, a thoroughly nice guy,
not sneaky, sly but could look you in the eye.
He was a decent gent, incapable of harm
fun-loving, silly but with an easy charm.
All the worse in others in him was no trace.
Just knowing this lad enriched the human race.
Then, as fate would have it, as it often does
he met a girl one day but cheeky she was
with openly audacious, dangerous ways
She was a fiend, all but he could see it blaze,
his vision dim, obscured by her pretty face
around which bouncy curls framed a cunning grace.
All his friends watched this adulterated mess
in silence at an outcome they could but guess.
THE LIST
impair, enrich
timidity, cheek, daring
chaste, adulterated
sober, silly
power , incapable
loudly, silence
angel , fiend
transparent, cloudy, obscured
skullduggery, decent
problem, easygoing
Much harder (for me) than I though it would be.
This uses those antonyms so well, but, beyond that, I love the rhythm of it!
FUNDAMENTALLY UNCHANGED
As she lays shivering on the gurney
Waits quietly for the doctor to examine her
The police to ask their questions
She wonders at her urge to laugh
Knows if she starts, it will
Be that giddy unstoppable giggling
Inappropriate to the occasion
She takes a deep breath, reminds
Herself, there is nothing so bad
It cannot be fixed – tells herself
Even as broken as she is feeling
In all honesty, she believes she
Can be put back to rights
She has, after all, been raised
To be self-confident – fearless really
So it was when she was attacked
The hit felt particularly obscene
And her person especially violated
As if this perpetrator was taking
More than even he knew…
But with the self-preservation instincts
That came with such strong traits
After the assault was over
She became determined to stay honest
To not give into an almost overwhelming
Impulse to run away, hide, grow secretive
She knew if her attacker – a diabolic cretin
Of that she was certain – if he was to be caught
If he was to never hurt another woman
Most importantly – if he was not allowed
To change her fundamentally – he would not win
The words:
impair – fixed
timidity – self-confident, fearless
angel – diabolic, cretin
chaste – obscene, violated
transparent – secretive
sober – giddy
power – broken
skulduggery – honesty
loudly – quietly
problem – put to rights
“… he would not win.” Well said. Like all successful poems, this one tells the truth.
thank you k8e
The heart hurts, but hope remains.
The Awakening of the Poetic Soul
She used words with an aggressive dissipation,
no shards of glass too sharp
for the tender feet of the virgin reader.
Feeling impotent and bewitched by
the forthrightness of her language,
language that was at once mesmerizing and lyrical,
she read on in anticipation,
the words dripping softly
with an intoxication never thought to be achieved
without the use of liquids.
The solution resolved as she read
and as the opaque veil of misunderstanding was lifted
the poetic strings wrapped around her heart
restoring her soul to the fundamental beginnings
of awaken beauty.
Well said.
Devils and Angels
Eluding devils whisper in my ears,
Leading me down false paths
With no intention of help,
Those corrupt murmurs
Playing on my weaknesses,
Leaving me under the influence
Of my persistent doubts.
I cling to a dead talisman
Of my faded faith,
Translating ancient truths
From obscure tongues
In search of a solution,
Wishing I had the courage
To climb the mountain
And seek the quiet counsel
Of angels who no longer
Fly through my world.
Angel – devil, impair – help, transparent – obscure, skulduggery – truths, problem – solution, timidity – courage, loudly – quiet, power – weaknesses, sober – under the influence, chaste – corrupt.