MOOCS

I’m so stuffed with poems and poets I can hardly write 🙂

I am doing the Iowa University Poetry Writing MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) and not a little obsessed. It’s free! I spend all day reading others and sketching mine. I quickly developed my favourites.

http://iwp.uiowa.edu/iwp-courses/distance-learning-courses/moocs

Our first exercise was presented by Robert Hass former American Poet Laureate. We had to experiment with the ordinary around us in one, two, three and four lines. As Miranda’s mum says, “Such fun”.

Here are some of mine:

Chandeliers on Blue Velvet Chairs

There are chandeliers printed on the backs of the blue velvet chairs.
Who next will lean back on them, wearing them thin?
Rubbing the nap with their opinions.
Smoothing it softly when they leave, righting the lights.

A Charlatan Rainbow

A childish rainbow arced across
a grief-stricken sky
no gold,
a cheap prism of trickery

(aka “it was his time, dear”)

My library books are overdue
Pregnant with lives
I haven’t got to know.

My library books are overdue
blank looks, unleafed lives
still born baggage.

My library books are overdue
Clumsy baggage
entitled to burst.

Two liners
The bread is still on the bench at midnight.
Why do we plague each other in this way?

The lavender candle burned right down
And exploded.
Who will smell the lavender, who the burn?

The soap in the dish in the spare bathroom
Is cracked and dry.
Will he ever come back?

The birthday cards are old and need taking down.
I hope it is soon, the ink is fading.

The ferris wheel chair has tipped upside-down at the top of the curve.
How do you know which way up the world is?

The spider’s web is still there.
Why would you expect things to change ?

Phone ringing in an empty room.
Dried flowers rustle in dry vases.

Phone ringing in an empty room.
He turns his head towards her,
the pillow muffling the sound.

Phone ringing in an empty room.
The small car slews and slides down the steep bank.

The rain fell all afternoon.
More falling is predicted.

The cup is ready with the teabag.
Is this love?

Hope your day is simply spiffing, like mine. FG