Quadrille of Unreason

~ qbit

“There is a human wildness held beneath the skin that finds all barriers brutishly unbearable”
– Jim Harrison (Day Four – 28 Days of Unreason)

 

She collects whispers from the menagerie,
Breathes the restless prowling
Back to me.

Who is this silkwife – spinning threads of touch
From the tangled desire
of moths?

My arms swing her up in their trawl –
She knows catch and release,
The leap of endolphins.

 

Quadrille #39 — dVerse Poets Pub

81 thoughts on “Quadrille of Unreason”

  3. Great quote: Love the use of a silkie; never heard of the term “silk wife”. Such sensual compassion in this quadrille; really enjoyed it

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    1. Well, we are poets, right? So I tried to paint a picture or feeling of bliss. Can I show bliss, or say bliss without using the specific word? If you think of it, even more of a challenge, no?

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      1. Nope. The challenge clearly states to use the word bliss in your poem. Plain and simple. That’s why it’s a challenge. I am a poet as well yet…I can follow a prompt. Easy peasy… Being a staffer for dVerse, I frequently get annoyed when people don’t follow the prompts. If you didn’t follow one of my prompts, I’d delete your link. But Bjorn is a good man and not a die hard to the letter retired engineer.

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        1. OK, sure. But I *did* write a bliss poem, or at least I hoped I did. I could see deleting it if I ignored the prompt entirely, but I was looking for the heart of bliss, as it were, if I could find it. No? Much harder, and hopefully more challenging. Not trying to ignore the prompt at all.

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          1. But.you.didn’t.use.the.word. You can show bliss and actually use the word. There is no argument here. Just use the fricking word in your poem. And bliss is not always blissful. Please, use the word or post on a different day. It is so simple, even my husband can do it. This is a regular prompt. It is not an option., I’m not saying anymore. Youc an argue all you like but you Didn’t Use The Word…..

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      2. Sorry. Yes, we’re all writing poems here so we’re poets but the prompt says we must include the word “bliss” for this post. No matter how good the writing is, if it doesn’t includ the word or a form of the word, it shouldn’t be posted here. Add the word or wait and post for OLN.

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  9. BTW, I want to be a good citizen, not trying to be difficult. Just asking you to consider how someone might approach the prompt and the challenge in a creative and expressive way.

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    1. Love your work, Q, and you are always, always creative and expressive. But Toni has a point. The Q is ALL about two rules and only two rules: precisely 44 words, and the use of some form of the word given. Love your rebel poet heart, but no need to argue the point.

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    2. So here’s the way I like to cheat:

      Turn the word into something new by inserting other letters. I’ve done it tons of times. I even considered it today. There’s something in some of us that just demands to be counted separate from the crowd, even when we want to be part of it as well. It’s just a personality trait, that’s all. Social anti-socialism, if you will — present in so many gifted people, I would say.

      Anyway, with “bliss,” I could turn it into “bl(ack-k)iss” or “bl(ue-h)iss.” Or both! There, I’ve completely abandoned all normal connected definitions of the word but still not technically broken THE rule.

      Or if you want to go even further, how about:

      (reha)b lis(ten to thi)s

      😛

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    3. Nope. We all “approach the prompt and th challenge in a creative and expressive way” as we include the word “bliss” or a form of the word in our post. You did not include “bliss” so this is not a “creative and expressive” write for this particular prompt.

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  12. I got it all worked out, Q, my man! Go back in and make the following letters bold… and possibly in color… B – L – I – S – S. It’s so… like utterly cosmic! You’ve actually hidden the word within your poem. Only those of us with greater super powers don’t need the bolding (I know, verbing a noun… or is it nouning a verb?). Anyway… that silkwife and those endolphins, man…. I see them at night. Usually Sunday night.

    All seriousness aside… great writing. Be a poet.

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  13. *Ignoring the above BS, rebel-that-I-am*
    Your choice of Harrison quotes is pure genious for what you have written & accomplished here. Yes, I really get a kick out of your created words – endolphins!!! However, it is the first stanza that I most appreciate. Poem onward, my friend. ~J

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  14. I missed day four of the Harrison quotes. In fact, I think I missed the first seven days. I’m gonna have to go back and look at those. Love your take on it. Very creative, as always. Endolphins was my favorite.

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  15. Every time I visit your blog, I am completely blown away. You are easily one of my favorite poets. This is incredible.

    These are my favorites:
    “She collects whispers”
    “Breathes the restless prowling”
    the whole second stanza
    “She knows catch and release”
    the last line

    Oh, please. ALL OF IT!!!

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      1. Your poem was so good that I had no recall about having come here from a prompt site. I just totally forgot and never bothered to look for the word. Outstanding work, man. Always.

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  17. That’s an amazing title and opening stanza, with ‘whispers from the menagerie and breathing the ‘restless prowling’. I also love the silkwife
    ‘spinning threads of touch
    From the tangled desire,
    of moths’.

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  19. Love the poem. No doubt about it. So with the genius you have. I don’t understand why you don’t use it with the prompt when you are posting on the site that, this time, has a required prompt? Rebellion? I don’t think so. In my mind you’re taking advantage of a site that many folks love and relate to and treasure the feedback from its readers, without being a full-fledged participant, reading others’ works widely with comments and following the prompts as others do. My two cents. Now I’m done.

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    1. All understood. Without having giving it really any thought, I had interpreted that the word was meant as a “theme”, so presumed I was in the spirit of the challenge. Clear now that it is meant to be a very specific part of the rubric.

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      1. Great! So next quadrille, I look forward to your post using the word! Have you read and commented on others’ posts? It’s fun to see how diverse they are within the challenge! 😊🌻

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  20. YES. Acrostic awesomeness.
    This little trick has added another layer, also.
    “siLkwife” is “sigh, like wife”

    and “tangled desIre” becomes “tangled, desperate ire” for me.

    Love it.

    I also feel like a small army of red ants has now invaded the silky perfection of her web. 😉

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  22. Ugh, I cannot even believe the blatant rudeness of some of the above comments. I thought poetry was about creativity, not rule enforcement. Real life has enough bureaucratic nonsense, let’s not let it invade the nice place.
    I say post your poem and if they want to delete it they can, but you got what was important out of the exercise- A Poem! Personally, I often use a prompt word and then it gets edited out because I usually do dozens of edits. Sometimes I forget which word started me off in the first place but if someone has a problem with the outcome because of a technicality they can go screw. Some humans love to make rules and then be self-righteous and pedantic. Other humans love free expression. No pencil-pusher is allowed to rant beneath my art. You are more patient than me, haha!

    ANYWAY, I love your inventiveness with words and the pure BLISS in “tangled desire of moths.”

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                1. My pleasure, Charlie! Toads is an awesome community, very welcoming and open, just like dVerse, and with lots of awesome poet crossover between the two. Be sure to make some poetic visits to others’ poems. Some amazing writers over there, too. 🙂

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  28. Having gone through all the comments I sit in utter disbelief! You did so well with the poem! To harp and insist on ‘The Rules’ when you’ve clearly done so well, giving the sense of bliss – the entire thing hums with it! To tell a creative – use the word or else! Oh please! You DID follow the prompt! I also, like Charley, liked the poem better without the red and bold. I appreciate you posting it again on OLN. Take the red out Qbit.

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  31. all these lovely lines so resonant with sound – silken dress moving as she walks, the whispering, the weaving, the splash of endolphins!. Of course the whole poem is just one bowl me over love lyric ❤

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