Well, today I’ve killed two birds with one stone (I must think of a better expression!).
Not only have I revelled in my favourite subject of beauty, but I’ve also written my first duplex poem. I expect that phone to start ringing any moment.
So, welcome to the Beauty Spot where we kick off with lovely poet Trisha Broomfield’s poignant and wistful piece, followed by my duplex. Trisha’s tells us so much more, so we’ll start with her beautiful lament;
I greet the day
make up the face I used to be
searching for a younger me
I brush my greying hair,
eyes that have seen more
than they should
stare back.
I dress in the clothes I used to wear
search for my younger body
it’s no longer there.
Trisha Broomfield 2022
Wasn’t that just beautiful?! A lot of us can identify with that, that youth that we all took for granted. Super piece, Trisha, thank you so much. Now fasten your seatbelts, this is my attempt at a beauty duplex;
My red lipstick has creased
My Revlon panstick deceased
Why has my mascara deceased?
And my runny lip pot overflows!
And I swear I’ve only had a few go’s
On my dwindling Madeleine Mono’s
Overrated, I find them monotonous
And much too thin to the touch
Love Mary Quant’s silky touch
Her Lipsticks are velvet as such
velvet sheen and unique gloss
Brush my lips like candy floss
Why have mine all ceased ?
My red lipstick has creased
Heather Moulson 2022
Thank you so much for tuning in, PL’s. We’ll be back with more delights real soon……
Well, your poetry detective has come up trumps once again. I’ve discovered the Didactic Poem.
I also thought what a hoot it would be if I wrote one about the archetypes in the Tarot card pack. Until I discovered there were 78 of them!
So, I’ve written about 7 – putting in an archetype of my own – in a didactic form. I really love this form, it gives the poet so much freedom. Anyway do read on;
Lover
Kiss as many boys as you can
Even when they’ve got bum fluff
And burp the word Bollocks
Smoker
Smoke as much as you can
Especially someone else’s fags
Take a puff at every opportunity
Fool
Get off with every single boy in sight
And tell them you love them
they’ll pay for you to get in the cinema
Outlaw
Nick everything that you can
Fags, drink and certainly lipstick
Stealing makes you big and clever
Jester
Swear as much as possible
Tell as many crude jokes as you can
Make the air go completely blue
Explorer
Go to every disco you can find
Do every Funky Chicken routine
Even though you’ll be doing it alone
Bystander
Always blame someone else
Then run off to the wings
And snigger quietly
H Moulson 2022
Wasn’t that a hoot?! Try one yourself and send it in…
Thank you for tuning in, PL’s. We’ll be back real soon…..
Welcome back to the wonderful Zejel poetry form. We now have another take on the Zejel by the talented poet, Sharron Green.
I love this, so natural and beautifully descriptive and sums up the things a poet goes through. Especially in the small hours. Thank you so much, Sharron. Great piece. Now read on;
Spanish Lullaby
At this hour silence rings Peels of peace like ivy clings Cloaked in fleecy angel’s wings
Time to put myself to bed Rest my bones, reset my head But I’m on my phone instead Scrolling, tapping things
Need to drag myself away But this poem has its way Wants to be let out today ‘fore the first bird sings
So this is my first zejel It’s not great but what the hell They’re informal – can you tell? How my tiredness stings.
@rhymes _n_roses
Wasn’t that just terrific, such a lovely and honest piece about the poetry journey we go through. Well, it certainly paid off, Sharron. Well done.
Thank you so much for tuning in, PL’s. We’ll be back with more poetry capers real soon……
So, the Poetry Detective comes up with yet another intriguing poetry form – the Tritina.
It’s a mini sestina and half the size. Three lines and three stanzas and a last line, as opposed to the hefty six stanzas of the Sestina. My heart sinks when a sestina is read out, they’re so weighty.
However, the little sister, Tritina is much more fun. I’ve written one about my Mother’s fridge. It’s given me the creeps somewhat, I suppose it reminded me of being in her kitchen just after she died (don’t go there!).
Do read on……..
Tritina
Inside my mother’s fridge was beetroot
On a cracked and stained old plate
The door was buttermilked with age
The discoloured door showed its age
And the pungency of the beetroot
stained scarlet the once young plate
once a shiny and engraved plate
Before the brutality of beetroot
menacingly darkened it with age
The beetroot on a plate that hankered for a certain age.
H Moulson 2022
I hope you liked that one, PL’s. Now is that creepy, or is it just me? Who knows?! Anyway, do try a Tritina, there’s much more room to move in those rather than its big sister.
Thank you for tuning in, Poetry Lovers. We’ll be back with more related antics soon…..
We’re back to the wonderful Zejel form. Lovely poet Trisha Broomfield
(Here’s a glamorous picture of her ) has written a wonderful cat zejel. My two favourites rolled into one!
A fun and clever piece, Trisha. Thank you so much, keep them coming
do read on;
Cat Zejel
The cat is learning saxophone
I say we’ll leave him well alone
he thinks he will become well known
he’s tried his paw at writing tunes
he has a pal, an owl who croons
they aim their efforts at full moons
they share a certain lack of tone
he’s started acting like a star
and splashing out he’s bought a car
he is convinced he’ll travel far
at least the noise will stop, can’t moan
his wardrobe’s full of sequined suits,
a range of silver glitter boots
his pal the owl practices hoots
is that his agent on the phone?
Wasn’t that delightful?! A lovely touching piece, and it’s made me look at Dobby with suspicion! Although I haven’t seen an owl around lately. Thank you again, Trisha, terrific piece.
Thank you for tuning in, PL’s, we’ll be back with more zejel delights real soon…..
I’m back with my current pash, the Clerihew. Now my dear talented friends have come up with wonderful ones. So, thank you Trisha Broomfield and Sharron Green. These are a clever delight.
Now, do read on, we’ll start with the lovely Trisha’s;
Trisha’s Clerihew
I wish I’d known dear Samuel Pepys
We’d compare our diaries, and inadequate sleeps
It’s not ghosts or ghouls that disturb our nights
But young male cats getting into fights.
Trisha Broomfield 2022
Now for the wonderful Sharron’s;
Sharron’s Clerihew
Adele is back – Hip Hip Hooray!
But won’t be going to LA
She said the set did not look great
‘Go easy on me’ fans can wait
Sharron Green rhymes_n_roses 2022
Weren’t they wonderful?! Thank you so much, you clever poets, please keep them coming. What a fun form of poetry.
Thank you for tuning in, PL’s. We’ll be back with more poetry action real soon…….
Now, knocking about with my old friend, Instagram, I discovered the Zejel poetry form. Looked terrific fun so I thought I’d share one with you.
This is an old Spanish form, and the first stanza starts with a tercet, the other 3 consist of 4 lines. Afraid I discarded the syallables but they are usually 8 in each line. What a rebel!
It puts me in mind of the Kyrelle form, but see what you think;
Worries
I put on a new lipstick
But I find it too thick
I’ll never look slick
It’s gloss I need, not matt
This one makes me look fat
I have to look for the cat
I think she’s been sick
My face powder is too pale
I just bought it in a sale
I’ll chuck it without fail
I can take my pick
The lights start to dim
I can smell something grim
I’d better get out the Vim
The clock has a menacing tick
Wasn’t that just fun?! Try one yourselves and show me
Thanks for tuning in, PL’s. We’ll be back for more poetry party tricks real soon
Are we settling nicely into 2022 now? Or like me, you’re treading with caution?
I’ve gone back to the world of the Triolet form, if only to feature this beautiful piece from the genuis talented poet Connaire Kensit
Dobby and I are huge fans of Connaire’s work, and my heart was particularly captured by this beautiful triolet. This will be followed by a more ruthless poet’s work, but will not be in the same class. I’m warning you now! Read on;
True Life Romance
The truth is exciting;
Romance is prosaic.
Though not always delighting,
The truth is exciting.
No fictional writing
Can match life’s mosaic.
The truth is, “Exciting
Romance” is prosaic.
C. Kensit 2021
Wasn’t that beautiful, such clever and vivid words. Thank you, Connaire. Lovely piece.
The following triolets are more bitter-sweet but they seem to fall into this subject. More failed romances really.
Read on..
Tap Routine
You told me I had kaleidoscope eyes
In between tap dancing classes
How was I to know it was all lies?!
You told me I had kaleidoscope eyes
But it was all a clever disguise
You just liked to make passes
You told me I had kaleidoscope eyes
In between tap dancing classes
D Moulson 2022
Husband Triolet
My husband would never give you the eye
He’s not that sort of chap
What you’ve heard is a complete lie
My husband would never give you the eye
He swore to me he’d rather die
It’s just all a big mishap
My husband would never give you the eye
He’s not that sort of chap
Traditional 1974
Wasn’t that fun?! Thank you again to the lovely poet and cat lover, Connaire. Thanks for tuning in, PL’s. Stay tuned for some more poetry antics real soon…
Welcome back to our much missed Poetry Basket section.
I am so excited as today we feature that wonderful and talented poet Barney Ashton-Bullock
A trememdous favourite, and one of the first live poets I ever swooned over, Barney’s latest collection Bucolicism – Poems and Fragmenta is published by Strike Force Entertainment and is red-hot and really worth a read. Look at the sizzling review below;
Bucolicism – Poems and Fragmenta by Barney Ashton-Bullock
Subtitled Alt-lite lyric verse for a post-pastoral England, we open the vivid cover of this brand new collection from Barney Ashton-Bullock. This poet has an impressive background of publications including the vibrant café kaput!, and he remains on top with these 27 tight and significant pieces. Stunningly designed and illustrated by Meriel Waissman, with disturbing and irresistible images inside.
I started my journey with Loss a powerful short piece that truly jumps out at the reader. The impact not lost with What We Were Is What We Are, provocative words that are also tender. I bathed in the nostalgic wistfulness, and the depths of the opening stanza, particularly in the deeper depths of the darkest nights, a place we have all been. The brutal romance in You Should Know Where My Heart is, and the intense Englishness and visual colour of Remembrance, Strawberry Mivvi and Knobbly Knees will strike a chord. These words are used to remind of us of what we have lost, what is gone forever. And our ongoing traditions of Wimbledon and Henley melt in the mouth.
The complex haibun style of In More Censorious Summer Dorset Days…gives us such a strong imagery, and a razor sharp insight of the poet’s Dorset background. Dedicated to a lost first love? Very ambivalent and intriguing. The alluring vernacular of Village contains an unforgettable line of Cigs, ket, stout, cide, hash, snog, blow, laid, vom, chuck. The underlying innocence speaks volumes. One of the most irresistible pieces of this journey.
Dorset Prayer is so achingly sad, a nostalgic tableau of former English life, blown away and snatched from under our noses. You’re In Hardy Country, 1974 is a humorous account of youth and cynicism. A clever combination. Gran is almost painful in its lurid and stunning detail. And speaking of pain, Calcot Hotel, Speaking? The sense of loss for these seaside institutions, and a familiar pang of losing a grandmother. The poet puts this over without mawkishness. We come then to the stunning Guest House, a personal favourite with extraordinarily descriptions and clever wording. Full of wonderful revelations and leading to an apt climax.
Then our journey speeds up through England with the wistful and autobiographical words of Tetbury, the structures that unravel themselves. The heart stirring Sezincote borders on the Jarmanesque and our once treasured past, the final line stating that they would not see Sezincote again is moving. The prose of Shoscombe is strong and personal, and our journey takes us to a tribute to Alan Peglar, the saviour of The Flying Scotsman, Childhood (Jump The Tracks) is graphic, dark with an underlying hopeful note.
Autumn Again embraces us with stunning descriptions with the mourning of a lost love. Wistful but never sentimental. Upper Holloway, a very ambitious piece where the poet physically takes us to this part of North London with his pain and experience and its tender subtext. This Ending Life is apt for the last piece and an atmospheric fitting climax.
Ashton-Bullock takes us to so many places in this succinct collection, and it is a journey worth taking. I’d like to go round again please.
Bucolicism Poems and Fragmenta by Barney Ashton-Bullock is available through Cherry Red Records on
Trisha Broomfield’s poignant and wistful piece, followed by my duplex. Trisha’s tells us so much more, so we’ll start with her beautiful lament;
Super piece, Trisha, thank you so much. Now fasten your seatbelts, this is my attempt at a beauty duplex;
These words are used to remind of us of what we have lost, what is gone forever. And our ongoing traditions of Wimbledon and Henley melt in the mouth. 
Heather Moulson 