Seize the day

PHOTO PROMPT © Claire Fuller

As time passes me by
Collected memories
And I enjoyed the breeze
These things we cannot buy
As we run and fly high
Always the day we seize

Memories of the past
Will stay in my heart
Listening to Mozart
That was always a blast
When time went so fast
And soon we’ll all depart

Appreciate little things
And our awakenings*

(c) ladyleemanila 2016

* The HexSonnetta, created by Andrea Dietrich, consists of two six-line stanzas and a finishing rhyming couplet with the following set of rules:

Meter: Iambic Trimeter
Rhyme Scheme: a/bb/aa/b c/dd/cc/d ee

Iambic Trimeter means the usual iambic (alternating unstressed/stressed) meter for every line of the poem, but instead of the ten syllables that comprise a typical sonnet’s iambic pentameter, this particular form uses six syllables of iambic trimeter per line. Thus, the name HexSonnetta. The first part of the form’s name refers to the syllable count per line. The second part of the name, Sonnetta, is to show this to be a form similar to the sonnet, yet with its shorter lines and different rhyme scheme, it is not the typical sonnet. Not only does this poem have six syllables per line, it also has a set of two six-line stanzas, giving an extra “hex” to the meaning of HexSonnetta. The rhyme scheme is a bit of a mixture of the two traditional sonnet types, with the two 6-line stanzas having more the rhyme scheme of an Italian sonnet, but with the ending rhyming couplet being the featured rhyme scheme of the English sonnet. The first stanza presents the theme of the poem, with the second stanza serving to change the tone of the poem, to introduce a new aspect of the theme or to give added details. The final couplet, as in an English sonnet, can be either a summary (if the theme is simple) or it could be the resolution to a problem presented in the theme. In any event, it should nicely tie together the whole piece and could even appear as a nice “twist” presented at the end.

For: Friday Fictioneers by Rochelle

Grandma’s Lamps

PHOTO PROMPT © Rochelle Wisoff-Fields

THIS WEEK’S WORDS come from “Just One God” by Deborah Cummins: many, track, skyward, porcelain, flawed, birth, desire, ancestral, prayer, morning, bread, skillet

Light flicks skyward by the two lamps
In our ancestral home
A morning prayer in the damp
Meditate with shalom
Life might be flawed but I accept
My desire to heal as I wept
Life might be flawed
Life might be flawed
I’d be good, a promise I kept

As I fry eggs on skillet
Bread bakes in the oven
On a porcelain dish, some nuts
Breakfast for many – done
I am quite on track this morning
Waiting for what the day will bring
I’m quite on track
I’m quite on track
Preparing, frying and baking

The two lamps give a cosy feel
Grandma gave them to us
Giving us light in every meal
Give a sense of calmness
Loving memories in our lives
With us from birth till we were fives
Loving memories
Loving memories
From the photos in our archives*

(c) ladyleemanila 2016

* The Trijan Refrain, created by Jan Turner, consists of three 9-line stanzas, for a total of 27 lines. Line 1 is the same in all three stanzas, although a variation of the form is not to repeat the same line at the beginning of each stanza. In other words, the beginning line of each stanza can be different. The first four syllables of line 5 in each stanza are repeated as the double-refrain for lines 7 and 8. The Trijan Refrain is a rhyming poem with a set meter and rhyme scheme as follows:

Rhyme scheme: a/b/a/b/c/c/d,d refrain of first 4 words of line five /c

Meter: 8/6/8/6/8/8/4,4 refrain/8

For: Friday Fictioneers by Rochelle, Whirligig 81 by Magical Mystical Teacher

Down by the pond

PHOTO PROMPT © CEAyr

down by the pond we used to swim
not a care in the world – us kids
in our youth we were full of vim
tried to catch some fish and squids

not a care in the world – us kids
swam with our dog and carabao
tried to catch some fish and squids
then we went home for some cacao

swam with our dog and carabao
now we’ve all grown up and apart
then we went home for some cacao
and they’re all still part of my heart

now we’ve all grown up and apart
in our youth we were full of vim
and they’re all still part of my heart
down by the pond we used to swim*

(c) ladyleemanila 2016

* The pantoum consists of a series of quatrains rhyming ABAB in which the second and fourth lines of a quatrain recur as the first and third lines in the succeeding quatrain; each quatrain introduces a new second rhyme as BCBC, CDCD. The first line of the series recurs as the last line of the closing quatrain, and third line of the poem recurs as the second line of the closing quatrain, rhyming ZAZA.

The design is simple:

Line 1
Line 2
Line 3
Line 4

Line 5 (repeat of line 2)
Line 6
Line 7 (repeat of line 4)
Line 8

Continue with as many stanzas as you wish, but the ending stanzathen repeats the second and fourth lines of the previous stanza (as its first and third lines), and also repeats the third line of the first stanza, as its second line, and the first line of the first stanza as its fourth. So the first line of the poem is also the last.

Last stanza:

Line 2 of previous stanza
Line 3 of first stanza
Line 4 of previous stanza
Line 1 of first stanza

For: Friday Fictioneers by Rochelle

New Place

PHOTO PROMPT © Amy Reese

“OK, that was the last box,” Rick sighed after heaving the box in.

“.. to think that we’ve started with just two suitcases,” Jen nostalgically added, looking at the bulging storage unit.

“It would only be for a couple of years, we couldn’t take them all, plus it’s a furnished flat the company is renting for us.”

“I know, but I’ll surely miss them all, our friends, our local pub …”

“Talking of which, our friends are waiting at the pub, come on…here’s to our new adventure!” Rick reached for Jen’s hand, looked at their stuff one last time and off to see their friends to say goodbye.

For: Friday Fictioneers – 30 September 2016

No Stars

PHOTO PROMPT © Roger Bultot

No stars in the night
I thought you were my knight
No breeze to caress my cheeks
Just some awful critiques
No flowers in the garden
I just wanted to run
No full moon to watch
Just your stopwatch
No nice bottle of wine
I miss our fine dine
No kisses when I come home
Goodbye, shalom, shalom
No more lovers’ tiff
I need my kerchief
We said things we shouldn’t have
For my guilt I need a salve
But we have learned our lessons
We are each other’s beacon
Time for reconciliation
And enjoy a day in the sun

For: Friday Fictioneers by Rochelle Wisoff-Fields

Inang’s Sewing Machine

PHOTO PROMPT © Sandra Crook

The photo prompt made me remember my Dad’s mother, “Inang” which is a Tagalog word for mother (could also be a dialect from their province, Bulacan). My Dad’s father, “Amang” died during the Japanese occupation and left a young wife and two children, my father who was 5 and my Aunt, who was three. Inang managed that by sewing clothes for people, she first worked in a clothes factory and then did it privately. Inang worked days and nights so they could survived. I remembered Inang and her old sewing machine. She sewed our school uniforms. Bless her soul.

For: Friday Fictioneers by Rochelle Wisoff-Fields

Lucky Ricardo

PHOTO PROMPT -© Vijaya Sundaram

Ricardo was celebrating one New Year’s Eve in Manila. The whole city was loud with different fireworks and spare tyres left burning in the middle of the road. People couldn’t see because of the smoke. Ricardo and his friends were in the street lighting some fireworks. They were having fun.

That’s when he felt something, he thought he was stung by a bee. Or was it? Actually, a stray bullet passed him by his neck and had he moved an inch, he’d surely be hit big time. So, after the shock, he was very grateful for his new life! Three cheers!

For: Friday Fictioneers by Rochelle Wisoff-Fields

Never Again

PHOTO PROMPT © Janet Webb

Him Indoors was busy in the garden. He was planting some plants we’ve bought from the nursery. He saw a lot of bees among the bush. He wanted to get rid of them by poking the nest of hornets with a stick. The bees came out of the nest and chased him as he ran to the house. They attacked and bit him. After some time, he was swelling like a balloon so I quickly drove him to the hospital. The doctor looked at him and quickly put some hydrocortisone infusion on him. Now, he never tried to get rid of them.

For: Friday Fictioneers by Rochelle Wisoff-Fields

A Seaman’s Journey

PHOTO PROMPT- Copyright – Jan Wayne Fields

Hard is the journey of a seaman
Staying on his ship in his cabin
Not seeing land on months on end
Working on holiday or the weekend
Not seeing children as they grow
As long as he keeps sending dough
Not being there on every occasion
His responsibilities, his last bastion
Even though his heart is breaking
Cheers himself up by singing
Life is tough to pursue his dreams
Keeps himself sane by his daydreams
His voyage far and wide around the world
As long as he doesn’t go to the underworld
So many places to an arduous travel end
Leaving behind loved ones and all friends
He yearns for the anchor to bring him home
Enough roaming, just bring him to his home

(c) ladyleemanila 2016

For: Friday Fictioneers by Rochelle Wisoff-Fields

What do you mean out?

PHOTO PROMPT © Jan Marler Morrill

“I think we’re lost!” my sister being cross with me for venturing out on our own. We were offered a ride by one of our friends, but I said no. We’ve been walking through this village, admiring their plants and stalks, turning right, left, in that order, like in a maze. At the end of the street, a lady was watering her plants and we asked her how to get out of here. She just looked on the ground, a bit puzzled and said, “what do you mean out, you could only stay here” and she returned to her gardening.

For: Friday Fictioneers by Rochelle Wisoff-Fields and Wordle 255 Jul 3 by Brenda Warren