3. Pulchritude

Hello! It has been a while since my last post, but I have been busy! I work at a camp in the summer and the work and internet have been difficult. I wrote this last week but just now finishied the editing.

I had never heard of Pulchritude before, so this was a fun poem to work with. Pulchritude means physical beauty, so I based this poem on a proverb that reads, "Charm is deceptive and beauty is fleeting, but a woman who fears the Lord should be praised!" 

So here is my Pulchritude. Enjoy!

Wilted

6/14/11

She stains her lips with regret,

A crimson color for tonight.

Velvet—like rose petals—

Once used to whisper praise.

Clothed in silk and treachery,

She walks on needles, purposefully.

She seeks to dazzle like the stars,

But diamonds will suffice for now.

She dabs her skin so nervously,

Cursing God, who gave her freckles.

Hoping that soil will cover her shame,

Grave digging for sake of complexion.

But the looking glass tells no soothing lies,

Her listless secrets lying awake inside.

Her soul buried deep within pulchritude,

She can’t help flinch as her eyes shine through.

Her charm seduces emphatically,

As her beauty threatens to waver.

But her spirit clashes violently

With the spirit that compels her.

And she will drink the night away,

And dance her feelings high,

But deep within her attitude,

A little child sits and cries.

2. Carbon

Hello again!

I am doing a pretty poor job with taking my time on these poems, but I am just so completely satisfied with this one that I decided to post it anyway. But don't worry, I know that it will probably need work and I am willing to accept your critiques. 

This poem is a rather personal reaction for me. Carbon will always mean the building block of life for me, (and the substance my archery arrows are made from!), so I was musing over what type of life-poem I wanted to write. That night I dreamed I was spending time with two of my friends whom I have not seen in a year. It was an oddly normal, but characteristically real dream for me. We were simply hanging out and doodling. Nothing out of the ordinary. 

But here's the thing: one of those friends passed away three weeks ago.

The dream didn't make me sad, really, it just reminded me of his going. The first stanza I wrote is actually the second to last stanza in this poem. It flowed into me easily after I woke up. 

So here is my poem, and I have named it in honor of the person who inspires me still, after his death.

~*~*~*~*~ 

Benjamin

6/6/11

A shadow crossed my consciousness,

A Haunting in my dream.

A voice from moments long ago,

You’re gentle laugh to hush my scream.

But sunlight eats your energy,

Leaving my eyes to dry.

With fog-encrusted mentality,

I know it was you I did espy.

But my heart remembers softly,

The truth that couldn’t hide.

And I forgo assembling

To set my love aside.

You are more than carbon,

A memory I can feel.

A story never printed,

Something tangible and real.

Though your existence falters,

Between the dead and lies,

I will etch my heart around you,

And sing my sweet goodbyes.

1. We Will Become Silhouettes

Hello! I have "completed" my first poem for this project! I have to say it turned out way different than I had planned! 

When I first read the prompt, I thought of people walking away into the sunset. Then I figured it was a song title, so as I was searching for the song to listen too, I remembered the silhouettes that are left behind from victims of nuclear attacks. 

But that's what the song was about, and I didn't want to take their idea! So the gears in my head kept turning and I began to equate silhouettes with memories.

This poem takes you from Genesis to Revelation, the basic history (as I believe) of mankind. I hope you enjoy it!

~*~*~*~

We Will Become Silhouettes

6/4/2011

I took a stroll across the planes of time,

Saturated in brevity and dappled with delight.

I sampled the anecdotes of stories once breathed,

Listening to the memories falling like rain.

I sat with the first man, discovering his world,

Oh how his eyes grew when he laid them on her!

I wept as I followed them out into their tomb,

The whole world withering to the scent of perfume.

I skimmed over the treasure destroying itself,

With the fighting and biting and shrieking of lies.

I sighed as I watched them flogging their love,

Disappointment encroaching like the dark and the dusk.

I rejoiced with Heavens that day he was born,

The diamond amid the filth and the muck.

I watched as they scourged him for speaking the truth,

And smiled when their weapons were never enough.

I saw how the treasure began preening itself,

As gemstones emerged from the wreckage of life.

I shielded my eyes from the light ever growing,

My hope gaining power with each satellite.

Now my breath shall not waver, my heart never fail,

Like these stories unwinding and winding with time.

And we will become silhouettes, staining the sky,

Graffiti remembering a time once passed by.  

100 Poems

Hello, 

Welcome to my blog. My name is Magnolia Thade and I created this corner of the Internet to be a home for a special project I am starting. I stumbled upon a talented writer who created a list of 100 different Themes to write poetry about. I was enchanted by this list and felt compelled to test my skills with it. 

A normal poem takes me at most 10 minutes to write and I will rarely ever go back and proof read it again. My goal with this project is to slow myself down and actual savor the words I write, instead of letting my thoughts float away from me. I hope you will enjoy taking this journey with me, and I hope we can learn from each other. Feel free to [constructively] critique my work. 

For more on this project, see its original home at http://100-poem-project.blogspot.com/

The list of themes is as follows: 

<sub>1. We Will Become Silhouettes [ X ]
2. Carbon [ X ]
3. Pulchritude</sub> [ X ]
_{4. Tenuousness} [ X ]
_{5. South by southwest} [ X ]
_{6. Cold Mountain, North Carolina} [ X ]
_{7. Thunderstorms} [ X ]
_{8. Psalms} [ X ]
_{9. Asheville, NC} [ X ]
_{10. James Taylor} [  ]
_{11. North Carolina (in general)} [  ]
_{12. Particle physics} [  ]
_{13. Isaac Asimov} [  ]
_{14. Terraforming} [  ]
_{15. River of Lover} [  ]
_{16. Bogota} [  ]
_{17. Erinaceousness} [  ]
_{18. Virgil} [  ]
_{19. Zen Buddhism} [  ]
_{20. Voodoo} [  ]
_{21. the Arctic Circle} [  ]
_{22. Fairytales} [  ]
_{23. Leonardo da Vinci} [  ]
_{24. Dream transcription} [  ]
_{25. Sojourn/the Monomyth} [  ]
_{26. Herbalism} [  ]
_{27. King Arthur} [  ]
_{28. Gothic style} [  ]
_{29. Change} [  ]
_{30. Heirlooms} [  ]
_{31. Texture} [  ]
_{32. the Universe} [  ]
_{33. the 'Verse} [  ]
_{34. Quietness} [  ]
_{35. Immortality} [  ]
_{36. My Hands} [  ]
_{37. Famous Quotation} [  ]
_{38. Classical Composition} [  ]
_{39. Thunderbird} [  ]
_{40. Drowning} [  ]
_{41. Down to Earth} [  ]
_{42. Superfluidity} [  ]
_{43. Piezoelectric Surfaces} [  ]
_{44. Personhood} [  ]
_{45. Constellations} [  ]
_{46. Hitchhiking} [  ]
_{47. Hinduism} [  ]
_{48. Folklore} [  ]
_{49. History of Writing} [  ]
_{50. Weaving} [  ]
_{51. Bonfire} [  ]
_{52. Salt of the Earth} [  ]
_{53. Enigma} [  ]
_{54. Hermit} [  ]
_{55. Language} [  ]
_{56. Thought} [  ]
_{57. Cliff Diving} [  ]
_{58. Fear} [  ]
_{59. Boundaries} [  ]
_{60. Flightless Bird, American Mouth} [  ]
_{61. Soul} [  ]
_{62. Quartz Crystal} [  ]
_{63. Eclipse} [  ]
_{64. Python} [  ]
_{65. Steam} [  ]
_{66. Elementals} [  ]
_{67. Hippy} [  ]
_{68. Ice} [  ]
_{69. the Nine Muses} [  ]
_{70. Alice} [  ]
_{71. Technology and Humanity} [  ]
_{72. June flowers} [  ]
_{73. Frivolous} [  ]
_{74. Taoism} [  ]
_{75. Comers Rock, Virginia} [  ]
_{76. Black-Eyed Susans} [  ]
_{77. Where Our Destination Lies} [  ]
_{78. Sapience} [  ]
_{79. Good Omens} [  ]
_{80. Puzzle Pieces} [  ]
_{81. South African Tea} [  ]
_{82. Odysseus} [  ]
_{83. Hinduism} [  ]
_{84. Hermaphrodeities} [  ]
_{85. Barefoot} [  ]
_{86. Divination} [  ]
_{87. Grapefruit} [  ]
_{88. Rocks and Water} [  ]
_{89. Equinox} [  ]
_{90. Time} [  ]
_{91. Resurrection/Reincarnation} [  ]
_{92. Qualia} [  ]
_{93. Complexity from Simplicity (Emergence)} [  ]
_{94. Luck} [  ]
_{95. Satellite} [  ]
_{96. Magpie to the Morning} [  ]
_{97. Albert Einstein} [  ]
_{98. Death} [  ]
_{99. Vincent Van Gogh} [  ]
_{100. Cycle} [  ]