Rondeau: Yellow

Day 29 at Napowrimo and I’m talking a rondeau of ‘yellow’.

In tones yellow, golden sunshine,
Coneflower, yellow, celandine,
Dazzling sunflowers, detailed lobes.
New York taxis, Buddhist monk robes,
Goldcrests fly in forests of pine.

Traditional, from cow urine,
Now food colouring’s Tartrazine.
Songs of a pretty Texan rose,
In tones yellow.

The sweetened gold of dessert wine,
Bradley Wiggins’ jersey design,
Saffron and rapeseed in the nose,
Yellow bellies courage propose,
Wild heretics in capes recline
In tones yellow.

Polly Robinson © 2013

A rondeau is written on two rhymes with fifteen lines, using the first part of the first line as a refrain. The form is created from three stanzas: a quintet, a quatrain and a sestet.

Sunflowers Reign

Sunflower sunflower
Sow me a seed
Give me a time to remember
Stamens sparkle and glow
Row upon row
Forever

Sunflower sunflower
Shoot me a line
Show me a time to remember
Stand upright blithe
Reach for the sky
Forever

Sunflower sunflower
Spiralling high
Spirals abound in your centre
Yellow fiery and proud
Shouting out loud
Forever

Sunflower sunflower
Glitter and spin
Make me a time to remember
Queen of the garden
Sunflowers reign
Forever

Polly Robinson © 2012

Six foot four – Sunflower

Napowrimo said: in honour of Earth Day, on Day 22, write a poem about a plant. ‘Flowers, of course, have been the subject of poems since time immemorial, and continue to be a source of much inspiration’.

I am up-to-date!  Yay

Six foot four – Sunflower
What could be
More
Outrageous
Than
A six foot four
Sunflower?
Native
Of the Americas.

Perhaps …
10 tonnes of Ai Weiwei’s
Famous porcelain sunflower seeds!
10 tonnes,
A 10th of those
Covering
Tate Modern’s
Turbine Hall.

The perfect sunshine
Yellow, fiery and proud,
Stunning spirals
Typically loud,
Typically
Times thirty-four inside,
Fifty-five outside,
Spirals.

Helianthus annuus
For birds,
For bread, medicine,
Dyes, body paints,
Sunflower oil,
Livestock feed, latex,
Yes, latex
Six foot four!

Polly Robinson © 2012

‘Rising Slowly’ to be published

Thought you’d like to hear my latest news – Holly told me off for not telling you all about it – so here it is …

The news is that ‘Rising Slowly’ is to be published in the USA arts and entertainment magazine ‘The Eerie Digest’ so, let’s celebrate with special thanks to Glenn James for encouraging me to send it in.

Rising Slowly

He takes his brain out every night
And puts it in a bucket,
Each yellow ochre coloured cell
Emits a foul and fetid smell and starts to pound
Then starts to swell,
Rising slowly.

They’re locked by night and locked by day
Each thought in every cell,
But each one can be clearly seen,
With viscous matter in between, visible threading
Patterned, mean,
Rising slowly.

He finds the lock and turns the key,
His tendencies concealed,
His stares are made of wooden looks.
Logic soaking; bubbles rising; instinct reigns sublime,
His intellect,
Rising slowly.

Polly Robinson © 2012