Tag Archives: Common Meter

“A narrow Fellow in the Grass” (1096) by Emily Dickinson [w/ Audio]

Posted on by
1 
A narrow Fellow in the Grass
 Occasionally rides --
 You may have met him? Did you not
 His notice instant is --

The Grass divides as with a Comb,
 A spotted Shaft is seen,
 And then it closes at your Feet
 And opens further on --

He likes a Boggy Acre --
 A Floor too cool for Corn --
 But when a Boy and Barefoot
 I more than once at Noon

Have passed I thought a Whip Lash
 Unbraiding in the Sun
 When stooping to secure it
 It wrinkled And was gone --

Several of Nature's People
 I know, and they know me
 I feel for them a transport 
 Of Cordiality

But never met this Fellow
 Attended or alone
 Without at tighter Breathing
 And Zero at the Bone.

Dancing Through the Graveyard [Common Meter]

Posted on by
2 
When you're dancing through the graveyard
   you'll get some angry stares.
 They'll call you "disrespectful cad"
   for failing to show care.

To be carefree won't offend ghosts;
   they'll wish they'd done the same.
 But mourners act as if, for Death,
   you are the one to blame.

Why should one hold the dance within,
   when it longs to be out?
 Why should expressing such pure glee
   be cause to point and shout?

A Strange Pain [Common Meter]

Posted on by
2 
What is this thing I never saw
   that poked me from nowhere.
 I felt a pain that dripped insane
   and gave me quite a scare.

I know it came from outside-in,
   and not from bones or brain.
 And yet it's not a break, a bruise,
   a lesion, or a sprain. 

Some demon breached a ghost portal,
   and stabbed me from hell's pit
 with an inferno-fired poker...
   oh wait, I'm fine. It quit.

To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time by Robert Herrick [w/ Audio]

Posted on by
Reply 
Gather ye rose-buds while ye may,
   Old Time is still a-flying;
 And this same flower that smiles today
   Tomorrow will be dying. 

The glorious lamp of heaven, the sun,
   The higher he's a-getting,
 The sooner will his race be run,
   And nearer he's to setting.

That age is best which is the first,
   When youth and blood are warmer;
 But being spent, the worse, and worst
   Times still succeed the former.

Then be not coy, but use your time,
   And while ye may, go marry;
 For having lost but once your prime,
   You may forever tarry.

Night Drums [Common Meter]

Posted on by
2 
The pounding sound of rhythmic drums
   shatters stillness this eve.
 I know not whether snares are banged
   to celebrate or grieve.

The pace isn't slow enough to guide
   a somber procession,
 nor does it race at the pace of 
   jocular expression. 

It's a well-kept beat, approaching,
   that makes the windows shake,
 but seems suitable only for
   keeping me awake.

Rampart Perspective [Common Meter]

Posted on by
Reply 
From atop an old stone rampart,
   one's head within the clouds,
 one expects to see an old oxcart
   through that foggy shroud.

But down below, the modern day:
   buses, cafes, and cars.
 I turn my head the other way,
   and the world 's as it was:

Back in the times when that fortress
   was besieged and battered,
 and nothing moved freely but for
   a flag -- singed and tattered. 

There's a certain romantic view
   of long-gone days of old,
 but I think I'll be heading down
   before I catch a cold.

Tell all the truth but tell it slant — (1263) by Emily Dickinson [w/ Audio]

Posted on by
Reply 
Tell all the truth but tell it slant --
   Success in Circuit lies
 Too bright for our infirm Delight
   The Truth's superb surprise
 As Lightning to the Children eased
   With explanation kind
The Truth must dazzle gradually
   Or every man be blind --

Rain Song Tempo [Common Meter]

Posted on by
Reply 
I hear the rains accelerate
   From the lightest sprinkle.
 Soon the streets are aflood; mere sound 
   Makes my fingers wrinkle.

The rain continues to ratchet
   Up: faster & faster.
 'Til it's maxed out at a speed that
   Spells certain disaster.

How can it keep up this dire pace?
   What sponge this cloud must be
 To hold on high, up in the sky,
   The contents of a Sea.

But, in time, the downshift begins
  Towards just drips & drops.
 No matter how boisterous the band,
   The song, it always stops.

Bovine Chiropractors [Common Meter]

Posted on by
6 
A cow is an animal, &
 animals are creatures.
  So, having strong proclivities
    is a cardinal feature.

Calling them "creatures of habit"
 must be for a reason.
  If creatures did not form habits
   the term would lose cohesion.

But I digress, I must admit.
 Let me get to my point.
  You see, a sloping pasture must
   be murder on the joints!

A random beast, who stood this way
 & that, would balance out,
  but standing each day - just one way -
   could cause a hip blowout.

A cow that grazes on a pitch
 must have unequal legs.
  Maybe, all it would take would be
   two tiny pirate pegs.

For wearing pegs on the downslope
 side would align the hips,
  but then on walks down to the barn
   cows would be prone to trips. 

For now, there's just one solution:
 bovine chiropractors!
  Because the cost will be so great,
   I'm seeking benefactors.

Self Portrait [Common Meter]

Posted on by
3 
So many historic figures 
 whose look we think we know.
  Did Jesus of Nazareth sport
   hippie hair & a halo?

Perhaps, he did have quite long hair
 but not the tawny blonde
  of which so many "portraitists"
   seemed to be quite fond.

The Shakespeare that we recognize 
 is drawn from memory.
  Kings oft declared true depiction
   a form of treachery. 

Past commoners' appearances 
 are lost in bygone days.
  We know Van Gogh from a mad mind,
    and know him thirty ways. 

Do you know whose look we do know?
 Every teen now alive.
  There're pics from every angle
   stored on redundant drives.