Author Archives: Jo-Anne Teal

Assembly

by

At the intersection of what has always been and what might be,
A short teenage girl stretches tall, centre stage,
Her favourite blouse of red and white stripes complete with floppy bow
Distracts only slightly from her deliberately punc-tu-a-ted words,
Shared into a screechy mic atop the old oak podium.

Harsh amateur spotlight provides a momentary halo,
Trades her dark chestnut hair for light ashy blonde.
The change mimics her rehearsed act of defiance,
Trading natural, absolute shyness
For feigned, casual confidence.

A fledgling leader addressing her assembled, disheveled, constituents,
Before fifth bell dismisses classes for the day.

d’Verse Poetics prompt: what images or senses fill your minds when you think back on your school days?

Inconsolable

by

Sisters, unlike.
One rounded, one jagged.
Puzzle pieces never able to click-fit.
Don’t make trouble, I begged,
Never understanding she didn’t.
Her heart broken in shards, impossible to mend.
My wrists cut in bloody despair.
She salved, bandaged my wounds
Before fading from view.

*****

dVerse quadrille prompt: puzzle (44 words)

Leapt

by

Itching to know the cool breeze upon her back, urging her.
To herself be a verse of possibilities rather than the chorus on repeat,
She answered yes to questions she’d dared not say aloud.

Then as they slept, she crept,
Leapt.
And walked away.

d’Verse Poets celebrate 7 years online with this quadrille prompt: itch

Constant

by

Let the breeze billow the curtains,
Let the light and warmth favour us,
Let the joy tickle our bare skin.

We may doubt this glorious constant,
But nature’s life cycle, renewing possibilities, revisiting brief serenity,
Repeats until we are no more. Then repeats again.

Photo by Alistair MacRobert on Unsplash

One true moment

by
If I did ever have him, then I do desperately miss him.
One person always by my side,
Whether I was right, or whether I was left,
Standing in the sun’s rays, or hiding from the raindrops,
He was here (yes, I mean there) to say
I understand, I understand you… I, you.

Crumbling

by

Many’s the night you’ve walked these same miles, without ever lifting from your chair.
Dreams like loosed cobblestones, a path crumbling underneath your worn, hobo shoes.
Brief solace sometimes sought, diversions for your wearied soul.
Slippery side streets and names you no longer remember.

This week, dVerse Poets provided the Quadrille (44 words) prompt word: cobble.

Rain

by

We huddle cuddle close in the peeling-paint-framed-storefront,
Sheltered briefly, only briefly, from the sideways stares of passersby.
Safe from showers, drip drip rain that stains the sidewalk,
And washes away the pastel chalky hopscotch
We drew to decorate our unfeathered nest.

44 words for this week’s d’Verse prompt: rain.

Photo taken by Reza Shayestehpour.