A daily poetry practice to generate and sustain the Life/Lines among us, for published and novice poets alike
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Prompt
Write a short poem (rhyming not necessary) that includes each of the following 5 words (anywhere and in any order). Poems should not exceed 7 or 8 lines.
tremble
filament
ember
arc
reconcile
Send us your poem via our Submissions page or post on Twitter or Facebook using the hashtag #lifelines.
Today’s words were contributed by guest curators Robert Henke (father) and Gwyneth Henke (daughter), both regular participants in Life/Lines. Robert is professor of drama and comparative literature at Washington University, and director of the Prison Education Project. Gwyneth graduated from Washington University in May 2020, with a major in religious studies and a minor in creative writing, and is now the executive administrator at Interfaith Partnership of Greater St. Louis.
Poems submitted for April 21
Slow Burn
She could feel him tremble
From his center, from an ember
He sent her a spark
Through a phantom filament firing
An arc
From his heart to hers.
They reconcile and their flame burns.
— J. Thomas
4/21/21
***
last ember
filament of a failing arc
I tremble to reconcile
my life
by Lloyd Klinedinst
***
No one realizes
till all the filaments
strain and tremble,
that heart dims with every beat.
"Bah-bom, bah-bom, bah-bom."
Reconcile or not,
story arc will end in burning ember.
Wind will come to claim us all.
Yixuan Chen
***
There is a fine line like a filament
A thread of pride that prevents reconciliation
It leaves an arc of a tiny over-dramatized predicament
That cycles about without resolution for quite a while
The heart does tremble with the glow of an ember
That ignites the souls to reunite and reconcile
And put their grievances asunder
Maureen Kleekamp
***
Sudden surge, dull ember flares to life,
fragile filament fragments
Leads arc to support wires attempting to reconcile loss of their tungsten connection
Oily prints concentrate kinetic energy
A tremble through the bulb before . . .
*BOOM*
an explosion of shimmering shrapnel expands into space
Kwin
***
Sometimes she feels so small that
She pretends to crawl inside
Crouching down, she closes her eyes to feel
Every filament tremble, unable
To reconcile her past, she cast a blank stare.
Beguiled at the bottom of an upside-down
Arc, ember or spark,
Brightness or dark,
Acutely aware.
***
Returning, in the trembling gray dove,
I recognized a never reconciled pain.
It a filament leading past to present,
an afternoon, suddenly of smoky embers embedded
under the arc of green-leafed trees.
L. Dennis
***
With a tremble of my finger, a switch
Reconciles itself along an arc,
Enervating the filament,
Glowing now as an ember.
— Jamie Moog
***
Living on a log I placed onto a fire
Was a deft arachnid not yet ready for her pyre.
She quickly spun a filament
Around a popping spark
Which yanked her from the fire
In one great looping arc.
The ember landed in the grass
Which caught and burned for miles.
Tremble when my neighbor sued,
But cash did reconcile.
—John Randall
***
The filament from the bulb makes shadows on the wall
even on the window’s glass
It has an arc
I like to think it is the arc
bending “towards justice"
but I cannot seem to reconcile that
with the ember of hate coiling around our country
I tremble at who we have become and where we are going.
I fear we have lost our way.
Sara Burke
***
Listen to the water
Listen to the water:
The story of where it goes
Meanders as it flows.
Learn from the water.
It builds a bed outside
Unites rock and flower,
Bird and bee, tree
Rabbit and vulture
Into community.
Jo Schaper
***
The candle trembles
as the flame's embers
arc to a slow death.
I stare uneasily,
trying to reconcile
the myriad filaments
of my life
with the dying light.
***
It all depends on what you call it: ember or coal.
It all depends on the way you tremble
when I touch your cheek. It all depends on the music,
and the hunger, the tulips blooming
in every sorry color. It depends
on sugar, or on tuber, on an ugly rumor.
This filament of fervor. And an arc of error.
No room to reconcile
before the darkened mirror.
Gwyneth Henke
***
Celestial Accord
The mighty universe doth tremble,
from a singular gossamer filament
to a totality of rhapsodic firmament,
from Heaven’s arc to the deepest ember
in outcast Lucifer’s volcanic domicile,
at the barest thought Good and Evil
could ever unite in Love and reconcile.
Rebecca Carron Wood
***
King’s Geometry
The next morning, a sudden tremble,
Fearing hate from the old embers had won again:
The primal sin never reconciled,
King’s arc bending wrong.
Then, we remembered the “bouquet,”
Where we saw small, strong filaments
Of a future.
Robert Henke
***
“Pull the Switch!”
The master cries
I tremble, but comply
Power arcs
Reconciling circuits
Filaments break
Showering us with glowing embers
As the Monster rises
— Chad Savage
***
Often to your heart listen
Through your experiences learn
Let the positive vibes flow
Good image try to build and rules follow
Give back to the society
Wherever possible help the community
©®Anupama Kadwad
***
In Control?
How does one reconcile an ember
of doubt hitched to a filament of faith?
What makes one tremble when they
ascend the arc of possibilities,
quake when they backslide,
toss another bargaining chip
into the collection plate?
Linda O’Connell 4/21/21
***
Do not tremble
till the filament of hope
is flickering.
The ember of revolution
can be seen
The arc of change will become a circle
Challenge till the last moment
And then reconcile with the change.
Jey Sushil
***
A moral universe
Before the verdict,
before an arc toward justice or right
another ember doused,
another filament broken.
Behind the tremble
and roar of gunfire
from the upholder of “law”
and “public good”;
where we constantly try to reconcile
that force can care: we lose again.
Her name is Ma’Khia Bryant: say it.
— M. E. Hope
***
Watching the Cellist
Bow is drawn across string in an invisible, uneven arc
one only she, the holder, perceives
a breeze flitting across a filament of spider’s web.
Deep within the wood
a tremble wells, an ember glows.
We listen
We reconcile
the brutality of the world with the possibility of beauty.
Steve Givens
***
nigh cometh the night
tremble oh, filament
transform your arc
to ember
be blithe with light
for cometh the morn
you’ll be reconcile
into darkness
Terrie Jacks
***
Listen
to the hum
and learn
how they build community
forging the flow
of sweet honey.
***
FOLLOWING THE APRIL 20, 2021 VERDICT
OF "GUILTY, GUILTY, GUILTY" IN THE CASE
OF A WHITE POLICE OFFICER
WHO MURDERED A BLACK MAN
He said, "the arc of the universe
bends towards justice."
Still we tremble.
Will this moment kindle others?
Will the embers blaze?
We have pushed through centuries
And days.
Is the fire hot enough
To forge the tools
Necessary for the work
Of hope grown bold?
Is the anvil strong enough;
Will it hold?
Is the hammer balanced?
Is it true?
O, bend the filament of time
Towards reconciliation,
Lasting change,
Equal justice
In this nation.
J Kiefer
***
still speak words that tremble
as you finger the fragile filament
between expectation and hope.
to reconcile what is with
what we would have it be
does not dismiss the continual striving.
if even an ember does remain,
the long arc’s bend will sustain.
Cami Kasmerchak
***
tungsten filament
trembling...
an arc of life on borrowed time,
am ember mug with no charger,
reconciling with nature
John J. Han
***
triad
this arc of justice
a filament
without mercy
an ember
they reconcile in
beauty
james goodman
***
Resignation
I fear now
my fire will fade
until only an ember exists
leaving little light
and only a filament
of memory.
I tremble
as I try to reconcile
to this arc of my life.
Tom Stringer
***
Un portrait porte absence et présence
bougie d’allumage rouge à lèvres
braise FOR-EVER ton filament d’acier
arc électrique glacé tu te réconcilies
avec l’absence de moteur de l’amant transi
qui se lamente et tremble à New York
en signant finalement F.Picabia 5 Juillet 1915
“Portrait / d’une jeune fille américaine/ dans l’état de nudité”
Lionel Cuillé (prof. of French/ RLL)
***
Sometimes I tremble with angst
and some word tries to call me away.
My head's a big fat ember
and all the outlets arc
in my lovely crummy room.
Oh, I get it now:
I'm some kind of filament
and language is the light.
— Matthew Freeman
***
a peach blossom
held to the tree
by a tiny filament
bucks and trembles
in the growing breeze
its petals radiant
in the Spring sun
is it a tiny promise
of the arc of
sweet Summer days
or a ruse
portending nothing
but the embers
of lost dreams
as hopes liquify
in stark reality
and we must again reconcile
the world we crave
with the world that exists
Warren Hauff
***
The arc of history bent
a little farther yesterday,
and a charred ember sparked
hope again, hung it on
a filament too thin to bear the weight
of a sixteen-year-old girl’s body.
Judge and jury cannot
reconcile
these losses.
—Jeannette Cooperman
***
Jack London
Cold stretches the filament connecting life and death
Hands tremble as the dim ember descends in an arc towards the damp tinder
Reconcile with frozen despair as the dog walks away
***
With each gloaming the campfire is lit
The ember will glow
As cold winds blow
You feel in the chill, a familiar tremble
Doubt is in the wooded umbra
outside the arc of the dying light
Faith is a filament from your heart — to the stars — and beyond
That requires naught
by way of proof
to reconcile
K.J. Boehler
***
A GOOD HAND
In the diminishing arc of his stake
The old gambler ceased to tremble
A filament of fear to play the hand
An ember of courage did disassemble
So win or lose it all thought he
His frown to grin did reconcile
Calling “All in” with daring and glee
Boldly splashing the last pot with guile.
TED
***
Eyes darting, trembling above the mask.
the filament of the heart ignited,
all the self-conscious, reflecting thoughts embers,
the fire of admitted guilt an arc from heart to brain,
reality not reconciled with intuitive truth,
a man alone never thought he'd be convicted.
Meanness so immune from a society's tears.
---Dan Cuddy
***
Leafy branches tremble in the breeze.
Yesterday's embers have cooled.
Does a filament trace an arc towards justice?
Follow it and reconcile indifference.
Put fairness foremost.
Margaret Fourt Goka
***
Headline image: Garrett Patz via Unsplash