This heart,
With reaching veins
That stretch out heavenward,
And arteries penetrating deep,
Births life.
A short one tonight. I discovered the cinquain poem form this morning, that has a pattern of 1, 2, 3, 4, 1 stresses in each line in turn, and thought I’d have a go. The shape suggested the content.
(14.11.24)
© Ben Quant 2024
Photo by Brandon Green on Unsplash
The human mystery, the cryptic puzzle
of what makes minds and bodies tick.
The tick, tock, tick of chemical
reactions and emotional responses.
The mystery that makes us, us,
that charges love and triggers thought.
Conference is done and I’m home relaxing to House MD.
(30.10.24)
© Ben Quant 2024
Photo by Catherine Hughes on Unsplash
The closing chapter,
the final leg,
I’m almost home.
No longer looking
back but forward,
my destination
hoves into view;
the uneven creasing
of the spine
accompanied by
evasive wriggling.
Compelled I pick
up speed. I find
I’m skipping words
and tumbling over
myself to reach the
closing full stop.
But even as
I strive, inside
a simultaneous
braking competes.
Although my story
draws me on
I find I do
not want my journey’s
end. Not yet.
I’m currently reading Simon Armitage’s ‘Walking Home’, the account of his journey along the Pennine Way, enabled by the hospitality of strangers and poetry readings. Towards the end he recounts the unexpected feeling of not being elated at approaching home, having slipped into the habitualised routine of walking; a feeling not confined to walking.
(27.03.23)
© Ben Quant 2023
Photo by Lucrezia Carnelos on Unsplash
Tonight we buried a newt,
a cheeky chap who kept
his gills, those pink and flappy
fronds that waved hello.
A Peter Pan who stayed
in Neverland’s waters
from whence he cheered us on.
He’d flit and spin in joy
with energy unbounded,
confounding expectation.
Alas, eternal youth
ran out, Tick-Tock caught up.
We laid you by the pond
and as we did a nearby
dart alerted us to
the first newt of the spring.
The cycle begins again.
To Dennis, our delightful friend.
We have a small garden pond in our garden which became home to numerous young newts last year, some of whom were adopted and brought inside. Sadly one passed away yesterday. He’ll be missed.
(15.03.23)
© Ben Quant 2023
Photo by Piet Spaans shared under CC Licence 2.5
Ode for the Day 