Petrichor

It's the in and out,
you know
the places you've been and the places
you go

It is the dirt on us
it is the wind's song
it is the sun's lust
all urging is to grow

It is the births and the deaths
and the in betweens
and the life we live together
and the roads we're journeying.

And so I lay down my words
with a full and grateful heart
always happy for this community
for which I am a part.

heidi
written 3/1/15 for dVerse OLN

with deep gratitude for Brian and Claudia. 

(man, I haven't open linked it in ages)

Feminine (Where I Take A Villenelle and Not Only Break It, But Crush It Underfoot)

what does it mean
to be feminine
is the value only that which is seen

stay lean
to be strong is to be masculine
be a sweet girl, not mean

cover your body in cream
accept that you are the progenitor of sin
bow down and don't cause a scene

you are not a being
you're property that belongs to him
to build up or to demean

and these lies are routine
embroidered into our daily out and in
unrecognized even when they are seen

so I call bullshit, and watch it steam
to be feminine is to be human
it is kind and it is mean
and it all that you can see and all that is unseen.

heidi
written: 1/22/15 for dVerse Meeting The Bar

Brian has challenged us to take a form and break it. I took the Villanelle, and, like all poetry that uses some sort of meter, I threw that shit out of the window. Then I severely slanted the rhyme. And I have no idea if I even like this poem, or if it conveys what I want it to convey. The more I have to think about the poem I am writing, the more clunky it always feels to me.  But, what the hey! It's my first submission to dVerse this year! Woohoo! Stop by and check out the other responses.

 

In The Darkness

movement
at the corner
of my eye triggering
fear, they are out and they want to
eat me

heidi
written 10/08/14

Also inspired by Marina's dVerse prompt, but probably not what she meant.(not linked)

Shredded

Don't be angry.
Life is too short to be angry

What? Speak up! I can't hear you!
WHY ARE YOU SO LOUD?

Yes, I agree, you are sorry.

If you don't know, then just ask.
Uh! How do you not know this already?


I don't know why you have to be such a bitch.

Oh no! What happened? These pictures are horrible!
You're not going to cry, are you?

Don't be angry.
Life is too short to be angry. 


heidi
written 10/08/14 for dVerse Poetics

Marina Sofia is tending bar for Poetics this week and challenges us to write of a minor incident that you may have missed while living your everyday life.  Maybe the minor thing in this poem isn't exactly minor, but I like where the prompt lead me.

Moonlight Travels

my fingers wander
over your body's hills and
down the valleys

the texture of skin
warm to touch
compels me onwards

our journey together
illuminated only by the moonlight
brings us home

as the heat subsides
sleep sets in
come with me there too.

heidi
written 9/16/14 for dVerse Poetics


Yay! A poem for the ever awesome dVerse Poets Pub . Gabriella challenges us to use travel to inspire our poetry. Since all I have really wanted to write over the past couple of days could best be categorized as porn, I took a little creative license with the prompt. I also tried to tone down the smut, and decided that Lunes might help with that. For this poem I have alternated Collum and Kelly Lunes to make the stanzas. I love Lunes.  Why not hop on over to dVerse and check out the other travel poetry?

Also, if you get a chance, swing back by Friday for my good news.

Memory Drift

poem and photo by heidi helmer

My memories are here
drifting like

clouds.

heidi
written 5/15/14 for dVerse Meeting the Bar

Victoria is tending today and has us writing a Tilus, a form developed by Kelvin S.M. There is supposed to be a break in between the last two lines, but I forgot it before I saved the image. This piece is not only my first Tilus, but also my first attempt at scanner photography.  I am looking forward to trying out both again soon. So, while your surfing, head on over to the Pub and check out the Tilus!

A Heavy Weight

poem and photo by heidi helmer


 

heidi
written 5/13/14 for dVerse Poetics

Marina Sofia has us exploring identity today. I have another response to the prompt floating around in my head, but I went with this one to link because it's more serious. (translation: sad) I'll write the other one and try to post it as well. I already like it better.


 

dVerse Meeting the Bar: Four Unrelated Geburtstag

0
8
0
2
1
9
7
0

True Happiness in the Life of a Dog

The joy of rolling around in

dead things.
Such
was the greatest happiness in life
for my dear sweet dog, Emma.



Bath Time at My House

My kids are small enough that they enjoy

splashing together
in
their evening bath, although, I wish that they didn't
like splashing me outside the tub too!



Hope Is Dark

Alone in the darkness of hope.

Breathless
Scared
I fear the denial hope allows
Sometimes the truth is too hard




August Second is the Best Day

I'm in love with my birthday, August Second.

So much
so
I created a poetry form so everyone could celebrate
Der name ist deutsch, weil...German's cool!


heidi
written 4/10/14 for dVerse Meeting the Bar

Gay asked us to create a poetry form. I created Geburtstag, which Marina Sofia tells me is German for Birthday. It's easy. You write your birthday in numeral form month, day, year (yes that way because, I'm American). Each numeral becomes the number of syllables or words that you use for that line. If it's a zero, you skip the line. It may not be the most fun form for those born January 1, 2000, but it may be more challenging. Y'all know I like the short form. (and I don't get meter)

Be sure to swing by dVerse and read the other cool, new forms.

A Man Like That

His voice
               is
 erotic-amphetimine

I n j e c t i n g
                napalm daylilly-desire

E
 r
  a
   d
     i
      c
        a
          t
            i
             n
                g
                         all

logic-vomit

                     Wilting the boldness-bearer
of my resolve.

Burning me with the
                                 ice-blue-fire
of
     his
          gaze.

My body

 trembles 

with well-being
                               and 

the sweet

ache

of time-halting.


All I do is wait for the freedom-flame
                                                         That is the caress of his fiery stare.

heidi
written 3/21/14
for dVerse Meeting the Bar

Bjorn introduces us to Kennings in this Meeting the Bar at dVerse. They look like so much fun, and I think I did it all wrong. Oh well. Happy World Poetry Day anyway! Make sure you go by and check out the other poems using Kennings. You won't regret it!

Lovely Spring

Art by Sunita Khedekar 

She is Spring
Strong, fragile, funny, sweet, volitile
My lovely daughter.

heidi
written 3/18/14
for my Aoife and
dVerse Poetics.

Grace's Poetics prompt today is to use the amazing artwork of Sunita Khedekar as inspiration for a poem about Spring. I love this piece! Please visit her Facebook page or her Blog. I have chosen to write a Collum Lune (one of my favorite forms...very Twitter friendly) about my sweet girl. For more poems using the art of Sunita Khedekar as inspiration, go check out the submissions over at dVerse!

Apple Pi

                                        My husband likes it cold. I prefer it warm to hot

                                    moist, tart and gooey. The crisp of the flesh as I sink 

                                my      teeth down                      in. Savoring 

                                           the flaky                         delicate crust.

                                           I inhale the                      ripe, sweet 

                                           odor a hint                      of nutmeg?

                                           cinnamon?                       Carefully

                                           blow, it may                     burn my 

                                           mouth. And                      yet, the pain

                                           would be                          worth it. I 

                                           consume the                     Pink Ladies

                                           with sweet                        whipped cream               &

                                           a bit of cheese                  sometimes feta                or

                                           maybe some                     cheddar. There               is a 

                                           sweet perfection                in this moment.              As I 

                                           once again                        surrender to homemade apple pie!
                                                                                             heidi written 3/13/14 for
                                                                                              dVerse Meeting the Bar

Brian at dVerse made an interesting observation; that we write appealing to our sense of sight. He asked us to write to our other senses. Since this year all of March is Pi month, and tomorrow is Pi day (3.14) I thought it an excellent opportunity to write about one of my favorite food groups. Y'all know the four food groups? Pie, Sweet tea, Fried Things, and Chocolate. I did cheat a bit, though, but I wanted to see if I could write in this shape. Yay! If you aren't finding me through the dVerse linky, then why not pop on over and check out some of the other awesome submissions. (Anna's is scary and sad...I highly recommend it!)

Last Prayer

Last Prayer by heidi helmer

a mantis offers up her
last prayer
attached to my screen
dreaming of freedom outside

heidi
written: 3/12/14 for dVerse Poetics

It has been too long since I have participated in a dVerse prompt. This week, Shanyn challenges us to write mircopoetry about macophotography.  I'm not sure if my picture qualifies as macrophotography, and my poem is micro-micro, but I am happy with it. Click the link above to check out the submissions to dVerse, and try one yourself!

Six Words

Tiny shadow puppets play at bedtime.

heidi
written 7/21/13 for dVerse

What the Moon Will Do To You

 heartbreak

his words were neutral
echoing
harsh intent-goodbye.

heidi
kelly lune
written 7/19/13 for dVerse Mix and Match


 aftermath

his name echos
through the chambers of my
lonely broken heart

heidi
collum lune
written 7/19/13


Tony collected links to two years of dVerse Meeting the Bar and Form For All and suggested that we explore one that we missed. How fucking exciting, y'all! Seriously, if you want to learn about writing poetry, this a one stop shop. The contributors who wrote the original posts are fabulous. Check it out.

I chose Samuel's lesson on lunes and I am so happy that I did. I see more lune tweets, they may even put a dent in some of my cinquains (y'all know I like a short form.)

Hashtag

Happiness:

#SomeThingsThatAreFrownedUpon
#VampireSlang
#MotivationalBookIdeas
#FamousTamponQuotes
#WeaponsofMenstruation
#RejectedLegoKits
#TerrifyingIfLiteral
#LessImpressiveHorror
#ThingsTVTaughtMe
#ReplaceAWordInASongTitleWithScrotum
#OnMyMovieToDoList

I fucking love a good hashtag.


heidi
written/found: 7/16/13
submitted to dVerse OLN 7/16/13

Brian wrote a wonderful into to tonight's OLN about things that make us happy. Obviously, I enjoy the intellectual and creative challenges presented by hashtag games on Twitter. So here's a little bit of found brilliance for your consideration (and I thought y'all may want a break from the my-kids-are-so-freaking-funny posts I do.) Most of these I saw first posted by @MyVoganPoetry, @FootPoundForce, @baleheadmaria, @TheHashtagGame, @SalomeWilde, and some folks who were angry with Texas.  I am not sure who originally came up with these gems, and if you know, please tell me so I can give credit.

I thought that instead of the usual comments, and instead of the ones that you think but are too polite to post (what the fuck is this crap, heidi?) you could leave a hashtag or a hashtag response or both. You know, like a party!

Happy, Happy Anniversary dVerse. I am grateful for y'all and your posts #everysinglefuckingday.

Heat

i think
the heat makes us
crazy or maybe i
just want it to be heat not hate
not fear.

heidi
written: 7/14/13 for dVerse Poetics

Claudia invites us to write about heat and mirages this week on Poetics. I am a little too sad today to write something mirthful,  just something that I wish were a mirage.

Riptide

swirling in the sway of the silver eddies
swept along sideways-submerged and then surfacing
gasping  gulps of air gorging breath
before being caught below again.

the riptide rages not it will release you
when you relax when you surrender, when you swim
parallel to the peaceful shore paddling to the edge
then safely to the sand surviving  again.

heidi
written 7/12/13
submitted to dVerse Form For All 7/12/13

Tony discusses accentual-alliteration in this dVerse prompt. I like alliteration, so this was an exciting prompt for me. My early poetry was almost always all alliteration (see how easy it is to get caught up in it?) and this is reminiscent of some of those earlier writings (you can see Eros for an example.) This was a little tricky for me and I think I took some liberties with it, but I think it's a form I'd like to try again.

Crosswords

S		C	O	M	E	S		T
O			V					O
R		J	E	R	K			O
R			R
Y			D				C
			U	N	D	E	R
T			E				O	F
H							S	U
R			W	O	R	D	S	C
E						I		K
A	S	S				C		H
T		H				K		E
		I						A
N	I	T						D
			B	I	T	C	H

heidi

written: 7/9/13
Shared with dVerse OLN 7/9/13

Brian gave us a puzzle prompt in Saturday's Poetics at dVerse. I had a poem that I had written 23 years ago, but, I wanted to write something new, and I couldn't find the old one. This is still a very rough (hahaha) draft, as I want it to be more crosswordy and have a better flow.  I attempted ironing it out a little, but I am instead having to admit that not all of the kinks are out of my computer. So. Very. Frustrating.

And I do apologize if this was a little too blue, but I did at least used to warn you that that sort of language could pop up.