Poetry Kitchen: Sonnet Side Up

[alpharaposa]

Welcome to the Poetry Kitchen! Today, I'm whipping up a batch of sonnets, and will make one just for you. Simply follow the rules below:

1) Give me ingredients! Give me a prompt – a sentence, a picture, or just a bunch of random words on your mind. Please keep prompts PG13.
2) The recipe is all sonnets today, but they might be Spenserian, Shakespearean, or Italian sonnets. I promise they will all have 14 lines and rhyme.
3) One per person. Spread the word if you know somebody who would like their own creation!
4) Please share! You can reprint or link to the poem, simply give me credit and link to my journal, please.

You may tip if you wish.

If I receive $50 in tips, I will finish up a short story about the humans in the world of this poem about Dragon Samurai, and post it for all to read.
If I receive $100 in tips, I will write a long poem (ode, ballad, epic, or similar). Anybody will be able to suggest topics, but only donors will get a say (via poll) in which one I tackle!

If I have one new commenter (whether they donate or not), I will record myself singing this poem. (I've had nine new commenters since I put up the challenge.)

Requests will stay open for a day! REQUESTS CLOSED!

Comments

Prompts

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

I would enjoy a sonnet about historic fashions in Italy. Some of the fabrics and garments had beautiful, elegant names.

Re: Prompts

[stryck.livejournal.com]

Hmm... *sets off to do some research*

Re: Prompts

[stryck.livejournal.com]

Draw boy! Aloft, to work the heddles!
'Tis time to make a brilliant brocade.
With you above, I'll tromp the treadles,
And throw by throw, the device is laid.

A line of lilies and a row of roses
Will complement the virtuous pear;
The gleam of gold slyly discloses
Every detail embroidered there.

The cloth will caress much softer skin;
Soft hands will brush the raised design
When noblemen waltz, their brides to win
With plumage embossed with art divine.

"Clothes make the man", and oh, such joy;
That delicate craft was the work of a boy!

Re: Prompts

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

This is so cool. I'll post the link on my LJ.

Re: Prompts

[stryck.livejournal.com]

Glad you like it!

Interesting historical note: when draw looms were mechanized, the boys were replaced with punch cards. This led to the cards' use as an early form of programming and data storage for computers.

I thought that was cool but couldn't work it into the sonnet. :)

Re: Prompts

[wyld-dandelyon.livejournal.com]

:-D I like this one.

[aldersprig.livejournal.com]

Neat!

I'm feeling masky, so I give you this:
http://www.faqs.org/photo-dict/photofiles/list/454/828venetian_mask.jpg
as a prompt.

[stryck.livejournal.com]

The Mask

It protects me, for I am weak
Like a bird within its shell
Freshly pipped, and now I peek
But stay inside where all is well.

I am brash when I speak
But the speaker is a lie;
A role to hide a freak,
But the truth is in my eye.

Do you know that I am meek?
The mask I wear is bold;
Its confidence I seek
But its skin is hard and cold.

The persona is a charmer,
But can I escape my armor?

[aldersprig.livejournal.com]

...my. Wow. Yes. Yes, "escaping the mask."

That's painfully on the money.

[stryck.livejournal.com]

You know, I wrote this before reading any of the Addergoole stuff, but now that I think about it..

[aldersprig.livejournal.com]

an uncomfortably large amount of Addergoole was downloaded straight from my psyche.

[haikujaguar.livejournal.com]

I'd like one about service.

[stryck.livejournal.com]

Service

The book says service is perishable, for
Once it is given, it is gone.
That moment, that act exists no more.
It disappears like the stars at dawn.

And yet, I can't quite believe
That a deed once done is ended.
The book insists that my heart deceives
When it marks what those acts have mended.

The service itself is small and discrete
From all that may come after.
The pebble isn't the rippling sheet;
The sly games aren't the laughter.

But my heart insists that it does not perish,
So long as the results are there to cherish.

[laffingkat.livejournal.com]

Poetry and food are two of my favorite things, so how about a sonnet on the topic of food or cooking? I'd love to hear about your favorite meal, or why you enjoy cooking and baking, or one of your culinary experiments.

[stryck.livejournal.com]

Tents and fire pits all around,
Sore muscles resting on dampened stumps,
We eat burnt food as smiles abound,
Sorting the day's blessings and thumps.

The aroma of yeast and wheat surround
Mother and daughter as dishes lurk.
Warm, fresh bread with butter crowned
Rewards them for their diligent work.

Two hearts are together bound,
And the women of the church provide;
But the greatest feast of all is found
On the altar where the Elder presides.

In the field or devoted to God above,
Every meal is incomplete without love.

[laffingkat.livejournal.com]

Ah, I like that! Reminds me of good times cooking with friends and family, which I don't get to do very often anymore. Although it was enjoyed while I loved and nourished myself with a healthy breakfast. :)

[kyetsu.livejournal.com]

Picture prompt here (http://www.furaffinity.net/view/4170652). =D

I love drawing these two characters, especially in loving pictures like this. And when you mentioned Dragon Samurai, it made me think of this art, and I think it could inspire a poem or so. ~_^

[stryck.livejournal.com]

The Dragon to His Love

I branded and spoiled a thousand knights.
I devoured kingdoms in my rage.
I looted trophies in fearsome fights,
And tore from stones a worthy wage.

I've gems laden with stars like night,
I've gold and silver coins like sand.
I've glamoured weapons full of might
And robes enchanted in every strand.

So shines this ruby in this light,
It blots my lair from mortal eyes.
Its beam might even flesh ignite,
But still I scorn such paltry prize.

For I care naught for all my store.
You are my treasure; I need no more.

[ariestess]

What a lovely idea!

I would love a sonnet about Poseidon and harbor seals please.

[stryck.livejournal.com]

To the ancients, the sea was a dangerous place
Full of great monsters; the kraken, the whale.
As he bent to the struggle with oar and sail,
A sailor often begged Poseidon for grace.
How pleasant it was to see a familiar face!
The playful seal that chased away fear,
Clowning about where the shore was near,
And crowning each rock with a sprawling brace.

But the sailor that smiled at sight of a seal
Oft changed his mind when he returned home.
For the wife he thought of with each empty night
Had been charmed away by the same playful zeal
And kisses that tasted of the ocean's foam.
O selkie, you stole our sailor's delight!

[ariestess]

Oh, that's gorgeous! Thank you for doing this!

[xjenavivex.livejournal.com]

I'm headed out the door to pick up pizza for dinner. I wanted to offer my support and can't think of a single prompt. I guess that maybe pizza might work for poetry kitchen. What do you think?

[stryck.livejournal.com]

Queen Margherita loved her bread
Though the talk was hardly pleasant.
"It isn't right," the nobles said,
"For a queen to dine like a peasant."

"If only a pizza was something grand,
Then naturally we wouldn't object."
So she called upon the cooks of the land
To provide the dish some respect.

The Italian flag inspired the best
With colors red, green, and white.
The Pizza Margherita put whispers to rest
Much to the queen's delight.

Thus pizza rose from its humble start;
A chef took bread and made it art.

[laffingkat.livejournal.com]

Oh, nicely done!

[zeeth_kyrah]

While a meta-sonnet sounds clever, I'm not sure that's what I want for myself.

How about something themed on your favorite bit of countryside?

[nekomata.livejournal.com]

I like satyrs and fireflies and summer. Hope those are some useful prompts~!

A little sadder than I expected from the prompt..

[stryck.livejournal.com]

To ancient Greeks, summer came
When hoofprints littered the rocky hills.
Each goat-man and his maddened dame
Danced upon the daffodills.

When I was a child, summer came
When I chased fireflies far and wee.
An evening herald with florescent flame
Caught one day, the next, set free.

The civilized mind has no space
For nymphs and satyrs, and so they faded.
The civilized lawn has no place
For little bugs that must be shaded.

I've seen a firefly, but never a faun;
In a hundred years, will the flames be gone?

[marina-bonomi.livejournal.com]

Here from Crowdfounding (and several friends' journals).

Let see, I'd love a sonnet on...

Lorenzo the Magnificent http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lorenzo_de%27_Medici

Poet, statesman, patron of the arts (I blame ysabetwordmith's prompt for the association ;-) )

[wyld-dandelyon.livejournal.com]

Impossible Things

[settecorvi.livejournal.com]

I may be too late to qualify for this, but if you're still open for prompts, could I get one about sphinxes (or manticores) and song?

[stryck.livejournal.com]

Requests are open until tonight, so don't worry!

[stryck.livejournal.com]

Captured

One night, as I but barely slept
I heard dogs bay, a hundred strong,
And rousing bugle to stir their song.
I pitied the fox, that must accept
That all the tricks of that sly adept
Can't save it from that gathered throng.
Those baying hounds, relentless and strong,
Would chase no matter where it crept.

Then later searching the muddied field,
I saw sign of only two great brutes.
So I, descended of Pellinore,
Took up my burden, never to yield;
She bound me against all other pursuits
When the beast denied the manticore.

[minor-architect.livejournal.com]

Why not a sonnet about opportunity? Perhaps a favorite, one that was missed, one that looked like real a opportunity but wasn't, or how to hunt them. :)