The Café – (Zejel)

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Cafés like clock work pace the day
Though they be sunny or dark grey
Coffee ’til the aperitif!

Start the day at break of dawn
A brisk walk with a mighty yawn
Coffee on an inviting lawn
Begins the day with a leitmotif.

And when the luncheon hour comes near
A grilled sandwich with a light beer
Is right good any time of the year
(With cheese, prosciutto or roast beef.)

Evening, for the happy hour
Finds old friends under a bower …
Canapè, chips and wine devour,
Pre-dinner rites – mundane belief.

 

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Zejel

“The zejel is a Spanish verse form that pronounced “seh HELL”.

The zejel’s opening stanza presents the theme of the poem and is called the cabeza.  It is either a rhymed couplet (AA) or a rhymed tercet (AAA). Successive stanzas are quatrains built with a tercet (“mudanza”) and a single line (“vuelta”) that rhymes with the cabeza.

So… the rhyme scheme is either:

AA / BBBA / CCCA / DDDA / etc.

or

AAA / BBBA / CCCA / DDDA / etc.

Lines are usually 8 syllables long (mine are 10 syllables long).”

You can find this in “Blog it or Lose It’s” post (link below)…I did the 8 syllables, but I cheated as regards the first three rhymes…as this suited me better.

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Today I read The Guitar Player by Blog it or Lose It a beautifully fun poem in the zejel form, which I’d never heard of…I also invited Oliana to come to a café with me…even if virtually…so two friends have inspired this little ditty, my first zejel! Thanks to you both!

In Italy the café is such an important part of social life, that the poor dears when they go to North America feel completely lost without them.  Even I, when I returned to visit felt kind of lost.

No fast food place can ever replace the café here in Italy, although MacDonald’s has added a café “surrogate” in all their restaurants!

Friends in Time – Free Verse

Friends in Time

time for me is such a mystery
it’s dawnright now but night in the West,
then now my friend down in the South
you’re half-way through “my day” right now
and there you type almost into tomorrow
as the clock that ticks inside my house
knowing nothing of EST or GMT
so sitting here in this very moment
I chat with you both from my computer
dear friends in Canada and Australia
it boggles my mind…there you are chatting
from your snowy or heat stricken world
as you visit with me at dawn in Italy!
Dedicated to: Traces of Soul and Morphethroad

 

Sunset Photos by Oliana (Haiku Suite)

A Haiku suite for Oliana

the mother’s love
irradiates winter skies
colorful adieu

inspirational
her colors created songs
no heart had sung

lovely sentiments…
a questing photographer…
and a treasure trove

love unrequitted
of beauty and sentiment
in brilliant snapshots

as you created
your poems and images
memories looked on

you shared so freely
giving a charge to a scene
we rarely observe

Inspired by Oliana’s great post this morning: Chasing Sunsets (haiku)

Montreal Velocipede Masacres: Silly Poem

Photo: Oliana Kim, Montreal, Dec 19th, 2013

Alarm! It’s come to my sad attention,
That in Canada (such a great nation)
Lives a monster, of incredible cruelty…
A monster born in the dead of winter…
Who terrorizes young velocipede,
In their nests, poor dears, awaiting the dawn.
Succumb many to these heinous attacks…
Snowplows maim and mangle them each cold night.

Call the United Nations! Raise the cry,
Oh science, reason and human good will…
Save the velocipede from cruel snowplows
Who wildly roar in early morning hours,
Crunching under their great tires and brash blades
Elegant delicate slim velocipede!
Alas the streets are strewn with their corpses…
Raise up your voices in protest oh masses…
We must stop this wanton destruction, now!

Thank you Oliana Kim for bringing this terrible event to world attention…let us all unite!  I can assure you that if you visit Oliana’s blog you will find many more photos of poor dear velocipede’s in similar condition…and here I’ve not begun to speak of how they are treated by automobiles…truely a disgrace… 😉

Rondeau Redoublé: Cyberbullies

Rondeau Redouble

Cyberbullies

Seems we prefer victims once they are dead.
Easier to sit back than take up a cause,
Silently watching we aide and abed,
Laughing with bullies we sharpen their claws!

So used to cruelty it gives us no pause,
Meek are the victims and carefully bred
We love martyrs I think this because,
Seems we prefer victims once they are dead.

Maybe it’s fear we’ve grown in our head.
We won’t defend victims from bully outlaws.
Better be quiet you see we’re well-bred.
Easier to sit back than take up a cause.

A victim the tough guy chews in his maws.
The silly chicken or the gross dead-head,
Ridiculing, hurting seeking guffaws…
Silently watching we aide and abed.

He’s funny baiting the nerdy egghead,
Such a great show, he deserves your hurrahs!
Tomorrow maybe you’ll be the knucklehead…
Laughing with bullies we sharpen their claws!

Taught you’d go to heaven turning your cheek
Taught to hold back and never be exposed
Taught to love the strong and despise the weak
Taught to laugh when some bunny just explodes
Seems we prefer victims.

Written for:  Special Prompt: Cyber-bullying – A Challenge
Traces of Soul .