Five Words Poetry

Thought I'd try my hand at another chain poem. In case you don't know, here's the explanation I gave for my previous chain poem blog post:

"There's a thread in the Insight subforum called Chaining Poems, and the concept is simple. It starts with five words. A person writes a poem using them, and then posts five more words for another person to write a poem. Repeat!"

***

gin
glade
gorgeous
gallant
slide

The gallant knight strides into the glade
and a snake slides through the green grass
to escape his heavy boots.

In his hand he holds a bottle of something strange,
gin given to him by a gorgeous stranger
who emerged from the light of heaven.

She was clothed in livery not fit for a lady,
but in her beauty he could not mistake her
for a man, and when she spoke he listened.

Odd words, for an odd woman—
time unravelling like a spool of thread
and war in a distant world.

Her smile was weary, her laugh sad,
and she took a swig for her "Dutch courage."
He said he did not understand

And she said it did not matter.

"Come to the glade tomorrow,
come help me win my war."
And so he came.

***

Hm. Interesting.

I hosted a contest on Locution with the same idea a while back, too. My entry:

***

kismet
fuck
chary
gimcrack
ululate

I bob in a kayak
and think about fate.

I don't believe in it.

No karma, no kismet.
No destiny defined by some deity.
We are gimcracks of the universe,
tucked away on a shelf labeled Gaia.
If I were to turn up my head,
ululate at smears of white on blue,
no one would hear
but an alligator at the bank.

I slide by, chary,
the waves from my vessel
lapping at his feet.
Stretched out on a fallen trunk,
he flicks his tail
as if to say,
“Fuck that shit.”

The trill of a woodpecker
echoes over the lake
and a dragonfly lands on my paddle.

Yeah, fuck that shit.