Indrani Perera

poet, publisher & mentor

Tag: #2019poetrychallenge

Poetry Challenge – Week Twenty-Three

Week 23 words from @loveisyourcompass: kindness, flow, soul, shine and magic.

let kindness to yourself

flow from your soul

threading scarlet desire

round your beating heart

take up the skeins

of your transcendence

and shine a light

on your own magic

~~~~

Here are the words and my poem for the twenty-third week of the 2019 Poetry Challenge.

As you know I've been struggling with writing a poem each week for the challenge. As I've already mentioned, my own self imposed rules were holding me back somewhat. But that wasn't the whole story. Even now I still I don't know the whole mystery of my creative process for this challenge and I doubt I ever will. There is at the very core, an elusiveness in creating something from nothing.

However, I have just figured out another piece of the puzzle thanks to the words from two of my collaborators and partners in rhyme. Both @beiteshai and @_heart_land_ mentioned something about enjoying the process. And I realised I hadn't been enjoying the actual process of writing the poems. Of putting pen to paper and playing with words, rhyme and metre. I'd been expecting to turn up at the page with my five words for the week and scribble down a masterpiece. Ha! Crazy fool.

Knowledge equals power and now I am focusing on enjoying the process of writing the poems. It's easy to get caught up in all the other stuff – posting on Instagram, designing in Canva – and forget about the point of the whole exercise. To write poems. To improve my writing. To collaborate and connect with others. To share words, language and ideas. To have fun! Here's to having more fun while writing poetry.

If you want to join the 2019 Poetry Challenge, head on over to my Instagram account (@indraniperera) where I post the words for the week on Mondays (mostly) in my story. Write a poem and post it. Be sure to tag me and use the hashtags #2019poetrychallenge and #livepoetsclub.

If you don't want to write a poem, you can still be part of the 2019 Poetry Challenge. Send me five random words and I'll use them in a poem. Either DM me on Instagram with the words or send me an email (indrani at indraniperera dot com).

Happy writing!

June 14, 2019
Poetry Challenge – Week Twenty-Two

Week 22 words from @beiteshai: God, density, mother, letting, response.

the density of faith

a mystery

an incalculable and infinite

weight of belief

shrouded in divinity

~

mother God heed my prayer

my response to this despair

letting the pain bleed into wine

and none to bear

~~~~

Here are the words and my poem for the twenty-second week of the 2019 Poetry Challenge.

After throwing off my self-imposed constraints for using the random words in my poems, I'm feeling liberated and creative. Before the revolution, I was questioning everything about the challenge. Was I crazy to try and write a poem a week? Did I lack the commitment needed to stick with such a massive undertaking? Was I just too flighty to see it through? All sorts of fearful and doubtful thoughts were running around my brain.

But now? Oh now. I feel great. On top of the world. Ready to take on any words that come my way. So throw them at me. Send me a curve ball or two. I'm ready for them!

If you want to join the 2019 Poetry Challenge, head on over to my Instagram account (@indraniperera) where I post the words for the week on Mondays (mostly) in my story. Write a poem and post it. Be sure to tag me and use the hashtags #2019poetrychallenge and #livepoetsclub.

If you don't want to write a poem, you can still be part of the 2019 Poetry Challenge. Send me five random words and I'll use them in a poem. Either DM me on Instagram with the words or send me an email (indrani at indraniperera dot com).

Happy writing!

June 7, 2019
Poetry Challenge – Week Twenty-One

Week 21 words from @earthwisecraft: sustainable, integrity, protection, biodiversity, ecosystems.

our treatment of the earth isn't sustainable

we've gotta stop treating her like a dump

where are our politicians with integrity?

don't they get it?

their job is protection of our rights, our home

I want biodiversity in my politics

yet all I get is hate and fear mongering

for the capitalist state

this protection of vested interests

give me politicians with integrity

the ones prepared to have morals, principles,

a different opinion from the heaving mob

and leave their petty posturing aside

give me biodiversity and a healthy ecosystem

a planet, this paradise

for my children to call home

~~~~

Here are the words and my poem for the twenty-first week of the 2019 Poetry Challenge.

This week's poem follows on nicely from last week's and the week before that. They make a nice trinity of poems about the environment and the leadership we need to stop our headlong plunge into disaster. I've stepped out of my self-imposed constraints again this week and have repeated a word throughout the poem. I usually use them only once. It's giving me new enthusiasm for this challenge. It was becoming a little stale with the same pattern each week – five random words each week, used once in order.

If you want to join the 2019 Poetry Challenge, head on over to my Instagram account (@indraniperera) where I post the words for the week on Mondays (mostly) in my story. Write a poem and post it. Be sure to tag me and use the hashtags #2019poetrychallenge and #livepoetsclub.

If you don't want to write a poem, you can still be part of the 2019 Poetry Challenge. Send me five random words and I'll use them in a poem. Either DM me on Instagram with the words or send me an email (indrani at indraniperera dot com).

Happy writing!

May 31, 2019
2019 Poetry Challenge – Week Twenty

Week 20 words from @twigtotable: pathos, verdantly, disbelief, tendrils, flick.

tendrils of disbelief flick

against the surety of change

and optimism of hope

verdantly carpeting pathos

~~~~

Here are the words and my poem for the twentieth week of the 2019 Poetry Challenge.

When I write these poems I usually put the words in the order they've been given to me. This time, I mixed it up a little. It's good to try different things sometimes, Shake it up, keep it fresh.

If you want to join the 2019 Poetry Challenge, head on over to my Instagram account (@indraniperera) where I post the words for the week on Mondays (mostly) in my story. Write a poem and post it. Be sure to tag me and use the hashtags #2019poetrychallenge and #livepoetsclub.

If you don't want to write a poem, you can still be part of the 2019 Poetry Challenge. Send me five random words and I'll use them in a poem. Either DM me on Instagram with the words or send me an email (indrani at indraniperera dot com).

Happy writing!

May 24, 2019
2019 Poetry Challenge – Week Nineteen

Week 19 words from @meghalnaik: ocean, turtles, sand, choking, plastics.

my thoughts are an ocean of grief

my heart a pillar of salt

my breath soured

with the taint of decay

turtles lay eggs in the sand

an act of faith

abandoning progeny to fate

and a polluted ocean

man's red hand

bleeds into blue

leaving a planet

choking on plastics

~~~~

Here are the words and my poem for the nineteenth week of the 2019 Poetry Challenge.

There was an obvious direction given with the words for this week's poem. I tried to play around with them to make things a little more interesting but ended up where I originally expected. It was interesting to have such strong and definite words.

If you want to join the 2019 Poetry Challenge, head on over to my Instagram account (@indraniperera) where I post the words for the week on Mondays (mostly) in my story. Write a poem and post it. Be sure to tag me and use the hashtags #2019poetrychallenge and #livepoetsclub.

If you don't want to write a poem, you can still be part of the 2019 Poetry Challenge. Send me five random words and I'll use them in a poem. Either DM me on Instagram with the words or send me an email (indrani at indraniperera dot com).

Happy writing!

May 17, 2019
2019 Poetry Challenge – Week Eighteen

Week 18 words from @ellyclaire82:ceremony, support, community, love, apology.

there's no ceremony to become a mother

unless you count the cleaving of birth

witnessed only by self, partner, nurse

there's no support once you return

to the family home

ripped, torn, shattered and born anew

unless you're surrounded by a tight community

of cleaners, tea makers and casserole makers

but there is love

this rushing wave of love

capsizing, dunking and burying

to my mother I owe only this: an apology

sorry mum

for everything

~~~~

Here are the words and my poem for the eighteenth week of the 2019 Poetry Challenge.

I had an idea in my head for this week's poems but somehow never managed to scribble it down on paper. When I first read the words, I had a story in mind to tell using them. I got as far as a few lines for the first word. And then I started thinking about what was on my mind, about what I was feeling right now. The word a friend spoke to me a few says ago popped into my head. Yield. She was talking about how once she yields to something, she is reluctant to leave it and instead prefers to sit with it. I loved it all but it was the yielding that struck the deepest chord and this is what inspired the poem. So this week's response to the challenge is a 3 way (at least) collaboration between me, @ellyclaire and Emma. Thanks Emma and Ellen for the inspiration!

If you want to join the 2019 Poetry Challenge, head on over to my Instagram account (@indraniperera) where I post the words for the week on Mondays (mostly) in my story. Write a poem and post it. Be sure to tag me and use the hashtags #2019poetrychallenge and #livepoetsclub.

If you don't want to write a poem, you can still be part of the 2019 Poetry Challenge. Send me five random words and I'll use them in a poem. Either DM me on Instagram with the words or send me an email (indrani at indraniperera dot com).

Happy writing!

May 10, 2019
2019 Poetry Challenge – Week Seventeen

Week 17 words from @awenemergy: autumn, tea-cup, doorway, intelligence, contentment.

a fervour to trap sun's gold in fabric

my autumn bounty of linen

neatly folded and stacked

I fill my tea-cup with bengal spice

an allure of seductive warmth

warming fingers and throat

there's a doorway, still closed

leading to rest and hibernation

waiting for intelligence

flannelette sheets lie on the bed

beckoning contentment

an opening

~~~~

Here are the words and my poem for the seventeenth week of the 2019 Poetry Challenge.

Oh my gosh. this week was HARD. I just could not get the words to fit in one poem. In the end I kind of jammed them together. When I first read the words I was excited by the possibilities of doorways but I don't think I did them justice this time around. I do love the first three lines though so that's something!

If you want to join the 2019 Poetry Challenge, head on over to my Instagram account (@indraniperera) where I post the words for the week on Mondays (mostly) in my story. Write a poem and post it. Be sure to tag me and use the hashtags #2019poetrychallenge and #livepoetsclub.

If you don't want to write a poem, you can still be part of the 2019 Poetry Challenge. Send me five random words and I'll use them in a poem. Either DM me on Instagram with the words or send me an email (indrani at indraniperera dot com).

Happy writing!

May 7, 2019
2019 Poetry Challenge – Week Sixteen

Week 16 words from @zsus_it_up_organic_vegan: fingers, toes, breath, kiss, sun.

she fingers the constricting circle of gold

metal gleaming against burnished skin

obligation and duty pinching her flesh

the tangible trace

of stale love and promise

ensuring she toes the line

her breath comes between faint beats

feint beat faint beat feint

she longs

to kiss the sun

~~~~

Here are the words and my poem for the sixteenth week of the 2019 Poetry Challenge.

This week's words were beautiful and when I initially saw them, their most obvious definitions came to mind. However, I wanted to play with the words a little and take them somewhere more surprising. Even I'm surprised by how dark the poem turned out! I don't always know what's going to happen when I put pencil to paper. Now when I look at the words I'm tempted to write another poem, perhaps a love poem. So many ideas!

If you want to join the 2019 Poetry Challenge, head on over to my Instagram account (@indraniperera) where I post the words for the week on Mondays (mostly) in my story. Write a poem and post it. Be sure to tag me and use the hashtags #2019poetrychallenge and #livepoetsclub.

If you don't want to write a poem, you can still be part of the 2019 Poetry Challenge. Send me five random words and I'll use them in a poem. Either DM me on Instagram with the words or send me an email (indrani at indraniperera dot com).

Happy writing!

April 26, 2019
2019 Poetry Challenge – Week Fifteen

Week 15 words from @_heart_land_ : squawk, plunge, mumble, ebb, island.

I squawk and squeak

balk and shy

plunge panic

plumb deceit

mumble excuses

mutter evasions

ebb with the tide

ebb

ebb

ebb

s c a t t e r e d

an island

~~~~

Here are the words and my poem for the fifteenth week of the 2019 Poetry Challenge.

It's always fun seeing what words people think up. Each week has been very different making this an inspiring challenge. It's so good to get out of the rut of words I use and be forced to think in new and different ways. Thank you to all the wonderful folks who've sent in words so far and a big thanks to @_heart_land_ for this week's fabulous words.

If you want to join the 2019 Poetry Challenge, head on over to my Instagram account (@indraniperera) where I post the words for the week on Mondays (mostly) in my story. Write a poem and post it. Be sure to tag me and use the hashtags #2019poetrychallenge and #livepoetsclub.

If you don't want to write a poem, you can still be part of the 2019 Poetry Challenge. Send me five random words and I'll use them in a poem. Either DM me on Instagram with the words or send me an email (indrani at indraniperera dot com).

Happy writing!

April 21, 2019
2019 Poetry Challenge – Week Fourteen

Week 14 words from @dave2718: swell, canyons, barrow, city, light.

the swell and crest of grief

rides through canyons of remorse and regret

made barren by pride and self righteous anger

I push the barrow laden with guilt and shame

towards the glittering glass city

reflected light searing my sorrow

~~~~

Here are the words and my poem for the fourteenth week of the 2019 Poetry Challenge.

When I look at my finished poems it often looks like I had the whole thing planned. I can see their beauty and how it all fits neatly together. It feels like it was already mapped out in my mind and all I had to do was put pen to paper. There's no sign of my wrestling with recalcitrant words or pinning ideas like butterflies on to the page. Sometimes poems come and flow from my brain and leap on to the page. Mostly though I have a couple of attempts at writing from the week's words. Delete phrases, ideas and whole poems then start over until I get something I'm happy to share.

If you want to join the 2019 Poetry Challenge, head on over to my Instagram account (@indraniperera) where I post the words for the week on Mondays (mostly) in my story. Write a poem and post it. Be sure to tag me and use the hashtags #2019poetrychallenge and #livepoetsclub.

If you don't want to write a poem, you can still be part of the 2019 Poetry Challenge. Send me five random words and I'll use them in a poem. Either DM me on Instagram with the words or send me an email (indrani at indraniperera dot com).

Happy writing!

April 16, 2019