Indrani Perera

poet, publisher & mentor

Tag: live poets club

Poetry Challenge – Week Forty-Two

Week 42 words from @h.m.marie: sky, wall, light, melancholy and tomorrow.

tomorrow the light will shine

and I will relinquish this cloak of melancholy

yes, tomorrow the light will surely come

and melt this wall of ice around my heart

for tomorrow

tomorrow the birds will swoop and dart across the sky

tomorrow

tomorrow there will be no more sorrow

the sun will burst through the clouds

bathe my body in light

and I will dance

tomorrow

~~~~

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

I managed to squeeze in the writing of this poem on a road trip north to attend a Music, Nature and Storytelling camp in Hawks Nest. Serendipitously, the Poetry on the Move Festival 2019 was on last weekend in Canberra and on Saturday night I managed to catch Kei Miller, Katharine Coles, Judith Beveridge and Angelea Gardner at Smiths Alternative in Civic. It was wonderful to see Smith's bookshop living on in another incarnation. It was inspiring and amazing and I have so many ideas running around in my brain right now. Good poetry feeds the soul and it's everywhere!

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!

October 25, 2019
Poetry Challenge – Week Forty-One

Week 41 words from @waffle.irongirl: elder, mother, warrior, matriarch and elegant.

this elegant matriarch grips my hand fiercely

her fingers nobbly and twisted like tree roots

she gazes at me with kindly eyes

twinkling like light dancing on water

this warrior has always fought for her family

a mother to us all with her welcoming smile

she carries babes on her back with ease

and treads softly on the earth

for she is an elder of the land

~~~~

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

The words for this poem were on a poster sent to me by waffle.irongirl. The picture of the Aboriginal elder on the poster was a big influence on the poem. When I get words I like to play with them and take them to unexpected places. With this poem I tried to move away from the image on the poster but it kept drawing me back in, it was so compelling. Sometimes you just have to give in gracefully.

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!

October 18, 2019
Poetry Challenge – Week Forty

Week 40 words from @rowanw66: manometer, push, slyly, enigmatic and of.

step right up! step right up!

cried the enigmatic painted lady

are you man enough

to push the button

on this fine manometer

of impeccable design?

I'm sure

such a fine specimen

as you sir

she added slyly

will be fine

~~~~

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

I had a few ideas for this one swimming around in my brain but none of them felt good enough for a poem. It wasn't until I realised that part of the process is writing down all the ideas, especially the crappy ones, that I could start this week's poem. I especially love how @rowanw66 had 'of' as one of the words. It's easy to think of the spectacular words and forget all about the humble ones like 'with', 'to' and of course 'and'.

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!

October 11, 2019
Poetry Challenge – Week Thirty-Nine

Week 39 words from @katielohner: valid, assistance, private, blood and zoo.

I can't seek assistance

my feelings aren't valid

this blood I shed

comes

from a private hell

my emotions?

a zoo

~~~~

Here are the words and my poem for the thirty-ninth week of the 2019 Poetry Challenge.

Hmmm, the poems seem to be getting shorter and shorter. I’m not sure if this is a good thing. I've been trying to write longer spoken word style pieces. If I read this one out at an open night, it would be over in the blink of an eye! At least it neatly fits on one page with plenty of room to spare.

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!

October 4, 2019
Poetry Challenge – Week Thirty-Eight

Week 38 words from @treen_42: twisted, vision, responsibility, warmth and purple.

when I donned purple

I shed responsibility

and embraced

the warmth of liberation

my vision no longer

twisted by obligation

~~~~

Here are the words and my poem for the thirty-eighth week of the 2019 Poetry Challenge.

When I finally say down to write this poem, it didn't take too long to create because the words were already rumbling around in my subconscious. It did, however, take me a long time to pick up the pencil and start writing. I've been in my head so much lately, I took a mini break to make something with my hands.

I read so many blog posts and articles talking about writing as a job that you have to turn up to every day. As if creativity is a machine that has to be turned over regularly at the same time and in the same place. My creativity doesn't work that way. It comes and goes in fits and starts. One minute I'm all about eco-dyeing and the next, you can't stop me talking about poetry. As for regular times and places – I squeeze it in and around my daughters, snatching five minutes here and there when I can. If there's one thing I know, it's this – everyone's creative process is as unique as they are.

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!

September 27, 2019
Poetry Challenge – Week Thirty-Seven

Week 37 words from @libbysommer_author: cappuccino, coffee, cafe, newspaper and iphone.

it's been a long time

since I sat in a cafe

leisurely sipping my cappuccino

(aaah, sweet coffee)

and reading the newspaper

while I waited

for my big brekkie to arrive

now I find

stolen moments

for myself

hiding in the kitchen

from my kids

while I check messages

on my iphone

~~~~

Here are the words and my poem for the thirty-seventh week of the 2019 Poetry Challenge.

I have to admit, when I first read the words for this week I wasn't particularly inspired. They were so ordinary. And yet that is where their beauty lies. It's so easy to get caught up in the flash and fancy that we forget the value in the simple pleasures. Never take them for granted I say!

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!

September 20, 2019
Poetry Challenge – Week Thirty-Six

Week 36 words from @bsingamchow: natural, fluids, reminds, ambiguous and glitter.

There's a trigger warning for this week's poem around the theme of death.

his eyes are glazed, staring at nothing

the fluids leak from his small furry body

wrapped in a towel and held in loving arms

while we laugh and weep and tell stories

the primal howl, eerie and haunted

five minutes before he dies

a last effort from his body

to cling to life and to us

his natural death reminds us

of frailty and inevitability

while we cling, ambiguous

to all the glitter

falling from our eyes

~~~~

Here are the words and my poem for the thirty-sixth week of the 2019 Poetry Challenge.

I wasn't sure about posting this poem. It deals with a mostly taboo topic in our culture – death. I'm not intending to offend or confront anyone with my words. However, I wanted to publish it because we don't talk about death. We don't know how to deal with death. We don't know how to explain it to our children. We don't know how to nurse the terminally ill or care for our selves in the sundering and the grieving. I don't have any answers, all I have is my experience and this poem.

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!

September 13, 2019
Poetry Challenge – Week Thirty-Five

Week 35 words from @poetpre: dazzling, mirror, oasis, constellation and reconnaissance.

the sunlight shimmers

on the surface of the mirage

a dazzling mirror of life

reflecting all you've hidden

– no oasis here

in her eyes reflected

a constellation

yet to be mapped

by a human reconnaissance

~~~~

Here are the words and my poem for the thirty-fifth week of the 2019 Poetry Challenge.

This poem wrote itself. It happens sometimes – the words come and I write them down, a conduit for inspiration and ideas. I'm not sure what it means, I leave that up to you to decipher and decide. This one was a gift and I for one am not questioning my muse or counting horse's teeth. I advise you to do the same should you ever find yourself in my position.

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!

September 6, 2019
Poetry Challenge – Week Thirty-Four

Week 34 words from @thabani.tshuma: fever, dichotomy, warlock, evergreen and drywall.

if I was a wizard or a warlock

with spells shooting from my fingers

I would vanquish my doubts

and slay my demons

in a shower of sparks

instead I stack my insecurities

stone by stone to create

a drywall around my anger

and in the centre I plant

a tree, evergreen

is it a dichotomy to cultivate hope

in a paddock fenced with fear?

no.

it's an impossibility

~~~~

Here are the words and my poem for the thirty-fourth week of the 2019 Poetry Challenge.

I think this week's challenge was the hardest one yet. As soon as I read the word, dichotomy, I freaked out. I'm not sure what the opposite of anticipation is (dread maybe?) but whatever it is, I had it in spades. To me anticipation is a pleasurable event. Rather than anticipate the writing of this poem, I was actively avoiding it!

In hindsight the freaking out was the hardest part. It's so true for a lot of things in life – the dread is most often far worse then the actual event. Actually writing the poem was on a par with writing all the others for the challenge. The process of playing with words, connecting with emotions and trying to communicate meaning remained the same. Big thanks for Thabani for throwing me such a curveball and shaking things up!

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!

August 30, 2019
Poetry Challenge – Week Thirty-Three

Week 33 words from @emiliecollyer: cinnamon, ache, yesterday, fossil and tongue.

I've papered over the ache

with distractions and distance

sunshine searing my cinnamon skin

humidity gulping my moisture

I'm leagues from home

but the glue is still wet

and the discordance of yesterday

bubbles to the surface

I bury my grief deep in the sand

to harden and turn into a fossil

but it's sharp and spiky

and stabs me in the foot

with the spines of a sea urchin

salt on my tongue

~~~~

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

It's been an eventful couple of weeks here in the tropical island paradise of Bali. Like all holidays, it hasn't quite gone according to plan and an extremely bad case of sunburn hampered my goal of having a massage every second day. However, these are minor inconveniences when you consider I am oceans from home and soaking up the sun instead of hugging the heater. And at least I managed to fit it into my poem!

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!

August 23, 2019