Wednesday, July 9, 2014

Poets United Midweek Motif ~ The Key



This kid may be the key not just to all human potential, but to all spiritual unexplained paranormal phenomena.  
The key to everything in The X-Files.
Chris Carter, in The X-Files episode "The End" [5.20] (17 May 1998) Mulder to Scully
We receive His peace when we ask Him for it.
We keep His peace by extending it to others.
Those are the keys and there are no others.

Key signature A major /F minor



Midweek Motif ~ The Key

Keys in movies that find their locks, 
Keys in cryptography that are the codes, 
Keys to life and 
Keys to heaven:
Keys are real or magical or symbolic.

Your challenge is to write a poem in which your narrator either gives or asks for a key.
What does the Key open?


Three Poetic Inspirations: 

Listen, children:
Your father is dead.
From his old coats
I'll make you little jackets;
I'll make you little trousers
From his old pants.
There'll be in his pockets
Things he used to put there,
Keys and pennies
Covered with tobacco;
Dan shall have the pennies
To save in his bank;
Anne shall have the keys
To make a pretty noise with.
Life must go on,
And the dead be forgotten;
Life must go on,
Though good men die;
Anne, eat your breakfast;
Dan, take your medicine;
Life must go on;
I forget just why.


TRANSLATED FROM THE ESTONIAN BY H.L. HIX & JÜRI TALVET

It must be somewhere, the original harmony,
somewhere in great nature, hidden.
Is it in the furious infinite,
in distant stars’ orbits,
is it in the sun’s scorn,
in a tiny flower, in treegossip,
in heartmusic’s mothersong
or in tears?
It must be somewhere, immortality,
somewhere the original harmony must be found:
how else could it infuse
the human soul,
that music?


The Past

The debt is paid,
The verdict said,
The Furies laid,
The plague is stayed,
All fortunes made;
Turn the key and bolt the door,
Sweet is death forevermore.
Nor haughty hope, nor swart chagrin,
Nor murdering hate, can enter in.
All is now secure and fast;
Not the gods can shake the Past;
Flies-to the adamantine door
Bolted down forevermore.
None can re-enter there,—
No thief so politic,
No Satan with a royal trick
Steal in by window, chink, or hole,
To bind or unbind, add what lacked,
Insert a leaf, or forge a name,
New-face or finish what is packed,
Alter or mend eternal Fact.

~

 Please:  
1.      Post your Key Motif poem on your site, and then link it here.
2.      Share only original and new work written for this challenge. 
3.      Leave a comment here.
4.      Honor our community by visiting and commenting on others' poems.


(Next Week's Midweek Motif will be Snakes)


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31 comments:

  1. Thank you for another Wednesday word and theme..Alice swallowed the key I think ;)

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    1. Ha ha - no surprise, Jae. That sounds like something Alice would do! Smiles.

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    2. You are very welcome! I love how Alice nibbles everything like a one-year old.

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  2. Good morning Susan and Jae,
    The Tour de France is just entering the cobbled zone. I'll be back in the commercials to visit and applaud :-)
    Meanwhile, thanks for the prompt and this lovely post.

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    1. You are very welcome jo-hanna! Thanks too for the picture of your day.

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  3. Another interesting prompt, Susan! Thank you.

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    1. Thanks, Mary. I am running late with my own work because it's been an extraordinary 4th of July weekend. But I've found a key or two ...

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  4. A favorite theme for me. I included with my poem a very short story I wrote years ago for children.
    Thanks again for another fine inspiration Susan

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  5. Thanks for the lovely prompt Susan ~

    Have a good day everyone ~

    Grace

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    Replies
    1. You are very welcome. Today started out beautifully thanks to poems with my coffee. Thank you.

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  6. will see what i can do for later today...
    best 'key' poem i know is Labeling Keys by Taylor Mali

    http://viralverse.net/wordpress/?p=1150

    if the link doesnt work, just google it...i cant tell because of hte filters here at school....

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    1. Oh the link worked! Thank you. I hope everyone watches this short video, which had me laughing by "the farm in Kansas" and rolling on the floor bu the time Mali compared his and his brother's imagination with the father's!

      Looking forward to your return later today. I haven't written my poem yet, as I am just recovering from a weekend with family.

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    2. mine is written, but i have a rather busy day --- last day of SOL testing at summer school so I am unsure when I will get out of here...so I will wait and post around dinner time...and be around to do some visiting...

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    3. Thank you for this brilliant and calm and tiptoeing and shouting poem. See you later.

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  7. I wrote this poem in 2012... But i think it fits the theme... thank you Susan!!

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    1. You are welcome, Arushi. Note that you have through Saturday to write something new.

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  8. I finally finished mine, working on coffee alone. Now, I think I have earned lunch! Raisin and walnut bread and cheese sandwich with a side of raspberry yogurt and an apple. Yum.

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    1. the raisin and walnut bread sounds nice...and interesting mix with cheese...ha...have a great eve susan

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  9. I wrote about a colleague of mine who was an Alzheimer's patient and passed away a couple of years ago...Key took me to her...thanks Susan for the prompt and I'll visit others in the morning as it's already past midnight.. :)

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  10. Intriguing prompt!
    Mine is up at: http://purplepeninportland.wordpress.com/2014/07/10/the-green-key/

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  11. Ah, Google ate my comment? Just wanted to say hi and ths for inspiring prompt, Susan! "Music" my faves, planned to write about music and keys but ended up with something philosophy/spiritual type poem.

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    1. Thanks for revisiting. Your poem is so welcome! I, too, have been using theatre to unravel mystery.

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    2. You are very welcome. I enjoy your theatrical approach to mystery. If you have time, check this out: http://susanspoetry.blogspot.com/2014/07/the-theatre-of-god.html

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  12. so sorry for posting my poem so late. I've gone through all of this week's motif poems and am quite impressed and marveled by the creativity, the intelligence, and the talents of everyone! please stop by my blog to read mine and comment. I think I've commented on everyone's work. :) thank you Susan and everyone!!!

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  13. My computer just recovered today. Wish I could say that about my talent. I gave it a shot. I think I'm too tired to write well.

    Thank you for this great opportunity.

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    1. You are very welcome. Thank you for your poem.

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  14. Bye, Poets United. Post the rest in our pantry tomorrow if you'd like. See you here Wednesday the 16th for World Snake Day.

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  15. I'm late but I'll link to the Pantry!

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