Wednesday, October 19, 2016

Poets United Midweek Motif ~ Conversation




Figures in conversation.jpeg
Leslie Hunter's Figures in conversation, Étaples, 1914

“Conversation should be like juggling; up go the balls and plates, up and over, in and out, good solid objects that glitter in the footlights and fall with a bang if you miss them.” 
― Evelyn Waugh

“And once again, only the Small Things were said. 
The Big Things lurked unsaid inside.” 
 Arundhati Roy


 He Comes for Conversation


"Among the Igbo the art of conversation is regarded 
very highly, and proverbs are the palm-oil 
with which words are eaten.”      

"The telephone, which interrupts the most serious conversations and cuts short the most weighty
observations, has a romance of its own." 


Midweek Motif ~ Conversation



The thing about conversation 
is that no one can do it alone.

I prefer one-on-one, but have had some stunning group conversations.

How about you?


Your Challenge: Write a new poem with conversation in it OR about conversation(s).



   
The Dangling Conversation



by Shel Silverstein

Said the little boy, ‘Sometimes I drop my spoon.’
Said the little old man, ‘I do that too.’
The little boy whispered, ‘I wet my pants.’
‘I do that too,’ laughed the little old man.
Said the little boy, ‘I often cry.’
The old man nodded, ‘So do I.’
‘But worse of all,’ said the boy, ‘it seems
Grown-ups don’t pay attention to me.’
And he felt the warmth of a wrinkled old hand.
‘I know what you mean,’ said the old man.
#


Excerpt from The Mango
. . . 
After salmon and salads,
mangoes for everyone appeared on blue plates,
each one cut in half and scored
and shoved forward from its rind, like an orange flower,
cubist and juicy.
When I began to eat
things happened.
All through the sweetness I heard voices,
men and women talking about something—
another country, and trouble.
It wasn’t my language, but I understood enough.
Jungles, and death. The ships
leaving the harbors, their holds
filled with mangoes.
Children, brushing the flies away
from their hot faces
as they worked in the fields.
Men, and guns.
The voices all ran together
so that I tasted them in the taste of the mango,
a sharp gravel in the flesh.
Later, in the kitchen, I saw the stones
like torn-out tongues
embedded in the honeyed centers.
They were talking among themselves—
family news,
a few lines of a song

(Read the rest HERE)
#



by Wole Soyinka


The price seemed reasonable, location

Indifferent. The landlady swore she lived
Off premises. Nothing remained
But self-confession. "Madam," I warned,
"I hate a wasted journey—I am African."
Silence. Silenced transmission of
Pressurized good-breeding. Voice, when it came,
Lipstick coated, long gold rolled
Cigarette-holder pipped. Caught I was foully.
"HOW DARK?" . . . I had not misheard . . . "ARE YOU LIGHT
OR VERY DARK?" Button B, Button A.* Stench
Of rancid breath of public hide-and-speak.
Red booth. Red pillar box. Red double-tiered
Omnibus squelching tar. It was real! Shamed
By ill-mannered silence, surrender
Pushed dumbfounded to beg simplification.
Considerate she was, varying the emphasis--
"ARE YOU DARK? OR VERY LIGHT?" Revelation came.
"You mean--like plain or milk chocolate?"
Her assent was clinical, crushing in its light
Impersonality.
 . . . .
(Read the rest HERE.)
#

Please share your new poem using Mr. Linky below 
and visit others in the spirit of the community.


(Next week Susan's Midweek Motif will be ~ Neutrality / Objectivity )




12 comments:

  1. Looking forward to all our conversations today!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank you for the invitation to a little repartee...

    ReplyDelete
  3. Good morning, Poets United! Already good conversation surrounds me and my coffee. Love it! Keep on talking.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi ho, I wrote fruity poem, LOL.......but the possibilities were ENDLESS!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hey everyone,

    Hope you are having an amazing day so far❤️ sharing my poem "Conversations of the Heart" Thank you Susan for the wonderful opportunity ❤️


    Lots of love,
    Sanaa

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hi Everyone!!Feels good to come back to PU always :) A busy festive season kept me away from blogging. I wrote this piece today for the prompt. Thanks Susan for giving us the opportunity to think n write on this interesting subject.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Susan, this really, really is a good topic. I find that there are fewer and fewer real conversations being held. Maybe it is just me, but it seems there is more and more 'chat.' Thank you for always coming up with interesting and challenging topics for us to respond to!

    ReplyDelete
  8. So glad to have made it to Midweek Motif this week! I look forward to visiting everyone. It will probably be tomorrow, but I will be there then. Thank you Susan for a wonderful prompt!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Thank you, poets, for making this prompt most enjoyable and creative!

    I just did my 3 hours phone banking for Hillary volunteers at the local Dem. Office. I do this Wednesdays and Thursdays and will volunteer election day as well. Now to stock up on poetry before turning on the last presidential debate in the USA. I hope they deal with issues not nastiness!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Good evening, Poetry Pantry Poets!

    Greetings from Toronto, Canada!

    I've been absent for quite a while; it's been a challenging and overwhelming year and a half, but I have just recently found the energy and time to write again, and I'm so very happy to be here today.

    Thanks Susan, for the wonderful prompt and accompanying inspiration. I especially am enchanted with Leslie Hunter's observations!

    Looking forward to visiting everyone as soon as I can.

    Happy Thursday,
    Poppy

    ReplyDelete
  11. Great prompt and again what a fantastic poems you choose to share Thanks for this wonderful opportunity as well

    ReplyDelete
  12. luv the art, the videos, the samples, and the dare; Thanks Susan

    much love...

    ReplyDelete

This community is not meant to be used in a negative manner. We ask that you be respectful of all the people on this site as each individual writer is entitled to their own opinion, style, and path to creativity.

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.

Blog Archive

Followers