100 Word Challenge #36

An important date

What was the rabbit late for, wondered Alice as she fell

Four thousand miles and then some

This was the strangest well

On down a long dark passage, with the rabbit still ahead

“Oh my ears and whiskers, I’ll be late” she thought he said

Would you follow down the rabbit hole?

Help paint the rose’s red?

Have a party with the hatter?

Watch a cat stand on its head?

Would you ‘eat me’ big or ‘drink me’ small

We can’t be late for tea

What a wondrous adventure with young Alice that would be

100 Word Challenge #35

Temptation

Like a madness it called in the inky black night

Casting shadows of doubt in the innocent light

It tempted Pandora, inviting her in
With the lure and desire of corruption and sin

But Pandora was strong and resisted its hold

She knew much of its evil the stories foretold
Digging deep in her soul she would fight it they say

As it wrenched at her heart when she pushed it away

So beware the red box and its secret within

With it’s pretty gold edges and velvet blood skin

100 Word Challenge #34

Ok, so the answer to being late with #33 is to be insanely early with #34 and hope all the buttons I press get this published in the right place at the right time.

…but I turned it off….

It grew like a spark, just a glimmer of light

Exciting and hot as it burned through the night

It was wrong but it gave an electrical high

So I never looked back, and I never asked why

And the feeling was good, its powerful embrace

Reached deep in my heart to its loneliest place

And the power reserves I had stored up inside

Slowly drained with the anger, the pain and the pride

My addiction to X-Box was causing such pain

..but I turned it off and now I've freedom again!!

© Andrea Payne 2011 

100 Word Challenge #33

Well this is my first ever entry into the 100 Word Challenge and typically I finished it too late. Must try harder next time :-) Hope you like it. If you do just leave a comment! Thanks.

A truly cosmopolitan filly

From far off shores you washed our way

A foreigner in parts some say

But via which shore and by what route

Where did you grow and first take root

A leg from Spain a tail from Chilli

A thoroughly cosmopolitan filly

From ancient oak and olive tree

You raced to us by stream and sea

On through storms and battering rain

So wild once and now yet tame

You’ve travelled far to our green lands

Created by artistic hands

The race is won, it’s time to rest

On the shores of Eden, Cornwall South West

Life

Is this all there is? Is this life for me?

Seeking acceptance through supremacy

Pushing the boundaries, aiming so high

While deep inside feeling I'm living a lie

They crowd me with worry

(I'm faulty you see)

While they prod and they poke and they analyse me

They say the right words

They use the right tone

But I feel like I shoulder the weight on my own

Do I need to be perfect?

Do I need to fit in?

Will they like me as much if I try not to win?

If I don't win first prize

Or I fail to impress

Will they all turn their backs and love me much less?

I'm confused and I'm angry, depressed and in doubt

They can't fix me with words

They can't figure me out

Do I disappoint them with my self expectation

Or that all won't be well, with some grand revelation

Well I might not be quite.... who I hoped I would be

But I'll get there one day.. I'll be proud of me

It's a bumpy old road

But the bumps make you strong

And one day I'll see how far I've come along

That the man in the mirror has a friendlier face

Who knows life isn't all about winning the race

He'll smile back at me..

Stand his ground and walk tall

Having won the most challenging contest of ALL!!!!

© Andrea Payne 2011

Ho hum

They’re all watching me and in truth so would I

Why does this girl on the train sit and cry
Why do her tears roll down from her shades
She’s hiding the sadness in the hope the pain fades
Her tissues are wet and the ends of her hair
This was clearly too much for this girl to bare
Yet silently sits with the tears on her face
What on this earth did she do to deserve such disgrace

Is this all there is? she wonders in doubt
Is this worthless existence really all I’m about?
My drawings are meaningless verses ignored
My family and colleagues seem nothing but bored!!

So what is there left for an artist and writer
Who once stood her ground who once was a fighter
Too trusting and gullible now on probation
Struck down by rumour and false accusation

So thanks to the people who nailed down my fate
To the abuse I received to the nights I stayed late
To the care that I took to the deadlines I made
To the loyalty, commitment and care I displayed
You did me a favour as I finally see
The people I worked with didn’t care about me
And so my advice to the follower on
Remember the reasons they wanted me gone!!!

© Andrea Payne 2011

Claustrophobia

It's oppressive and consuming, not a hint of cool fresh air,
You're so hot your blood is boiling, makes no difference what you wear

Trapped tight down in this oven, going deeper underground
With shallow breath and eyes shut tight, your heart begins to pound

You dare not look or budge an inch, you must control your fear
You must stay calm convince yourself, things aren't as they appear

An inch of space beyond your face is all you've left to breathe
But still you're forced in tighter as the people shove and squeeze

Just minutes left (you tell yourself)
We''ll be there soon for sure 
Please hurry god ... I'm begging ... I can't take this anymore ... 

But fate's not kind to those who beg, the train slows to a halt
And so, I'm stuck (one inch of space) 
Buried deep down in this vault

Seconds tick in silence as panic starts to rise 
I must get out, I must get out 
My every fiber cries 

There no way out, I'm trapped down here, the space is closing in.
I can't get out, I must stay calm. The train will soon begin. 

Boxed by people left and right, fighting hard for breath
Heartbeat breaking through my chest, is this to be my death?

Think of something, sing a song (I hear my conscious say)
Lyrics, pictures, anything.....what's in the news today?

I loose my grip and focus, a scream begins to rise 
The hand of suffocation tightens sealing my demise

The tube begins at last ... I sigh 
Relieved to leave the train
Control was mine for one more day 
in 24 hours .. I do it all again 

© Andrea Payne 1991 and 2011

Regrets

"Never again", I said once more 
As I slid down the tiles to the bathroom floor

"Never again", I murmured and spat
Coughing up remnants of this and of that.

Then deep in the pit of my stomach - a squelch
In rumbles and gurgles there came a great 'belch'

So climbing back up to the toilet seat rim
Preparing for seconds of Vodka and Gin

Of Bacardi and Coke, of a double John Walker,
The pint of Martini and Black was a corker!

The three Bloody Mary's, the Stella and Lime
The fifth was a struggle, so why drink all nine

The Vodka and Tonic, that horrible Stout
The Tequila and Custard was nice I've no doubt

The fine Chardonnay with the really long name
On it's way down the toilet still tasted the same

The Kronenberg Top with the gherkins thrown in
And the really nice pizza I found in the bin

The Mad Dog near killed me, the Thunderbird too
But the Snake-Bite was worse, now I'm stuck in the loo

Chucking up Punch and bits of baked beans
Does anyone know what puking blood means?

God I feel awful I think I will die.....
But I'll have one more drink, then I'll say goodbye !!! 

© Andrea Payne 1991 & 2011

Poetry must rhyme I tell you....

This poetry I must admit has left me quite perplexed
As I read it I see nothing but assorted lines of text
Being taught a little different by my father who instructed
That poetry was meant to rhyme or else not be constructed.. 

Yet, I can't help but wonder what had come of this fine rule
Creating lines of poetry without this useful tool
It seems this style of writing has long since been mislaid
Words no longer flow as lines, rhythm seems to fade

And what of days past long ago, when lines of similar sound
Were used to tell great stories, of heroes homeward bound
With structure in their verses, well thought out with a title
To enlighten every reader giving cause for grand recital

For a poem it is not if it lacks a basic rhyme
Like a song without it's notes, or a beat without it's time
As though the very sun could shine without it's heat
As verse that doesn't rhyme simply wouldn't be complete!!!

© Andrea Payne 1991 and 2011