Wednesday, April 15, 2015

Poets United Midweek Motif ~ Foolishness


“Shall we their fond pageant see?
Lord, what fools these mortals be!” 

― William ShakespeareA Midsummer Night's Dream


“Children and fools always speak the truth.” 
            ― Mark TwainOn the Decay of the Art of Lying

source

Midweek Motif ~ Foolishness

I skipped this theme during the USA April Fool's Day which seems more cruel than kind to me with its pranks and practical joking. But the motif is a good one for us humans who can look or act like fools or be "fools for" something.   

Challenge: 
Write a poem on human foolishness.  



BY WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS
I made my song a coat 
Covered with embroideries 
Out of old mythologies 
From heel to throat; 
But the fools caught it, 
Wore it in the world’s eyes 
As though they’d wrought it. 
Song, let them take it
For there’s more enterprise 
In walking naked.



BY BILLY COLLINS

You are so beautiful and I am a fool
 to be in love with you
 is a theme that keeps coming up
 in songs and poems. 

There seems to be no room for variation. 

I have never heard anyone sing
 I am so beautifu
l and you are a fool to be in love with me
, even though this notion has surely
 crossed the minds of women and men alike. 

You are so beautiful, too bad you are a fool 
is another one you don't hear. 

Or, you are a fool to consider me beautiful. 
. . . .  
(Read the rest HERE)
  

you are sucha fool

by ntozake shange

you are sucha fool/ i haveta love you 
you decide to give me a poem/ intent on it/ actually 
you pull/ kiss me from 125th to 72nd street/ on 
the east side/ no less 
you are sucha fool/ you gonna give me/ the poet/ 
the poem 
insistin on proletarian images/ we buy okra/ 
3 lbs for $1/ & a pair of 98 cent shoes 
we kiss 
we wrestle 
you make sure at east 110 street/ we have cognac 
no beer all day 
you are sucha fool/ you fall over my day like 
a wash of azure
. . . . 
 (Read the rest HERE)


~
For those who are new to Poets United: 
  • Post your enlightenment poem on your site, and then link it here.
  • Share only original and new work written for this challenge. 
  • If you use a picture include its link.  
  • Please leave a comment here and visit and comment on our poems.

(Our next Midweek Motif is "earthiness" or "our planet"--4/22 is Earth Day.)


Good luck to all of you who are writing a poem a day during April.  I am using prompts from Poetic Asides, NaPoWriMo, Magaly Guerrero  and Imaginary Garden with Real Toads.  We'd love to know if you are attempting the challenge.  Please share links to the sites you are using for prompts and community during the challenge.   
Thanks!  ~Susan for Poets United



Mister Linky's Magical Widgets -- Auto-Linky widget will appear right here!
This preview will disappear when the widget is displayed on your site.
If this widget does not appear, click here to display it.

31 comments:

  1. I am NEVER first. Must have been awake all night! Haha. Actually, I am debating whether to have my coffee or a nap first. And I'm looking forward to this day and week ending with Poets United.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I knew exactly what I wanted to write about when I saw this post. Was a fun one.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks. Your poem is fun, too, with a little sprinkle of regret.

      Delete
  3. Yay - well done on being first Susan - it can be satisfying can't it! Thank you for our foolishness we look forward to coming back to earth next week

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hey Jae! Actually, I was a little disappointed. But here you are and I'll be over very soon.

      Delete
  4. Wooohooo its wednesday again :D

    Hope you all like my poem..!!
    Lots of love,

    - Sanaa

    ReplyDelete
  5. Love the Billie Collins poem. Here's mine
    http://rallentanda.blogspot.com.au/2015/04/these-foolish-things.html
    Cannot link again !

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I got this message: " Your search - http://rallentanda.blogspot.com.au/2015/04/these-foolish-things.html - did not match any documents." Try again?

      Delete
  6. I greatly enjoyed writing to today's unique prompt Susan....

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Sumana. I think you might have pulled down the entire Western Romance tradition!

      Delete
  7. Didnt have to dig too deep for this one. My life has abounded with foolishness, I could write a book. In fact, I SHOULD. LOL. Someone already stole my title though: A Series of Unfortunate Events. Cackle.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It would not be foolish to write a book. Call it a series of fortunate incidents and llet the readers puzzle that one out! Thanks for playing, Sherry.

      Delete
  8. As someone said... 'Two things are Infinite: the Universe and Human Stupidity'. My poem depicts the stupid men that are and were and some others besides.... Smile.
    Thanks Susan for the wonderful prompt. Going to come back tomorrow to read the other contributions. Good Night!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you for your wisdom and art! See you later.

      Delete
  9. This was fun, Susan! I enjoyed the prompt.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. And, as you say, life is to short not to enjoy some fun in it. Thank you.

      Delete
  10. Hello everyone!

    Susan, thanks so much for this challenging prompt. I started writing very late Wednesday night, crossing over to very early Thursday morning. It's now almost 1:30 am, here, in Greece, and way past my bedtime! So, I'll say goodnight, rest my head, and begin my visits tomorrow!

    Wishing everyone a lovely evening,

    Poppy

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sweet dreams, Poppy. Thanks for your bit of foolihness. I look forward to seeing you tomorrow.

      Delete
  11. I'm bemoaning my own foolishness this time.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Self awareness can be transforming! Good to see you, Rosemary.

      Delete
  12. So much I could have written about - settled on youth and ageing...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Glad you did. Thouygh when you say Youth and Aging really fast, it sounds like euthanasia, and that has always thrown me a bit.

      Delete
  13. Susan,

    A superb prompt opportunity, which I loved considering; to be cruel, or to be kind!!
    Hope my offering is acceptable:)
    Thank you for hosting this valuable Poets United opportunity,
    Eileen

    ReplyDelete
  14. Joining in a bit late, decided to post one of my Light Hearted Fool Adventures..I'll be around to read..

    ReplyDelete
  15. I'm in with enlightenment and foolishness.

    Thanks for the fun prompts.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Double prompts from last week and this! Thank you, Gail.

      Delete
  16. Love this prompt!
    For Jae Rose: I can't seem to comment on your blog, but I love your writing.

    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