2018 Nov PAD Chapbook Challenge Day 13- ‘The Writer’s Voice’

Day 13’s prompt: Write a quiet poem, or a loud poem

My resulting poem leans towards the former, but hints at the latter as well – in a writerly way, of course. Enjoy…

‘The Writer’s Voice’

The writer is quiet
During the toil of the day,
Silently observing us all
And no doubt judging too
As he methodically stores
Our quirks and queer words
For potential character work.

These muted perceptions
Are then let loose
As the writer retires home
And are morphed into stories,
Into a world of his own rules,
Controlling destinies long into the night,
The power coursing through as he writes.

This is his true voice,
The one he keeps concealed,
For he considers words wasted
If so carelessly exclaimed
And thrown into the fleeting air,
But if set on the sanctity of the page,
They shall endure for a future age.

Last year’s poem for Day 13: ‘Sapphire City’

Like this poem? Read more in my first poetry collection, ‘The Awakening’, avaliable NOW!

Paperback – https://www.amazon.co.uk/Awakening-Selection-Poems-Stuart-Peacock/dp/1911476335

eBook-: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B017BZBH6M</a

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2018 Nov PAD Chapbook Challenge Day 12 – ‘Master of Supposed Disaster’

Day 12’s prompt: Write a ‘disaster’ poem

‘Master of Supposed Disaster’

I’m the undisputed master
Of foolishly and prematurely
Declaring complete disaster
Over piddling trivialities.

Count on me to overthink
How I’m nervously interacting
With the scrutinising public
(And in no way overreacting!)

If I slip and say the wrong thing
They’ll hate and ridicule relentlessly
There’s no point in living
If it’s burned in their memory!

I’ll play it over in my head
Punishing myself again and again
As I toss and turn in my bed,
Torturing my tired old brain.

And then when I awake
Worry does its work on me
As life’s little problems inflate
To incredible catastrophes.

There’ll be no tidy resolution
To these terrible happenings
The only sensible solution
Is obviously senseless panicking!

Take it from me, the expert
In creating terror from thin air
And a world of needless hurt
For myself and others who care.

Last year’s poem for Day 12: ‘This Life TBD’

Like this poem? Read more in my first poetry collection, ‘The Awakening’, avaliable NOW!

Paperback – https://www.amazon.co.uk/Awakening-Selection-Poems-Stuart-Peacock/dp/1911476335

eBook-: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B017BZBH6M</a

2018 Nov PAD Chapbook Challenge Day 11 – ‘Forgive Yourself First’

Day 11’s prompt: Write a ‘forgiveness’ poem

I decided to take the suggestion of writing this as a response to Day 4’s poem, which was an ‘apology’ poem. I always find it interesting to write these ‘response’ poems – quite surreal as well as a writer, responding to your own words…at any rate, hope you enjoy – and that it might convince you to ease up if you’ve been hard on yourself lately…

‘Forgive Yourself First’

Apologies are all well and good
For the inner turmoil
I already know
To be out of your control,
But it will surely mean nothing
If you can’t find it within you
To forgive yourself as well.

I know those words were not you
Before you sheepishly told me so,
Because I know you are a timid soul
Simply left weary by the world.
I have known the beast you speak of,
As we all have, at one time or another
Whether we admit to it or not.

Some just put on a braver face
Or stubbornly deny it is there
Until the pain and sorrow
Becomes more than they can bear.
But you can hide nothing from me,
Your attempts to conceal are betrayed
By your unwavering kindness and honesty.

I already know you are not to blame,
And your gratitude to me is in vain;
I only do what I need to
To soften each day for you;
So don’t waste apologies on me,
Forgive yourself first
To finally lift the dark beast’s curse.

Last year’s poem for Day 11: ‘Left out of Luck’

Like this poem? Read more in my first poetry collection, ‘The Awakening’, avaliable NOW!

Paperback – https://www.amazon.co.uk/Awakening-Selection-Poems-Stuart-Peacock/dp/1911476335

eBook-: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B017BZBH6M</a

2018 Nov PAD Chapbook Challenge Day 10 – ‘Reparations for my Teenage Self’

Day 10’s prompt: Write a ‘teenage’ poem

‘Reparations for my Teenage Self’

I think back to when I was a teen
And what a pain in the arse
I must have been
To my ever patient parents
Given the thankless task
Of tensely predicting
Which thunderous mood I’d be in.

I’d either talk back or irritably snap
To the tiniest or reasonable requests,
Or else seal myself upstairs
With barely a grunt exchanged
Between us, or else loudly proclaim
How bloody unfair it all was
Despite having food and a roof over my head.

If challenged or called out upon
The best response I could muster
Was a sneering, derisive ‘Whatever’,
Quickly becoming my answer for everything,
Or if this proved insufficient
I’d resort to childish swearing
Not knowing the impact of my words.

Thankfully with age we see sense
And drop the veil of contempt,
Always just a flimsy disguise
To hide the angst and confusion inside,
When we know better we regret
The sharp words fired at that awkward age
And replace them with belated love.

Last year’s prompt for Day 10: ‘Nameless Roads’

Like this poem? Read more in my first poetry collection, ‘The Awakening’, avaliable NOW!

Paperback – https://www.amazon.co.uk/Awakening-Selection-Poems-Stuart-Peacock/dp/1911476335

eBook-: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B017BZBH6M</a

2018 Nov PAD Chapbook Challenge Day 9 – ‘Burn the Words’

Day 9’s prompt: Take the phrase “Burn (blank),” replace the blank with a word or phrase, make the new phrase the title of your poem, and then, write your poem

Burn the Words

Burn the words
That define who you once were,
Which no longer make sense
To your supposedly matured self,
Throw them into the flames
So that they are never seen again –
Or at least, not the same.

For even words brazenly burned
May yet still return,
From blackened paper they may rise
Defiantly from the ashes
And in an act of writerly witchcraft
They shall be reborn and reassembled
Into the phoenix known as the Second Draft.

Last year’s poem for Day 9: ‘Say Something If You’re There’

Like this poem? Read more in my first poetry collection, ‘The Awakening’, avaliable NOW!

Paperback – https://www.amazon.co.uk/Awakening-Selection-Poems-Stuart-Peacock/dp/1911476335

eBook-: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B017BZBH6M</a

2018 Nov PAD Chapbook Challenge Day 8 – ‘The Long Game’

Day 8’s prompt: Write a poem that ‘hints at something’

I quite enjoyed writing a poem with the idea of it constantly ‘beating around the bush’ and not really answering anything – but I hope it has a deeper message as well about chasing answers and meaning…enjoy and ponder…

‘The Long Game’

This is all building
Towards something big,
To some pivotal event
Beyond current understanding,
But once all the pieces fit
And the unwitting players
Inevitably come together
The deeper meaning
Will surely become clear,
But the journey must complete
Before the climax is reached,
That is just the nature of things,
Our lives are spent waiting
For the next or ultimate happening,
So consumed by this we fail to realise
The existence before our very eyes,
Such is the failure of those fixated
On answers and solutions yet to be stated,
For first they must be pondered and calculated
By the us standing here and now,
Only then will it be, that we will know
The ever elusive meaning
That we spend our days chasing
And possibly even find the peace
That finality and resolution bring,
If only we’d just stop and think
About the current situation
We’d know tranquil satisfaction
And resist the overwhelming need
For this cursed, instant gratification.

Last year’s poem for Day 8: ‘Sticky Notes’ – and if after that you fancy something lighter check out this cheeky one my twisted mind came up with last year…

Like this poem? Read more in my first poetry collection, ‘The Awakening’, avaliable NOW!

Paperback – https://www.amazon.co.uk/Awakening-Selection-Poems-Stuart-Peacock/dp/1911476335

eBook-: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B017BZBH6M</a

2018 Nov PAD Chapbook Challenge Day 7 – ‘Estelle the Ethical Hacker’

Day 7’s prompt: Write a poem with an occupation as the title/within the title 

So for this one I had a look at the link provided of ‘The 21 Most Creative Job Titles’ – and the idea of ‘ethical hacking’ intrigued and slightly tickled me – so I ended up creating this character out of it and writing a poem about her, with a comical edge to it. And ‘Estelle the Ethical Hacker’ rolls quite nicely off the tongue, don’t you think?

Anyway, hope you enjoy her story – read on…

WARNING: Slightly adult content in the penultimate verse!