We’re coming to the end of our love song. The sounds and various effects we use to express them will serve us in our future pursuits of poetry.
Twice a year when the poetry challenges come around, we know there will be a Tuesday dedicated to either love poems and “anti-love” poems. These opposite poles of romantic magnetism have a distinct “sound” all their own.
As we’ve explored, the lilting music of love has a quality that placates our hearts and touches souls. But the edgy, almost angry or angst filled sense of this “dark side” of love has a certain timber to it. The sound is more driven by the emotion. Jealousy, paranoia, uncertainty and self-doubt all come off sounding different from one another.
So, to close out February and to silence the sounds of love, develop some of those dreaded “anti-love” poems.
Phoenix Rising Poetry Guild 
Over It
Cold as the floe floating free
hard as the granite on bleak tor
could the warmth of the sun or
time’s eroding constant plea
turn your heart back to me?
And if so, I’d toss my head in distain
I’d never deign be such a fool again.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Love the images in the opening lines.
LikeLike
Thanks so much
LikeLike
this is great…esp. love ‘time’s eroding constant plea’.wow!
LikeLike
Thank you, Janet
LikeLike
Yes! The same phrase struck me most as well. You make me FEEL it, Debi. Excellent work.
LikeLiked by 1 person
What a way to ask a question and answer it– powerful
LikeLiked by 1 person
This reminds me of an old cartoon series, the “perfect squelch.”
LikeLike
I had to look that up. Thanks William, I’m flattered.
LikeLike
This holds a classic feel to me…I like it, Debi and especially the question within and then the answer. Excellent!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Once bitten twice shy ? Well-expressed.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Raw, hard emotion in this one. Well done!
LikeLiked by 1 person
on a one-way street
hate’s one step away from love
point of no return
LikeLiked by 3 people
So true, Sasha
LikeLike
Thank you, Debi.
LikeLike
everything packed
in three
explosive lines!
LikeLike
This one really pops!
LikeLike
Ohh … so much said in so few.
LikeLike
Much said in point of no return-
LikeLike
Bingo!
LikeLike
True story!
LikeLike
Great start ladies! Just finished snow blowing the drives. There is no love lost on this never ending winter. This prompt came at a good time! Carry on, poets!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Seems like everyone’s shoveling or snow blowing. Even Baltimore got about a foot yesterday – hurray! It’s already melting, though..
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ugh. Hang in there, Walt!
LikeLike
You say you love her
But the only one you love
Loves only himself
LikeLiked by 2 people
I knew a fellow like that. He was faithful only to himself.
LikeLike
I like the ‘pronoun twist’ – mirrors this twisted kind of love well.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Wow. Your use of “himself” instead of “yourself” adds a karate chop. Wonderful.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I love how this reads riddle-like, Marie! Excellent work!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks you guys! 🙂
LikeLike
yes! what they said…it’s that surprise twist that makes it outstanding!
LikeLike
Well said, Marie.
LikeLike
Winter’s Pain
Sounds in snow blowers
Drilling frozen heartbeat splish slosh
High pitched emissions
LikeLiked by 3 people
We can relate, Priti!
LikeLike
Send some of your snow south 🙂 Yesterday my kids were able to build a snowman for the first time this winter. Everybody was getting snow, but us.
Hang in there, spring is coming!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Sasha, really??!! 🙂
LikeLike
Fascinating. Never would’ve thought those things even cared.
LikeLike
I enjoy the sound play, especially between pitched/emission.
LikeLike
Hear! Hear!! but oh, the lovely love that thinks of those coming and going;)
LikeLike
Here, too!
LikeLike
Chucked It All, Except Your Hat
It could’ve been a lifetime, ours.
Forever to love, an ivory tower.
But we held too keen our own. Stood
on corners. Blind as trees are to woods.
Stood too stubborn, refused to show
our feelings. Us. Lonely as a prairie road.
So here I sit where you once sat,
by the way … I
chucked all your things, but kept your hat.
And you never said, and I’ll never tell,
why our lives to pieces fell.
© MB 2014,
LikeLiked by 2 people
For me, this is deeply moving, especially the line, “Lonely as a prairie road.”
LikeLiked by 1 person
Love the reverse order you employed in the closing lines, Misky.
LikeLiked by 1 person
“Blind as trees are to woods.” Love that line. (Why’d you keep his hat?)
LikeLike
Wonderful work as always, Misk. I am wondering the same thing as Debi here. Interesting.
LikeLike
Stunning…every time i thought the line sucker-punched then came the follow-up and surprise ending.
LikeLike
Great imagery all the way through, but I love, ‘blind as trees are to woods.’
LikeLike
Just a twist on an old familiar saying, Sara.
LikeLiked by 1 person
AFTERMATH
Hardened hearts host hate
in congealed pools
that love cannot abate;
hardened hearts host hate
and cast caring to fate
and the fulminations of fools.
Hardened hearts host hate
in congealed pools.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Excellent way to bring in the sound devices, William and your closing line is spot-on…so true, the repetition of that line brings the emotion to a powerful point as well.
LikeLike
“and the fulminations of fools.” I like that. Strong feeling and repetition effective.
LikeLike
Your words lend an eerie, “icky” feel … completely appropriate and effective. Nice!
LikeLike
every.single.line.stellar!
LikeLike
I love this, William. All the word choices are perfect.
LikeLike
[…] THE SOUND OF LOVE: THE SOUND IN EMOTION-develop some of those dreaded “anti-love” […]
LikeLike
Tanka Welling
Pit sits lodged firmly
a pithy seed of sadness
tears will set it free,
forgiveness will begin growth –
heart of hatred will transform.
Copyright © Hannah Gosselin 2015
LikeLiked by 2 people
The tenderness here is so transparent and hopeful. The image of tears as a lubricant is compelling. Wonderful work, in my opinion.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you, William, your reading and comments are always a poetic highlight and valuable insight…I appreciate your thoughts.
LikeLike
Oh, yes! And the “pit” describes quite effectively the feeling deep inside. Wonderful!
LikeLike
Those last two lines are love’s saving grace. Hallelujah!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Absent
You many not think
I noticed the distance between us
when we’re standing side by side.
Your words are warm and friendly,
while your eyes go right past my head.
I remember what it was like
when I kissed Mom in the coffin.
It’s like that.
(Don’t worry, this is fiction.)
LikeLike
WOW! Connie! The image and emotion presented here is chilling, and filled with sadness and regret. My favorite of the prompt so far. Nice work!
LikeLike
This is a powerhouse of emotions, Connie. I could feel a chill.
LikeLike
Wow. This poem creates its own temperature, or lack of it. Excellent.
LikeLike
An Anti-Love Poem in Winter
Watch out for fast flies
buzzing, honing in
on the scent of honey
that drips from your tongue
in a litany of lies.
Shovel the snow that whites
that blackness of your heart.
Cart it away with all
the other parts of me
you have destroyed,
and all those wasted years
I will never get back.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Powerful! the sound that exploded was ‘litany of lies’!!
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thanks, Janet.
LikeLike
YES, A standout line in an already powerful poem. EXCELLENT.
LikeLike
There’s a certain cold anger here, or so it seems to me, that makes this poem hit with palpable force. Superb.
LikeLike
Thanks so much, William. My cousin said it was perfect for February.
LikeLike
Blot out the failure
love doesn’r always go wrong
cherish the success
LikeLiked by 3 people
…and then comes the steady voice of experience! I love this!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hear, hear!
LikeLike
Thanks for this gentle reminder.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Knowing Past Feeling
On some days
The love she feels
Morphs into a monster
As something
Foreign reels
Ferocious as love,
These fork-tongued foes
Remind her
She cannot simply rely
On what she feels,
But knows
How is it, velvet touch
Can turn harsh
As scratches on chalkboard
And what she thought
She knew of love
Mocks loud
Where demons lord?
To simply rely
On feelings shows
How little of love
She really knows
© Janet Martin
LikeLiked by 1 person
“harsh as scratches on chalkboard”
“Mocks loud where demons lord”
BAM!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I like the abrupt images here, especially considering the gentle tenor of most of the piece.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I CAN’T LOVE YOU ANYMORE
Something has changed within me,
and you see, I can’t fight it anymore!
It goes to the core of the guy you knew
and it’s true. You see it too!
I can’t hold you like I used to,
my caresses aren’t like they were.
And sure, you can still make my heart
sing and you bring out the best
in the rest of me! But something has changed.
These feelings have rearranged
and I never thought they could,
or even should. I would find the bliss
in every kiss you offer, but I scoff
at the idea that that’s all there is!
My heart is near breaking, it is aching
almost to bursting and what’s worse,
I am glad it is so. Because, just when I thought
I can’t love you any more, I realize… I truly do!
LikeLiked by 2 people
This ended exactly the opposite of what I was gearing myself up for:) instead of oh no! it was o-o-h yes! love it!
LikeLike
You surprised me, Walt, but in a nice way.
LikeLike
I don’t know how to get my name on the blogroll.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’ll put you on the blog roll Sara. It’s N admin thing. 😃
LikeLike
thanks!
LikeLike
You’re all set there, Sara!
LikeLike
And once again you make me sigh. Wonderful!
LikeLike
Thanks Janet, Sara, Marie! Even my “anti-love” poems are love poems!
LikeLiked by 2 people
Sly, this.
LikeLike
FAILING IN LOVE
Life throws you curves which swerve
out of your strike zone leaving you
alone in a crowded room. Your doom
was feeling love was something
you could grow into. But you two
feel obligated, not celebrated in the
traditions of bliss, every Judas kiss
turns your head instead of turning
your heart. You start to feel your
footing giving way and the day
you no longer do, will be your last clue.
You yell and fight all night still standing,
no soft landing to be had. Is it bad?
When you never fall, does love fail?
LikeLike
This is great, especially the curve at the end.
LikeLike
Excellent as usual. Love the ending, Walt. And I am curious … do you THINK in internal rhyme? 😉
LikeLike
There are times that internal rhymes lace my words.
It would be absurd to not think in internal rhyme.
And everytime I try I drink in the rhyme I end up
thinking in rhyme! Every time!
LikeLike
I’ll have to come back to this…
Just wanted you to know that WP took you away from my ‘follow’ list. So I didn’t get the prompt.
How aggravating….every time they make a change they trip up something.
LikeLike
Bookmark us, Jules/ We’re not going anywhere!
LikeLike
I may have done that, but just forgot when you put up new prompts. I know it is once a week…
LikeLike
I post new prompts/lessons each Sunday.
LikeLike
Check Mark in the brain… thanks.
LikeLike
I might pass this one, as I have one almost ready for the newest post… Do the comments always stay open/
LikeLike
Yes, Jules. That’s a part of the allure of the new site. Laid back, no pressures and your can go back and add to each prompt when you get to it. Walt.
LikeLiked by 1 person
🙂
…Nice. Thanks.
LikeLike
Is Love Forever Lost?
By: Nurit Israeli
Like shipwrecked sailors,
they are trying to save
what has long been lost.
The storms have left their mark.
Deep scars refuse to fade,
and rancor casts them adrift.
Defeated, they dig through
the wreckage of shattered hopes,
searching the remains for survivors.
Can a spark arise from the ember
of their smoldering desolation?
A fragment of hope?
Is love forever lost in the ashes of
burnt dreams, or can it still ascend,
like a Phoenix, reshaped, in spite?
LikeLiked by 1 person
Interesting that this piece leaves the question open. Phoenices (? sp) tend to rise, though, so maybe it’s not so open. Fascinating piece.
LikeLike
Lovely and thought-provoking. Especially the last stanza.
LikeLike
[…] https://phoenixrisingpg.wordpress.com/2015/02/22/the-sound-of-love-the-sound-in-emotion/ […]
LikeLike
Does true angst ever leave…?
https://juleslongerstrandsofgems.wordpress.com/2015/02/26/hardcore-poisoned-apple-2-26-s/
LikeLiked by 1 person
A Quiet Finale
Their story –
over.
Too many wrong turns
until the dips and lows
became the norm
and the fun and love
began to leech out –
fading away…
like an old polaroid picture.
LikeLike
Wonderland Wildness
Alice showed no malice toward
the red-faced Queen of Hearts.
Roses had been painted red,
Fuming, the queen said, off with her head,
all besides the issue of those stolen tarts.
The white rabbit was late
so it was his fate
to have tea time begin
without him.
The Cheshire cat had vanished,
dormouse was clearly drunk,
Hair and Hatter spoke gibberish
leaving Alice in a funk.
She’d grown too tall,
shrunk too small
after her fall,
with no one to call,
found herself sprawled
on the ground near a wall.
Alice sought advice
from a caterpillar, smoking
a device that blew letters in air,
promptly setting her choking.
Her curiosity caused a dream,
that’s what the family said.
When Alice woke under a tree,
ow! a bump on her head.
Alice kept her thoughts unspoken, smiling
at a piece of broken mushroom, a token beguiling.
LikeLike