#riddlepoems — Public Fediverse posts

#mastoprompt "Dapple"

All these animals and plants,
The flying birds, the crawling ants,
The creeper and the burdened beast,
From greatest to the very least,
With natural pigment I will paint,
And give to you without restraint.
Their plumes and coats for you I dapple,
But do not touch that ripe red apple!

#poetry #shortpoems #riddlepoems #symbolism #irony #religion #bible #gardenofeden #humanity #poetrycommunity #writingcommunity

#vss365 prompt: "Change"

Here out under the open sky,
My last request: to bum or buy
A cancer stick or coffin nail,
So I won’t quiver, flinch or flail,
The same kind this good soldier has,
To calm my nerves one last time, as
I stand here on the firing range…
Don’t bother, you can keep the change.

#poetry #shortpoems #riddlepoems #war #execution #cigarettes #tropes #irony #firingsquad #poetrycommunity #writingcommunity

#SciFiPrompt "Goblin"

While possibly an allegory,
My poem tells a children’s story,
Critiques the mores of the times
With vivid and irregular rhymes,
Alludes to lust, forbidden fruits
And flesh force-fed by groping brutes
That’s purchased in a plethora,
Refused by Lizzie, craved by Laura.

#poetry #shortpoems #riddlepoems #english #poet #victorian #christinarossetti #goblinmarket #goblinweek #poetrycommunity #writingcommunity

#OldWestPrompt 9: "Railcar"

Communicating secret glyphs
To all my fellow bindlestiffs,
I often share a common camp
Or railcar with the traveling tramp,
But unlike him, I do not shirk
The opportunity for work.
I walk the road, stick out my thumb…
I’m homeless, but I’m not a bum.

#poetry #shortpoems #riddlepoems #oldwest #greatdepression #railroad #trains #hitchhiking #migrant #poetrycommunity #writingcommunity

#OldWestPrompt 8: "Dude Ranch"

Pardner, forget that city slick
Whose smoggy air has made you sick,
And sit beside our old campfire.
That paperwork won’t stack much higher
Without a paper avalanche,
So come on out to the dude ranch.
Were simple folk and unrefined,
But friendly hosts, I think you’ll find.

#poetry #shortpoems #riddlepoems #oldwest #country #duderanch #ranch #horses #poetrycommunity #writingcommunity

#OldWestPrompt 7: "Silver Mine"

They say that one last vein is hid,
So here I live, well off the grid,
In California ghost-town heaven,
That’s been my home since Ninety-seven.
This old, abandoned silver mine,
Shut down in Nineteen Fifty-nine,
Often yields up a chunk of ore,
But I am holding out for more.

#poetry #shortpoems #riddlepoems #oldwest #silver #ghosttown #mining #poetrycommunity #writingcommunity

#OldWestPrompt 6: "Tumbleweed"

Though picturesque upon the sand,
I’m noxiously invasive, and
My presence here is not benign.
Now I’m the unmistaken sign
Of desert soil and desolation.
You pushed the edge of civilization,
And on the way, you dropped my seeds…
I tumble in the wind and weeds.

#poetry #shortpoems #riddlepoems #oldwest #nature #environment #poetrycommunity #writingcommunity

#OldWestPrompt 5: "Bank Robber" 😂

#poetry #shortpoems #riddlepoems #oldwest #wildwest #bankrobber #covid #poetrycommunity

#OldWestPrompt "Horse"

Between two seas, on open plains,
You bridled me, attached the reins,
Domesticated, tamed this beast,
In grass-steppe regions of the east.
But now, on prairies wide and free,
Where oceans have replaced each sea,
A new world has become my home,
For I’m soon rooted where I roam.

#poetry #shortpoems #riddlepoems #oldwest #wildwest #history #animals #poetrycommunity

#OldWestPrompt 3: "Saloon"

With false front, unfinished floors,
A set of swinging double-doors,
A gambling table, whiskey bar,
One patron boasts a bold tin star,
One casts a cold and callous eye,
One false move, and one will die…
A momentary silence, then
The ragtime tune starts up again.

#poetry #shortpoems #riddlepoems #oldwest #wildwest #history #americana #poetrycommunity #writingcommunity

#OldWestPrompt 2: "Stagecoach"

Highwaymen! Lay off that brake:
We’ve got deliveries to make,
And passengers to promptly carry.
It pays to be prepared and wary—
Here, take the reins and slightly slow:
I’ll tip my hat to say hello
And with my shotgun kindly greet…
That’s why I need the window seat.

#poetry #shortpoems #riddlepoems #oldwest #wildwest #history #americana #poetrycommunity

#OldWestPrompt 1: "Telegraph Line"

Over a network of metal thread,
A green-billed cap upon my head,
Conducting trade with folks back East,
Announcing births, kinfolk deceased,
With dots and dashes, I transmit
Communication without wit,
Less intimate, but clearly better
For empire-building than the letter.

#poetry #shortpoems #riddlepoems #oldwest #technology #industrial #americana #poetrycommunity #writingcommunity