Friday, December 7, 2012

Tragedy (in Quatern)


Too many tragedies lately
All of them unnecessary
On the TV they seem so far
Yet so widespread persist their scars

How I wish for the calm of sea
Too many tragedies lately
Some acts of God, others man made
Life’s too short to slow dance with hate

We will not look; we close our eyes,
Pretend the news is filled with lies
Too many tragedies lately
And nowhere left for us to flee

Skies cry, bleeding the deepest reds
I cannot watch nor rest my head
The images won’t escape me
Too many tragedies lately

 Over at D'verse, Gay Cannon is hosting Form-For-All, presenting us with the Quatern.  Stop on over and read her excellent article about this form, see what the others have shared and give it a go yourself.


17 comments:

  1. Great poem. Loved the line "Life's too short to slow dance with hate."

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  2. very powerful. it's astonishing, quite a few of us chose this topic (or similar toughies) for the quatern form... i wonder why.
    strong words well chosen. a great write.

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  3. Not sure if there is more, or as you say, just more on TV. As that is all it seems people are after now a days, they flock to the bad strat and wave off the good so fast it isn't funny. Sad state of affairs indeed.

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  4. i hear you man...the news is hard to watch...there is always something going on...and its seldom positive...i dont know if they report on positive things to be honest with you...

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  5. Life's too short to slow dance with hate -- is such a great line. I don't slow dance with hate, but I definitely slow dance with worry and regret and pre-occupation.

    You bring up bigger worries re the planet - Agh--k.

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  6. What a great refrain Fred, too many tragedies lately, I agree. I specially like the last stanza of skies crying and bleeding ~

    Terrific work on the form ~

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  7. Life’s too short to slow dance with hate... powerful. I also like the idea of a red sky. I try to avoid the news.

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  8. Life’s too short to slow dance with hate

    Exactly! Great work, timely--it's right to be troubled with what is going on around us.

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  9. Well constructed quatern - topical, almost a protest poem showing the versatility of this form. It does seem every time I open the news another tragedy has occurred. Today Pearl Harbor day and Japan has had a large earthquake; fortunately they removed the tsunami alert. Loved this. Thanks so much for participating!

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  10. Life’s too short to slow dance with hate...that's the key message for me here...so very true...keeping up a good spirit in the middle of trouble and tragedies...a good way to live life..

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  11. Fred, you were definitely in fine form writing the quatrain. And a good message indeed. Defintely too many tragedies...both manmade and natural disasters. Hard to escape them...when one turns on the televison!

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  12. Really nice job with the form, Fred. I particularly like the third stanza.

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  13. ..same as here in my place... just recently news headlines death cases caused by a new typhoon... the other day i was heading my way off from work and saw not 1 but 2 incidents of fire in different buildings... and last sunday my family had me stay in hospital due to 'Stevens-Johnsons Syndrome' or SJS... i had suffered from it severely 4 years ago and i least expected it to occur again... thank goodness all is well with me now... like you've said... too many tragedies... and we only have one life and it's too short to take anything just for granted... i really enjoyed reading your Quatern... thank you.. smiles...

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  14. ..same as here in my place... just recently news headlines death cases caused by a new typhoon... the other day i was heading my way off from work and saw not 1 but 2 incidents of fire in different buildings... and last sunday my family had me stay in hospital due to 'Stevens-Johnsons Syndrome' or SJS... i had suffered from it severely 4 years ago and i least expected it to occur again... thank goodness all is well with me now... like you've said... too many tragedies... and we only have one life and it's too short to take anything just for granted... i really enjoyed reading your Quatern... thank you.. smiles...

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  15. ...always have been tragedies..life, depending on how you perceive things, can be a test of our survival of these tragic things...interesting post.

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  16. I have given up watching the news, it's too much on a poet's heart. And the sea is a lot calmer with the tv off!

    Beautifully written, as only you can, Fred.

    xo

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  17. Yeah, Fred bound by form.
    I had to come visit! :-)


    loved the phrase: "to slow dance with hate"

    I am not sure about your life, but fortunately, unlike the folks in Syria, Gaza, Afghanistan, and more, I can flee those sorts of tragedies. And since we don't have a TV, I am not surrounded by what the media tells me I need to see. But I do read, and agree that the suffering we cause each other is horrible and widespread.

    It was great fun to read you with a form for a break.

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