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Monday 28 August 2017

Poetry Monday: Total Eclipse Of The Brain

Here's the deal about Poetry Monday:  Diane started it; Delores and I joined in; Joan (from Devon) has been contributing in the comments here on a regular basis; anyone and everyone can join in! Read, critique, or leave a poem in the comments, or post on your own blog and leave your blog address in the comments. It's fun (most of the time), it's calorie-free, it's good for your brain, it's a conversation starter. What could be better? Or easier?

Well, lots of things, especially this week. Because here's the rest of the deal. Diane began giving us a theme for Poetry Monday to help us out. And last week, Diane's husband, the rascal, offered up the theme instead. (At least this is my understanding of what happened; I'm still a bit dazed.)

If you read Diane's blog regularly, you will know that Diane's Husby is full of mischief as well as good ideas. His suggestion for a theme was "Eclipses of Life."

WHAT??? WHAT DOES THAT EVEN MEAN???

After mulling it over for six days, and feeling the seventh day breathing down my neck, I still can't decide. Perhaps it means those times when life's difficulties cast a shadow over our lives. On the other hand, maybe it's the opposite - the times when life's miracles of beauty or good fortune overshadow its banalities and heartaches. Maybe it means the parts of life that are unknown and shadowy.

Maybe it means Diane's Husby is having a private chuckle thinking about bloggers excavating their last brain cells to figure it out ...

By now, the word "eclipse" is even starting to sound funny, after rolling it around on my tongue so many times hoping for enlightenment. Eclipse. Eclipse. Eclipse. You hear it too, right? RIGHT??

The thing is, the interpretations above are all possibilities, and would make great topics, except they haven't sparked anything in my brain.

Aha. There's the problem ... it's not the theme, it's my brain!


Total Eclipse Of The Brain


My cranium is empty,
My brain cells are dead;
"Eclipses of Life"
Is over my head.

I've parsed the words' meanings.
I've Googled them all.
In spite of my searching,
My brain is on "Stall."

My fingers are ready
To type all my thinks,
But thinks are evasive--
And lack of thinks stinks.

My deadline approaches;
I'm drawing a blank.
The clock ticks and tocks;
It's time to be frank:

The topic has won out;
Therefore--so to speak--
My brain's been eclipsed
By the theme of the week.


*****

Crikey. That was hard!

Over to you, my fine readers :)

Hint: The theme is wearing the boxing gloves and has big ears.


 (Photo: Pixabay)

40 comments:

Elephant's Child said...

It seems to me that your brain is firing more accurately and more brightly than you realise.
I am certainly not going to gaze at it without protective goggles. Which is a complicated way of saying I loved your contribution to this tricksy subject.

Anonymous said...

Hallo Jenny, thank you for the mention. I feel honoured to be included. I've been writing poetry for a few years now, at first for my grand-daughter, then if any thought came my way. Some are light-hearted some are not.
I enjoyed your poem and it's exactly how I felt about it. The themes can't get any more brain-taxing than this, although we all seem to have managed it.

An eclipse of the sun
By the movement of the moon,
Robbing us of warmth and light,
But worry not, it will be back soon.

An eclipse is a cloak
That obscures the visual view,
Hiding what lies beyond,
With a sliver of a clue.

Putting a smile on your face
Saying everything is okay,
As you cloak the constant pain
That plagues you every day.

Eclipse is also being outmatched
When a runner is pipped on the line.
To someone lifting an extra weight
Over the lifter who was doing just fine.

Eclipsed at a gathering
When at your wittiest best.
Overshadowed by their eloquence,
Sarcasm, spirit or zest.

News of the economy
Of how it stays in decline,
Overshadowed by the terrorists,
How once again they've crossed the line.

So many eclipses in our lives,
Which are tests we have to endure.
Get your bull-dog spirit out
And soldier on just as before.

Joan (Devon)

River said...

Well done!
"my brain is on stall", ha ha.
Mine too, too often.

gz said...

you've done it!!

only slightly confused said...

You did it and left me laughing so hard tears were falling. That theme DID stink. No more husby themes Diane..please and thank you.

only slightly confused said...

Wow...you nailed. So very many 'eclipses' in our lives these days.

Red said...

Very clever poem. the banter leading up to the poem had me predicting, "She won't get a poem today." Nice eclipse!

jenny_o said...

High praise - thank you, EC. I was sweating over this one and the last verse only came to me when I got there. But luckily, it did :)

jenny_o said...

Excellent, Joan - this is the kind of poem I was trying to write but could not. Very well done.

jenny_o said...

Hee hee! Too often here, too :)

jenny_o said...

Although it was a struggle!

jenny_o said...

Ha ha ha! I'm glad you got a laugh!

jenny_o said...

As I said above to Elephant's Child, the ending only came to me when I got there - thank goodness it came at all!

Diane Stringam Tolley said...

TEARS OF LAUGHTER HERE!!! I want an eclipse for my brain now . . .

Anonymous said...

Thank you, I was really stumped on this one, but I went into my crossword solvers book which gave many variations of eclipse and worked on that. A good theme, got us all thinking.

Joan (Devon)

Diane Henders said...

I'm sorry your brain is eclipsed, but you gave me a wonderful belly laugh! "But thinks are evasive-- And lack of thinks stinks." - That's hilarious! Now whenever I'm staring at a blank page, your words are going to run through my mind. It won't likely help my blank mind, but at least I'll be giggling!

dinthebeast said...

I stole this from Paul Wartenberg's blog, and I find it hilarious. It'd probably be even funnier if I had ever watched the original video, but I didn't:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fsgWUq0fdKk

-Doug in Oakland

Geo. said...

Excellent and enjoyable poem, Jenny! The given theme was a bit cryptic, but your mention of "...MEAN???" and meme with big ears put me in mind of an old poem, which I gussied up and posted today at "Gardening With Geo." --http://lepslog.blogspot.com/2017/08/on-bridge.html

Martha said...

HAHA! You did great despite what you think. Total success :)

Janie Junebug said...

I don't know what it means, but you did very well.

Love,
Janie

Diane Stringam Tolley said...

Joan, you came through admirably! And eloquently! Please can I add you to our line up? We would SO love to include you!

jenny_o said...

Hah! But NO, no you don't want an eclipse for your brain, really :)

jenny_o said...

Happy to help :)

jenny_o said...

HILARIOUS! I'm crying with laughter - thank you, Doug!

jenny_o said...

And an interesting one it is, Geo.! Thanks for joining in!

jenny_o said...

Nice of you to say so, Martha, but I'm not quite sure ... :)

jenny_o said...

When all else fails, go for the laugh, I guess :)

jenny_o said...

Hi Diane, last week in the comments Joan agreed, I think.

Joan, correct me if I'm wrong!

Steve Reed said...

Ha! Well, you did pretty well with that theme, all things considered! I would be uncertain about the meaning, too, though I suppose it's whatever you want it to mean. That's the beauty of "poetic license"!

Anonymous said...

Yes Jenny I agreed, but what does it entail as I don't have a blog.

Joan (Devon)

jenny_o said...

If you did have a blog, we would put a link in our Poetry Monday posts to yours, but since you don't, are you okay with a mention in the preamble (like I did for this post)? It's just a recognition that you have joined the challenge. And if you can't do it sometimes, don't worry! There are no real rules; it's just to challenge ourselves and have fun!

jenny_o said...

Yes, and the beauty of this challenge, the rules are very lax - ha ha!

Anonymous said...

Yes Jenny, I'm game for that, to get the old grey cells working. Looking forward to it.

Joan (Devon)

jenny_o said...

Great! It really does make me think, too - never a bad thing!

e said...

Love it...though I have to confess it sounds a bit like menopause brain...Cheers!

jenny_o said...

Doesn't it, though! Thanks, e :)

Anonymous said...

Jenny: you came through again; I wouldn't say your brain was on stall at all. Regards, MaggieB

baili said...

Outstanding Jenny!

if you can do this with eclipsed brain ,what will you do when your brain will shine completely .
loved it my friend!

jenny_o said...

Oh, thank you! That's kind of you :)

jenny_o said...

Thank you, baili! Are you having any luck writing poetry lately? I hope so!