Ghazal (poetry of longing; 5 stanzas)
She gazes at the mirror with a scheming stare,
Reflection striking back its own gleaming stare.
Thick eyebrows, thin smile, pasty complexion
All together, delivering an unredeeming stare.
The page in her diary is stark and empty,
Meager obligations with their streaming stare.
Yesterday, it was too full as she ran after
The backs of several taxis, a screaming stare.
Her head pounded, she picked up the phone,
Gave Cal an excuse, with her redeeming stare.
Sonnet (Italian form of poetry with three quatrains and a couplet)
She looked into the mirror beside her bed,
Her reflection stared back into her eyes.
Thick eyebrows, thin smile, filled with dread,
A pale complexion that revealed all lies.
The angle of a brooch, a strand of hair,
Turning around to find different heels,
Except now she can’t remember where,
And her diary is blank, with no ordeals.
Yesterday she had so much to do,
She ran around after several cabs.
Talked to more people than she knew,
Meticulously winded up all her tabs.
With a hurting head she called up Cal to say,
It was one of those far too many days.
Word Game (incorporating a list of 8 random words into the notation)
(Hyacinth, escalator, chip, beer, Chinese, pothole, dementia, lightbulb)
The woman looks into the mirror, there is a chip in it, a shard of glass which is misplaced. Her eyebrows are too thick, her smile too thin, her complexion too pale. She confronts her reflection, almost falling into a pothole of her own misery. Fixes her brooch so it pierces at a better angle on her blouse which is dotted with hyacinth florals. She tucks a beer coloured strand into her tight little bun, turning back to look for a different pair of Chinese pumps she had brought on a trip to Shanghai. She looked at the empty page in her diary, her meager obligations staring back at her.
She tried hard to remember, and was hit with an onslaught of dementia, when she thought of the day before. It had felt like she was running up a never ending escalator of tasks which kept piling up as she caught taxis and talked to people. At the end of the day, her head hurt when she caught a glimpse of the bright neon lightbulb in the hallway of her apartment. She left a voicemail to Cal, telling him that she would call tomorrow, it had been one of those far too many days.