Time again for Friday Fictioneers, my Wednesday addiction. Over 100 people every week get jiggy with their creativity to attempt the 100 word flash photo prompt. Just follow the link to read the others or join in yourself.
Those faded lights of Kubla Khan,
Do mourn the passing light of dawn,
Where age has pulled the greatest coup,
And stolen youth and beauty too.
*
Shadows dancing cheek to cheek,
When saying no was seen as weak,
Rugged men and scarlet ladies,
Passions burned by flames of Hades.
*
Scented hint of greasepaint lingers,
Teasing touch like dust on fingers,
Tears and joy and cans of laughter,
Echoes blurred by life lived after.
*
Memories held of lifetimes past,
The parts we lost, the parts we grasped,
The stage became our warped addiction
And still we crave “Lights, Camera, Action”.
helen midgley 
Fabulous!
Thanks 🙂
WOW! Perfectly, perfect.
Thanks, I’m attempting the ‘poem a day’ for April and thought I’d kill two birds with one stone 😉
beautiful. you doing what you do best 🙂
Ahh, thank you 🙂
At first I questioned your use of Kubla Khan as just mystically convenient, but if you look at the stage as a sort of “Pleasure Dome” — as in the Coleridge poem, I think it fits nicely. Sorry to get all academic on you, darling, but I was an English major — can’t you tell? I’m outstanding in my field. Like a farmer.
(Rim shot, snare, exit stage left….)
Lol, go for it. There was method in my madness though as paradise lost was in my head, although you gotta love how the letters drop off your tongue “Kubla Khan” sweet……;)
Oh.. you have to read that poem, darling — the whole thing is like honey on your lips…
http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15831
LOVE this poem. His language is amazing.
Thanks, I actually re read it this afternoon while I was writing the poem. Great minds and all that 😉
I remember being asked by a professor once why Coleridge chose “twice-five miles” instead of saying “ten miles”. I looked at her like she was an idiot and yelled “because it sounds cooler!”
Yeah, Penny get it from me. The professor couldn’t argue.
Beautiful, how do you get to write sooo much in one day, all those ideas and imagination, baffles me
Some days I’m on form, others I struggle to write my name, lol. Then I find cheap wine and chocolate helps 😉
Sounds like a recipe for success hehe x
Oh Yes, Helen. This one gives me so much pleasure. Alliteration and assonance, wonderful tools to transform writing into light turning on a prism.
Thank you for such a fluid comment, much appreciated 🙂
I think in my case it was drivel. I get a wee bit excited when I find something which gives me pleasure Helen. 😉
lol, maybe that was too much information 😉
Possibly Helen.
What a great pace in this poem, perfect rhymes and a great truth laced with irony.. this was just excelent.
Thank you very much 😉
I adore it… words just tingle my skin, like those first raindrops in the sudden summer downpour.
Thank you, but your line “first raindrops in the sudden summer downpour” was even better 🙂
Very nicely done, with a Citizen Kane touch too. Gimme back my “stolen youth and beauty too.” Really conveys the sense of times gone by.
Excellent Helen very well done. You explore the prompt so very well.
Thank you, I’m on a bit of a prompt roll tonight, think I need to step away from the lap top, lol 🙂
Nah enjoy it while you can..
I don’t usually comment on poetry because it’s not really my forte (I know this from having written a handful of pieces which are still a source of embarrassment to me) but I thought this was terrific. The problem with rhyming couplets is usually that the piece can sound a bit ‘forced’ but I thought this was perfectly executed. My only quibble would be the use of ‘do mourn’. I always think the use of the word ‘do’ before the main verb is a bit of a cop-out, and I’d prefer to have seen some other two syllable word there. But really well done, I’m totally impressed.
Thank you and for the critique as well, I see where you’re coming from with regards the ‘do mourn’ and will try harder next time 😉
Dear Helen,
Beautifully written. Having always been a bit of a drama queen, both on and off stage I really enjoyed this.
shalom,
Rochelle
Thanks Rochelle 🙂
This is awesome.
Thank you 🙂
Helen, it rolls trippingly from the tongue, whether read aloud or silently, and makes sense as well. 🙂 Perfect combination for a perfect poem. It was a joy to read.
janet
Thanks for the lovely comment 🙂
Helen, well done! I always enjoy your poetry (and your stories too but since this one is a poem … ) 🙂
Lol, thanks 🙂
A vivid and wonderfully woven poem. I’m sure that those who work in show business would greatly appreciate it and be able to relate even deeper. I especially enjoyed “The stage became our warped addiction.” It seems to capture the effect that once you follow your passions, it’s nearly impossible to stop.
So true, thanks for the great comment 🙂
Wonderful play with words and rhythm, Helen. Really enjoyed this one.
Helen I love the cadence of this piece. The thespian in me often walks the line between character on and off the stage. Made me think of Shakespeare’s “All the world’s a stage, And all the men and women merely players;They have their exits and their entrances,” Loved this!
And all the world is a stage. Great piece of poetry with a strong message. Publish!
Thanks, I may one day have a book full of poems, you never know 😉
Helen, I really, REALLY enjoyed reading this one. You captured it! As Puck said, “Lord, what fools these mortals be.” Thanks!
Thank you for such a great comment 🙂
Fantastic poem!
Brilliant!
enjoyed reading this poem. i liked the second stanza the best.
Helen, for me this was just perfect. I have read it three times now and the enjoyment doesn’t lessen. The line ‘where age has pulled the greatest coup’ is quite brilliant.
Have you published any poetry, because you should definitely do so
Dee
Thanks for reading, glad you liked 🙂 No, I’ve never published any of my poems. I only wrote my first poem a few months ago really so still fairly new to it, I may start to put something together soon though, as I seem to be building a fair size portfolio, even if it is unintentionally 😉
I am jealous.
Wonderful, Helen!
Lovely Helen and you really were in form to write all that in one afternoon. Well done!
beautifully written, Helen, and i really enjoyed reading a poetry entry. a very nice change.
You clever, clever, clever, clever BASTARD!
😀
I think you’ll find it’s BITCH, I’ve got boobs 😉