House of Cards

Cherry

By jennifer

Tue, 28 Jan 2025
  • 82 reads
9 comments
 
House of Cards
 
Jennifer Pickup, 28.01.2025
As the storm winds blow, and the waters rise,
My heart sinks down, and I shutter my eyes –
I wait for devastation to descend,
I gather patience to me like a friend.
It’s taken years of practice to complete
A house of cards so deftly stacked and neat.
I build them up in hope they won’t fall down –
Started with a tent… once, I built a town.
But each time I know, when the tide rages,
I’ll feel the loss of my fragile pages –
When the weather forecast predicts me storms,
They will collapse, those temporary forms.
I’ve learnt to watch each little stack of cards
Splatter, scatter, and splinter into shards
With quiet acceptance and reflective eyes,
For I know now how not to be surprised.
When I was young, each time I’d scream and cry,
I’d fight to keep the cards piled proudly high,
And bitterness would wrap around my heart,
Watching my tiny houses fall apart.
They once were flat, and pyramided clean,
Now dog-eared, bent, they bear a well-worn sheen.
It takes more skill to balance them these days –
I have to place them many different ways.
I’ve lost a card or two along the way,
Though which are missing it is hard to say –
They came with colours, intricate designs,
But years of wear and tear have not been kind.
Take care, my dear, and do not light a flame,
To rear a house of cards is not a game,
So hold your breath, and sneeze the other way –
Keep your destructive influence at bay.
Certificate U
Poem
Hurricane Warning (2025)
Autobiography

Comments

Submitted by Rhiannonw on

Trusting in our own schemes and skill will alwyas disappoint, and other people can fail too. Divine trust is the only totally solid certain help. Rock. Rhiannon

 

Submitted by jennifer on

...if you don't trust in your own schemes and skill, and believe in yourself, you will always fail. Likewise, if you do not trust in others. 

We may have to agree to disagree on this one!

J x

 

Submitted by celticman on

the fight goes on, even when we're not as strong. 

 

Submitted by jennifer on

....Resilience. And how we recover from those fights. What doesn't kill you hopefully makes you stronger!

J x

 

Submitted by Kris on

Reading your works....yesyesyes....

But the reason I follow is, you can rhythm<tempo> , no matter the situation, shadow, light, fright, sad, happy or mad.... kind a like its been waved with the wand of Glinda & sprinkled with fairy dust  sooo interesting #4sure an influencer in my efforts...

 

Submitted by jennifer on

I used to write free verse as well - I think it was actually my preferred form. Rhyming and rhythm and patterns in my poetry is something that has become both a skill and a limitation, as now I don't seem to be able to write free verse. I need the constraints, the control, the numbers, the shapes, that writing in patterns provides - or rather, that is how poems come to me now, how my brain works. I never sit down to try to write a poem. It doesn't work that way. Although I can sit down and write something to order for an occasion or reason, something 'light', my 'real' writing, the magical stuff, as you say, comes as gifts from the Muses, not always conveniently timed or placed. (And you could subsitute 'God' or 'The Collective Unconscious' here maybe.) I lose some, as I'm not in a position to jot them down at the time, like when I'm driving, or riding, or not awake enough, or in a meeting. Sometimes, the Muses don't bother with me for months. Sometimes they won't leave me alone! Sometimes it's a snippet, a few words or lines, and sometimes it's almost complete. Sometimes all at once, sometimes a drip-feed. And then I finally find the time to sit down to write, and the words flow very quickly into their forms. Sometimes the same day, or the next, like with this poem. When my Dad was dying, I was inundated with snippets. Something unleashed before he passed, and then after, it blocked. I didn't write for a while. It took a long time to go back to those snippets. Some are still waiting.

It would be interesting to know if others experience inspiration in the same or a similar way. Or whether they just sit down with intention and make it happen, forcing the Muses' hands...

J x

 

Submitted by Kris on

Wow*.. its like you were sifting around my desk....

What a relief & inspiration... I feel less like a Alien here... sincerely thank you for taking the time to pen this out Jenn.... (Rhyming & Rhythm, patterns, God, the collective unconscious, drip-feed, snippets )+++.... 'N dat Zone'... even when I'm stressed, pressured with work, or in my case, in the water or @ the gym, I see, feel hear a rhythm & roll... given the fact I'm not an established writer, in this world, and the difference , in that, you're the girl & I'm a boy, so to speak, of different worlds, what you described herein brought a kinda peace & therapeutic relief to me... kinda like reloading the 2.0 App with 3D features.... if that relates.... Of course I read, listen to other(s) writers about inspiration, their vision, bla,bla, bla... in the sense what you so kindly have taken the time to answer/write, gives me a deeper, clearer vision into the matrix, how it operates and why i.e. snippets, waves, dull moments, scribbles & nibbles are part of it.... Its a self confidence booster, I learned allot here from you,... not that I aspire, dream or fantasize about being an author..... I dont wana be known, popular +++.... I have a story to tell... and this message of yours... helps = define the ride and glide and how it arrives... it's... all good... a blessing of sorts... making sense of it is an art...

Grateful I am....

Sincerely,

Kris

Ps... u gotta rescue dog- #Fist-Bump yes

BTW _ read the tick-tock poem when your Dad passed, shortly after I lost mine... I sent that poem to my brother... Thx*

 

 

Submitted by airyfairy on

This is so thoughtful and beautiful, Jennifer. Rebuilding gets harder, but it also seems more worthwhile. Thanks for this one.

Submitted by jennifer on

...or card. Maybe it's WHY we place them, rather than HOW we place them, that's important. 

Or simply that we do rebuild, and not just live in the ruins.

J x