When I knew I was coming back to my regular shift, I was excited. I like working midnights, and being up during the daytime killed my energy last week. I had no idea that the sun light and fresh air of the day time would do that to me, but it sure did. And now that I'm back...I'm remembering that night shift is a mostly long and boring process, occasionally punctuated by moments of excitement and terror.
But not tonight. It was a typical non-eventful night. Rain kept people away and most bars closed early. But I found a new form to entertain you with. And by new, I mean that this form was invented at the end of the 20th century. The Pleiades is the name of a group of stars, and the form. It can be done with no syllable count, six or seven syllables per line. The main part of the form is that there are only seven lines, and they all start with the same letter as the title, which is always one word. I did two to try out the freer form and the seven syllable variant.
Peaceful (No Syllable Count)
Pitter patter of rain drops on my car
Pleasing a sound as I needed
Pushing my tiredness away
Perfectly contrasting an empty town
Possibly I could find something to do
Preferably an arrest or car stop
Picking these is difficult on a slow night
Writing (7-Syllable)
When I had a spare moment
Words fell from my fingertips
Waiting was always my strength
What I needed were questions
Who I sent them to made sense
When I get them back, who knows
Wanting and wishing try me
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
August 30, 2011 - 0500
Night two after a week away and I am beat. Coupled with the four hours of actual sleep I got yesterday and I'm sincerely hoping that I can get home and to bed at a reasonable hour.
That being said, I took on a challenging style this morning. The Rhopalic Verse is a pretty neat set of words strung together. They are in syllabic order: 1,2,3... and so on if you're wordy and smart. I stuck to no more than four syllables and that was enough to give my mind a workout.
Difficult Words to Write Through the Yawning
A little maddening metropolis
This city aspires
Bars open expecting alcoholics
But nothing partaking
My slumber quietly interrupted
Four hours collected
My vision compounded
By yawning restlessness
A single vehicle
A simple citizen conversation
No ticket extended
One warning completed
That being said, I took on a challenging style this morning. The Rhopalic Verse is a pretty neat set of words strung together. They are in syllabic order: 1,2,3... and so on if you're wordy and smart. I stuck to no more than four syllables and that was enough to give my mind a workout.
Difficult Words to Write Through the Yawning
A little maddening metropolis
This city aspires
Bars open expecting alcoholics
But nothing partaking
My slumber quietly interrupted
Four hours collected
My vision compounded
By yawning restlessness
A single vehicle
A simple citizen conversation
No ticket extended
One warning completed
Monday, August 29, 2011
August 29, 2011 - 1415
Well, I'm back. After a week away from the town and the nightly grind of the shift it's good to be back. I would have written something last night, but I had other important documents to draft. Like a memo for reimbursement for mileage and fuel to the tune of almost $500.00. And a total reworking of our departments firearms program. I learned in those five days, that if someone in my department shoots someone right now, we are totally screwed. And I am not going to be in that bag, so I used my down time to draft a new training curriculum. I'll do some more on it tonight but I should also be able to put some poetry out as well.
I'm not going to try and rehash what I did in that week of training, but instead focus on what I usually write about which is my every night encounters.
Welcome Back, Welcomed Back, Welcome, Back
I was warned by text before I even arrived
That my peer would be ranting long into the night
But when we arrived we were both pleased to see
That he'd taken time off and that I would be free.
So I drove all the streets and said my hellos
To the businesses and all of the people I know
Drunk boys and girls all wandered the walks
Interrupting my driving with slurred boozy talks
Then I was greeted by a new throbbing pain
Not wearing a gun belt had suddenly drained
my lower back muscles of all of their holding
Uncomfortable driving from the belt not molding
But I was reprieved by hours of writing
New training materials that I knew I'd be sighting
After learning that we as a department were lacking
And a single lawsuit would send all of us packing
I'm not going to try and rehash what I did in that week of training, but instead focus on what I usually write about which is my every night encounters.
Welcome Back, Welcomed Back, Welcome, Back
I was warned by text before I even arrived
That my peer would be ranting long into the night
But when we arrived we were both pleased to see
That he'd taken time off and that I would be free.
So I drove all the streets and said my hellos
To the businesses and all of the people I know
Drunk boys and girls all wandered the walks
Interrupting my driving with slurred boozy talks
Then I was greeted by a new throbbing pain
Not wearing a gun belt had suddenly drained
my lower back muscles of all of their holding
Uncomfortable driving from the belt not molding
But I was reprieved by hours of writing
New training materials that I knew I'd be sighting
After learning that we as a department were lacking
And a single lawsuit would send all of us packing
Friday, August 19, 2011
August 19, 2011 - 0500
No poetry today. While disassembling my pistol at work for cleaning, the ejector broke off. Bad for the gun, but not so bad for the poetry, because other than this nothing happened all night. See you in a week.
Thursday, August 18, 2011
August 18, 2011 - 0500
Tonight, I got to put to use some of my more advanced officer safety skills. And by that I mean, I made three subjects do as I said, when I said and put them at a distinct tactical disadvantage. I was quite proud of myself.
For a Wednesday/Thursday it wasn't too bad. Enough to keep us busy until around 0300, and then there was enough in the office to get me through until 0400. Then, it only took me 15 minutes to gather my thoughts and write out the Cavatina, which is tonight's style. While is says it was and is unpopular in England, I liked this one. The change in meter and unique rhyme sequence was fun and just challenging enough at 0400 to make me have to think about the next rhyme.
Mixed Bag Mid-Week
The night was calm as I drove through the town
It's a good thing
My partners stop did not come on the air
Made my head ring
Matching bracelets for unlicensed driver
Work makes me sing
And then three kids just laying in the street
Then after, fresh tomatoes make lunch sweet
For a Wednesday/Thursday it wasn't too bad. Enough to keep us busy until around 0300, and then there was enough in the office to get me through until 0400. Then, it only took me 15 minutes to gather my thoughts and write out the Cavatina, which is tonight's style. While is says it was and is unpopular in England, I liked this one. The change in meter and unique rhyme sequence was fun and just challenging enough at 0400 to make me have to think about the next rhyme.
Mixed Bag Mid-Week
The night was calm as I drove through the town
It's a good thing
My partners stop did not come on the air
Made my head ring
Matching bracelets for unlicensed driver
Work makes me sing
And then three kids just laying in the street
Then after, fresh tomatoes make lunch sweet
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
August 17, 2011 - 0500
Another short week for me. I am taking off this Friday for Irishfest in Milwaukee, and then next week I am in training Monday through Friday. Firearms instructor class, woohoo!
But today was a fun style called a Monchielle Stanza. Four stanzas, five lines each, 6 syllables per line, and a rhyme in lines three and five. Simple. And here it is.
The Night Was Cool And Slow
The night was cool and slow
And I was set free quick
I drove 'round slow, silent
It was that kind of night
No cars or peds in it
The night was cool and slow
Midnight and I was out
The depot doors stood wide
But no one loitered in
Back to the dark I glide
The night was cool and slow
I hoped for more to see
But it was not my fate
Mid-week is quiet time
These I both love and hate
The night was cool and slow
And gave way to the morn
Stars faded; traffic grew
One more night of safety
One more that we got through
But today was a fun style called a Monchielle Stanza. Four stanzas, five lines each, 6 syllables per line, and a rhyme in lines three and five. Simple. And here it is.
The Night Was Cool And Slow
The night was cool and slow
And I was set free quick
I drove 'round slow, silent
It was that kind of night
No cars or peds in it
The night was cool and slow
Midnight and I was out
The depot doors stood wide
But no one loitered in
Back to the dark I glide
The night was cool and slow
I hoped for more to see
But it was not my fate
Mid-week is quiet time
These I both love and hate
The night was cool and slow
And gave way to the morn
Stars faded; traffic grew
One more night of safety
One more that we got through
Sunday, August 14, 2011
August 14, 2011 - 0500
The end of the work week brought a fairly slow night. And for a Saturday, that was a surprise. College students are starting to arrive in town now, and foot traffic is picking up as well. But so far, everyone is being good...for now.
Tonight I wrote a Goethe Stanza poem. It isn't so much the rhyme or meter, but the presentation. You will be able to see it easier than I could explain it.
Short Handed, Slow Night
It's good I worked, with a man out sick
Even though one could have handled the town
He'll burn himself like a candles wick
Busy, sick or slow...don't be a clown
He was so drunk he could barely stand
Blood dripping from a split elbow
Medics arrived and lent a hand
Where it happened he doesn't know
Form a residential caller a noisy party
I had to shut off my car to hear
A band far away was playing hearty
But were at a bar, no where near here
Tonight I wrote a Goethe Stanza poem. It isn't so much the rhyme or meter, but the presentation. You will be able to see it easier than I could explain it.
Short Handed, Slow Night
It's good I worked, with a man out sick
Even though one could have handled the town
He'll burn himself like a candles wick
Busy, sick or slow...don't be a clown
He was so drunk he could barely stand
Blood dripping from a split elbow
Medics arrived and lent a hand
Where it happened he doesn't know
Form a residential caller a noisy party
I had to shut off my car to hear
A band far away was playing hearty
But were at a bar, no where near here
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