Poetic Challenge using Frost's "Acquainted with the Night" Options

[JustDaniel]

Good Night

I used to love to ride my bike at night.
In summer I liked strolling in the rain.
I once would run at early morning light.

Five decades back I strode the winning lane --
mile-relay anchor -- all opponents beat.
But now I'm old; there's little to explain.

Neuropathy's affecting both my feet.
Sometimes the pain will make me want to cry;
at times it's even hard to cross the street.

Bid basketball and volleyball goodbye;
arthritis too is lessening my height.
Athletics leave me staring at the sky.

I know the Light, so darkness is all right;
I'm truly now acquainted with the night.

© MLee Dickens'son 2014


Challenge was to use each line's last word from Frost's poem:

Acquainted with the Night

I have been one acquainted with the night.
I have walked out in rain—and back in rain.
I have outwalked the furthest city light.

I have looked down the saddest city lane.
I have passed by the watchman on his beat
And dropped my eyes, unwilling to explain.

I have stood still and stopped the sound of feet
When far away an interrupted cry
Came over houses from another street,

But not to call me back or say good-bye;
And further still at an unearthly height,
One luminary clock against the sky

Proclaimed the time was neither wrong nor right
I have been one acquainted with the night.

Copyright © Robert Frost

[Cleo_Serapis]

Well done Daniel!

A bit sad for reality, but does make for an excellent response.

Cheers!
~Cleo

[Maureen]

That's a ripper Daniel - well done - love it and relate to it - sadly

Cheers

Maureen

[JustDaniel]

Well done Daniel!

A bit sad for reality, but does make for an excellent response.

Cheers! ~Cleo

Thanks much, Lori. Age does trudge right on, ya know!

That's a ripper Daniel - well done - love it and relate to it - sadly

Cheers, Maureen

I appreciate your approbation, Maureen. I'm glad and sad at once that you relate to it!

sLightly hobbled, Daniel

[Alan]

Dear Daniel,

Thank you, what would I do without your eagle-eye ? Can't imagine why I went for peak, as height here means the same.

Love
Alan

[JustDaniel]

Hey, Alan...

my eyes do still pick up little things, but alas the greater problems I have with my eyes (not mentioned in my Good Night above) certainly don't allow them to soar like eagles!

sLightly blurred, Daniel

[Alan]

Dear Daniel,

Well OK, I'll settle for your metaphorical eagle-eye then ! You know, looking back on your Good Night, I somehow never thought of you as an athlete, but that shows my lack of imagination, why ever not ?

Love
Alan

[JustDaniel]

It's been a LONG time since my athleticism, Alan... I had both knees replaced a hundred pounds ago... But when I entered the Army National Guard at age 36, during our Physical Training Test at my first Annual Training, only ONE guy beat me in the 2 mile run! Not bad for a comparatively old man, huh?

When I was a kid (age 11), in my first year playing baseball I became the starting center fielder on a Pee Wee League (12-year-olders), and our third baseman on The Burns Boys was a 9-year-old, Ron Cey, who was to become an All-Star for the Los Angeles Dodgers and Chicago Cubs. I remember a couple of years later we had a scrimmage game with another team from our Boys' Club who were a year older than we. In that game I reached first on an infield hit, then stole second, third and home. The next time up I walked, then again stole second, third and home. The coach of the other team was serving as 'umpire' and called me out at home, even though his catcher missed me by something over a yard. I just got up from my slide, looked at him and laughed. He was furious!! LOL

I was too small to play football on my high school team, but I excelled in the City leagues 'till I was 16. I was captain of our cross-country team during football season and was the anchor man on our mile-relay team that broke the Tacoma (WA) City record by 3.6 seconds. Two years later my future brother-in-law anchored the team that beat our record. I didn't do much in the way of athletic again until I joined the Guard 19 years later!

deLighting in recalling my smaller days, Daniel

[Alan]

Dear Daniel,

Wow. Respect. I am to athletics and football and baseball as a snowball is to hellfire. I played playground soccer after school for a coupla years, and was dragged into rugby cuz that is what the school played, but used my eyesight as an excuse (or maybe not excuse) to escape.

Because I have always been better on the thinking side, I sort of assumed that would be true of you too.

Love
Alan

[Larry]

One Day Year

For six long months there’s nothing but the night
though now, as seasons change, a warming rain
is heralding the days of prolonged light
where one may stroll along a wooded lane

to see the leaves and birds return. The beat
of nature’s heart; I wish I could explain
how soft the new grass feels tickling my feet.
Springtime is here and I could almost cry

with joy as I walk down that emerald street.
I bid the frozen stars a tired good-bye
and wish them well out in their lofty height
for I would rather keep this azure sky.

To have a “one day year” does not seem right
when half of it is spent in endless night.

[Cleo_Serapis]

Larry,
What a lovely response.
This just happens to be today's writing prompt at Poetry Super Highway and their page on Facebook. You should definitely post it.
Enjoyed,
Lori

[Cleo_Serapis]

Here's my slight tweaking of my response from 2010:

A Wakening

In districts dimly lit it’s always night
where troubled ones seek solace from the rain
hoping to seize a sign of mislaid Light.

Specters ensnare the weak from lumbered lane
priming their craft with those already beat.
These acts, often unnoticed, don’t explain

the cruel and unjust faltering of feet
on paths that yield a warning, no; a cry
for help. Can someone save them from that street?

It comes from deep within; let’s say good-bye
to fragments of ourselves. We’ll scale that height
and rise above to see a sapphire sky.

It starts today! Conquer those wrongs and right
the past; a dawning comes from fettered night.

Copyright © Lorraine M Kanter

[Larry]

Hi Lori,

Sorry, I can't post my entry on Poetry Super Highway because it has to be posted on the "Facebook" part under comments and one must first log in to their Facebook account before any entry can be made.

You can put it on there if you want to.

Another thing that has started recently is that I seem to be able to write endlessly on one line unless I hit enter
while in the entry box. Is there something changed? When my cursor gets to the left hand side of the page,
the words I type in just keep on going and going and going.

Oh, I did enjoy your rewrite but had to go back to the other one to see the differences.

Larry

[Cleo_Serapis]

Hi Larry,

I love your response and am glad you permitted me to post it for you. So I did! I think I would like to write a new one for Spring as well as you've inspired me.

I know, I can't stand that either! I think it's the version of internet explorer that isn't wrapping text like it used to? Which version are you on? I noticed it about 5 months ago after getting my new laptop. It uses Windows 8 and IE10, now 11. I got so annoyed by it that I use Mozilla Firefox here instead, which wraps text as we like it to. Let me know which version of IE you use. I'm not sure we can fix it as we are on an older version of this forum board's software, which is unsupported. I can send a message to Peter though and see if he can fix things up.

It really drove me batty when I post new challenges, as I copy the previous one and type-over. I simply cannot do that with the endless lines. At least Firefox is like the old way. I recommend that you give that a try. I haven't tried it with Google Chrome - I will do that at work today and post back here.

You should post your poem for crits - it's so lovely!!!!
Cheers,
Lori

[Larry]

Hi Lori,

Thanks for the explanation. I'm using Windows7 and IE11 and am not technologically savvy enough to try other
new programs. I'll just hit "enter" when I get to the right side of the page!

I will post this for crits but with just one (*).

Glad you enjoyed my offering and thanks for putting it on that Facebook page for me. (I'm not a member).

Larry

[JustDaniel]

What is the Poetry Super Highway.

I seem to be driving in the boondocks somewhere!

[Cleo_Serapis]

Yeah, I do think its a setting in IE - Internet Exploder as I refer to it. lol!
I'm using Google Chrome now to reply and the box is like we like it. I also just opened IE on my work laptop and it looks fine too - no run on sentences...

Weird!!!!!

[Larry]

Hi Lori,

I'm sure you have heard but I'll give you a head-up just in case.

DON'T USE IE!!!!!!!

There is a very vicious virus vacuuming vitals voraciously. It will get all your important data and possibly take over your computer and use it for its own purposes. I'm using Chrome or AOL until I hear that Microsoft has alleviated the problem.

Larry

[Cleo_Serapis]

Hi Larry,

Oh YES, I've heard of this one! I've updated my laptop at home and the Bose computer too (per a mandatory Microsoft update), ! Well - it's NOT funny but necessary...

I've finally gotten the MMHC results back and will be posting today = YAY! THAT took a long time! I've been away and need to get back into the groove.

Cheers,
~Cleo

[Larry]

Star Trek

Within my wooded glen the veil of night
falls silently upon my eyes like rain
which drifts with summer’s breeze. Too light

a touch to feel yet dampening the lane
by laying down its mirrors. My heartbeat
reverberates in ways I can’t explain

to see reflected glory at my feet.
Could this be me or does the earth now cry
to fill the mottled gaps on silvered street

where I would deign to never say good-bye.
That stellar mist which falls from eon’s height
is merest ember from a lustrous sky

which shares its memories. No wrong or right
intrudes upon my woodland strolls at night.