holmes_minor | The Poetry Page: Social Distancing with Mrs. Hudson

scfrankles posting in

Although the nights are getting shorter, Mr. Holmes has suggested to me that we might like to try a little star-gazing and has lent me his telescope for this very purpose. I would apparently be joining some much esteemed company in taking up this interest—I have found this small leaflet on contemporary lady astronomers and perhaps you would like to take a look.

Also here are some reproductions of astronomical illustrations by Étienne Léopold Trouvelot, to whet the appetite!

To inspire you in perhaps another direction, here is a quotation from Dr. Watson’s story, “The Adventure of the Bruce-Partington Plans”:

”But that Mycroft should break out in this erratic fashion! A planet might as well leave its orbit.”

Here as usual is the list of poetry forms:

221B verselet, abecedarian poetry, acrostic poetry, alexandrine, ballad, barzelletta, beeswing, blackout poetry, blitz poem, blues stanza, bref double, Burns stanza, call and response, chastushka, cherita, cinquain, circular poetry, clerihew, clogyrnach, colour poems, compound word verse, concrete poetry, Cornish verse, curtal sonnet, débat, décima, descort, diamante, doggerel, double dactyl, echo verse, ekphrasis, elegiac couplet, elegiac stanza, elfje, englyn, enuig, epigram, epistle, epitaph, epulaeryu, Etheree, fable, Fib, florette, found poetry, free verse, ghazal, haiku, hay(na)ku, In Memoriam stanza, Italian sonnet, jueju, kennings poem, lanturne, lies, limerick, line messaging, list poem, lyric poetry, mathnawī, micropoetry, mini-monoverse, musette, nonsense verse, palindrome poetry, pantoum, Parallelismus Membrorum, poem cycle, puente, quatern, quintilla, renga, rhyming alliterisen, riddle, rimas dissolutas, rime couée, rispetto, Schüttelreim, sedoka, septet, sestina, shadorma, sonnet, stream of consciousness, tanka, tercet, terza rima, tongue twister poetry, triangular triplet, tricube, trine, triolet, Tyburn, villanelle, xenolith

Now, who would like to take the first go with the telescope? Mrs. Small-Hobbit? Or La Poetisa Okapi perhaps? There’s enough space for everyone! (Yes… Perhaps I will leave the jokes to you, Mrs. Frankles.)

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

happyeverafter72

Musings on my Watson, a beeswing by S. Holmes:

I trace the freckles on your back,
Your constellations the light that I lack.
The love I have lacked, you pay back and back and back.

From:

stonepicnicking_okapi

Oh, wow! This is beautiful. Well done!

From:

happyeverafter72

Thank you!

From:

debriswoman

Very nicely done:-)

From:

happyeverafter72

Thank you!

From:

scfrankles

I had completely forgotten about the beeswing ^__^ How lovely that you've broken it out again ^___^

And what a beautiful use of the form. It feels so elegantly simple, no unnecessary words, but there's an awful lot going on underneath the surface. Your constellations the light that I lack feels like a reference to Watson being a conductor of light for Holmes' investigations but is also clearly a reference to the light Watson has brought into Holmes' personal life.

And I love that final "back and back and back." It seems to suggest Holmes' hand movements tracing the freckles, as well as suggesting the generous and boundless love that comes from Watson.

From:

happyeverafter72

Thank you so much! That's exactly what I was hoping to convey.

From:

smallhobbit

Twinkle, twinkle little star
We are viewing from afar
Your light takes years from you to us
Even longer than a number ten bus

From:

stonepicnicking_okapi

Ha, ha! That #10 is a trial.

From:

smallhobbit

Wait years and then three come along at once.

From:

scfrankles

Sorry, going off at a tangent - you know, in this stressful time, one of the silliest and most minor things I miss is you going on one of your trips and immediately bringing the entire railway system to a standstill ^__^

From:

smallhobbit

Yes, the devastating effect I have on the railway system is sadly missed.

From:

stonepicnicking_okapi

to see him trod from place to place
no variation in routine
to view his girth, impassive face,
you’d think him planet, set in space,
a Jupiter on course serene

without a single step off track
you’d think his orbit, without pause,
from home to desk to club and back,
avoiding parlay, delay, slack,
obeying his own nature’s laws

but unassuming crust belies
the universe beneath his skin
celestial orb, a mere disguise,
for teeming wits and worlds comprise
the he, the galaxies within

From:

smallhobbit

Great description of Mycroft.

From:

stonepicnicking_okapi

Thank you very much!

From:

happyeverafter72

Wow! This is brilliant!

From:

stonepicnicking_okapi

Thank you very much!

From:

scfrankles

I love that imagery - Mycroft being an entire universe inside. As Watson notes on their first meeting, there's a lot more to Mycroft than his external appearance.

From:

stonepicnicking_okapi

Right? He's big and fixed in orbit but a lot is going on inside/under the surface. I really liked the quote you picked out.

From:

stonepicnicking_okapi

sun moon star
shine glow light
warm cool bright

space between
points patterns
clues twinkling

firmament
heavenly
mystery

From:

smallhobbit

Oh, that is clever!

From:

stonepicnicking_okapi

Thank you!

From:

debriswoman

I like this...very clever:-)

From:

stonepicnicking_okapi

Thank you!

From:

scfrankles

I like that a lot - it feels like it represents the overlap between Holmes' poetic sensibilities and his scientific mind.

From:

stonepicnicking_okapi

Yes, really, more of the BBC Sherlock's 'but I can still appreciate' them line. He may not understand astronomy (as well as other sciences) but he can appreciate the aesthetic.

From:

stonepicnicking_okapi

The constellation Sherlock Holmes is out tonight.
It’s made of seven stars in something like a clew,
or smoking pipe in curling meditative queue,
a logical arrangement of celestial might.

For four months of the year, it disappears from sight,
but not this eve, a septet of gas-glow’s the cue
the constellation Sherlock Holmes is out tonight.
It’s made of seven stars in something like a clew.

And yet, among the points, there’s one, most loved, and bright,
if anyone looks up, sees the craft, sees the true,
it’s you, my dear Watson, it’s because of you—
your words, your awe, writ on high—that it comes to light:
the constellation Sherlock Holmes is out tonight.

From:

smallhobbit

I do like the idea of the constellation Sherlock Holmes. You're certainly finding plenty of inspiration here :)

From:

stonepicnicking_okapi

Thank you! I think you could go many ways with the constellation Sherlock Holmes. Yes, and to think my first thought was I'd have to do some kind of sci-fi steampunk, but no, plenty of juice in the prompt squeeze.

From:

happyeverafter72

Wow! I love this.

From:

stonepicnicking_okapi

Thank you!

From:

scfrankles

I've just been looking up "clew". I'd always simply thought of it as an old spelling of clue. I hadn't realised that it meant a ball of yarn and that's where "clue" came from - because it was a way to get out of the labyrinth. How appropriate for this constellation ^__^ And how appropriate that the brightest star in the constellation should be Watson. It's all just lovely ^__^

From:

stonepicnicking_okapi

Yes, a couple of months ago, I took a FutureLearn course on detective fiction, and I have to say one of the few new things I learned was the origin of the word clue. I think it's rather fascinating.

Watson is Holmes's fixed point, right? So he'd been the brightest star in the constellation.

Really, 'space' was a great prompt for the verse muse, so thank you very much for selecting it. I've enjoyed writing for it.