Galloping Gossips #poetry #dVerse

Gossiping witch

Gossping, gathering 
teeth and lips chattering
witchlike they whisper
while watching, and gossiping wait

for some dread new scandal,
some news they can handle
while witchlike they cackle
and curse, spreading rumour and hate.

It’s not just the women,
the men play their hand in
this murderous gossip 
and gallop to town with the news:

‘Old so-and-so’s floundered
his morals have foundered!’
Like demons they demonstrate 
they are outraged, not amused

The logs in their eyes
as they utter their cries
of outrage could be piled
and in minutes rekindle a fire

as they pick out the motes
in the eyes of the folks
who blink in the smoke
of flames fanned by salacious desire.

© 2021 experimentsinfiction.com. All Rights Reserved.

Image by 192635 from Pixabay

Written for dVerse

Tonight, Lisa is hosting Poetics:

‘Today’s challenge, if you choose to accept it, is to write a poem speaking to a human attribute that is particularly irritating to you — and it must have a Halloween or Samhain theme to it.’

Personally, I hate gossip. I’ve indulged in it of course, but recently realised it does nothing other than spread hatred and ill-feeling. I can think of better uses for my time. For example, writing poetry! The bar opens at 3pm EST, so join us for more poems of ‘Halloweeny Humans…’

And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but perceivest not the beam that is in thine own eye?

The Bible (King James Version), Luke 7:41

88 thoughts on “Galloping Gossips #poetry #dVerse”

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  7. This is scrumptiously dark, apt and perfect for the season, Ingrid! I especially like; “The logs in their eyes as they utter their cries of outrage could be piled and in minutes rekindle a fire.”💝💝

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  8. great poem Ingrid!
    Gossip spreads like wild fire while good news is hard to catch fire sadly!
    “The logs in their eyes
    as they utter their cries
    of outrage could be piled
    and in minutes rekindle a fire”
    👏👏👏

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  11. At first it looked like you were writing a Duodora, but then you took off and soared into some other form. Tis’ a very interesting poem, the language seems archaic and seasonal; very well done. As to gossip, a pox on those who spread it.

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  12. Yesterday I saw a video of a “karen”, an older church lady who cornered this poor young gal in the ladies’ room and berated her for wearing shorts to church. (She was wearing jean cut-offs and a sweatshirt). Her complaint was that the girl was fat, and she drove her to tears and wouldn’t stop. It was awful, and I thought of this very quote you used about removing the beam from your own eye before concerning yourself with the mote in someone else’s.

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  15. I love the meter and the rhymes here! It feels relentless, and then hits you in the face like running into a board, over and over and over.

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  22. Great topic, Ingrid! Gossip is a not-so-attractive human activity. When we were young, we learned the saying,”Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never harm me!” In reality, nothing could be further from the truth…reputations ruined, people falsely accused of crimes, a hostile atmosphere created in an organization or community…Love the photo!

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  25. You really nail the petty evil and the terrible addiction that is gossip for many–I hate it, most especially when I see myself doing it. Like Shay, I think your last stanza especially resonates.

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  26. Aah, I too have gone down the gossipy route of tittle tattle! Definitely one of the most unattractive of human traits. Nicely done Ingrid.

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  27. Some LIVE by the wagging tongue – and yet, in the end, the blade slays itself, at some point. Karma is a rightful B*tch.

    (What always surprises me though, makes me wonder, do those who thrive on it never stop to consider others may be of the same inclination + are blathering on about them?! )

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      1. LOL – most likely! besides, I’ve noticed that heavy gossips are drastic attention seekers, need to hog the spot-light, most often need to be right, are pretend sympathetic listeners …. and with all that plotting, scheming and desperation to be heard, they’re poor listeners …. makes for an ironic, if not really tiresome encounter – oh, I forgot to add to my list: they rarely have an original thought in mind ….

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      3. notes from the field …. it’s often very laughable, when you know what they’re about, but as I said, it’s exhausting to be in their company 😂
        oh well, c’est la vie!

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  31. I like your rhyme and reasoning here Ingrid, I’ve often referred to ‘gossip’ as one of our verbal handgrenades … we lobby them with no clarification of the facts and regardless of the harm caused!

    When living rurally one eventually hears all the ‘gossip’ about oneself, makes some paranoid but must say I found them so off target they were highly amusing :(

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      1. lol I do it in the privacy of my own bedroom … I have a fun/sad story about a complaint about a lady naked on her lawn. She was 86 and had done yoga naked there since she was 26yo … nobody complained when she was young and beautiful!

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  36. Pingback: Tittle-Tattle | rfljenksy – Practicing Simplicity

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