Poetry: Spander in Verse, a Collection

[darkhavens]

Author: darkhavens
Title: Spander in Verse, a Collection
Fandom: Pairing: Buffy: Spike/Xander
Rating: From G to R
Concrit: Please. If you spot a typo or a grammar glitch, feel free to tell me in comments.
Disclaimer: Not mine, never will be. No harm, no foul, no money made.
Warnings/Squicks: Iambic pentameter; Xander gets vamped a time or two in verse.
Notes: A couple of weeks ago, I got bit by a poetry bug. It wasn't a bunny - there was no plotiness involved (originally) - it was just an irresistible urge to write Spander poetry in as many forms as possible. So I did. I even went to Wikipedia and found new forms of poetry to play with. Written for spring_with_xan.

These are the results.


Unspoken - Haiku - 5:7:5

Spike: cold skin, warm heart
Xan won't say that to his face
Vampire gets pissy


Undomesticated - Katauta - 5:7:7

Vicious elegance,
leather and smoke, bleach and fangs
tamed by a puppy


Unfulfilled - Tanka - 5:7:5:7:7

Xander's frustrated
Spike is a pain in the ass
Except that he's not
The damned chip won't let him be
And Xander needs a good fuck!


Undying - Sedoka - 5:7:7:5:7:7

Xander must not die
Spike's the only solution
Eternity on offer
Final, fatal kiss
Last indigestible meal
Becomes envigorating


Understanding - Bussokusekika - 5:7:5:7:7:7

Puppy wants a bone
Kitten wants a little taste
Satisfactory
A trade is made that pleases
A tiny nip, a slow fuck
Sated vamp, happy human


Unbeknown - Chōka (briefest form) - 5:7:5:7:5:7:5:7:7

They're always hiding,
Sharing whispers in shadows,
Trading silent looks,
Frantic kisses as they pass
Out of direct sight
Of those who won't understand.
Tara finds them first,
Keeps their secret for a while.
Confession's good for the soul.


(Un)Lucky - Limerick

There once was a vampire called Spike,
Who found a young boy that he liked.
Xander was pretty, his home life was shitty;
Spike stole him away in the night.



Sacrifice - Sonnet

He spoke the words but never did he hear,
A love as strong as this for to aspire.
His crazy sire Drusilla he did fear,
Would burn his boy upon her tortured pyre.
A sacrifice to Daddy was her goal,
The Slayer's first lieutenant lost the draw.
He begged and pleaded, swore his love so bold,
He offered up the Slayer's sis and... Score!
Remorse he felt, that he'd been forced to cheat,
He'd left Drusilla to her hard-earned fate.
He carried home his bloodied love, so sweet,
And drained him dry before it was too late.
The wait was long as Xander's skin grew cold,
But never once did Spike relax his hold.



My Spike, in the Key of Dru - Villanelle

My Spike, he always was a pretty boy
Constantly chasing after something new
My Spike, my own, now has a pretty toy

He was so quiet and shy at first, so coy
My Daddy had to beat him black and blue
My Spike, he always was a pretty boy

He grew rebellious, would not enjoy
Being mine and Grandmama's and Daddy's too
My Spike, my own, now has a pretty toy

One he keeps on shortest leash to annoy
He learned his lessons well, our blood runs true
My Spike, he always was a pretty boy

So twisted up inside, all woe and joy
Spike's kitten wears his tarnished soul askew
My Spike, my own, now has a pretty toy

My Spike is worried, but I won't destroy
His snarly kitty who's a puppy too
My Spike, he always was a pretty boy
My Spike, my own, now has a pretty toy



A Need: Love Infinite - Sestina

we fed the first time by moonlight,
a ritual meal to share.
he'd offered me eternity,
companionship, our greatest need.
we sealed the bargain with a kiss;
each swore to be the other's love.

he is my own, my sire, my love.
I watch him dance in the moonlight:
a leap, a kick, a knife blade's kiss.
his prey he's always glad to share.
this ache within me, this fierce need
will last at least eternity.

eternity. eternity.
there is no end to this great love,
no end to this infernal need
for sav'ring blood 'neath the moonlight.
trading in hunger as we share
a thousand and then one more kiss.

the hint of smoke that's in each kiss:
a taste to last eternity.
his habits he is wont to share:
good food, great drink, abiding love,
penchant for fucking by moonlight.
I do my best to fill each need.

my fingers itch to touch. I need
to feel, to stroke, to hold, to kiss
his milk pale skin in the moonlight
each night, each year. eternity
will not be long enough to love,
but it is all that we can share.

my first kill I do gladly share.
subdue my hunger, my base need
while he takes that first draught. my love,
he feeds that sup back in a kiss
that seems to last eternity.
we're nude and blooded in moonlight

a kiss: from death to purest love
eternity: gift of moonlight
we share a need: love infinite

Comments

[mulder200.livejournal.com]

How beautiful!

[darkhavens.livejournal.com]

Thank you! :D

[kitty-poker1.livejournal.com]

That's brilliant! I'm not a great fan of poetry but they were all so fluent, the words so perfectly chosen to tell the story that they drew me in. You hit on everything that makes Spander just about the perfect couple. :D

[darkhavens.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

I don't often get the urge to write poetry (haikus excepted - I'm always in the mood for those *g*), but when I do, I can only fight it for so long before I give in. I can spend hours counting syllables and switching out words> I enjoy the challenge of iambic pentameter and I think sestinas could be addictive. *g*

[kitty-poker1.livejournal.com]

Haikus I can manage but I just checked the definition of a sestina and my admiration is doubled! I could barely even understand the rules, never mind attempt to write one. *g*

[darkhavens.livejournal.com]

The best way I've seen it described is a 'spiral'. You make a list of the final word of each line of your first verse and then start at the bottom and draw a spiral to get the order of the next verse. Then you just keep doing that until you get six sets of word orders. Sestina Spiral Diagram (http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_d5x4O-v4Xns/RwOzUF2oH9I/AAAAAAAAADk/T5lIeuOtJXk/s400/SestinaSpiral.JPG). Or, you could do what I did, and use Sestina end word pattern generator (http://dilute.net/sestinas/). :D

[kitty-poker1.livejournal.com]

Ooh, very clever. I may have to have a play with the generator. *g*

Not long to go now. Squeee!

[darkhavens.livejournal.com]

Three weeks! EEEE! *bounces*

The generator is very useful, you just have to make sure you choose your ending words carefully because you have to use them all seven times. But once you have your six orders, you can have lots of fun coming up with ways to make them work. And you can rotate (but not rearrange) the order of the verses - move the top one down to the bottom or bring the bottom one up to the top until you find a workable order.

[chaoskir.livejournal.com]

Hah I do like it. Great job. Very nice and beautiful.

[darkhavens.livejournal.com]

Thank you! :D

[cmk418]

Wow. Wonderful depiction of their relationship.

[darkhavens.livejournal.com]

Thank you! They have such a wonderful relationship to depict (at least in my head *g*).

[whichclothes.livejournal.com]

These are absolutely wonderful, every one of them. So talented and creative of you!

[darkhavens.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

I may have to try my hand at a fandom filk next. :P

[devo79.livejournal.com]

I love when an author does something different with our boys.

[darkhavens.livejournal.com]

Thank you! :D

[literati.livejournal.com]

*happy sigh*

So very lovely, babe! ♥

[darkhavens.livejournal.com]

Thank you! *smooches*

[outsideth3box.livejournal.com]

These are amazing. I've taken a poetry class and had assignments to write these forms and I know how challenging it is. To do it without the result feeling strained or forced is brilliant.

Well done. The imagery is gorgeous and I really love all of them, but my favorite is the Dru villanelle. It's so perfectly her.

The sestina panders to my blood kink and turns out to be not only beautifully rich, but very hot, as well.

[darkhavens.livejournal.com]

Thank you! Doing the Villanelle in Dru voice wasn't a conscious decision, she just started nattering to me as I was reading the description of the form and I ran with it. *g*

[tabaqui]

Crazy stuff, bay-bee.

My favorite is still the Sestina. Very, very cool.
:)

[darkhavens.livejournal.com]

Thank you! The Sestina is my favourite, I think. I got to follow a very strict structure but also have fun with the punctuation and flow. :D

[snowpuppies]

Brilliant. I love things like this, and all the forms! I've really enjoyed doing haiku, and some of these look fun. :P Thanks for bringing these to light!

[darkhavens.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

I've been addicted to haiku for over 25 years, which is probably odd, but such fun! :D

[vinniebatman.livejournal.com]

OH man, these were beautiful, and since they were Spander, they made me do a happy jig.

Woot!

~Alice~

[darkhavens.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

I had so much fun writing them, I might just do it again. :D

[malf0y-m0nkeys.livejournal.com]

I always admire people that can write sestinas, they flow so well and while the form looks almost unassuming, it takes a lot of time and forethought, so very well done. I really enjoyed them.

[darkhavens.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

Having the fixed line endings and the rigid syllable count made for some interesting moments, but I still got to be adventurous with the punctuation and the word choices. It was a fun challenge. :D

[cordelianne.livejournal.com]

Very very awesome! I love that you wrote Spander poetry for SWX!!! It was exciting to add that poetry tag! But even more exciting is how awesome these are!!

All the poems are awesome! My especial favourites are the Limerick (so funny!), Dru's awesome voice in the Villanelle and the Sestina. There's many fantastic lines in the Sestina, in particular this one stands out:
a leap, a kick, a knife blade's kiss.
I love the flow and rhythm of that line line!

And this is really great:
a kiss: from death to purest love
eternity: gift of moonlight
we share a need: love infinite

Awesome poetry!! :D

[darkhavens.livejournal.com]

HA! Most appropriate icon evah! :D

Thank you so much! I think the limerick was a tiny rebellion against all the 5:7:5 counts of the Japanese forms. *g*

Dru started singing in my head while I was looking at the Villanelle wiki page, and I had to let her have her way. :P

The sestina is my favourite. I got to work within a rigid syllable count and with predefined line endings, but I still got to be creative with the punctuation and word choices. I definitely think I'll be revisiting that form.