NaPoWRiMo 2022 - Day 30

 April 30, 2022 - write a cento. This is a poem that is made up of lines taken from other poems. 

Unbearable Weight 

Love is just the retaliation of light
That filled up the evening
The sky a copper pot blackened, picked clean of puchero

Love me in the lightest part
I told him as we kissed

The morning shadows wear away,
a bit more battered than before, a bit less joy
Remains of cement fall
I broke it in half as a decent sacrifice.
Should have known to leave well enough alone;

I tell him I will try to fall out of
love with the hands wide open, love
In ways we could never
together; each alone, content, and free
over for another year
the ache of marriage

Thanks to:

Claustrophilia BY ALICE FULTON

Valentine BY DONALD BRITTON

February Sky BY BRUCE SMITH

A Man's Requirements BY ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING

the smell BY EMELIHTER KIHLENG

A Lecture upon the Shadow BY JOHN DONNE

Chronic BY D. A. POWELL

Night Magic (Blue Jester) BY LORNA DEE CERVANTES

Another Insane Devotion  BY GERALD STERN

Waiting for This Story to End Before I Begin Another BY JAN HELLER LEVI

The Flurry BY SHARON OLDS

To have without holding BY MARGE PIERCY

Did It Ever Occur to You That Maybe You’re Falling in Love? BY AILISH HOPPER

Conversation with Slugs and Sarah  BY JENNIFER CHANG

The Final Poem LEON STEVENS

The Ache of Marriage BY DENISE LEVERTOV

NaPoWriMo 2022 - Day 29

 April 29, 2022 - write a poem in which you muse on the gifts you received at birth.

Life's Blood

My blood, 
gifted by ancestors
is water
flowing through my veins

I'm drawn to it
mesmerized and spellbound
I've watched oceans
    for endless hours
paddled rivers

and baptized myself 
    in mountain lakes

I feel inexplicably tied
to the sound
    the taste
        the feel
of rain
as it soaks my skin
purifying me over and over

Water is life
...my life

NaPoWriMo 2022 - Day 28

 April 28, 2022 - write a concrete poem. In brief, a concrete poem is one in which the lines are shaped in a way that mimics the topic of the poem.

                 The cat

           it                    is
        a ball             of love

    of fur and    purr and blur

  and endless  whirr - she plays

 with all  things  line  and twine

 ignores  the  ones  designed  for 

felines - disdain  her second name 

she loves the sun and hates the rain

  her food is wrong - she tells me 

      with  song -  a  wail, a cry

           a mournful  throng

               headstrong

*FYI this was really hard to do which is why it is so short

NaPoWriMo 2022 - Day 27

 April 27, 2022 - write a “duplex.” A “duplex” is a variation on the sonnet, developed by the poet Jericho Brown. Like a typical sonnet, a duplex has fourteen lines. It’s organized into seven, two-line stanzas.

Finality

The rush of life as we near its end
Our youthful dreams seem to descend

Dreams of youth now fill my nights
Those carefree days of fields and kites

We'd roam those fields at summer's close
while grieving autumn's highs and lows

A grief unanswered as a child
Meaningless to the young and wild

And yet the wildness goes untamed
By youth refusing to be shamed

For shame means more to those who try
and fail. On knees we pray and cry

The tears we cannot comprehend 
The rush of life as we near its end

NaPoWriMo 2022 - Day 26

 April 26, 2022 - write a poem that contains at least one of a different kind of simile – an epic simile. Off script again today.

Firelight

As I gaze into the flames
I will the future to show itself
the door remains locked
the key elsewhere, 

    hidden and unreachable
I cannot find it

I tear myself away
    afraid
    scared of what I will find
if I stare too long
scared it will swing open
scared it will remain closed
both leave choices - forks in the road
no grey areas
no turning back
no regrets

And so I must be content
to watch the flames die
and with it, my hope - at least for now
but I know another day

    another fire will light

NaPoWriMo 2022 - Day 25

 April 25, 2022 - write a poem that recounts a dream or vision, and in which a woman appears who represents or reflects the area in which you live.

Mama Red

She appeared
seemingly overnight
    swollen
        and moving deceptively fast
She storms in 
and sweeps away 
anything not secured
Swirling brown angry waters
hide hidden currents
    buried resentment
    at her disturbed rest
Last week
she meandered lazily
tossing ice flows
She's not happy
    to have been suddenly woken

We keep away
until the worst recedes.

(*I feel as if I've written too many poems about the weather this month but it's been a pretty rough winter and this makes it an easy subject :)

NaPoWriMo 2022 - Day 24

 April 24, 2022 - write a poem in which you describe something with a hard-boiled simile.

Darn you Winter

The snow blew around
like Mother Nature had decided to dust a cake
with icing sugar
but slipped and sneezed at the same time
It swirled and stuck
and turned puddles 
into oozing thick slush
just dep enough to fill your shoes
The trees waved their branches
like friends saving you a seat
at a busy concert
trying to get your attention
across the screaming crowd
Winter has been relentless
ruthless
and darn right harsh

NaPoWRiMo 2022 - Day 23

 April 23, 2022 - write a poem in the style of Kay Ryan(short and snappy – with a lot of rhyme and soundplay).

Saturation

Rain on the roof
we just found out

we're not waterproof

Mopping up pools
the carpet, soaked
Perhaps our
new floor 
will be oak?

Last year we cried
lawns were dead and dry
now we pray
for blue sky
and sigh

NaPoWriMo 2022 - Day 22

 April 22, 2022 - write a poem that uses repetition. 

Used to be

It used to be
    that wilderness felt more untamed
    and nature's splendor was unmaimed
    and forests weren't engulfed in flame

It used to be 
    we got more for a dollar
    people answered a caller
    and cars were much smaller

It used to be
    that funerals were rarer
    that campgrounds were barer
    and life felt much fairer

it used to be
    the oceans were colder
    there was an earth before we sold her
    no one thought they'd grow older

It used to be...

(It felt right that this one was posted on Earth Day)🌎

NaPoWriMo 2022 - Day 21

 April 21, 2022 - write a poem in which you first recall someone you used to know closely but are no longer in touch with, then a job you used to have but no longer do, and then a piece of art that you saw once and that has stuck with you over time. Finally, close the poem with an unanswerable question.

* Off script again but I think this is more effective...

Would you?

I wonder
where you wandered to...

I miss our youthful impetuous days
of skinny dipping
then party hopping
up until all hours
and working the next day
    secret hungover smiles
then doing it all over again

I miss the carefree life we had
    before we had to grow up
    before summer ended
    before real life took hold

Would you go back?
Would you want to go back?
Could we ever go back
                    knowing what we know?

You knew all of me
absolutely nothing off limits
and now
            I know nothing of you...

NaPoWriMo 2022 - Day 20

 April 20, 2022 - write a poem that anthropomorphizes a kind of food. 

Lines that Bind

A gem of a day
warm enough
that I shuck my jacket
cool enough
that beads of perspiration
don't blind me
as I cast and reel
            cast and reel

The rod dips sharply
and my line quickly feeds out

It's a perfect fight
but I finally exhaust
my prey

As I reel in
I see submission 
        and surrender
as the fish yields to the line's tautness
it's eyes close 
    in a heartbreaking show of defeat

The win feels shallow

As I release my dinner, it glances back 
The smug look seems to say
"works every time"

("Fish are friends, not food." - If you know, you know :)

NaPoWriMo 2022 - Day 19

 April 19, 2022 - write a poem that starts with a command.

Listen

Listen...
Just close your eyes and listen

to the sound of a million stars being born
to the sound of the snow falling
to the sound of grass pushing up green shoots to reach the sun

Sounds you didn't know existed
Sounds that are deafening and overwhelming
reassuring and stimulating and

...calming

Sounds that validate your very being
and push you to
Listen...

NaPoWriMo 2022 - Day 18

 April 18, 2022 - write your own poem that provides five answers to the same question – without ever specifically identifying the question that is being answered.

I
The paddle creates a ripple
water drips off in patterns
as the canoe cuts 
                        silently 
through the calm glassy bay

II
Laughter echoes
from the dining room
voices talking
    over one another
        to one another
            with one another

III
Opening a brand new book
becoming lost in its plot
pages turning
    one after another
        as the afternoon disappears

IV
Birds alight at the feeder
You don't even need to know the season
    if the birds are there
My juncos and house finches
        found their way home

V
There's comfort in silence
we need not speak
to know we are heard

NaPoWriMo 2022 - Day 17

 April 17, 2022 - think about dogs you have known, seen, or heard about, and then use them as a springboard into wherever they take you.

He Was a Good Dog

They say you should never outlive your kids
and definitely not your grandkids
But I have already outlived one very special boy...

He was a gentle giant
with an even bigger heart
always excited to see us,
but especially "grandpa"
He'd whine with excitement
as the car turned down our street
    impatient
        to get out and run and wrestle

He had no concept of personal space
squeezing into any empty spot on the couch
    for cuddles

He once stole a turkey carcass
off the counter at Thanksgiving
and all we could do was laugh

Grandpa would dog-sit from time to time
and when it was time to go home
he outright refused
just lay on the lawn
    daring you to move him

He love sprinklers,
cool grass,
pulling stuffing from toys,
and chasing balls
    endlessly dropping them, slobbery and wet
        at your feet

Later, as he grew older
he settled for cuddles on his bed
his little stub of a tail
nearly a blur with happiness

He loved well
and was well loved.

Rest In Peace Harley💗
We miss you...

NaPoWriMo 2022 - Day 16

 April 16, 2022 - write a curtal sonnet. This is a variation on the classic 14-line sonnet. A curtal sonnet has eleven lines, instead of the usual fourteen, and the last line is shorter than the ten that precede it.

Paradise Personified

If all the leaves of all the trees decided not to fall
And autumn held tight in October's fading light
Refused winter's white a chance to take flight
If we could hold out for a fate so small
Then songbirds would stay, not get chased away
And blossoms would thrive as spring came alive

Sadness would be pushed the back of our mind
The warmth of the sun a healing tonic
All of nature as one, harmonic
Exactly as the creator designed
    Utopia defined

NaPoWriMo 2022 - Day 15

 April 15, 2022 - write a poem about something you have absolutely no interest in.*

Watching Paint Dry

I always change the channel
when sports comes on tv
I fail to see the point of it
Though most would disagree

Rugby seems so pointless
and baseball makes me yawn
Hockey's tied with cricket
I'd rather mow my lawn

And then you have the tee-off
When golfers hit the ball
it's there and then it disappears
Why is it so small?

Snooker, fishing, fencing, darts
Bowling, boxing, chess
Watching them's a waste of time
And I could not care less.

*I actually do like to watch some sports but the majority of them just do not interest me whatsoever. 

NaPoWriMo 2022 - Day 14

I'm trying to catch up with the challenge. I sit in front of my computer all day and some days when I don't have to, I won't. But the poems are being written - just not posted on time.

 

April 14, 2022 - write a poem that takes the form of the opening scene of the movie of your life.*

Enter stage left
or "playground" left

They follow a lone girl
around the schoolyard
    mocking

A late season snowfall has blanketed the area
she pauses
    (The trio behind her does the same)
then continues
trying to ignore the taunts
watching the younger kids
    build snowmen 

    and snow forts

With each step she takes
the group walks over her footprints
obliterating them
unfazed, she just makes more
"We are erasing you" they tell her cruelly
but she's still there

and many years later I am still here

*This was a difficult poem to write. It shows how cruel kids can be and how these things can stay with you for a very long time.

NaPoWriMo 2022 - Day 13

 April 13, 2022 - write a poem that joyfully states that “Everything is Going to Be Amazing.”

Stay Certain in Uncertain Times

The world will not end
if I miss a deadline
the sun will continue 
    to rise 

    and to set

Sometimes
we put too much pressure on ourselves
to succeed
    to win
        to get out of bed every single day

Forgive yourself
    often
Love yourself
    daily
Be yourself
    forever

We only get one go
at this amazing life
So sit back
kick up your feet
    breathe in
    breathe out
    and let it go

Everything is going to be alright
    if you believe

NaPoWriMo 2022 - Day 12

 April 12, 2022 - write a poem about a very small thing. Whether it’s an atom, a button, a hummingbird’s egg, dollhouse furniture etc.

You smiled

and brushed away my tears

That small gesture
was all I needed
to make my day
perfect

NaPoWriMo 2022 - Day 11

 April 11, 2022 - write a poem about a very large thing. It could be a mountain or a blue whale or a skyscraper or a planet.

Unbroken

Your heart
opened up to me
It took in all my imperfections
it absorbed my insecurities
and forgave my failings
Your heart
kept opening
seemingly without end
never complaining
always accepting more
And I loved you all the more for it

NaPoWriMo 2022 - Day 10

 April 10, 2022 - Today's prompt is pretty simple – a love poem!

The One

I knew he was the one
when, instead of fixing my broken soul

he furnished the tools 
to help me repair it myself

NaPoWriMo 2022 - Day 9

 April 9, 2022 - Write in a specific form – the nonet! A nonet has nine lines. The first line has nine syllables, the second has eight, and so on until you get to the last line, which has just one syllable.

Searching for Hope

Winter's breath has not released it's hold
Steadfastly holding us captive
Wind and cold and ice and snow
This season has no soul
Pleas fall on deaf ears
She taunts us still
with long nights
endless 
dark

NaPoWriMo 2022 - Day 8

Went off prompt today... oh well... 

Absolutes

I am creation
made from many parts
each, on its own, 
nothing special
    a single grain of sand
    a star
    a blade of grass
when gathered in numbers
become something spectacular

You cannot judge a diamond
by a single facet
it's only when you step back
take in its entirety
do you see the magic
It's there - in everything
the drop that becomes a rainshower
cleansing us
allowing us to see

NaPoWriMo 2022 - Day 7

 April 7, 2022 - write a poem that argues against, or somehow questions, a proverb or saying.

Finders Keepers Losers Weepers

It's said that loss is a bad thing
And who hasn't wept over lost love?
Or a parent gone too soon?
Sometimes losing can feel like the end of the world

And sometimes, 
it can mean the entire world
When you lose your heart and soul
to your truest love
When you lose your fear
of growing old,
and embrace the wisdom gained
When you lose your inhibitions,
throw caution to the wind
and learn to live

In losing, sometimes you find yourself...

NaPoWriMo 2022 - Day 6*

 April 6, 2022 - write a variation of an acrostic poem. But rather than spelling out a word with the first letters of each line, I’d like you to write a poem that reproduces a phrase with the first words of each line.

Endless Winter

Now is not the time
Is there anything more frustrating?
The skies seem to overflow with flakes of snow
Winter does not want to be ousted any time soon
Of endless cold we quickly grow old
Our hearts sink as day dawns cloudy
Discontent ensues - there is no end in sight

* I realize there is no Day 5 - nothing came to me yesterday. That's all I have.

NaPoWriMo 2022 - Day 4

 April 4, 2022 - write a poem . . . in the form of a poetry prompt.

Poetry Prompt Poem OR Leaf

1. You are a leaf - where will the wind take you?

2. Check the forecast for direction and speed.

3. The heights you achieve will depend on your moisture factor

4. tumble - toss - flip - fly

5. Finally land

6. I'm one of a multitude

7. Housing bees and butterflies and ladybugs - I take my job seriously

8. No longer nice to look at - utilitarian

9. Reborn as compost, feeding new growth

10. A darn good destination

NaPoWriMo 2022 - Day 3

 April 3, 2022 - Today's prompt is based on a Spanish form called a “glosa” – literally a poem that glosses, or explains, or in some way responds to another poem. The idea is to take a quatrain from a poem that you like, and then write a four-stanza poem that explains or responds to each line of the quatrain, with each of the quatrain’s four lines in turn forming the last line of each stanza. 

From Ernest Dowson's - Vitae Summa Brevis Spem Nos Vetat Incohare Longam*

Existence Endured 

Transient time passes quickly
even swifter as this body ages
I have see plenty, but still ache for more
Another beautiful blossom, another fine bottle
They are not long, the days of wine and roses

I surge ahead, determined
to savour every single sweet drop
before my taste is taken
and memories become mired in fog
Out of a misty dream

I think of you - recalling
hands that once touched precious petals
powdery soft and delicate
I fleetingly feel your presence
Our path emerges for a while, then closes

Lifeless, the soil stiff and solid
naught can take root - the long sleep starts
It will for each of us...eventually
Only fate can decide who will waken from slumber 
and who will remain
within a dream

*The brief sum of life forbids us the hope of enduring long

NaPoWriMo 2022 - Day 2

 April 2, 2022 - Write a poem based on a word featured in a tweet from Haggard Hawks, an account devoted to obscure and interesting English words.

imbosk - to hide in trees or undergrowth
obnubilate - hid in cloud or mist

Hiding in Plain Sight

Behind us
   inside us
     live others
who aren't us
We hide 
    barely discernible
our features blurred
like an obnubilated moon
   on those nights
     where stars are no longer visible
We know they're there
Just as we know
   our other selves 
      are there
Afraid to emerge
Shyness not ready to shine
an imbosked hare
     waiting for predators to pass
my frail insides
would be eaten
             immediately

NaPoWriMo 2022 - Day 1

 April 1, 2022 - Today's prompt is based on Robert Hass’s remarkable prose poem, “A Story About the Body.” The idea is to write your own prose poem that, whatever title you choose to give it, is a story about the body.

Two Bodies and a Bench

As I sat on the park bench feeding the birds she sat next to me, a little too close for comfort. Our thighs touched and I could feel the heat from her body. Apparently unaware, she reached into her pocket, pulled out a small bag of sunflower seeds and began to toss them on the ground in front of us. Her hand was weathered and her fingers so curled and arthritic the seeds spilled through them like sand through an hourglass. We said nothing as the chickadees and sparrows flitted back and forth, coming closer to reach the fallen seeds. After a while she reached over and placed her cool papery hand on mine. "You're sitting in my late husband's favourite seat. I come here from time to time to be close to him, his spirit. Thank you for humouring an old woman". Her grey watery eyes sparkled with tears as she rose and slowly walked away. The warmth from her thigh persisted until she was out of sight.