NaPoWriMo - Day 11

 Day 11 - write a two-part poem, in the form of an exchange of letters. 

Dear Cat,

I would be forever grateful

if you ceased leaving hairballs on the carpet
The cleaning costs are piling up
Maybe consider the linoleum next time?

Also, would it be possible
for you to keep my favourite rug
free of fur
for at least a day after I vacuum?

I am more than a food machine
so a little gratitude
would go a long way

Finally, please take an extra second
to bury what you leave
in the litterbox - it smells

Regardless, I do love you 
and would never give you up

Your faithful servant,
Owner

Dear Servant,

Whatever..
Nope..
Thanks for the dry tasteless kibble..
I do that on purpose..
I know..

Aloofly,
Cat

NaPoWriMo - Day 10

 Day 10 - I deviated from the prompt... I went with just the junk drawer and what was in it - do we really need all that stuff?!?!?

Essentials of over consumption

Batteries
for when I need a charge
when most things 
are rechargeable
A - B - C - D 's of
"just in case"

Glasses
for when I need to see...
1.0
1.5
2.0
it depends on how close we are

Earbuds
to hear louder
but remain private
embarrassed by my taste in music 
I'll never tell..

.

The essentials pile up
I may need them one day
I keep a lot
of needless things
You never know
when they'll come in handy
usually the week after
you throw them out...

-Lisa

NaPoWriMo - Day 9

Day 9 - write a poem in the form of a “to-do list” of an unusual person or character.

Travel Checklist

• Double check the route

(Did we fly east 
or west of Pittsburgh
on the way south?)

• Stay in formation
• Take your turn in the apex
• Stay even!

(No one likes a lop-sided V)

• Arrive early always

(even if there's no open water - 
we'll wing it.. get it? "wing" it??)

• Look sad and hungry

(some kind-hearted soul will chuck some bread our way...
if we don't hiss too much)

• Don't hiss too much
• Poo everywhere

(they expect it - the more the better)

• Hog the sidewalk

(do-not-give-way-to-anyone!)

• Hiss if they try to pass

(oh yeah - no hissing)

• Take your time crossing the road

(if we have babies we can pose for pictures)

• Lay many eggs
• Hatch many babies
• Wait until the last possible day to fly south

(remember we're stubborn)

• Stay west of Pittsburgh 

-Lisa

NaPoWriMo - Day 8

 Day 8 -  read a few of the poems from Spoon River Anthology, and then write your own poem in the form of a monologue delivered by someone who is dead.

This was a tough one and it was even sadder how quickly the poem almost wrote itself. Last week I found out a former student of mine had died of a drug overdose. He had pulled himself out of addiction and had finally gotten his life on track, but it was too much for him to take.

So Close

I tried so hard
The beasts sought me out
time after time after time

We battled them together
Sometimes you took point
other times
I held you up with one arm
desperately fending them off with the other
As hard as we fought
they were too powerful
their draw too alluring

You lost
and I was lost without you

In emptiness
I persevered
I got clean
knowing you would have been proud

But it wasn’t enough
Although I won
the demons were always there
mocking me
taunting me

And I missed you so much…

The victory was shallow
undeserved
and scary as hell
I needed your strength

So I came home

-Lisa

NaPoWriMo - Day 7

 Day 7 - a poem in a syllable based style - the Fib is a six-line form. The syllable count is based off the Fibonacci sequence of 1/1/2/3/5/8. You can use that or combine with multiple Fibs or a backwards Fib - which I have attempted here:

The Sadness of Growing Old

stars

shine

twinkle

in night sky

from loved nursery rhymes

remembered from my childhood time

I read the same to my two boys

words that gave them joy

now unsung

silent

mute

mum

-Lisa

NaPoWriMo - Day 6

 Day 6 prompt - Go to a book you love. Find a short line that strikes you. Make that line the title of your poem. Write a poem inspired by the line. Then, after you’ve finished, change the title completely.

I chose The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson. One very short sentence in the book reads "Two very poor choices.." (as an aside there are a multitude of poor choices made by the main character in this book...)

I'm not as happy with this poem so I may re-work it when I have more time. I'm finding it challenging writing a poem every day after not writing much for so long. Some days it comes to me, and other days I struggle - like today.

Impossible Decisions

They tell you not to worry
    then encourage you to hurry
    while the edges become blurry 
The stress is all consuming
when your choices leave you fuming

I tried to take it slow, to ease the quick tempo
But all around
        the lines kept moving
                situations not improving

Torn between the options
    where none of them feel right
trapped upon an endless path
    as daylight turns to night

Alternatives will soon expire
do I choose the frying pan 

        or fire?

-Lisa

https://www.napowrimo.net/

NaPoWriMo - Day 5

 Today's prompt: A poem in the shape of a poem...

I choose:

Power by Adrienne Rich

Living in the earth-deposits of our history

Today a backhoe divulged out of a crumbling flank of earth
one bottle amber perfect a hundred-year-old
cure for fever or melancholy a tonic
for living on this earth in the winters of this climate.

Today I was reading about Marie Curie:
she must have known she suffered from radiation sickness
her body bombarded for years by the element
she had purified
It seems she denied to the end
the source of the cataracts on her eyes
the cracked and suppurating skin of her finger-ends
till she could no longer hold a test-tube or a pencil

She died a famous woman denying
her wounds
denying
her wounds came from the same source as her power.

And mine:
Progression

Longing for simpler means to track the spells

Time ticks backwards until it doesn't anymore
On the face of the clock numbers fall away
catapulting digits into empty space
formulating new methods of passing the years

Timepieces no longer have meaning 
shedding the semblance of needing to know the "when"
holding fast yet holding out
symbols fade away
into a far off meaningless mingling
to emerge another day
taunting, teasing, tormenting and at the same time
tantalizing in anguish

Seeing the future destroying the
here and now
destroying
hour after precious hour as the countdown begins

-Lisa