Poems

Poem-a-day (PAD) Challenge – Day 2

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I’ve got three prompts going for the second day of NaPoWriMo, and all it’s amounted to so far is one micro-poem, but there are other ideas whirring around.

The prompt over at the Poetic Asides blog was to write a “he or she said” poem. There’s a an active community of talented and encouraging poets who frequent this blog, so it always a good destination — especially mid-April when the energy and inspiration reserves maybe getting low.  For this I did complete a micro-something that may grow into something more:

Clear

He said there was

a storm in his head

as long as he

could remember, but

the first time

he kissed her

the sky cleared

and stayed that way

as long as she

was his.

 

I’m hoping something interesting will come of the This Is Not A Literary Journal Prompt to “write the lie you used to believe.” Perhaps something fun, or witty.

Today, April 2, also would’ve been my Mom’s 73rd birthday, so the NaPoWriMo.net prompt to write a “family portrait” poem is quite fitting. Before my Mom’s death, and certainly since, I’ve written much about family and her specifically. I don’t know if this is a well that will ever run dry, and for that I’m grateful.

Lastly, I’d like to invite any willing readers to check out this link to one of my favourite poems by one of my favourite poets: Lorna Crozier’s Fear of Snakes. I love everything about this poem, but each time I read it, it’s the opening line that gets me. The imagery and rhythm are just stunning.

April is the poemiest month!

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Hooray! It’s April, and the start of National Poetry Month! I love April for many reasons, like more hours of sunshine, the promising sight of tulips pushing out of the brown earth, and the fabulous Edmonton Poetry Festival. While I adore T.S. Eliot **, I just can’t agree that April is the cruelest month…not when so many poets come together to celebrate words.

Last year I approached the April poem-a-day challenge with gusto, and managed to squeak something out every morning. Some of those poems will always remain the unseen wordblurt of a first draft, but several have become poems I’ve felt confident enough to share at readings, or to include in my manuscript-in-progress. What I really took away from last year was a kind of discipline to write every day, and the realization that there are no wasted words. I also learned so much by reading the work of other poets.

This year I’m trying to use the prompts at both the Poetic Asides poem a day challenge, and the NaPoWriMo prompts posted at This Is Not A Literary Journal.  I’m not sure I’ll manage to write two poems every day, but I’ll see where the ideas from each site take me.

Some days I will post my own poems here, and some days I will post a link to beloved poems by others. Whenever possible, I will try to post links to works by Canadian poets.

So hooray for April, the wordiest month!

Oh, and here’s the quick bit I wrote for today’s Poetic Asides prompt to write a “fool” poem:

daffodils

sheathed in snow

April Fool

** And do click here to read the beautiful poem The Waste Land by T.S. Eliot

Poem: Dubbing Planet 9

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Most days, reading or watching the news makes my heart ache.  This week, hearing about the quiet planet chillin’ at the edge of our solar system, took me to a different kind of dark place — the beautiful mystery of space.

 

Dubbing Planet 9

 

We can’t see you, shadow planet,

but we know you’re there.

This is more than faith.

More than wishes made

on all the shining stars.

(Maybe it’s your light, so bright,

that we’ll see tonight —

forgive us our mistake).

 

You can’t hide forever,

even floating far

past imagination.

 

We’ve got your tracks, elusive giant.

You Bigfoot in space,

and we’re excited, tittering,

because we love to dub.

 

This is our time, baby.

Our chance to claim the cosmos.

No more stuffy Roman gods,

no more démodé Greek deities.

 

You need a now name.

Something trending:

#PlanetSoFar

Uber

Drake

 

Make you mononymous, female:

Marilyn

Oprah

Adele

 

Or formal, with title,

honorifics for our stellar stone:

King Orb

Lady Rondure

Miss Mary Mack Mack Mack

(Way out in black, black, black).

 

A century from now,

if you’re spotted, snapped, shown

to all the world, will we know better

how to name?

 

Is something ineffable until it’s seen?

 

What new words will have sprung from

our multilingual human tongue?

 

A millennium from now, if humanity remains,

curious, searching, able

to touch your primordial face,

will we know you then?

 

Will we be any closer to understanding

why you’re there, why we’re here,

why anything is

at all?

Poem: Apology To My Mom

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Responding to the “apology poem” prompt on Poetic Asides today. Was surprised to have something so personal pour out, but I know well enough not to turn off the tap when something starts to flow.

Apology To My Mom

I’m sorry it’s been so hard
to find you in my poems
now that you’re gone.

I’m sorry that I can’t be more
sentimental or pay tribute
with sweet words.

I’m sorry that I noticed
last month, how I stopped
gnawing my nails after you died.

I’m sorry that I started biting
them again, once
I realized I’d stopped.

I’m not sorry that in daylight,
with my daughters,
I love to talk about you.

But I am sorry that at night,
I have to push you down, out
so that I can sleep.

I’m sorry I can’t slice an
apple without thinking of
making strudel with you.

Sorry because I might
never make strudel
again.

I’m sorry your last years
were your worst,
and you knew it.

I’m sorry that as much as
I miss you, need you,
I never wish you back.

 

Fun with PoemBot

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I am having entirely too much fun this morning with BookThug’s PoemBot.

As the page explains, it’s a neat tool where you can collaborate with BookThug authors to create your own unique poem. You simply type a line of  text , choose your poem type and length and click “create poem.” Then watch as PoemBot magically conjures a poem using your text along with text taken from published BookThug authors.

Here are the 3-line, 4-line and 5-line poems generated from my line “cracked teacup.” I must admit, I do wish I had actually written the 4-line poem.

cracked teacup
as for the allowances of kings
all he could see was the sky and snow falling

cracked teacup
split skin
fantasy no matter
we’re just trying to see things

cracked teacup
retire when you’re ready, great fairs to tahiti
when did things begin to lose their cohesion?
when a soldier dies and i don’t care anymore
as different stages of imma-blow-yer-fkin-shack-down

While I would never use one of these poems in entirety of course, because plagiarism, I do think it could be a useful tool for experimentation when I’m stuck on a particular word or line . A great way to leave the familiar roads I travel in my own writing. So thanks for this BookThug! And did I mention it’s also really fun?

Poetry prompt unification

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I decided to smoosh two prompts together this week. Below is what came of the Haiku Horizons prompt “over” and the Poetic Asides‘ “watching the world go by” poem.

waiting for her

another classic

over the radio

*****

over the radio

notes revive

fading memories

*****

fading memories

her red lips

smiling

*****

smiling

through their long walk

over the hill

Poem: This Morning

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The prompt over at Poetic Asides today was to write a “little” poem. We’ve got some separation anxiety going on at my place this week, from the “littles” and the “bigs,” so this came to mind pretty quickly.

This Morning

 

You seem too small to be thrust into this swirling world,

when all I want is to carry you like a pebble in my palm.

 

As the school bus rumbles down our fog-heavy street

I wonder if it’s harder for you,

wiping your tears before the driver sees,

to act out this big-girl scene.

 

Or harder for me, to smile wide,

and shove my hands deeper in my pockets,

so I won’t hold you back.