NaPoWriMo Day 7! Poem about Money

I've made it a whole week! And I'm still going strong (I think). Today's prompt is to write a poem about money. As I am a poor, college student (contemplating taking out loans to afford grad school...) I think we all know where this is going...




I go to the store
But before I check-out
I pull out my phone once more
To check my bank account and do some mental math
To see if I can afford to purchase the items I have.
I don't have enough money in my bank account
But I have some cash in my wallet
I pull out a few thin, green pieces of paper
And wonder if I should save them for later.
They feel soft and worn between my finger and thumb
And I think its odd they hold so much value
Especially to someone like me.
     I really don't like money at all:
     It brings out the worst in people
     It turns them to vice.
     It makes them greedy, angry - not at all nice.
     With our greed, we turn the same color as money - green
     We are nasty and spiteful and act for our gain
     When we could consider others instead.
But at the same time I realize that it is necessary
     Because that is how the world works
     We assign values to these pieces of paper
     And we give them to others in exchange for goods and services
The cashier is staring at me now
A scowl forming on his face
I haven't handed him the money
I've just been staring at it in my hand
And I'm not sure if I should save the money or spend it
Money is for spending, I rationalize
It won't go with me when I leave this earth
So I may as well use the money for what I can.
Reluctantly I hand it over,
Take my things and walk out the store
And there in the parking lot
Is a mother and children
Who could use the money I just spent
Way more than me...

-Sharon

An Easter Aubade and Another Aubade

I am really enjoying writing a poem every day (so far). I am having a lot of fun and people actually like my stuff, so that's encouraging. Today's prompt really seemed like it had a lot of potential so I decided to write two more aubades! These aren't officially for NaPoWriMo, but I just can't help myself.




Easter Aubade

They got up early that Sunday morning
To do a most solemn thing
They went to the tomb
To find the body of their friend - and king.
It was a happy morning,
The sun gently caressing the earth,
The air cool and misty,
The birds singing.
And to them, it seemed so wrong that the world was happy
For their friend had died - been crucifed - and they had cried.
But when they got their, they were confused
His body was removed!
If this were a joke, they weren't amused.
But someone from the garden spoke
And those silly girls didn't recognize him
They thought he was the gardener
And asked where his body was
He answered with their names.

Just as he does today,
He calls each of us by name.
We have been washed in his blood
Made pure and new.
He suffered and died
So that we might be able to live at his side.
Because he conquered the grave,
So shall we.

He is the reason that I sing,
I go to the empty tomb this morning, rejoicing
For his life - and mine.
His death and resurrection has saved me.






Just Another Aubade

(This one goes with the traditional lovers parting ways in the morning but with a (hopefully) surprising and funny twist!)

The morning has come and so I must leave you
I spend the whole hour quoting Juliette:
"Parting is such sweet sorrow, that I shall say good morning til it be morrow."
You bid me stay as I begin to rise
I collapse, neither of us wanting to compromise
Our repose is too sweet to end
But the morning brings duties and friends
I must go to class
You must stay here
And during the day, unfortunately, I will not be near
You warm me up and softly suggest
That I stay and get some more rest
I am tired and the offer is tempting
I close my eyes and snuggle in.
But a thought rattles in my brain
That I have work to do
And simply cannot stay
I sit up
You coax me to lay back down
I lean back apologizing, because I know
That alas, I finally must go
Away from you:
      my sweet,
           my beloved,
                      my bed!



I couldn't help myself, the creative juices were really flowing today!

Best Wishes,

Sharon

NaPoWriMo - Day 6: Aubade

Today's challenge is to write an aubade: a morning poem, traditionally about lovers parting ways...but I'm not a morning person.


The sun dances through the blinds
Even though they were closed tightly to keep him out
He tickles my eyelids and they heavily blink open
I look at the time and see there is still time for me to sleep
I roll over, but the sun, he is persistent and he does like to intrude
I close my eyes more tightly, willing myself back to sleep
I pull my blanket around me, but the sun keeps on knocking - how rude!
I begin to fall asleep in spite of the sun's best attempts
But a new tactic he begins
The birds begin to sing - a beautiful thing,
Were I not trying to sleep.
I will them to be quiet, so that I may get a few more minutes in
But it is to no avail
The chorus becomes louder and is joined by more.
I pull my blanket around me, but the birds keep on singing - how rude!
It seems a frantic sort of lullaby and I
                                                             begin to seek
                                                                                   the soft embrace
                                                                                                              of slumber...
When                      noise                              the    
              a  jarring                 comes through          room

It is not harmonious like the bird's sweet singing
Alas, my own devices have turned against me
It   is   my     alarm
"TIME TO GET UP" it yells, unharmoniously
I roll over and shut it off.

I stare at the ceiling and wish it were night again
The time when all is dark
And all is peace
And I can stay up all night or get some sleep...

But alas it is morning and that means
Work
And school.

I emerge from the warmth of my bed
Try to shake the sleep from my head
But I only yawn instead!
Not being a coffee drinker
I decide to forgo the tinker - ings
Of morning beverages.
And instead get dressed and hurry off to work
Because I am already
Running late.  




I had fun with this one, there is rarely a morning when I like to get up, I am a night owl ruled by morning people! Maybe that would be a good title for this poem.... This is pretty much how my morning wake up ordeal goes every morning. I am still yawning even though I've been up for awhile now. I've been wanting to write an Easter poem, and I think a more happy aubade would be a good way to go about it.... Maybe I'll write another poem today? We'll see...

Still yawning and refusing to drink coffee,

Sharon

NaPoWriMo - Day 5 - An Emily Dickinson Exercise

Happy Easter, everyone!

I want to start by saying how excited and full my heart feels at being today's featured blog over at NaPoWriMo.net! Today my blog had the most views it has ever had! Plus I got my first comments ever! Thank you all so much!

Today's prompt is to modify an Emily Dickinson poem that you've never read before. I've chosen "Fame is the one that does not stay."

Fame is the one that does not stay.
It's occupant must die or else ascend incessantly
into the famous sky.
Or they must be down to earth and know
That lightning doesn't strike twice.
Or else the very fame that made them huge
May make them go down in flames.



This poem has been quite transformed from the original, I think, but I'm not sure how I feel about it.

Thanks again and thanks for reading!

Happy Easter!

Sharon

NaPoWriMo - Day 4 - Loveless poem

Today's prompt is to write a "loveless poem" a love poem without the usual conventions and cliches of love poems and also without the word love....

It's the way your beard tickles my cheek
Your sandpaper hands enveloping mine
The fact that you're two sizes bigger than me
It's the way we sit in silence
How you hold me when I cry
Or when you make lunch for me
Without any reason why
It's the nights spent watching thunderstorms
The way you watch me when I tell stories
When you open the truck door for me
And go with me to the grocery store - so boring
It's the way you say my name
All of these things and more,
The ways I know that you're probably
        not the same.




I think I did okay...What do you think? Yes, no, maybe so?

I hope its beautiful wherever you are,

Sharon

NaPoWriMo - Day 3

AHHH!!! I almost forgot to write a poem today..it's been a busy day. This one will likely be short. The prompt was to write a fourteener. Check out napowrimo.net for the full info.


He bore the cross all the way to Calvary's bloody hill
And there they nailed him up and mocked his name
And though they laughed, he did not hate them
He held each of us within his heart
For us he cried, "Father forgive them!"
And for us he breathed his last and died.


I used the fact that today is Good Friday as inspiration for my poem. Writing a poem with 14-syllable lines is difficult - it would have been even more difficult if I had used seven iambic feet! But I just ignored the iambs. Admittedly, this poem feels a bit short, but I was in a rush to get this up before midnight!

Sleep well!

Sharon

NaPoWriMo - Day 2

Today the prompt is to write a poem about the night sky. I love the stars! This was largely inspired by my internship at the Davis Mountains this past summer.


There is never such a sight
As a clear and dark, West Texas night.
They say the stars are big and bright
Deep in the heart of Texas
Though I love my state, that simply isn't true,
Only a clear, dark West Texas night will do.
Sit outside, watch the sky, it will astound you.

Out in the Davis Mountains,

I found myself stargazing
I saw the Milky Way - it was amazing
It looked as though milk were spilling
Across the middle of the night sky.
There were more stars than I'd ever seen
It was unbelievable that so many stars had been hiding from me.
Under the light of a super moon, I sat out to see what I could see
Of the Perseid Meteor Shower.
It was unlikely at best,
But I refused to get rest
Without giving the sky another test.
My persistence was rewarded.
Even though the moon was large and bright
But rather than seeing nothing, I saw three;
It was a private gift from the mountains just to me!

Hope you liked it,

Sharon