NaPo2019 D12

I looked at the thing I treasure most
I looked at it close.
It was beautiful, dainty, delicate strong.
Why is it that what's best seems so wrong?

I broke off its wings
So it wouldn't fly
I removed it's beak
So it would fail at its own song.

I watched it shudder, sputter on the floor
And knew it wouldn't bother me more.
I tried hard not to cry
As it gyrated and quook
The way dreams do when they die.

What could I do? I had no choice.
It was impractical, improbable.
There was no other recourse.
It couldn't feed me or pay the bills
I needed a way for my coffers to fill.

Even in its sad, broken state
It still glimmered and gleamed
Oh, what a waste!
I turned my back, I walked away.

But sometimes I wonder
If my broken dream still waits.

-Sharon

NaPo 2019 - Day 11

I started off life a storyteller
I was telling stories before I could read,
Gathering the adults in my grandma's front living room
And telling them self-invented legends of polar bears.
I started off life an explorer
Crawling beneath barbed wire
Finding animals, plants, and bones.
I was a faerie among farmers and city-folk
Wearing flowers in my hair.
I valued the crickets
Awaited fireflies
Nursed mice back to health
Hand feeding them cheerios.
I was a hugger of trees and dogs.
I was a seeker and spreader of knowledge.
I had salt water in my blood.
I lay in the grass, the forest, and the sand.
I treasured seashells, feathers, leaves, and sand dollars in my hands.
I loved listening to the thunder and watching the flashes of lightning
At night I was a comedienne
Exchanging jokes with my sisters in our rooms.
I danced to the music and sang with the tunes.
I came from strong, educated women
There was no question that I would be one too.

Where am I going?
Where am I going?
Where am I going?
I'm trying to go where I've always wanted to go
But I think I'm lost.
The maps and compasses point different directions
And all routes seem to lead to dead ends.
So I will ask the question again:
Where am I going?
Where does the journey end?



Prompt: taking inspiration from Safia Elhillo's "Origin Stories" we are to write a poem of our origin and where we are now.

Sharon

CatchUp Day 9 - NaPo2019

Day 9's prompt was to write a list inspired by Sei Shonagon.


Things that Make You Feel Grown Up
Paying bills, loans, and rent because that means you are responsible for yourself.
Buying your own groceries, cooking your own meals, and washing your own dishes - or going to the grocery store and then picking up something on the way home from the store, because you couldn't possibly cook the food you just bought.
Going to bed whenever you want and having to get yourself up in the mornings!
Having a job that you, hopefully, enjoy.
Having health insurance so that if you get sick or hurt yourself, you can actually, maybe afford going to the doctor instead of downing elderberry syrup and praying - although honestly you'll probably take elderberry syrup in addition to whatever the doctor prescribes.
Going into a department store and buying new clothes.
Actually buying furniture or dishes or appliances or things like vacuums.
Having a stocked medicine cabinet.
But maybe it's really just the vacuum (even if you don't use it).

Sharon

CatchUp Day 8 - 2019

Day 8's prompt was to write a poem that uses jargon.

Cheloniids
are quadrupeds
some are elephantine
others are flippers.
They lack teeth,
Instead having rhamphotheca.
The carapace is covered with keratin
Some are thought to demonstrate cloacal respiration
All are exothermic
And those that live in frigid lacustrine environments
Are known to brumate when temperatures drop.





So uh, any clue what that poem was about?

Sharon

NaPo 2019 Day 10

Today's prompt is to write a poem using a regional colloquialism for weather phenomena. Being from Texas, I have a lot of options - we Texans love to use strange language to talk about the weather.

When the heavens break open
And its as noisy as two skeletons
Dancing on the roof,
Water starts to pool on the ground.
If it stops soon enough
Kids will head outside
To float tin-foil boats on ponds
And make mud pies.
But if it keeps raining
Then
It's a frog strangler
As though
Frogs could drown in the rain.
Turkeys are known for this
They stare skyward,
Holding their beaks open
And they can actually drown.
That's why its important to put
Fowl inside when it rains.
But frogs?
Frogs start off as tadpoles
Tadpoles breathe water
With gills
And yes, frogs metamorphose
And grow lungs instead
But then they breathe
Through their skin
As long as its moist enough.
They are resilient too.
If the rain stops
And the land dries out
Til its so dry the trees are begging the dogs
Well then, frogs burrow down in the mud
They aestivate til things get wet again.
If frogs can survive it that dry
Surely they can survive it that wet,
Lord willing and the creek don't rise.
Anyway,
In Texas churches
We are always either praying for it to rain
Or praying for rain to stop
But we should know better
Because
A drought usually ends in a flood.



I incorporated a few of those funny turns of phrases in there. This prompt sort of reminded me of Jack Prelutsky's poem "It's Raining Pigs and Noodles." An interesting side note, in Texas we seem to be a little obsessed with frogs because something can be "as fine as frog fur" and it can be as "cold as a frosted frog."

Sharon

NaPo19 - Day 7

Just after midnight, I realized that at work yesterday I kept writing the date as 6/6/19 - that would be June. I'll let my manager know in the morning.

For now, we begin the process of processing the NaPo prompt for this one week deep in poetry. Today we are supposed to write a poem of gifts and joy.

Recently I have realized
That the best gift
We can ever give
Or receive

Is forgiveness.

As a child there were times
I made a mistake or hurt a friend
And felt bad
Apologized and was forgiven.

But as an adult
The mistakes I've made are worser.
The hurts are hurter
The wounds are deeper.

When I finally speak the thing I've done outloud
I feel weighted down on the ocean floor by an anchor
My soul is being keel-hauled by the guilt of the thing I've done

In those few moments when I await response
I imagine the worst
Losing you.

You take a deep breath
Visibly upset

But give me the best gift you could:
Forgiveness

"We'll be okay."

My soul cautiously, bubbles up from the Challenger Deep
and surfaces.
I look at you curiously through my periscope.
I wonder at the treasure I have found
How is it that you love me so much
You can forgive

Even that?

-Sharon

NaPo19 - D6

Today's prompt is to write a poem that focuses on possibilities. Being a person who tends to focus a little too much on the future this shouldn't be too difficult to do. I'll be racing to publish this post/poem before midnight.


You're so young, you have your whole life ahead of you.
Maybe that's why I always feel like I'm waiting for my life to begin . . .
Discontent in the now.

If I weren't paralyzed by all the past rejections,
I would apply and apply for more jobs
Until I finally heard "you're hired"
And I would leave the job that drains rather than fills.
I would be like a modern Miss Frizzle, but in the field or a park
Not the classroom.
Nature would be my office, flowers would be my uniform.
Like the pied piper, I would lead children - and adults
Off a cliff
Into wonder
Introduce them to the sparkling night skies, constellations and meteors
Help them peer closely at a butterfly and learn about the metamorphosis it undergoes
Show them how the world decorates itself in wildflowers
Study frogs, observe toads
We would march, frolic, observe, protect, preserve
Help them discover the wonder of bees, ants
Overcome fears of snakes, spiders, and moths.
Snakes would wrap our fingers like rings
Before we released them safely
Fireflies would be our dance partners
As we sang with the choruses of frogs at night.

If we weren't afraid to love
We would marry in a wooden meadow
I a fairy with a flower crown
Then you would never miss me again
We would explore the world
Eating new foods, climbing new mountains
I would document plants, animals, and friends.
But we would return to our own house
Fall asleep entwined in bed
With the sound of rhythmic rain
Falling on the tin roof overhead.
Then in a few years or months
My belly would swell with love
As our baby grew inside.
She would be born
A fierce thing
With blonde hair and green eyes
You would kiss her head
My heart would melt.
We would teach her
To respect herself and love nature.
To be friendly to strangers and frogs.
When she was learning to drive,
Like her mother,
She would swerve around frogs in the street
And pray that they hopped safely to the other side.

People say I have my whole life ahead of me
And the world is pregnant with possibilities waiting to be born
But I am anxious to begin.

NaPoWriMo 2019 - Day 5

As I mentioned in the previous post, Day 5's prompt is quite a doozy. It has three possible parts: (1) form = villanelle (tricky tricky, but I like form prompts because I tend to defer to free verse), (2) lines taken from a different text, (3) opposing phrases. Maureen assures us that we can just do one or two or all three. Being a glutton for punishment, I want to attempt all three which may mean this poem doesn't get written . . .

P.S. Maureen explains what a villanelle is on the NaPo post for today, but I always like to look around for another explanation because sometimes a different explanation works better for me. Typically the poetry foundation is helpful. You can read their brief explanation of a villanelle (reiterating what Maureen has already told us) with a few more examples of the form here. "Do not go gentle into that good night" by Dylan Thomas is a good, and perhaps well-known, example of the form.


These dreams started singing to me out of nowhere
Listening to that siren song, I started to think there might be another way
Till human voices wake us and we drown

I was living an average life
Nose to the grindstone working my days away but
These dreams started singing to me out of nowhere

Our generation was told if we worked hard anything was possible
So we dreamed big and set our sights high
Till human voices wake us and we drown

I've got loans to pay that keep me buried
I've got expectations that I need to meet but
These dreams started singing to me out of nowhere

Sometimes I want to walk away from the mundane
Believe the magic of happiness, dreams, and improbability
Till human voices wake us and we drown

I dreamed big, set my sights high, thought I knew how and why
But human practicality is inevitable
These dreams started singing to me out of nowhere
Till human voices wake us and we drown





Quick thoughts after writing:
It turns out when you borrow your repeating lines from other work; a lot of the poem writing is done for you. This was fun and I like the result. Putting those two lines together was somewhat like putting together a puzzle. Fun stuff. I THINK I may have ticked off all three of the prompt boxes hoo-ah!
I italicized the borrowed lines in the first stanza: the first is from the Switchfoot song "Awakening" the other is from my favorite stanza of a really well known poem by T.S. Eliot, "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock."

Hasta la pasta (that's from something I think)

Sharon

NaPoWriMo 2019 - Days 3 and 4

It's April 5th and I'm already behind today's prompt is a doozy . . . so I'll give it its own separate post.

Day 3's prompt was to write a poem that unfolds over a fair amount of time . . .

It is December, I am on the phone with my sister
She unintentionally lets me know that
Our family
Will be
Growing
By one.
But I can't tell anyone
It's too soon.
She will let them know when the time is right.

It is late March
My nephew has told my sister she is "big"
Her belly has become obvious
As the new little one
Grows
Under the surface
Deep inside
Cells are dividing
Multiplying
Forming into eyes - what color will they be?
Nose, hair, fingers, toes.
My sister announces it will be a girl
Excitement!
A niece finally!

The baby is due in July
And I hope to be there
I was in the room when my nephew arrived.

It was in November, I was called
Told my sister was in labor.
I called my boss and told her I wouldn't be at work.
Got in my car and drove two hundred and fifteen miles
(You think I'm joking?)
I was afraid I would miss it.
Someone should have reminded me:
Labor takes time.
We were at the midwife's clinic.
People were sent twice for food.
My other sister and I went for a walk
Down a trail through the woods.
"Tell us when its time to push"
Said my brother on the phone.
There was much discussion of
Progression
Dilation.
I went into the room with my sister.
It was dark.
She was laying in bed.
The pain - contractions - came periodically.
"What can I do?"
"Push here."
I formed my hand into a fist and pushed
Harder and harder
Til it seemed to help her pain.

Finally, finally
After hours and hours
Her water was broken
And soon after
It was time to push

Birth is quite a shocking sight.
For while newborn babies are small
They come into the world through a rather small . . . opening.

I think it was 2 AM when I finally saw him.
A tiny little baby
All new and pink.
Finally finally here.

Like all things worth waiting for,
Babies take time.










Day 4's prompt was to write a sad poem, perhaps using a sonnet.

I am often unaware
As it creeps in quietly
But soon I recognize it in my stare
I notice my immobility
When it comes to even brushing my hair
It makes itself at home
And it becomes difficult to wash my underwear
Far from my bed I will not roam
It lays on my chest and my mind wanders hazily
Simple tasks seem impossible
My days are spent lazily
Job applications are insurmountable
Always an uninvited guest
It proves itself a persistent pest

NaPoWriMo 2019 - Day 2

Today's prompt from napowrimo is to write a poem that "resists closure by ending on a question" meanwhile on the Poetic Asides blog, the prompt was to write either a worst case or a best case scenario poem.

Apply for a job a day
Drive across the state for interviews
Wait and wait and wait

Finally get a call answer the phone,
Hold your breath, and wait for the words
"We'd like to offer you the position!
Let's discuss start date and pay."

Or maybe there is no phone call
Instead there is an email
"While you interviewed well
Among a field of candidates
We have offered the position
To another applicant."

Repeat.
When will it be my turn?
When will I get the job?

Reads through a job description.
Takes a deep breath.
Clicks apply.

Maybe it will be my turn this time.
Its worth a try . . .

Sharon

NaPoWriMo 2019 Day 1

Here we go again another April. Another 30 poems in 30 days. Per napowrimo, today's prompt is to write a poem about how to do something or how not to do something.


How Not To Fall in Love:

Listen sweet sister, love only brings heartache and pain
So if its all the same to you, do not fall in love.

Avoid would be advances,
by avoiding fleeting glances.

Always have a book at your side
And then you may not be a bride.

Build up a tall wall around your heart
So no loving feelings may start.

Don't let anyone close; Don't let anyone in.
To do so would be a mortal sin.

If he gets close, if he breaches the wall
I implore you: under his spell do not fall!

I see from the look on your face,
The sparkle in your eye,
My warning is too late.

Ah sweet sister, if only you had avoided that fate.
But instead you love someone who has the ability to give you heart break.

-Sharon