Spring Awakening

NaPoWriMo prompt for Day 22: "write a poem in honor of Earth Day. This could be about your own backyard, a national park, or anything from a maple tree to a humpback whale. Happy writing!"

Gentle breezes blowing awakening all from sleep

Smells, sights, and sounds abound

Kindly celebrate our precious earth every day 

How to See the Country

NaPoWriMo Day 19 prompt: Many years ago, “didactic” poetry was very common – in other words, poetry that explicitly sought to instruct the reader in some kind of skill or knowledge, whether moral, philosophical, or practical. . . write the latter kind of “how to” poem – a didactic poem that focuses on a practical skill. Hopefully, you’ll be able to weave the concrete details of the action into a compelling verse. Also, your “practical” skill could be somewhat mythological, imaginary, or funny, 

How to see the Country

Choose roads that drive right through small towns

Count the churches as you drive through

Avoid divided highways

Fill up with gas when you start

Get more gas the first time you see it reasonably priced

Pack a cooler with ice and water

Pack a few snacks

Stop when you see a bathroom

Go a few miles further to see an historic site

Turn around when you think you missed something

Stay at a bed and breakfast

Tour a museum when you have an opportunity 

Stop to explore a site

You may not be that way ever again

Potatoes Wearing Jackets

And now for our prompt (optional, as always)! Today, I’d like to challenge you to write a poem that incorporates “the sound of home.” Think back to your childhood, and the figures of speech and particular ways of talking that the people around you used, and which you may not hear anymore. 

Making potato salad for a family picnic

I told my younger cousin

I'll boil the potatoes with the jackets on

She questioned me, "Whaaat?"

She looked confused 

"What do you mean?"

I showed her the unpeeled potato.

This is how our grandma always did it

It saves time and uses more of the potato

That's too funny!

Potatoes with their jackets on

Where did that phrase begin?

Waste not

The NaPoWriMo day 17 prompt: 

find, either on your shelves or online, a specialized dictionary. This could be, for example, a dictionary of nautical terms, or woodworking terms, or geology terms. Anything, really, so long as it’s not a standard dictionary! Now write a poem that incorporates at least ten words from your specialized source.

I used a dictionary of Native Americsn terminology to write the poem below. 

Use everything, waste nothing

Bast woody fibers used to

Make cordage for baskets

Sinew from deer used as

Sewing material and bow strings

Beaver teeth used as 

Cutting tools and amulets

Quills from a porcupine used as

Decoration and weaving

Rabbit stick carved from an oak used to

Throw at small game

Ramada branches used to

make a sun shade

Spool carved from sandstone used in

Ceremonies 

Tuckahoe plants used as 

Edible roots

Sagamite made into

Hot liquid mush

Da nebo, it is finished

Walnuts

NaPoWriMo Prompt for day 16

fill out, in no more than five minutes, the following “Almanac Questionnaire,” which solicits concrete details about a specific place (real or imagined). Then write a poem incorporating or based on one or more of your answers. 

Walnuts 

Half-eaten shells make a face

Leftover dinners

From the neighborhood squirrel 

Sharecroppers life

NaPoWriMo Day 15: write a poem that incorporates the idea of doubles. You could incorporate doubling into the form, for example, by writing a poem in couplets. Or you could make doubles the theme of the poem, by writing, for example, about mirrors or twins, or simply things that come in pairs. Or you could double your doublings by incorporating things-that-come-in-twos into both your subject and form.

Sharecroppers

Caretakers

Worked the land

To survive

Spring planting

Cotton seeds

Vegetable gardens

To survive

Summer field work

Chop weeds

Around the cotton

To survive

Pick vegetables

Can vegetables

Fall harvest

To survive

Pick the cotton

Share the money

Pack up and move

To survive

Celebrate an Nonagenarian

NaPoWriMo 2016 Day 14 prompt: try a seven-line poem called a san san, which means “three three” in Chinese (It’s also a term of art in the game Go). The san san has some things in common with the tritina, including repetition and rhyme. In particular, the san san repeats, three times, each of three terms or images. The seven lines rhyme in the pattern a-b-c-a-b-d-c-d.

Ninetieth birthdays don't happen every day
Celebrations mark the monumentous milestone
Family and friends gather to honor the nonagenarian

Purchased table decorations and tied balloons to mark the way
The dinner plates had nothing left but a rib bone
The oldest sibling was the resident authoritian

One hundred people marked the monumentous celebration!

Fortune Cookie Haiku

NaPoWriMo prompt: 

The number 13 is often considered unlucky, so today I’d like to challenge you to beat the bad luck away with a poem inspired by fortune cookies. You could write a poem made up entirely of statements that predict the future (“You will meet a handsome stranger”), aphoristic statements (“The secret to getting ahead is getting started)” or just silly questions (“How much deeper would the ocean be without sponges?”) Or you could use a phrase you’ve actually received in a real fortune cookie as a title or first line.

Joyous news coming

Ruby Jean made her entrance

A great neice arrived! 

Index Poetry

NaPoWriMo Day 12  prompt: write your own index poem. You could start with found language from an actual index, or you could invent an index, somewhat in the style of this poem by Thomas Brendler. Happy writing!

Baby boomers, move to the suburbs 

Backyard revolutions, begin with BBQ pits

Beavers, lose their homes

Behavioral ecology, is forgotten

Being where you are, is where it's at

Bicycles, the old that is new transportation 

Biodiversity in backyards, begin with bird feeders

Bird songs, follow

Bonding, occurs between man and nature

Botanical sense of place, is the ultimate appreciation

Brain gap, starts to appear

Burial, is required

Button parks, the final resting place.

Sweet Gum

NaPoWriMo prompt for Day 11: write a poem in which you closely describe an object or place, and then end with a much more abstract line that doesn’t seemingly have anything to do with that object or place, but which, of course, really does. I think of the “surprise” ending to this James Wright Poem as a model for the effect I’m hoping you’ll achieve

Sweet gum male parts flowering

Red, green and tiny

How does this camera zoom?

Found poetry

The prompt from NaPoWriMo for April 10:  write a “book spine” poem. This involves taking a look at your bookshelves, and writing down titles in order (or rearranging the titles) to create a poem. Some fun images of book spine poems can be found here.

Wandering about in the darkness

I can't make it to the Safe Haven

How will I overcome this wasteland

The Lucky Ones are already there 

They are rested, warm and jubilant

Actual Pilgrims in Paradise

Enjoying conversations around the fire

Drinking toasts

And planning the next adventure

While I trudge along in the vast expanse

Listening to screeching sounds 

I increase my pace

Continuing to cover the unknown

Can it be, is it a mirage

I see A Light in the Attic

Timely arrival

Accentuated

A Wedding in December

Purchase

Day 9 challenge: write a poem that includes a line that you’re afraid to write. This might be because it expresses something very personal that makes you uncomfortable – either because of its content.

This isn't an easy task, I've thought about it during the busy day. When I got home I realized I had kept a secret this very day...I suppose I can reveal it.

Vintage finds
Each one of a kind 
Should I
Which one do I like 
All so unique
Different sizes, colors and shapes
The sales lady was so helpful
Encouraging me, here try this one
I've sold the one I'm wearing three times today
Um, no, thank you
I'll take the smaller one
Using the credit card that had an overpayment
I didn't spend any cash
Walked away with a new vintage find.
And the cost was $65.55.

Peony from Childhood

NaPoWriMo prompt for today: Poets have been writing about flowers since, oh, the dawn of time. So today, I challenge you to add your own poem to this long tradition, by finding a flower, and versifying in its honor. Happy writing!

Peony 

Bush

White massive

Sprawled on the

North side of our drive

Every visitor must notice the round bulbous blooms

Planted before we arrived there by previous owners 

Who planted landscapes around edges

We grew vegetables

To sustain

Annually

Notes

Scribbled notes crinkled into submission

Tell the unknown story

Quickly burn the notes before they talk

I'm not good at coffee

The NaPoWriMo prompt for April 6: "write a poem about food. This could be a poem about a particular food, or about your relationship to food in general. Or it could simply be a poem relating an incident that involves food, like David Ignatow’s “The Bagel”. Still not convinced? Perhaps these thirteen food poems will give you some inspiration."

I never knew so much poetry was focused on food! I was savoring every poem I read and quickly thought of my favorite dishes. I settled on my favorite coffee from Central America and my favorite brewing method, pour-over coffee.

I'm not good at coffee

Coffee requires precision
I'm not good at precision
Nor care to make the coffee

Freshly roasted coffee beans
Guatemalan beans
Express order beans online

Grind beans using burr grinder
Exactly measure
I'm not good at precision

Heat water to boiling, cool
Use exact ratio
Of coffee to hot water

I’m not good at precision
Need timer and scale
Nor care to make the coffee

I slowly pour the water
Let the water boom
I'm not at all accurate

Heck, I'll drive two plus hours
My fave coffee spot
It will be most delicious!

Better Boy Tomatoes

The prompt for April 5: spend some time looking at the names of heirloom plants, and write a poem that takes its inspiration from, or incorporates the name of, one or more of these garden rarities.

Red Monster, Goat's Beard and Golden Rave

Not one out performs Better Boy plants

Buckets of tomatoes were given

People followed me from the grocery

Just to pick beauties for their table

Or grab some for fried green tomatoes

Few others had the bountiful crop

One alone filled a round dinner plate

Canned jars of salsa and tomatoes

Enjoyed them all winter in soup dishes

No Pink Cadillac or Jelly Beans 

I'll stay true to Better Boy plants

NaPoWriMo 2016 day 4

The prompt for April 4 was to write a poem referring to T. S. Elliot’s, “The Waste Land”. In it he writes that April is the cruelest month. I feel that April brings us closer to spring-like days filled with sun.

January, you were a difficult if not cruel month
You brought illness, doctor visits and hospital stays
February, you have been a sweet, comforting month
You brought celebrations, anniversaries, warm days
March, you were easy, then challenging for everyone
You brought Easter, a new great niece and recovery
April, you’re windy, ushering storms, indeed cruel
Not the cruelest month, you won't quietly diminish

NaPoWriMo Day 3

the prompt for day 3: write a poem in the form of a letter to fan or celebrity

Ode to Dale Evans

A woman with character

Strength, grit and beauty

Accomplished, earthy cowgirl


With courage and attitude

Dale Evans faced her world

Full of "go get em" spirit


Cowgirls forever choose right

Defending those who

Are down and out, defenseless



"Cowgirl is an attitude..."

Dale wrote, a life code

One we can use as a guide.

NaPoWriMo

The prompt for April 2, write about family.

Robbed of her birthright

as firstborn

Life full of struggle 

Dinner

A lune for NaPoWriMo 2016

(5-3-5 pattern of words or syllables)

Dinner with the crowd

Delicious

Conversations, too