Day 30. Until Next Year.

Day 30. Bittersweet. For today's Read Write Poem prompt I decided to go back to yesterday's prompt. This is what I came up with. Until next year NaPoWriMo; it's been a slice.

Now onstage
Kidding the clowns
Is a toxic anger

The cost of delay
Is taking inventory
As death approaches

The headlines were taken from the New York Times online version.

Day 29. Haiku.

Day 29. Long day.

The wind hits my face
White butterflies fill the sky
I remember you

Day 28: Found.

A found poem for Day 28. This was taken from an email my co-worker Gabe, a.k.a. BFF.

60 minutes till the sun
bathes our complexions,
titillating the melanin
that brews deeply beneath
our pseudo professional attire,
as we navigate through hunger
and insecure times

Day 27: The end is near. I still adore you.

I wrote two poems using the same word. Is that weird?

You can find the prompt details here and other things to keep you busy at Read Write Poem.

Poem One:

A dream of you
Dancing into my world
On your white horse
Riding in like a knight
Except without the armor

Poem Two:

All this time
Deer in the headlights looks
Only helped to focus on
Revolving door secrets
Everything changes and you’re gone

Day 26: I wanted to say so many things...

Day 26. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. It's still really far away, but it's there. :)

Thanks to Read Write Poem for the wonderful prompt. And thanks to that poem that never quite worked out. Oh and thanks to Him.

I struggle to remember
the last time I felt like this.
The last time my heart raced
with an unabashed lack
of good intentions.

It must have been in college.
I don’t think I ever told about
who I was in college, but then
again, I don’t think you ever asked.

I want to ask what it is that you
want from me, but I don’t want to
ruin this with words.

So who’s to blame for your
busy hands? Me for allowing
you to touch everything your heart
desires without speaking up? Or you
for being so quick to explore and leave?

The heart wants what it wants and
want to pry you open. I want to pull
your insides out, to understand how
you are able to start and stop without
any regard for what is does to me.

Day 25: Are we there yet?

I love the fact that I'm writing everyday, but I am so ready for this month to be over. Here is my day 25 poem. I tried to work with the prompt from RWP, but no one was saying anything interesting near me... or maybe I just wasn't listening hard enough.

We can give it a try
Pull each other down
Then back up again
Move the baggage
To the corner
Sweep everything else
Under the rug and tug
At each other’s clothing
Like there’s no tomorrow
Because for us there isn’t
You belong to someone else
And I should know better

Day 24: Love is Blind

My poem for the day 24 Read Write Poem prompt. This one took a couple tries.

The window is open
The breeze hits me hard
And like a new beginning
It sweeps through the house
Blowing past our memories
Tempting them to fall off the walls
Whispering love is blind
Our footsteps tell a different story

Day 23: In honor or Erick

It's Erick's birthday and I am in the middle of preparing for his "surprise" party, but I had to post my day 23 poem! It's a haiku in honor of his birthday.

A celebration
Devotion, love, happiness
And turning thirty

Day 22: Fun with words!

For today's Read Write Poem Wordle Prompt. I used all the words! Words in bold are taken from the prompt.

It’s pepper, it’s rust
It’s saffron that reverberates
Through my veins
Makes me dizzy
Don’t be fooled, I am still
A fierce opponent
I do not flinch for the squall
Or the crow in the bowels of the emporium
I mark the spot with a tendril for today
And a rose for tomorrow

Day 21: First loves are far from perfect...

I wrote today's Read Write Poem prompt while doing laundry.

We stole kisses
Broke the rules
Painted dirty words
On each other’s bodies

You said you liked me
And I believed you
You said you were picky
That I was special

I should have known you
Said that to all the girls

We stole glances
Broke promises
Asked each other
For forgiveness

I said I loved you
And you believed me
I said I was hard to please
That you completed me

You should have known I
Said that to all the boys

Day 20: The Hero Poem, a.k.a. my prompt for RWP!

So much more than a mother. So much more than a best friend. I had a hard time with my own prompt! It was hard to find the right words to say what my hero (my mom) means to me, so I decided to work in a funny story. Well, it wasn't so funny at the time, but it's pretty funny now. :)

Anyway, here is a poem about my hero. Prompt details can be found here. And a special thanks to Read Write Poem for accepting my prompt!

I probably never told you
the real reason I hate bangs on me.

It’s because of the haircut
you gave me when I was seven.

A valiant effort on your part,
with such dramatic results.

I probably never told you
I cried myself to sleep that night.

I knew all the kids at school
would make fun of me the next day.

As if they needed more ammunition.
Still, I loved you for trying.

When I look back on it now I say
Thank God for headbands.

But more than anything
I thank God for you.

Day 19: After the light bulb moment...

Thanks to Read Write Poem for the fabulous prompt.

Long after I realized most
Of the pieces were missing
I decided to force them to fit
I have no regrets

Day 18: Nine Lives

I wrote a Lune for today's Read Write Poem prompt.

Our love is long gone
Departed
We don’t have nine lives

Day 17: I'm a fire sign!

Here is my response to the day 17 prompt from Read Write Poem.

We built it up tall
Now it’s burning
Before our eyes

The way I see it
We have two choices
Douse it in water
And salvage the remains
Or fuel the flames
And walk away

Day 16: Smell What?!

This prompt was fun and not as hard as I thought it would be. Courtesy of Read Write Poem of course. :)

The scent of lavender in your hair,
I wondered how it overpowered
the smell of the grass as we rolled
around like the boys.

Down the hill, then running back
to touch the base, the old oak tree.
Dodging bumble bees and picking
dandelions, my fondest memories.

Day 15: Not much of a tune...

For the Read Write Poem day 15 prompt. I'm not very "musical" and this is the best I could do while attempting to carry a tune.

We cannot bend
We cannot break
We cannot go on
Like this forever

We cannot push
We cannot pull
We cannot go on
Like this forever

We cannot move
Only through the maze
We cannot go on
Like this forever

Day 14: Today's Prompt Was Beyond Me

I'm still trying to work on the Read Write Poem prompt for today, but for now I have this haiku. I passed a tree of cherry blossoms this morning and have been thinking about it all day!

The city twists, turns
Makes way for cherry blossoms
The glory of Spring

Day 13: My longest poem of the challenge!

I tried to cut it down some, but this is the best I could do. It was a bit longer before. Find details on the prompt here and find more fun poetry related things to do at Read Write Poem. The first two lines are courtesy of Norman Dubie.

Poem Starting with a Line from Norman Dubie

A kiss is like a dress
Falling off a tall building
And every time our lips touch
I lose myself in eyes that sparkle
Like a million stars

Your body is the water,
Warm and pure blue
I navigate gently,
But can never arrive at your heart

Your hands move like the wind
Through my hair
I wonder how I ever existed
Before this

When the sun comes up
In all its yellow and orange glory
Against a sky that begs to be forgotten
I realize it’s the morning after
That hurts the most

Day 12: Secret secrets are no fun...

My Day 12 attempt.

Please visit Read Write Poem for prompt details.

We spoke to the walls
Begged them to keep our secrets
When they grew tired
And started spitting out our words
Through the cracks
We painted over them

Day 11: To Choose Or Not To Choose

I'm very late with my posting today. I probably shouldn't have taken that four hour nap. The prompt is of course from the always amazing Read Write Poem site.

For so long
I bit my tongue
Held onto the words
Like they could save me

When I gathered up the courage
And decided to speak
You decided you
Didn’t want to hear me

Day 10: What God has joined together, let no one separate.

I've been to quite a few celebrations with family and friends lately, but none that has affected me more than my brother's wedding. Probably the most perfect day in our familie's history. My poem came out pretty short and I decided to mix in wedding vows to give it a little more oomph. I like the way it turned out. Thanks to Pamela Sayers and Read Write Poem for the wonderful prompt.

I don’t usually cry at weddings
Love her. Comfort her.

But I cried at this one
Honor him. Cherish him.

To watch the entire progression
In sickness and in health.

Is a gift I will cherish forever
For richer. For poorer.

And now in this room, sharing the love
For better. For worse.

With everyone who knows you
As long as you both shall live.

I’ve never been more proud

Day 9: I almost failed the mission.

This keeps getting harder and harder. I don't know why I thought it would get easier. Wishful thinking I suppose. For those following the RWP prompts my something that tastes terrible is beer, the sound that makes me happy is singing birds, and the 12 words I used are in bold. The full prompt can be found here.

Pull the lever
Release the limp octopus marionette
Spread him out amongst his victims
Like winter
Then torch what remains

Build a campfire in the chimney
Startle the singing birds
As they strum to the beat of a
New season
Stow them in the trees
Feed them beer and jam

Day 8: Our love was like an hourglass...

I have to admit, this Read Write Poem day eight prompt got the best of me. I struggled with it all day and came up with something I'm not very proud of. I'm happy to have finished though.

Sands slowly shifted
Glass protected who we were
The timing was off

Day 7: Love... It's funny to me.

This didn't turn out as "funny" as I hoped it would, but it's definitely funny to me.

Poem 7 for NaPoWriMo. Thanks Read Write Poem for this wonderful prompt.

Young and hooked on love
The city was our playground
Naïve, too cool for maps
Losing our way more than once
But never our direction

Day Six: Poem Two. Found.

This is a found poem from the New York Magazine Article by Lisa Taddeo.

You know what the middle
Looks like, hotel-sheeted
And ultimately routine

And you know the way
It will end

But where and how
It began is always
A little surprising

Day Six: A Conversation With Flowers

This picture was taken by me on my trip to the Botanic Garden last year; the following poem was inspired by it, and of course by a prompt from Read Write Poem.

Little petals dancing in the wind tell me
They’re trying to escape, like butterflies
Trapped in a botanical jungle, longing
To be free

Dreaming of flying away in a flurry of white
And speckled pink

Day Five: It's A Girl

I wrote a long list of contradictions throughout the day for this poem, but only ended up using the ones that seemed to fit best. I'm trying hard to continue with the short poem theme I seem to have imposed on myself; trying to make every word count. Loud Silence is actually something a co-worker said to me today... I told him I was going to use it in my poem. Prompt details are here and as always, courtesy of Read Write Poem. In short, this is how I view poetry.

She is in the air
Easy to reach
Impossible to grab

She is torturing me
Hiding in tight spaces
Out in the open

She is loud silence

Day Four: Working from the inside out

NaPoWriMo day four. This poem is inspired by the Read Write Poem prompt Inside Out.

For two years I sat on that couch
At times spread my body out across it

I learned all about $30 co-pays
And billing the rest to the insurance company

I learned all about defense mechanisms
And survival mode

I learned all about feelings
And what makes me tick

What I didn’t learn
Was a better way to fix it

So I went back to my old form of therapy
The one that worked from the outside in

Day three: Him. Them. And death.

I'm continuing with the short theme that I seem to have going on. Maybe I can work on making all of my poems for the month short poems. Maybe...

Inspired by the Read Write Poem prompt Scared Yet?, my poem confesses my three biggest fears. Day three... three fears... I didn't even plan it that way. :)

Him.
He who has a red nose, big feet,
and preys on the innocence of children.

Him.
And them.
Those creepy crawly things.

Him.
And them.
And death.

Day Two. A Lune and Robot Welded Parts

It's day two of NaPoWriMo and I'm not going crazy yet. Hooray for me! Today's offering is a Jack Collom lune; that being a lune of three words on line one, five words on line two, and three words on line three. RWP prompt details can be found here. The Cliff Notes version of the prompt is to do a search for the acronym RWP and to use the findings as inspiration for the poem. It should be pretty easy to spot in my short poem, but in case it's not, I used robot welded parts.

I hardly notice
robot welded parts scattered across
the hardwood floor

NaPoWriMo Day One: Shuffling a fairytale

It's day One of National Poetry (Writing) Month and today's effort was a successful one... At least that's what I think. The Day One prompt from Read Write Poem was an excellent one that I really enjoyed. The gist of the prompt was to put your MP3 player, or such device, on shuffle and construct a poem using the first five song titles in their entirety. Full prompt details can be found here.

I originally wrote a much longer poem, but scrapped it and came up with this. It's short, but I think it's much better than what I initially had going on.

Flowers in December,
Their petals piece together
A sorta fairytale of possession
And little lies on a Sunday morning

The song titles used in this prompt are as follows:
A Sorta Fairytale - Tori Amos
Flowers in December - Mazzy Star
Possession - Sarah McLachlan
Little Lies - Fleetwood Mac
Sunday Morning - Maroon 5