Monthly Archives: April 2018

Not Much Choice: Which Way Challenge, Apr 7 2018

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IMG_3175.jpgFor Cee’s Which Way Challenge.

Poet vs. Prosaist: NaPoWriMo 2018, Day 7

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Poet vs. Prosaist

I make the words just snap in line.
The rules of rhyme and meter, mine.
One line suggests the next in time,
limited by theme and rhyme.
I step aside and words rule me.
I love the puzzle of poetry!

Your rhyming games are your excuse.
A form of literary abuse.
Your joking rhymes become the norms
while you eschew more serious forms.
If you would cast your poems aside,
You’d find where deeper thoughts reside.

The prompt today was to list all of your identities, then to divide them into ones that make you feel powerful and vulnerable and to have one identity from each of the different  sides of your personality talk to each other.

Powerful: poet, artist, friend, pet wrangler, swimmer, art collector, traveler, gardener, photographer, driver, girlfriend, teacher, sister, advisor, beloved.

Vulnerable: Stepmother, friend, daughter, widow, wife, senior citizen, kid, dancer, guitar player, singer, sorority girl, hippie, sister-in-law, home owner, prose writer, advisee, student,patient, lover.

 

.http://www.napowrimo.net/day-seven-5/

 

Copa de Oro: Flower of the Day, Apr 7, 2018

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This shows all the variations in color of this copa de oro vine. I think perhaps they get lighter as they age a bit. There were at least three distinct colors in this cluster, from light ping to magenta. The palest pink bloom had fallen off the vine and was lying face down on the terrace.. I showed it a few days ago.

For Cee’s Flower of the Day prompt.

Long Haul

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Sins of Omission

We’ve had a long haul, dear, with a heavy load
over a long and difficult road.
That day that you left and never came back,
the whole world you left felt stretched on the rack.
The dogs howled the moon, the horses milled ‘round.
Then everything stilled, just poised for the sound
of your homebound footsteps. We listen still.
The kids often bound to the top of the hill
looking for something. Perhaps it is you.
From sunup to sundown, we still hope to view
the sight of your figure rounding the bend
so our struggles without you can finally end.

Did you mean to leave or was it a quirk?
Were you a victim or were you a jerk?
Wherever you’ve gone to, here’s what you’re missing:
my shepherd’s pie and all of my kissing,
backrubs and whispers deep in the night,
love’s deep caresses and its sweet bite.
Selfish adventurer, it’s time to atone
for the sins you’ve amassed while off on your own.
Come home to your duty. Come home to your life.
Come home to your kids, your parents, your wife.
Your old life awaits you. Wherever you roam,
there must be a road that will lead you to home.

The prompt today is haul.

Bougainvillea: Flower of the Day, Apr 6, 2018

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For Cee’s Flower of the Day.

NaPoWriMo Apr 6, 2018: Fledgling

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Fledgling

Nobody knew
when she stood Sunday still
and held her breath
and pumped her arms
really hard
with total concentration
that she could fly,
rising straight up
until she reached the place where she could swim the air,

because
even when she did it
in their presence,
they were always looking
in the wrong direction.

Until that night
at the dinner table
when everyone
had someone
to talk to
except her,
and so she rose into the busy air above the table
to hover
over
mashed potatoes
until
dessert.


The NaPoWriMo  prompt was to write a poem that stretches your comfort zone with line breaks. That could be a poem with very long lines, or very short lines. Or a poem that blends the two. You might break to emphasize (or de-emphasize) sounds or rhymes, or to create a moment of hesitation in the middle of a thought.

Aloe Vera Blooms: Flower of the Day, Apr 5, 2018

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For Cee’s Flower of the Day prompt.

Cold Weather and the Subtle Art of Wooing

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Cold Weather and the Subtle Art of Wooing

A frozen little nose and frigid little toes
plague my teeny-bopper everywhere she goes,
for she does not cover tender little parts
when the winter comes and when the snowing starts.

Flip-flops on her feet, face naked to the air—
she seems to need to show us everything that’s there.
Little mini-skirts and a tiny cotton blouse
with nary a parka as she journeys house-to-house.

She says the weather’s nothing. She says she isn’t cold,
and she will not listen. She simply won’t be told
by her mother or her father that she should bundle up.
We try to give her mittens, hot cocoa in a cup.

Now once again she’s out of here with a new boyfriend
but without a coat or sweater to protect against the wind.
But then I see her logic. for when she subtly sneezes,
he drapes an arm around her to shield her from the breezes. 

So even though my daughter might seem naive and daft
not taking due precautions against the cold and draft,
there’s a method to her madness. She knows what she is doing.
Instead of dressing for the weather she is dressing for the wooing.

 

The WordPress prompt today is frigid.

The Meeting

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The Meeting

You stand, weary of stirring, under
the twirling of the spar line in the night.

The lamplight fanning out in flat flame
as you bend over, reins in your  bright fabric.

You smite your fist, protesting with a wink
this light labor of the oar and fishing line.

I make as if to lend a hand, but you wave it away,
Earnest philosopher, choosing instead this sad September song.

MOETING

De stêd wierre grize strjitten, sûker
twirren oan ’e spoarline, in nacht.

Yn ’e lampebol fan fiere flat: man
wachtsjend foar it reinich bytfabryk.

Ik smiet de fyts oan ’e kant, wankel
en werkende in lûd út in oar ferline.

Hy joech my de hân, sei dat hy it wie:
earste pianospiler, sad septembersong.

                              —  Albertina Soepboer

The prompt was to choose a photograph, then a poem in a foreign language and to write a poem of your own according to what you think it means, influenced by the photograph as well. I chose a poem in Frisan, (the Netherlands) my grandfather’s native language.

NaPoWriMo 2018, Day 5

WordPress Weekly Photo Prompt: Smile

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Click on any photo to enlarge all.

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/photo-challenges/smile/