I did it. 30 poems in 30 days. * It’s the most I’ve ever written in one stretch in my life. I didn’t write one poem per day—there were some days I wrote nothing and some days I wrote more than one—and I posted a couple out of order. But I wrote 30 poems in … Continue reading NaPoWriMo 2019: Reflections →

Today’s prompt: ” try your hand at a minimalist poem.” (http://www.napowrimo.net/day-thirty-5/)   word less  

Today’s prompt: “a poem that meditates, from a position of tranquility, on an emotion you have felt powerfully.” (http://www.napowrimo.net/day-twenty-nine-5/) Memory of Feeling I remember the feeling. I remember: the sharp inhale, the racing pulse, the nervous sweat, the stuttering tongue, the locked muscles, pounding pulse in my ears. I suppose you would call it fear. … Continue reading NaPoWriMo 2019: Day 29 →

Today’s prompt: “‘remix’ a Shakespearean sonnet.” (http://www.napowrimo.net/day-twenty-seven-5/) Sonnet 130: Remix Sure, she ain’t no beauty: some may say she’s ugly, or to be more kind, she’s plain. But, oh, her mind! Her hair is just hair, never silken thread there. Her breath stinks, her eyes are dull, but seriously, you guys? She’s amazeballs! So she’s … Continue reading NaPoWriMo 2019: Day 27 →

Today’s prompt: “try your hand at a meta-poem.” (http://www.napowrimo.net/day-twenty-eight-5/) This Is Not a Poem These are not letters Strung along the page Communal symbols of sounds These are not words Laid out in sequence Carrying no true meaning These are not lines Stacked one atop another In a stylized cascade These are not stanzas Grouping … Continue reading NaPoWriMo 2019: Day 28 →

Today’s prompt: “write a poem that uses repetition.” (http://www.napowrimo.net/day-twenty-six-5/) Language Lies Languid Language lies languid on the page, languid lie the words, the punctuation: lithesome commas, colons all business, beckoning em-dashes, brutal full stops. On the page, they beckon me to amble through language, languid, eyes arrested by brobdingnagian words, eliding unappreciated work horses: conjunctions, … Continue reading NaPoWriMo 2019: Day 26 →

Today’s prompt: “write a poem that: Is specific to a season Uses imagery that relates to all five senses Includes a rhetorical question” (http://www.napowrimo.net/day-twenty-five-5/) I tried my hand at a two-stanza tanka for this one. Summer, A Pause Peaty scent of green Vision of birds swooping loft Hidden insects cry Hot breeze caresses our cheeks … Continue reading NaPoWriMo 2019: Day 25 →

Today’s prompt: “write a poem that … is inspired by a reference book.” (http://www.napowrimo.net/day-twenty-four-5/) We Say What We Mean Does one ameliorate or alleviate or lighten? Differences subtle: exquistely indirect but profound. Words have weighty meanings, connotations, not always easily navigable, passable made accessible only through careful, attentive, conscientious, and deliberate choice. We say what … Continue reading NaPoWriMo 2019: Day 24 →

Today’s prompt: “write a poem about an animal.” (http://www.napowrimo.net/day-twenty-three-5/) Observations of My Dog at Play She runs, bounds, flies along, reveling in the freedom of motion, muscular joy, paws touching the ground only in fleeting bursts, her whole body accordioning— stretched long, compressed short, a cycling dynamo— the physics of fun, the speed of play. … Continue reading NaPoWriMo 2019: Day 23 →

Today’s prompt: “write a poem that engages with another art form.” (http://www.napowrimo.net/day-twenty-two-5/) On Viewing Michelangelo’s David at 45° Roughly 45° is all it took to reduce a symbol of strength to a pillar of uncertainty. How unexpected: to see stone tremble in fear by simply shifting 45° to the right. They say the David was … Continue reading NaPoWriMo 2019: Day 22 →