Tag: storms

Not Ready — after Dixie Chicks, Not Ready to Make Nice (a golden shovel poem)

Poetry

phoenix

You can tell, by the flicker in my eyes, I’m
not ready, a little bit crazy, mad 
and messy — apt to spin into a storm, as 
quickly as a flame-feathered phoenix, rising from hell 
but you see me — know my fire — and 
still you sit beside me, solid as the earth where I 
find my feet — ground myself. You don’t 
flinch, don’t falter.  I know you have
my back, in every eruption, every rebirth, every time.
———-

POETIC FORM

golden shovel – Take a line (or lines) from a poem you like. Use each word as an end word in your poem. Keep the end words in order. Credit the original poet, ie. “-after (poet)”.

POEM A DAY NOVEMBER 2015 – PROMPT:

For today’s prompt, write a simmer down poem.
For more information, check out– http://www.writersdigest.com/whats-new/2015-november-pad-chapbook-challenge-day-7.

 

Advertisement

You’re the Only North (a conceptual poem)

Poetry

couplefight

Call back time, Let felicity fly.
Blanket the bed, and kiss goodbye.

I was terribly lost, crossed and dark.
You’re the only north I would follow.

Fight back, bring on the break,
and blow to bits.

Dear, I was terribly crossed and dark.
But you’re the north I follow this far.

Keep an eye on hope,
Lest I blink and get nothing to say.

‘Cause you’re the blinding light
the saving grace of the saving grace.

God, I was lost and dark, dear.
You’re only this far… I would follow.

—–

POETIC FORM: A Conceptual Poem

—–

PROMPT:

BestLaidPlan

To earn the “Best Laid Plan” badge, approach a text with a plan to remove something. Think beyond just a single word and instead consider removing references to a subject or emotion, actions taken by certain characters, colors, etc. Whatever you choose, apply your approach and, keeping as much of the remaining text intact as possible, create your poem from results. Post your poem to the site, include a citation for your source text, as well as a note on your approach.

—–

PoMoSco (Poetry Month Scouts)
Found Poetry Review’s 2015 National Poetry Month Project

– April 2015 – 213 poets joined together as a troop to earn digital merit badges for completing experimental and found poetry prompts.
– Prompts are divided into five categories – remixing, erasure, out and about, conceptual and chance operation.
– Each category offers six distinct badges to be earned.
– Poets choose their own source text.
– For more information, check out pomosco.com.

A dear friend and fabulous poet, Von Thompson, is a participant. When she told me about the challenge, I decided to play along at home.

—–

SOURCE: “Galaxies” by Owl City
(www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/owlcity/galaxies.html)

May I have a Spoon? (an out-and-about poem)

Poetry

windowrain

When it rains
may I have a spoon?

I’d like to go out there
to the back yard–

Pushing at that edge,
I’ll handle the stuff.

I recommend the dozer.
It’s the same project.

The water should move
off of the highway,

redirect to the pond–
work in our direction.

The neighbor is calmed down,
he’s high — that’s what I heard.

I’m anxious –can I help,
anything else for you, for him?

Whatever they don’t take–
the rest, we’re just securing it.

Where the water comes, what is
it that’s left– and that’s not fair?

I told her last night if you can’t
excuse me today, I understand.

—–

POETIC FORM: An out-and-about Poem

—–

PROMPT:

AllEars

To earn the “All Ears” badge, take a public journey of your choosing. For instance, you might sit on your local bus or train for an hour, walk around the mall, visit a museum or even just walk down the street in an area with a lot of foot traffic. Keep an open ear to the conversations around you and jot down the phrases and words you overhear. Craft a poem composed of those fragments and take a picture during your journey to post alongside your poem. For examples of overheard poetry, visit Laura J. Davies’ “Overheard Poetry” page at http://cargocollective.com/laurajdavies/Overheard-Poetry. Cite the starting point and end point of your journey at the bottom of your post.
—–

PoMoSco (Poetry Month Scouts)
Found Poetry Review’s 2015 National Poetry Month Project

– April 2015 – 213 poets joined together as a troop to earn digital merit badges for completing experimental and found poetry prompts.
– Prompts are divided into five categories – remixing, erasure, out and about, conceptual and chance operation.
– Each category offers six distinct badges to be earned.
– Poets choose their own source text.
– For more information, check out pomosco.com.

A dear friend and fabulous poet, Von Thompson, is a participant. When she told me about the challenge, I decided to play along at home.

—–

SOURCE: brunch at Panera

Storm-Tossed (a 108 word poem)

Poetry

womanboat

The moon has been pushing,
tugging my tides, of late.
My ship is tossed by a wild,
mercurial sea.

I relish these days, the fervor
and elation, but my soul longs
for the harbor that is you.

I’ve been watching brooding skies
checking charts and maps
–hoping to find my way
back to where you are.

Do you perhaps stand
at the shoreline, shining
a beacon to light
the way?

When I appear over the
the stormy horizon–
cast me a line?
Tow me to shore?

Gather me into your arms
— into your body?
Will you give me shelter,
and show me what
loving you can be?

—–

PROMPT:

108 Word Poem – Poetry challenge, inspired by The Quiet World, by Jeffrey McDaniel http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/179259 – If you could only write 108 words to your lover… (167 less 59) write a poem with exactly 108 words.

Bury the Weather Vane

Poetry

conjure

When you attempt to
conjure a weatherman,
be sure to wear stormy grey.
Kick off both of your shoes.
Walk for hours in the rain.
Bury the weather vane
below your bedroom window,
gather a fistful of feathers,
and slowly chant his name.
Dance boldly with the moon,
when she’s full and flirts
from behind a veil of clouds
which you have stirred
widdershins into your third
cup of black, sweet coffee
–he will come riding the wind
of your incantation.

—–

POEM A DAY APRIL 2015 – PROMPT:

For today’s prompt, take the phrase “Bury the (blank),” replace the blank with a word or phrase, make the new phrase the title of your poem, and then, write your poem. Some possible titles include: “Bury the Hatchet,” “Bury the Body,” “Bury the Past,” “Bury the Hate,” and “Bury the Acorns.”

no one

Poetry

image

no one else knows
the echo of your name
in the voice of thunder
or the flash in your eyes
when you gaze down at me
the way you break over me
like a sudden cloudburst
your eyes wide open and
pure joy written on your face
no one else knows
how you come alive
in this haven we’ve made
when the rain comes
and washes us clean
no one else knows
how you love me
but I know, so do you

—–

POEM A DAY APRIL 2015 – PROMPT:

For today’s prompt, write a what nobody knows poem. It’s easy to write a poem about what everybody already knows, though it may be difficult to write an interesting poem about such things. Still, use today’s prompt to explore things people may not know–secret stories, locations, and so on.

Chemistry (a triolet)

Poetry

stormeye

What is the matter in a spring rain–
hydrogen, oxygen, energy?
Would you understand, if I tried to explain?
What is the matter in a spring rain–
that makes me want you, drives me insane?
I ache to ignite that chemistry.
Need is what matters! Bring on your rain–
your hydrogen, oxygen and energy.

—–

POETIC FORM: Triolet
An 8 linepoem. The first line of the poem is used 3 times and the second line is used twice. There are only 3 other lines to write: 2 rhyme with the first line, the other rhymes with the second line.
FORM DIAGRAM:
A (first line)
B (second line)
a (rhymes with first line)
A (repeat first line)
a (rhymes with first line)
b (rhymes with second line)
A (repeat first line)
B (repeat second line)

—–

POEM A DAY APRIL 2015 – PROMPT:

Here’s the final “Two for Tuesday” prompt of the month:

1. Write a matter poem. Matter is what things are made of.
2. Write an anti-matter poem. The opposite of a matter poem.

Inevitable (a somonka)

Poetry

image

Looking back I see–
puddles were invitations,
thunder called to me.
When others hid from the storms,
I chased them looking for you.
—–
Now I realize,
You were the puddle I jumped.
Your lightning struck — twice.
You were inevitable.
I hid, but your storm found me.

—–

POETIC FORM:

The somonka is a Japanese form. In fact, it’s basically two tankas written as two love letters to each other (one tanka per love letter). This form usually demands two authors, but it is possible to have a poet take on two personas. Click here (http://www.writersdigest.com/editor-blogs/poetic-asides/poetic-forms/tanka-bigger-and-more-relaxed-than-a-haiku) for a refresher on the tanka.

—–

FORM DIAGRAM:

5
7
5
7
7
–
5
7
5
7
7
—–

POEM A DAY APRIL 2015 – PROMPT:

For today’s prompt, write a looking back poem. Of course, some people just glance over their shoulders, and others stop and turn all the way around. Some look back in time and weigh their successes and failures, evaluate things they could do better. Some claim they never look back. Whatever your stance on looking back, capture it in a poem today.

Outbreak (a cinquain)

Poetry

threetornadoes

it rains
winds gust and blow
tornadic passion storms
break out from in between my bones
it pours

—–

POETIC FORM:
Cnquain – five-line poetic form from Adelaide Crapsey. Inspired by tanka, the cinquain is comprised of 2 syllables in the first line, 4 in the second line, 6 in the third, 8 in the fourth, and 2 in the fifth. Plus, poets have the freedom to add or subtract one syllable from each line.
—–

POEM A DAY APRIL 2015 – PROMPT:

For today’s prompt, take a word or two invented by William Shakespeare, make it the title of your poem, and write your poem. Click here for a link to some words coined by Shakespeare, who was baptized on this date in 1564. If the link doesn’t work, here are a few: advertising, bloodstained, critic, dwindle, eyeball, hobnob, luggage, radiance, and zany. He invented more than 1,700!

Carry Me

Poetry

womanoceanstorm

I bring in my cupped hands
barely a swallow of water
thick with salt —
I carry it to you from
across a sea of longing
coughed up from lungs
that have too long tried
to breathe beneath
the weight of fifty-foot
waves of want.
I walk these sands
with sunburned feet
seaweed strands tangled
in my sun-bleached hair
fiddler crabs scuttle
in my wake, and the
lonely cries of seagulls
echo in my bones.
If I get to where you are
without any spills,
will you sip, won’t you
drink from my fingers
share this taste of
longing with me —
be for me the hurricane
that redefines my
shoreline, will your
winds carry me?

—–

POEM A DAY APRIL 2015 – PROMPT:

For today’s prompt, write an across the sea poem. This could be a love letter, an electronic submission through cyber space and time, or a travel poem (by air or sea, though probably not car). Modern travel or back in the days of rugged explorers. Wandering or wondering, your choice. As always, the prompt is just the springboard to your poem; feel free to bend and break.