Day 6 of National Poetry Writing Month (NaPoWriMo) 

Today’s NaPoWriMo prompt utilizes columns again. We are asked to pick a number 1-10, then scroll to a chart of four columns and 10 rows. From there,

“Find the row with your number. Then, write a poem describing the taste of the item in Column A, using the words that appear in that row in Column B and C. For bonus points, give your poem the title of the word that appears in Column A for your row, but don’t use that word in the poem itself.”

I chose the number 4 and the corresponding row provided the title “Tea” and the words “cuckoo” and “unfit.” And so, may I offer you some…

Tea

Who put the cuckoo in the clock,
it’s two beat song so bland and fleet?
So many notes from which to choose
why opt for bitter over sweet?

Weak or strong, the cuckoo’s song,
a lullaby to help you sleep, or 
prone to set one’s teeth on edge
when each hour bids one more repeat.

A song unfit to stand alone,
too sharp, too dull, too flat, too steeped.
With cream and sugar coat the gears,
so cuckoo’s clock its rounds may keep.