Tag Archives: poetry

How to

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16

Day One of NaPoWriMo. The prompt:

[W]rite poems that provide the reader with instructions on how to do something.

Herewith,

how to

How To

There’s so many things I’ve yet to learn,
like where and why and what and who.
So who said what, why is it where
most try to teach “how to?”

How to fall in love;
how to win it back.
How to lose the oaf
when his façade cracks.

How to earn big bucks
quick and easily,
how to file the forms
for your bankruptcy.

How to win respect from
those you disdain,
how to show concern
with sympathy feigned.

I won’t tell you how
to live your life.
It takes patience, care
and sometimes strife.

But I’ll gladly show how
to change your and my luck
with just four installments
of twenty bucks.

It’s here: NaPoWriMo

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NaPoWriMo celebrates National Poetry Writing Month, where one writes a poem a day for the entire month of April. As I did last year, I am participating by responding to the prompts given at the site NaPoWriMo. net.

The “early bird” prompt for today: “Today, we’d like to challenge you to write a poetic self-portrait. And specifically, we’d like you to write a poem in which you portray yourself in the guise of a historical or mythical figure. “

So here we go!

woods

 Self-Portrait as a Sasquatch

It seeks me out,
hunts me down…
the commotion, the cacophony, the confusion.

I want none of it. It hurts my head.
I seek refuge in the cooling shadows of the forest.

I become curious, though, and
come out of the woods,
down from the mountain,
dare to be seen

only to discover nothing has changed;
the commotion, the cacophony, the confusion…
my head hurts.

Retreating back to the shadows, I content myself
with the serenity of keeping my own company.

The warmth of the sun brings sustenance to my soul,

but it’s not yet time.

Asking Bella

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Bella

From where did you come,
and where did you go
before you came here to me?
What happened to make you fear
crates and loud noises and the prospect of
being left alone?

Who put you in a cell
with bars and bare cement floors
and people parading by to stare?
How did you choose me
to be the one you would enchant
with your soulful chocolate eyes?

When will I have done enough to thank you
for the privilege of walking this path
with you?

I can imagine answers to my questions,
but I will never truly know.
Of course, some questions have no answers,
and that’s okay. What matters is that
you are the answer to me, and
I am the answer to you.

For Emily and Bella

V.J.’s Weekly Challenge #37: Story

Invisible

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27

tracks

You didn’t see me.
You watched my reflection
turn in a direction
you chose not to see.

You didn’t hear me.
You thought I was sleeping.
In fact, I was weeping.
You chose not to hear.

You didn’t touch me.
You thought I might crumble.
You thought you might stumble.
You chose not to feel.

You didn’t miss me.
You thought I had left you,
came not to my rescue.
You chose to move on.

I vow to be seen,
and heard and respected;
my path self-selected;
invisible no more.

dVerse Poetics: Invisible

On Time

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54

time2

Who invented time?

I mean, really…
before there were calendars and watches
and birthdays and scheduling apps and
• b
• u
• l
• l
• e
• t

journals,

who decided we need to slice and dice our days and
months and years into the confines of linear numbers?

The planets and suns and moons
run circles around one another on a fairly regular basis.
They do not, however, march on like time.

Circles, cycles, ellipses, eclipses…
It is humans, not nature, who love to be linear.
We wait in lines to catch the bus, because buses must run on time.
We meet deadlines to stay timely,
read headlines to keep up with the times,
string power lines to serve the demands of modern times,
post bylines, because it’s about time we got credit for our work.

There’s no time like the present.
Time is on our side.
Time stands still for no one.

What would happen if we all became timeless?
I guess only time would tell.

dVerse Poetics: Time and What If?