2015 Poem A Day, Day Thirty

Prompt for Day Thirty:

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.”

This is the last day
I have written my poems
Now I get to sleep

2015 Poem A Day, Day Twenty Nine

Prompt for Day Twenty Nine:

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.

Little Lies

small

truths hide

in small places,

like beneath a sink

where he slept at night

what no one knows

is that he

did not

sleep.

lies

hide, too,

in the open

where we can see

bites marks on his fingers

but he said he

bit his nails

and we

believed

bigger

lies leapt

in flying fire

like tempers tossed, hot:

it was the rats biting

and so he hid

his tiny hands

from us,

too.

2015 Poem A Day, Day Twenty Eight

Prompt for Day Twenty Eight:

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.

Matter

Wide are the skies

within your eyes.

Endless, the world

in your mind.

Medians and means

and in betweens,

Of mosts and leasts

and obsoletes

You are above and

beyond these things.

Nothing the while

can reconcile

with the honesty

inside your smile

for my Dad

2015 Poem A Day, Day Twenty:

Prompt for Day Twenty:

For today’s prompt, take the phrase “My (blank), the (blank),” replace the blanks with a word or phrase, make the new phrase the title of your poem, and then, write your poem. Possible titles include: “My Dentist, the Torture Expert,” “My Lunch, the Thing I Got Out of the Vending Machine,” “My Father, the Comedian,” or “My Life, the Punchline.”

I am playing catch-up, so this one of the two poems I wrote on Day Twenty One. It wasn't finished on the day, so I'm posting it for Day Twenty, because I couldn't feel that prompt.

This was inspired by a conversation with a friend with whom I'd stayed up way too late.

I Am Not

I am not your princess

I am not your muse

I was not put upon the earth

to aid and comfort you

I am a human being

I have got my plans

They have nothing to do

with your boring, idle hands

I don't care if you are listening

I'm not worried if you care

I'm a woman, goddammit,

Walk beside me if you dare.

2015 Poem A Day, Day Twenty Seven

Prompt for Day Twenty Seven:

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.

This is for my parents, who have been married for forty years. I'm trying to reflect how their love has grown and changed over time. I hope I hit somewhere close to the mark.

A Year, A Life

our love, in barefoot splendor,

traipsing through thick viny trails

cut off shorts and halter tops

dandelion born on gales

our love in springtime formals,

reveling in orchid blooms

a rich and gauzy fabric

full of softly fragrant plumes

our love, dressed in winter's clothes,

bundled tight against the cold,

a woolly warmth protects us,

never let the chill take hold

now our love is autumn's cloak

gathered across our shoulders

at campfire's side, side by side,

while life's long ember smolders

DIY Recycle Project

One old pillow.

One adorable thrift store skirt daughter still loves but can no longer wear.

One very helpful cat.

A roll of thread and a whip-stitch later:

Cute bohemian throw pillow!

2015 Poem a Day, Day Twenty Six

Prompt for Day Twenty Six:

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!

I went off prompt today because I was toying with the idea of making a puzzle poem yesterday, and this one came alone. The missing letters make a phrase. My brain was very entertained, and I hope yours is, too. (I put the answer in the tags...)

Missing Persons

I knew

when you d_d_'t look back

we were done

Two years of maybes

_wo months of p_omises

Yo_ wouldn't kiss,

not in public

no_ in the s_adow

of outs_ders you woul_

never see again.

Y_u stood in the security li_e

and I watched and wa_ched

and hoped

but

you never once

looked back

and you grew

smaller

and

s_aller

unt_l

there wa_

nothing

left

to _ee

Yesterda_

is the gh_st

of _s.