spiral - Day 6 of the 2016 PAD Challenge

Two days behind but undaunted. I've spent this week preparing query letters for my Young Adult Fantasy novel, Elsekind. I intend to send it out to three places on Tuesday, so that's fairly exciting and slightly terrifying. 

And today, I have a poem to share. Perhaps my favorite topic to explore in poetry is the connectedness between objects in the micro- and macroverse, particularly the Fibonnaci repetition of patterns. I love how patterns in nature replicate on the small and large scale. It's stunning and humbling, how a snail and a galaxy can contain the same atoms, the same shapes, once again proving that we all are more alike than we are different.

Fibonnaci knows...

spiral

one shell

one tiny shell

one spinning spiral

like a floating iris

like the golden eye

of a great grey heron

poised on a riverbank

in a glimmering city

in a far away country

on a great continent

riddled with rivers and

crisscrossed with streams

on this blue, blue earth

swaddled in clouds

strung with twinkle lights

turning and turning

within an orbit,

within the wide-flung arms

of a galaxy

one among

billions.

one shell.

one tiny

shell.

Beware of Fairy Tales - Day 5 of the 2016 PAD Challenge

Here is a twist on the twisted fairy tales. This is five linked haikus about a forest and a hapless adventurer.

Beware of Fairy Tales

 

Along the Forest Path by Selina Fenech

The sign outside reads:

Beware of the Fairy Tales

They always return

In the tavern light

Her wings like snowflakes, shiver

prismatic daggers

"Please, can you help me?"

Her voice is the falling leaves

You reach for her, and--

The path stands empty,

Stabbed by moonlight and silence

Moths brush at your face

Feet encased in stone,

Weapon useless at your side,

Words caught on your lips

Too late to scream now:

You are trapped within her snare.

She always returns.

One Doesn't Stop to Talk with Nightmares - Day 4 of the 2016 PAD Challenge

Off-prompt, but from a line in a Guy Gavriel Kay story, provided by one of our writing group partners, Lori Krell. I think this one is about becoming our worst nightmares. 

Mirror of the Soul by ispheria.

One Doesn't Stop to Talk to Nightmares

Yes, I heard her warning

as I left the bar that night.

I heard her

but I refused to heed

the raving rantings

of a whore

Yes, she warned me of the dangers

of straying from the path

of staying too long

of listening

to the whispers.

I heard her

but I thought her

mad

I thought

her

mad.

She said, One doesn't stop

to talk to nightmares.

I said, What do you know

of dreams?

Her cracked face

sagged:

fractures panes

in ruined casement.

Yes, I wondered what she lost

from lingering too long

from sipping too deeply

from keeping cozy company

with the demons

of her dreams

I wondered, but dismissed her

A mad woman

A transient

A fool

No, I did not see her

for what she is

for what she was:

Not a broken window

but a mirror.

A reflection

of me.

Three - Day 3 of the 2016 Poem A Day Challenge

For today’s prompt, take the phrase “Three (blank),” replace the blank with a word or phrase, make the new phrase the title of your poem, and then, write your poem. Possible titles include: “Three Blind Hippos,” “Three Muskrats,” “Three’s Company,” “Three Movies Is Too Many for The Hobbit, Peter Jackson (just saying),” and so on.

Here is a strange little poem in round. It's a bit rough, but I'll take it for now.

Three

On the road,

on the road

an old crone sang

with a stick

in her hand,

with a crow

on her back

On her back,

on her back

the old crow cawed

with a jewel

in her eye,

with a ring

on her wing

On her wing,

on her wing

there slept a dream

with a wish

in her heart,

with a song

on her lips.

On her lips,

on her lips

there rested a kiss

with a prince

in her bed,

with a crown

on his brow.

On his brow,

on his brow

there weighed a truth

with a price

in its words,

with a curse

on his grave

On his grave,

on his grave

the old crone wept

of a love

and a girl

and a boy

and a bird

And the three

who fled

with the jewel

and a ring,

They sing

no more

No more

they sing.

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 Five

Prompt for Day Twenty Five:

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.

When I read this prompt, I thought, "Across the sea... acrostic." I chose a phrase and this followed: 

Across the Sea

Summer skies filled with rain

Everyone dashed inside

Only we stood

Under the clouds,

Laughing

To have known you has

Opened my eyes

Spring hills filled with flowers

And I'm missing you, my friends

Never forgotten

Maybe one day you will come

Across the sea

Remember our Soju promise:

Come see me! Come see me!

Over here in Texas

Still welcome, still in my heart.

2015 Poem A Day, Day Eighteen

Prompt for Day Eighteen:

For today’s prompt, pick 2 vowels and write a poem using words that only contain one or both of those vowels. For instance, write a poem with words that only have a “u” and “o.” Also, the letter “y” is wild–so the words “my” and “gypsy” are freebies. And I’ll allow text-speak (or maybe I should say “txt spk”).

Please

Please

take

the chance,

make

that last

plan

4 me.

When

all

else

falls

away,

save

a day

4 me.

2015 Poem A Day, Day Seventeen

Prompt for Day Seventeen:

For today’s prompt, write a swing poem. Sure, there are park swings and mood swings; there’s swing music and swing dancing; and there are swingers. Some people swing one way; others swing another. In politics, there are swing votes and swing states. And many people have swung a bat, an ax, and/or a hammer in their lifetimes.

I really have no idea where this came from. I dedicate this to Patty Griffin, who inspires me every day. This is more a bluegrass song than it is a poem, which I suppose is okay. Our family has deep bluegrass roots.

Swing

Not a fighter, but I'll fight

Not a singer, yet I sing

If you back me in a corner

Watch me swing

Watch me swing

Not a poet, but I get down

Not an artist, but I dream

If I find a rope on a riverbank

Watch me swing

Watch me swing

In this life, we've got our bridges

Those are the easy paths to take.

We've got our blue skies

filled up with clouds.

We've got our whole lives

at stake

So if you climb up the mountain

then you might as well scream:

“I am here, and I'm alive

Watch me swing

Watch me swing.”

2015 Poem A Day, Day Sixteen

Prompt for Day Sixteen:

For today’s prompt, write a science poem. Your poem could be about science in a general sense, but you can also latch onto a specific field or story. Maybe write a poem about the scientific method, or juxtapose science against another idea like love, war, or cuisine. Remember: Science is the springboard; which way you jump is up to you.

I played with this one a while. It's a bit simple, but I like Fibonacci sequences, so I like this, too. I hope that you do as well.

Fibonacci

One

Person

Looks up

Into the sky

To see the infinite possibility:

A billion galaxies filled with billions of stars

and imagines all of the breath and all of the life contained within.

2015 Poem A Day, Day Thirteen

Going off prompt for this one. It was supposed to be a confession poem, but I had nothing.

Instead, I was playing with haiku for Earth Day's nature poem, and I wrote this one. It's not a nature poem, but I like the idea of Rorschach and kaleidoscopes.

But What About Freud?

A prismatic flash

Turning kaleidoscope's wheel

Rorschach would love this

Paperback Heart, revised

This is the revised poem, Paperback Heart, now even more like a song. It's been stuck in my head all day. If only I could write music...

Let me know what you think in the comments below!

Paperback Heart

How long will I live this

paperback life?

Letters stuck in envelopes

days stuck in strife

I guess I'm always hoping

I'll get carried away

But I'm trapped in this existence

day after day.

How long will I live with this

paperback heart?

All my days the flimsy pages

of someone else's art.

I think I'm always dreaming

of getting out to dance

But I stand against the wall

and I never take the chance

How long will I dream these

paperback schemes?

Choking on the exhaust of

someone else's dreams.

All my notebooks filled but empty

Nothing there but grief and pain

Don't have the guts to burn 'em up

Don't know how to start again.

So how long will I live this

paperback life?

Hiding from the real world,

hoping the fictions aren't all lies

My shelves cluttered with memories

of someone else's strife.

I think I'm always wishing

for my hero to ride in

To save me from this drudgery

Let my fairy tale begin.

But I know that we're just people

And I know that love can die

And I know that I'll keep living

this paperback life

2015 Poem A Day, Day Eleven

Prompt for Day Eleven:

For today’s prompt, write a seasonal poem. This should be a snap for haiku poets; after all, inserting seasonal words is a rule for the form. However, you don’t have to write haiku to write a poem that references or happens in one of the four seasons: Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter. Pick a season or include them all.

I didn't want to write a rhyming poem today, even though that's been the mode for my poet mind since the beginning of this challenge. For this prompt, I opened Writing Down the Bones and read the chapter titled A New Moment. In this chapter, she writes about how it is important not to rest long on our successes or failures, but to keep the pen moving, to keep writing.

I found inspiration in the lines that went: “Continue under all circumstances. It will keep you healthy and alive.”

I love that. Creativity is a force that helps us meet challenges. It helps us work through insecurities and anxieties. It gives us hope and helps us meet our grief eye to eye. Goldberg goes on to write about not needing a reason to continue beyond our own will to create. Creation is reason enough.

So here is my seasonal poem, nurtured into existence by Natalie Goldberg, the small birds nesting on our patio, and a time I climbed Gwanaksan Mountain in Seoul, South Korea.

Each to Its Own

Suns rise

Kingdoms fall

Hearts break

Birds nest

In the spring,

new buds bloom

In the fall,

they gray

and wither

You may have stood atop

Gwanaksan

You may have flung

your arms wide

You may have been

an echo loud

against the wall

of time

It is not the same mountain now

New rains fell

bearing stones

and seeds

and sand

At mountain's base,

the city springs:

Each day new

and tomorrow old.

Yet the young

walk her streets

Alive and amazed.

From space we see

the churning veils

of illusive storms

Our cities etched

in the face of earth

like sandcastles

in the rain.

Season after season

we spin and spin

as we have always spun

in the dance

of the earth and the sun.

2015 Poem A Day, Day Ten

Prompt for Day Ten: 

For today’s prompt, take the phrase “How (blank),” replace the blank with a word or phrase, make the new phrase the title of your poem, and then, write your poem. Possible titles include: “How to Write a Poem,” “How Mechanical Pencils Work,” and “Howling at the Moon After Midnight in the Middle of a Thunderstorm.”

I think perhaps this poem, which started out as How Long, aspires to be song lyrics. It's pretty rough and very silly, but it's late and I'm posting it anyway.

Paperback Heart

Waiting for that someday

Waiting to take a chance

Waiting for your heart to break

To finally make a stance

You stand in lace and ribbons

Your back against the wall

You listen to the music

You wait to take the fall.

Why do you hold yourself apart,

When you know you want to sing?

Why do you lip sync in the car

When I know you want to sing?

And how long will you live

in this paperback heart?

All your days

the flimsy pages

of someone else's art?

How long will you live

in this paperback scheme?

Always waiting

always hoping

just a wish

and just a dream?

These are safe

alternatives

to doing the

real thing.

How long will you live

with this paperback heart?

Just another daydream

Waiting for life to start.

2015 Poem A Day, Day Eight

Prompt for Day Eight:

For today’s prompt, write a dare poem. This poem could be written as a dare to someone. It could make a daring proclamation. It could involve a dare that someone has accepted…or refused. In a way, each day of this challenge is a dare to write a poem. Are you ready for the challenge?

This one was just fun. May you continue to dare, as I am right now with this writer's life!

Triple Dog Dare

When we were kids

it was a taunt:

Get in the water

Jump off the side

Climb into the branches

Don't try to hide.

Teenagers morphed us

into mouthy hooligans:

I dare you to kiss him

I dare you to try.

Then came college,

Then came life.

Then came bills

and marriage

and kids

and bills

and student loans

and heartbreak

and death.

Then it was

a four-letter word:

the dominion

of swaggering

children

and fools

Should I risk it?

Don't you dare.

But I do.

I dare you

I triple dog dare you:

Get out

Get up

Get busy

I dare you to do

what frightens you

I dare you

I dare you

I dare.

This one is for my awesome brother, my partner-in-dare. Love you <3 p="">

2015 Poem A Day, Day Seven

Prompt for Day Seven:

It took an entire week to get to our first “Two for Tuesday” prompt this year, so I’m going to make it the one that I run every single year:

1. Write a love poem. Yeah, I said a love poem, or, if you don’t like that option…
2. Write an anti-love poem. I know there are some haters out there; go ahead and hate on love and/or love poems if that’s your thing.

Feeling ambivalence toward today's prompt. Having just ended a devastating relationship, I am torn about my feelings toward love. My boyfriend of two years bailed on us in Seoul, but then dragged out our relationship long-distance style for two months before I finally ended it on the night of my Grandmother's funeral, when he blew off being there for me to go to karaoke with his brother.

And yet, I loved him. I was wholly devoted to him, and to our relationship. It took a long time for me to understand that he just didn't feel the same way.

All of that said, I still believe in love. I'm an All You Need Is Love kind of person, and I probably will always be. So I don't want to write an anti-love poem, nor do I want to write a love poem. I'm well aware that there are myriad forms of love, and that on the non-romantic love front I am replete with glee.

So here is my love poem, short and sweet:

Love

All you need is love
and peace, and understanding
and chocolate, too.

2015 Poem A Day, Day Six

Prompt for Day Six:

For today’s prompt, write a things-not-as-they-appear poem. Poetry is filled with metaphors, similes, symbols, and layered meanings, so this should be a softball prompt. If you’re struggling, look at your current surroundings, pick an object, and turn it into a metaphor for something. Or think of somebody in the real world (mail person, gas station attendant, etc.) and make up a secret double life for them. C’mon, you can do this.  

In reading the chapter, Elkton, Minnesota: Whatever's in Front of You, Natalie Goldberg reminds us that, "In writing you can know everything." She goes on to say something so beautiful and true, that it hurts sometimes to remember it: "You can have parts of others live in you."

This dovetails perfectly with today's prompt. Brewer encourages us to look at your current surroundings. Goldberg says write what's in front of you. That is the inspiration for today's poem: Something in front of me, but also a part of me.   

Dragonfly

Bound by beads,

and held in string

the cage of an age:

These dragonfly wings

Once was a button

upon a boy's lace,

but time has altered

how I present this face

Each coil of wire

each bubble of glass

a twist of the chain

held with a clasp

My amber once

a man's domain

how over time

this fate has changed

And I, a necklace,

was once a pin:

such transformations

between women and men

The substance of beauty

no matter the skin

takes to its wings

on what lies within.