NaPoWriMo Day 7: I Have No Excuses

The Sky of Tomorrow

A late-night star may watch us as we wait
among the winter flowers frozen still
that constellation mapped out, desolate
upon your face, as written by a quill
If ever I'm to find another place
among the whistling grasses shifting so
all memories of our time you might deface
The time we shared was precious that is true
but time is only dear in backward view



Notes: I got nothin'. I'm like a week behind and writing nonsense in iambic pentameter.

NaPoWriMo Day 6: Very Nearly Caught Up

From Three Angles
1.
april drizzles down
white blossoms on a gray sky
like snow in the spring

2.
two by two by two
by one, a lonely poet sitting
under cherry trees

3.
on cans of soda
shoes, on socks on bread and cakes
cherry blossom branding

Notes: The prompt was to write about something from different angles so here are some seasonal haiku.

NaPoWriMo Day 5: Scenes From a Breakup

a life built on memories is not much of a life

Words are cheap
cotton candy platitudes
sweet on the tongue, gone in moments
sick to the stomach

What I could not yet call love
was like the sun
a shivering hangover
a sunburn
rush of pain
then peeling, then raw
then
gone

my roots are not made
for sand
and when your mouth said
you could have loved me
I
slipped

my heart is a clock that doesn't move
but even I
am wrong twice a day




Notes: This is kind of cheating because I started this poem like, a year and a half ago but I was too close to the problem to really write about it.

NaPoWriMo Day 4: Sonnets and Dragons

Critical Iambs

We bravely ventured in, though danger loomed
a painting under moonlight showed the way
past monsters, clues, and doorways, we were doomed
to wander far beyond the light of day
Chameleon forms beyond what wisdom knew
stalked down the halls and, ignorant, we crept
across a bridge, and ever further through
this land of traps. When one among us stood
upon the stones of black and white he fell
into such fear that all seemed lost for good
the darkness of that godforsaken spell
Then one by one our heroes lost the way
I guess next time we'll just have to replay.

Notes: I'm tired and a bit sick so I decided to write a sonnet because I can usually force myself to write shitty form poetry so matter how little energy I have. Also yes it's about a DnD campaign. RIP Kev

NaPoWriMo Day 3: Self-Indulgent and a Bit Journaly- A Memoir

Floating

I think about what it means to be adopted
dictionaries tell me nothing
a choice, an embrace
name overwritten
a leaf sewn to the family tree

How it must have felt for my grandmother
first grandchild once removed
she collected shot glasses, stir sticks
tiny jewel-like hummingbirds floating
on fishing line

There are things we take for granted
an echo in the curve of a nose, a talent for darts
telling us we belong

When I first saw the pictures
my own chin, my eyes, the crook of a smile
looking back at me
I broke into pieces I didn't know I'd been
holding together

Notes: The original prompt for this was was to write an elegy that included tiny details about a person. I was thinking about my grandmother and her shot glass collection that always fascinated me and somehow it turned into whatever this is. 

NaPoWriMo Day 2: The Outline of the Thing

Just Out of View
It is sitting outside my door
waiting, an unwelcome house guest
visiting unexpectedly
tapping a tattoo on the wood
Let me in, let me in
This time
it will be better

It is sitting behind a screen
unseen, barely
a constellation of relation
fingers tip tapping down words
stop--next time
it will be better

It is living inside my gut
grasping hard onto lungs heart hands
a corseting of trepidation
Saying no, next time is never
Heart taptaptap against ribs
Rigid bones trying to crack
under pressure
Next time
it will be better

It must

Notes: The prompt for this was "describe one of your fears without naming it". Any guess? I went a little off script but I'm still describing something that plagues me on a daily basis.

NaPoWriMo Day 1: Short Lines and Bad Rhymes

Wheel

I was thinking about
time, skipped forward like

a step you knew was there
until it wasn't

throw your face toward the shape
of a smile
hopeful gestures at genuine emotion

sometimes this is what
we get
a moment, a step
a tree in bloom, flowers falling
before my face
held in place
a snapshot smile
maybe this is grace


Notes: The prompt today was the emulate the writing of the poet Kay Ryan, those short lines and inner rhymes and all that good stuff. I love a short line but I'm bad at rhyming so here we are. I did my best! I'm already four days behind so honestly I'm just trying to bang some stuff out to get caught up.