April Musings - 28. NaPoWriMo 2019 Week Three

NaPoWriMo Week 3

*warning - #20 contains disturbing content

Poem# 14

Peas

Green bombs

Lurking behind potato or beef

Waiting to explode their vileness

On the unsuspecting.

Poem #15

June

Laughs and dances like a bubbling brook,

Swirling and twirling

Splashing against immobile rocks,

The fuddy-duddies.

Sweeps branches, fish, and canoes

Into the heart of summer.

Poem #16

Fly, little dog, to our home in the sky

Encumbered no more, your burdens to lie

Aside and rejoice in the absence of pain

And the knowledge we will soon meet again.

Poem #17

Loud buzzing precedes the air raid

Incites adrenaline-ridden panic

Screaming

And flailing limbs

As terror-driven legs blindly try to

Outdistance the threat.

The plump black and yellow creature

Lands placidly on crimson petals,

Wondering what all the fuss is about.

Poem #18

Fog

Ephemeral envelope

Stealer of sight

Hunter of hope

Insidious intruder

Dissipated by dawn

Poem #19

The rooster of ego

Struts around his barnyard,

Pecking those who don’t conform

To his arbitrary rules.

The farmer takes the long route to the barn,

Preferring to avoid confrontation.

The rooster of ego

Struts around his barnyard

Crowing his accomplishments whether others want to hear

Or not

Proud that he drove off the fox and the cat,

Fishing for compliments deserved

Or not.

The rooster of ego

Struts around his barnyard

Angry he wasn’t stroked

Attacking all in his way

Until the rooster of pride

Takes him down a few pegs.

Poem #20

The high school was the perfect destination

On a bright summer day

For two kids proud of the responsibility of pushing

The new cousin’s stroller while he napped

In the comforting heat of the sun.

We talked of the future

And summer camp

And cute boys

As we walked past suburban cape houses

And the baseball diamond next to the school,

Swarming with activity.

Just past the sports field, we approached

A corner of the school

Secluded

Containing a fragrant lilac and

A man wearing a white and gray striped baseball uniform,

His pants around his ankles.

Probably taking a leak, I thought. Gross.

He saw us and walked out of the alcove,

Pantsless

Penis jutting forward.

He made eye contact with our mirrored sunglasses

As he strutted past us,

Two tweens and a baby,

Then went back to his corner.

We walked silently past the school.

“Was that an erection?” my friend eventually asked.

I shrugged. “I think so.”

We headed toward home and

Never spoke of it again.

Prompts used:

Poem 14: Prompt: I love Lorna Crozier’s vegetable poems. These poems have made me look in a new way at vegetables—at the farmers’ market, on my cutting board, even on my plate. Write your vegetables too.

Poem 15: Let your poem have the name a month in its title and then attempt to capture the essence of that month, perhaps anthropomorphizing the month in question, giving it human-like personality.

Poem 16: Whatever your feelings about the existence of soul, somehow bring a mention or discussion of soul into your poem today. This poem is written for one of my BFFs who lost her beloved fur-friend today.

Poem 17: Let your poem be abuzz with bees, literal bees or metaphoric bees.

Poem 18: Unprompted. Inspired by my drive in to work.

Poem 19: A combination of two prompts: Random Titles (The Rooster of Ego) and The Repeated Word Prompt: Allow one word in your poem to be repeated often and in a way that contributes to the poem’s meaning and effectiveness. You might repeat whole phrases as poetic anaphora, as in the poem “A Wind” below. You might create a structure with your repetitions as does the wind poem.

Poem 20: Prompt: Under the Bridge: These two poems remind me of one another, and they remind me of those adventures in later childhood and early adolescence when one is still having the outdoor explorations and adventures of childhood, but suddenly the shadows of adulthood, sexuality, and gender roles creep in. The prompt is to write an “under the bridge” poem. Have it hint at the dark underbelly of the crossing into adulthood. I suppose the central theme is the beginning of the loss of innocence.

This was my week to struggle, but thanks to my dear friend Aditus, I persevered.  You're the best, Wolfie   We're in the home stretch, now.  Thanks to all for reading, reacting, and commenting.