April Musings - 30. NaPoWriMo 2019 Week Five

NaPoWriMo Week 5

Poem #26

Once we stood at the edge of the precipice,

Two different species moving as one,

Looking into the valley below

Bursting with red, yellow, and orange

Made even more vibrant by the clinging raindrops

Reflecting the rays that managed to part the clouds

Like Moses.

Our sides heaved from the exertion and exhilaration

Of the race, which we lost, but who cares?

The light breeze cooled our sweating bodies

And blew our breath clouds over the fall landscape,

To mingle with the rain

Make us one with the valley

In a perfect moment transcending time and space.

Poem #27

“He said, ‘Son I’ve made a life

Out of readin’ people’s faces

Knowing what the cards were

By the way they held their eyes.’”

He had slot machine eyes

But no coin was needed

For the numbers and the fruit

To spin wildly while we waited,

With trepidation,

Dreaming of sevens

Knowing a fruit cocktail

Was more likely to hit.

Poem #28

The Way it Is

Velociraptors cannot be wrangled

By one oblivious to their nature.

Poem #29

It Might have been Otherwise

The first time we met

I wasn’t impressed by your

Charm and boy-next-door looks

Or your intelligence

And humility

I didn’t fall in love

As our friendship deepened

Our common interests did not

Create an unspoken bond

That was broken when you moved away.

It might have been otherwise,

Had you stayed.

Poem #30

Stand firm

Raise the warrior’s staff

Scream the battle cry

And ride on

With the courage

Of conviction

Prompts used:

Poem 26: The Once Only Prompt: Often things happen only once in our lives and never again. I can imagine each of us writing whole collections of poems called “Once Only” in which each poem tells the story of an incident that only happened once, and perhaps, in its particulars, never happened to anyone else just that way.

Poem 27: Write a ‘found’ poem based off the lyrics of Kenny Rogers’ “The Gambler”.

Poem 28: “The Way It Is” Prompt: Let “The Way It Is” be your title. Go anywhere with it

Poem 29: It Might Have Been Otherwise: The prompt is to acknowledge or imagine what might have happened. Jane Kenyon’s well-known poem was written, I believe, when both she and her husband, poet Donald Hall, had life threatening illnesses. She has since died. I particularly like the possibilities abounding in Howard Kogan’s poem. I love the ‘this happened or that happened’ alternative stories. Write a poem bouncing off either of these poems or write a poem that offers alternative versions of your experience in some other way.

Poem 30: Notes to Self: For April 30th, write a poem that is somehow a note to yourself about your purpose, intentions —who you are or who you want to be as you grow wiser…sort of a pep talk to the self, yes?