If

We are challenged today 'to write a poem of the possible.' In other words, we should focus on 'what might happen if the conditions are right,' writing a poem which emphasises the power of "if".

My poem is inspired by the youth of today...

If only

If they'd listen,

they would learn

If they'd look up,

they would understand

If they felt the warm sun on their faces,

they would know there's more

If they did not reek of lethargy,

they'd perhaps appreciate more

If only they could taste the fruits of labour,

then perhaps they'd get up

If only

Questions, questions...

Today's prompt is based on Claire Wahmanholm's poem The Meadow, The River. We are challenged to write a poem which 'similarly resists closure by ending on a question, inviting the reader to continue the process of reading (and, in some ways, writing) the poem even after the poem ends.'

Challenge accepted! Again, I am not sure I am able to meet the standards of the above mentioned poem.

Independently dependent

I found courage in my heart,

but fear in my mind

Yet I stepped out into the unknown,

tripped,

but got back up

and stood my ground

out of defiance of my own doubt

I fell,

hit rock bottom,

but was lifted higher

because I trusted, prayed –

In my independence

I would never be alone.

Do you believe in God?

How to...

It's that time of year again! Global Poetry Writing Month (GloPoWriMo), otherwise known as National Poetry Writing Month, or NaPoWriMo.

I usually enjoy challenging myself with the prompts on the NaPoWriMo website. Today is no exception.

Our first prompt is to write a poem that provides 'the reader with instructions on how to do something'. The prompt was inspired by January Gill O'Neil's poem How to Make a Crab Cake.

Our prompt broadened to include a play on 'the notorious unreliability of instructional manuals,' or a poem 'that tells a reader how not to do something'. Additional inspiration was given in the form of John Ashbery's The Instruction Manual.

I would like to take inspiration from the latter: a poem on how not to do something, but perhaps in a tongue-in-cheek manner. The calibre of my poem is, however, nowhere nearly as sophisticated as that of the above mentioned poets!

How not to procrastinate

When you feel the notion to avoid

any work at all,

keep busy

Write or read or sing

Instead of washing dishes,

Or garden

Instead of sending that email

If you really have to,

fold washing 

while watching a movie,

but never exert yourself

Busy people

are not lazy;

they are active

in every way,

getting things done

at their own pace

As a matter of fact...

Our final challenge for the year is to write a poem which engages with a strange and fascinating fact. Fortunately, my mind is somewhat of a treasure trove of oddities. The only trouble is which weird fact to choose...Perhaps something about the Black Death? I taught high school children all about it last year and they were fascinated by the attire worn by doctors during medieval times.

The crow doctors

They hovered over patients;

beaks filled with flowers

drove away the stench of death

The plague blackened blistered skin

which only bad temperaments could bring;

yet the long black robes 

of the crow doctors

kept out the real death bringers

Rats ran riot,

but the crows still came

to let blood 

from victims' veins

To Sylvia Plath

Today, our challenge is to pick a poem from the Plath Poetry Project's calendar. We're then to write a poem which responds to or engages with our chosen Plath poem. I have chosen to respond to Event.

The night cannot be that bad;

The silk moon glows 

against dark clouds –
silver lines them
and stars wink between
their soft tufts

The owls' soft hoots
tell of life
in the silent darkness

We may lie in shadows,
but we lie holding hands,
keeping each other warm
in the coolness of night

We sleep and dream
and wake
in hope
that has no fear or sorrow –
that does not fear the dark

The night is but a shadow
of the day

Postcards and memories

The challenges this year are certainly some of the most creative received thus far!

Today, we are to draft a prose poem in the form/style of a postcard. As travelling is one of my absolute favourite things to do, I love this challenge!

My dearest friend

If you were here,

you'd love the ever-changing sky

of which McCall Smith so fondly speaks.

You'd love the smell of malt

that hangs in the air on a cold day,

and the crisp mornings;

the cry of the seagulls

and the toll of St Giles' bell at midnight.

I really wish you were with me,

to pinch me,

to make sure that this is indeed my reality.

I miss you and love you,

but there's nowhere else I'd rather be;

I'd rather have you here with me.

Time is of the essence

As I do not believe in tarot card readings, I do not keep any. Therefore, today's challenge is not meant for me. However, instead of picking a card and writing a poem inspired by it, I will write a poem inspired by an image on my randomly thrown Rory's Story Cubes®, which act as prompts for stories when one is feeling uninspired.

Below is an image of the dice after being thrown. I have chosen to write a poem inspired by the clock die. Enjoy!

Rory's Story Cubes®

If time did not fly

If time did not fly,

I'd sit and stare more;

stare at nothing 

and think more

If time did not fly,

I'd be silent more often;

listening,

observing more

If time did not fly,

I'd read more;

I'd smell the pages

and savour each word

If time did not fly,

I'd sip my coffee;

I'd smell the roses

and look up at the sky

If time did not fly,

I'd learn more;

I'd be wiser

and live more

The senses sense

Today, we're to write a poem which includes images that engage all five senses. We're challenged to try to be as concrete and exact as possible regarding the "feel" of what the poem invites the reader to see, smell, touch, taste and hear.

Here follows a fitting poem in honour of two of my favourite things, which also form part of this blog's title.

The salty sea foam sweeps the sand,

Leaving pockets and bubbles

on its surface

Waves splash and spray

against rocks

The cool breeze brings

the sweet scent of frangipani

and sticky citrus clings to my fingers

like sea sand to my toes

Cold ice cream

drips from chins

and seagulls cry out

for your dregs

Then the orange sun sets

and all is silent

but the ever tumbling waves 

of the ocean

Beware!

This is going to be fun! Today's challenge is to write a poem that takes the form of a warning label...for ourselves! Here goes...

Warning

Too much cheese will lead to:

body fat and high cholesterol,

but pure bliss*

Too much coffee will lead to:

hypertension and heart palpitations,

but you'll not get through the day otherwise*

Too much binge watching series will lead to:

hours seen as wasted by everyone else,

but important 'me time' for yourself*

*Because why should you not enjoy the simple pleasures in life?

To my friend

Again, I really can't believe that April is almost over. The next Global Poetry Writing Month can't come quick enough!

Today's challenge is to write an elegy. This is no mean feat as it requires, in my opinion, doing someone you miss and love justice in but a few words and with a conclusion of hopefulness.

As my grandparents' deaths are still far too raw, I'm going to write an elegy for a friend. I doubt it will be any easier though...

Moon boy

You once told me the crescent moon

looked like a banana in the sky,

that I should toast marshmallows there

You showed me your art with pride –

an abstract waterfall

on your bedroom floor

I glimpsed a piece of your heart

in your midnight poetry

and birthday cards

Your kindness and love

shone in your eyes;

your life told a story

But you left a legacy, an example –

big shoes to fill

and a hole in our hearts

Now you toast marshmallows 

on your banana moon –

 one day, I will join you

Sounds like...

The challenges this year are really flexing our creative muscles, but I like it! Today's challenge is to write a poem based in sound. It could, for example, read like spoken language sounds, or incorporate overhead language, a song lyric, or language from something often heard spoke aloud (a prayer, pledge, motto, etc.). We could perhaps even use a regional or local phrase that we don't hear anywhere else.

Let's see how much Scots I remember from my time in Edinburgh...

'Spare some change please, love?'

said the dirty homeless man

All that he wanted 

was a wee tot, a dram

To wash away his sorrows,

To drive away the rain

'Ye numpty,'

said a lad

'A dinna ken who ye mean by "love;"

A gonny tell my dad!'

The lad clicked his tongue

and walked away, mad.

But the dirty homeless man

kept holding out his hand

When the impossible is possible

I love today's challenge! We're to choose one of six statements of impossibility. We're then to write a poem in which the impossible thing happens.

I have chose the following statement: 'The sun can't rise in the west.'

The day the sun rose in the west

The day the sun rose in the west,

the clock's hands ticked anti-clockwise

and the water went down the drain 

in the wrong direction

People started walking backwards

and laughed when they should have cried

I wore the wrong shoe on the wrong foot

and forgot to brush my teeth

But then I remembered 

It was Monday morning

and I'd woke up at the bottom of my bed

Nothing is right 

on a Monday

Narcissistic nature

I can't believe that this month is almost over.

Today's challenge is as follows: to write a poem which plays with the myth of Narcissus in some way.

Narcissist

You don't believe your beauty will fade;

You won't remain a gentle flower

beside a peaceful pool

Yet even flowers fade –

No amount of care,

or fake modifications,

can stop them from withering

So shall you wilt,

Succumbing to your 

very nature

Rebel with a poem

Our prompt today is to write a poem which involves rebellion in some way. As prompted, 'The speaker or subject of the poem could defy a rule or stricture that's been placed on them, or the poem could begin by obeying a rule and then proceed to break it.' We could also rebel against the genre we tend to write. I will attempt the first two suggestions.

She was tired of being the girl

Who stayed upon the shore,

The girl who held onto her tongue

Ever to say no more

But soon she     ran away from       them,

A rebel with a cause

She sailed out on the open seas 

And roared with the waves;

Felt the cool spray on her bare skin,

Soaked in her 

freedom

and basked in the glory of 

Her Triumph

Erase and reimagine

Today's challenge is twofold. Firstly, we are to write a paragraph in which we briefly recount a story, describe the scene outside a window, or give directions from our house to the grocery store. We are then to erase words from the paragraph, or use the words of the paragraph to create a poem.

Below is my paragraph, followed by my poem:

Outside my window is a small, overgrown garden. Ivy winds its way up a pillar on my patio, while an explosion of lavender invades a small patch of grass and peeks through the fence of intertwined honeysuckle. A small tree's leaves sadly hang their heads earthwards in desperate need of trimming. Succulents and daisies thrive, as does the grass which sneakily creeps into every single flower bed alongside a myriad of weeds. A garden gate invites sneak peeks, but keeps my 'country garden' private.

My garden winds;

an explosion of lavender, 

A small tree's leaves

sadly hang their heads earthwards,

desperate

Grass sneakily creeps

alongside a myriad of weeds

Revision

I'm going to state the challenge for today as it is given, otherwise it may get lost in translation, so to speak. The challenge is inspired by revising poetry.

'First, find a poem in a book or magazine (ideally one you are not familiar with). Use a piece of paper to cover over everything but the last line. Now write a line of your own that completes the thought of that single line you can see, or otherwise responds to it. Now move your piece of paper up to uncover the second-to-last line of your source poem, and write the second line of your new poem to complete/respond to this second-to-last line. Keep going, uncovering and writing, until you get to the first line of your source poem, which you will complete/respond to as the last line of your new poem. It might not be a finished draft, but hopefully it at least contains the seeds of one.'

I've chosen to 'revise' Leisure by W.H. Davies

No time

We only have time to work –

Indeed, it's a poor life, full of care

Smiling, her eyes began to wander

If she had time to smile

She loved to dance,

Yet she had no time for such beauty

Trees full of whispers like a butterfly's flight,

There's no time to listen, day or night

Where trees grow from hidden seeds,

There's no time to see them grow

We only stare at our screens,

There's no time to take in different scenes

We only have time to work –

Indeed, it's a poor life, full of care

Anecdotes

This should be fun. I know exactly what I want to write about.

Today's challenge is to write a poem in which we retell a family anecdote that has stayed with us over the years.

Runaways

They'd asked permission

to run away

It was not taken seriously

They were given food

and waved goodbye

They did not come home

It grew dark, 

George went to look for them

Someone called home

They'd made a campfire

outside a family friend's home

They couldn't be punished 

They'd asked permission

to run away 

Play

We're now challenged to write a poem which prominently features the idea of play. This could become quite nostalgic...

I used to play

I used to play

outside,

inside,

under beds,

in blanket tents

Where a whole new world

came to life

before me –

We were mermaids,

and we visited talking animals

who lived in postboxes 

and hollow trees

Where anything –

everything –

was possible

and innocent feet

tread lightly

to catch fairies

Villains are human too

I love today's prompt! We're to write a poem in which 'a villain faces an unfortunate situation and is revealed to be human (but still evil).'

I have always maintained that the greatest villains are far more complex than we give them credit for, showing both regret and satisfaction with regard to their evil deeds. This challenge is, therefore, right up my alley.

I've chosen to write about Sauron from J.R.R Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings trilogy. I hope that Tolkien would approve as I have such deep respect for him.

His all-seeing eye

looks left and right,

back and forth,

scanning the horizon 

for enemies...

and his long-lost love

He thirsts for the destruction

of rebellious creatures –

those who seek to destroy him in turn

Yet he pines 

in the same breath

for a love that once was,

a love that 

may never be

He dreams of a time

long-lost 

in the ebb and flow

of his ego

Oh, for his love to return,

that they may exchange rings

more powerful than the One,

that they may rule

together

Dreams

I have a few recurring dreams which all have specific meanings that actually make sense somehow.

Today, we are to write entries for an imaginary dream dictionary. We are to pick one or more words from a given list and write about what it means to dream of these things.

I have chosen the words 'seagull' and 'rowboat'. I often dream of the sea, and love everything related to the sea, so I find these words most fitting to write about.

I'd like to give my poem a dream-like quality, hiding the dream's meaning within it...

To drift along the shore,

seagulls soaring,

crying out for 

your attention

One lands in your rowboat

as you leap across the waves,

as if to protect you

from the chaos

He lifts off,

lands in the water

beside you

as the calm sea

lets you float 

into oblivion –

You could care less

about the squawking shore