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