On a whim

Today, because I am exhausted, I choose to postpone my taking up of the daily challenge to another day when I feel that my mind is more able to present better ideas.

Just for today, I choose to write on a whim. Perhaps this very notion is what I will use for inspiration!

On a whim

A song on the wind

called my name;

it set fire ablaze

in my heart

With a bag full of courage

and a leap of faith,

I answered

It answered back

I was carried away

on a whirling wind,

whose call I answered

on a whim

Now I am back,

but my heart still burns;

it yearns to hear my name 

called in a song again

Sad times

Today's challenge seems to have arrived right on cue. I am feeling rather melancholic and nostalgic this evening, and I was hoping for something in which I could immerse my emotions.

The challenge: to write a sad poem which 'achieves sadness through simplicity.' I will do my best to keep things as simple as possible, but I adore using imagery.

We are further challenged to write a sonnet, but after the draining day I have had, I am gracefully going to bow out of this part of the challenge. If you walked in my shoes today, you would understand.

The Sounds of Sadness

It's in the sound 

of a neighbour playing the piano

on a rainy day

It's in the silent embrace

of friends

as you board the train

and wave goodbye

It's the high notes

of voices

as they sing sad songs

It's a muffled giggle

at a silly photograph

as you remember

It's the unsteady beat

of your broken heart

as you try to forget

Points in time

Today's challenge is to write a poem which 'involves a story or action that unfolds over an appreciable length of time.' A suggestion is made to focus on imagery, sound, emotional content, or all of the above. I love this challenge, so I am going to try and do just that!

My attempt is write about a stroll through my favourite city...Edinburgh in Scotland, of course!

I even pay homage to William Wordsworth's I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud (I recently covered this poem with my grade 8 students, so a two-word phrase slipped into my poem. Can you spot it?)

Oh, but to wander

 I long for the manifold days

far beyond the sea

where Curiosities are commoners

and Culture stands on every corner

I miss strolling aimlessly

past History,

sometimes stopping to scrutinise her,

ever wondering what secrets she keeps

I ever wish to stop,
to gaze – and gaze –

 upon the daffodils,

to sip on forbidden sunshine

with the damp green grass 

beneath bare feet

I yearn to turn towards home

as the rain spits on my boots

and in my face;

to perch on the window sill

as I listen to the afternoon gulls,

close my eyes

and breathe the air of Serenity

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