National Poetry Month Challenge - Day 12 - Saying Things We'd Never Say

Okay the challenge for day 12 is to write a poem "saying only things you'd never say" to some people in your life: parents, lovers, teachers, employers, presidents, corporate execs, etc. Well, here's what happened when I tried it:

THINGS I'D NEVER SAY 

I've often thought of telling certain people off.
Imagined speaking my mind loud and clear.
But all the things I'd like to say I'd never say,
So I've been challenged just to say them here.

Well, one guy needs to have his head examined,
And this is what I'd like to say to him:
No -- wait -- I'd never say those words in real life;
They're just too cold and mean and even grim.

Well, I could put one boss I had in her place,
And make her feel so bad that she would cry
If I just told her -- no -- I'd never say that,
And I can't say it even when I try.

This challenge calls on me to say in meter
The things I'd never say when speaking prose.
It asks me to go straight against my conscience
And verbally attack all of my foes.

But if these words that I am contemplating
Are words I'd "never say," then you can see
That since I'd "never say them," I can't say them,
If I'm to go on being true to me.

~~~

Join the fun for the rest of April at this link: http://www.napowrimo.net/

National Poetry Month Challenge - Day 6 - Valediction to a Passing Love

Day 6 of the National Poetry Writing Month challenge involves a prompt to write a valediction -- to anyone or anything. I guess some people might think I should take this particular subject more seriously, but, for some reason, these challenges just seem to bring out the whimsy in me, so .....

Valediction to a Passing Love  

I have not loved you well,
Nor have I loved you long.
So it is with no strong regret
I sing this parting song.

Your passage through my life
Has barely touched my soul,
So mourning will not weigh me down.
In fact, I feel quite whole.

Adieu, my love, adieu.
I bid you fond goodbye.
But at your grave, for memory's sake,
A few tears I will cry.

~

Photo by Susan Buck Ms: http://www.publicdomainpictures.net/view-image.php?image=8210&picture=casket-over-plot&large=1

It's not too late to join the fun. I actually posted this on Day 12. Just too busy to keep up with every day, but I'm really enjoying trying as many as possible.  Visit this link for instructions: http://www.napowrimo.net/

National Poetry Writing Month Challenge - Day 3 - Sea Shanty

The prompt for Day 3:  Write a "sea chanty" or "sea shanty," depending on which historical spelling and definition you choose to favor.  Anyway, we are to write a poem with rhyme and a rhythm that can be used to keep a steady pace at physical work -- and it should be connected with the sea as well. Here's my attempt:

'THE ANCHOR'S AWAY, AND I HAVE TO GO' 

chorus

Heave! - Ho! Heave! - Ho!
Over the rim and into the stow;
The anchor's away, and we have to go.
Heave Ho, Me Mates, Heave Ho!

verse 1
I had shore leave, but now 'tis done,
And I must sale at rise of sun,
To join the fight two weeks begun;
Heave Ho, Me Mates, Heave Ho!

chorus
Heave! - Ho! Heave! - Ho!
Over the rim and into the stow.
The anchor's away, and we have to go.
Heave Ho, Me Mates, Heave Ho!

verse 2
I kissed my love and wished her well;
Said, "I must make my way to hell;
To win this war my soul I'd sell!"
Heave Ho, Me Mates, Heave Ho!

chorus
Heave! - Ho! Heave! - Ho!
Over the rim and into the stow;
The anchor's away, and we have to go.
Heave Ho, Me Mates, Heave Ho!

~

Hurry over to the NaPoWriMo site and get involved:
http://www.napowrimo.net/

National Poetry Month 30-Day Writing Challenge -- Day 2

The NaPoWriMo challenge for Day 2 is to write "a poem that tells a lie."  So here goes:

The Tale of the Pretty Kitty

Mary Lou was very pretty,
And she had a pretty kitty.
It was black with one white stripe,
And of its smell her folks did gripe. 

But Mary Lou just loved her pet,
So it was with such great regret
That she agreed to have him fixed,
And have his smell completely nixed.

But during surgery, kitty died,
And Mary Lou, she cried and cried.
But every night in spirit form
Her kitty did come back to home. 

Poor Mom and Dad could not explain,
The smell that came each night again,
But Mary was content to know
Her white-striped pet still loved her so.

~

Join the challenge to write 30 poems in 30 days. It's not too late to start.visit this link:  http://www.napowrimo.net/

photo courtesy wikipedia: http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archivo:Striped_skunk.jpg

National Poetry Month - 2013 -- 30-Day Writing Challenge -- Day 1

I'm taking part in the National Poetry Month 30-day writing challenge -- better known in the blogging community as "NaPoWriMo - 2013." For any of you who are not familiar with NaPoWriMo, it is simply a challenge to write one poem a day for the 30 days of April. Maureen Thurson, from Washington, D. C.,  is the originator of the blogsite that hosts the challenge, and you can visit that site to get all the particulars at this link: http://www.napowrimo.net/.

Each day, Maureen gives poets a particular prompt to spur them on, but the prompts are just suggestions. Poets can feel free to write any kind of poem they like, without considering the prompt at all if they prefer.

Day 1 prompted us to write a poem with the same first line as an already famous poem, so I chose "She walks in beauty like the night," by Lord Byron.  Here's my poem:

She Walks In Beauty??? 

She walks in 'beauty,' like the night,
But morning hours she feels a fright.
She cannot seem to get it right
'Til she's worked hours in mirror's light.

Each day she wakes with cheerful sun,
Then looks in mirror and feels undone.
How can she venture forth for fun
'Til make-up's on that weighs a ton?

She struggles to impress the crowd
And hold her head up high and proud,
To make sure she is not a dowd,
But 'neath the load her heart is bowed.

 Because she feels she must comply
With this world's rampant beauty lies:
"Wear this on lips and that on eyes,
And starve that waist, those hips and thighs. 

"Walk tall on heels that are quite frail,
And don't forget those fingernails.
Stuck on with glue that cannot fail,
All fear of fungus kept curtailed. 

"Now bleach those teeth until they shine –
Until your smile the sun would blind.
Don't button top; wear loose neckline,
So lots of cleavage you can find."

And on she goes at each day's light,
So stressed and strained to do it 'right' --
To find acceptance in world's sight,
For deep inside there is a fright.

She fears and doesn't have a clue,
That deep inside a beauty true
Awaits its chance to make debut,
If she'd but to herself be true.

~