The writing prompts from NaPoWriMo have been inspiring. I followed one again today. It suggests a "rework" of an Emily Dickinson poem, as taught by Anne Boyer. I kept the title and first line of Emily's Forever – is composed of Nows – but without the endearing long dashes, and rewrote a version, in homage, of course. 

Forever is composed of Nows

Forever is composed of nows
As Tolle says: The Power of Now
Is all we need
There never is a different time

But how is it that Emily
Did say this first in her own way?
Preserve the date
On which she wrote her ideas down

It’s true his ideas followed hers
And came in books while hers, in verse
Remove the dates
No different their fears would be

Let months dissolve in further months
And years exhale for each instance
They were both right
To so explain the moment’s game

Day Four of NaPoWriMo

Today I took the optional suggestion and wrote a "loveless" love poem (doesn't use the word "love"). It's been fun to take the challenge of writing something every day. Plus reading a few of the NaPoWriMo participants each day is very rewarding and interesting!

Loveless

Because I like

his angry face.

Because I regret

not touching him more.

Because we celebrate

each other’s half birthdays.

Because we never try to

repeat a good vacation.

Because he does his own laundry,

but we wash the sheets together.

Because he dances nothing like me

and to a completely different beat.

Third day of NaPoWriMo and still going. I learned today that haiku should not have titles. If they did, the title for this one would be "North of Market".

Man waters a tree
Hose? Bucket? Watering can?
Nope. His private stream














I spent most of yesterday in San Francisco. Finally visited the Asian Art Museum, shopped a little, and had some really good Thai food with Paul. 

NaPoWriMo

Recently, I learned about a form of poetry called Sijo: "A Korean verse form related to haiku and tanka and comprised of three lines of 14-16 syllables each, for a total of 44-46 syllables. Each line contains a pause near the middle, similar to a caesura, though the break need not be metrical..."

This is one of my Sijo poems.

Watching

A bench outside my window
faces west over the water.
At all times of day I look to see
what type of person sits there.
An old woman watching birds today
could be me tomorrow.

NaPoWriMo is NoJo!

Back from Near Obscurity for NaPoWriMo

I could not have predicted it in a thousand years! This is what got me to revive my long-neglected blog? National Poetry Writing Month, which just happens to be April. My wonderful creative writing teacher, Elizabeth Treadwell, mentioned this to us in class. If you're thinking you did not know that I wrote poetry, join the club, because I didn't know either. And no, it's not homework for the class (Elizabeth is awesome that way :). I just decided to take the challenge, because why not?

Disclaimer (because all new, self-conscious writers seem to babble through a standard disclaimer before sharing, present company not excepted): I am poorly read in poetry, never studied it, and prefer to write prose. Furthermore, this first one couldn't be less in a style that I like, but it's done and I'm already thinking about tomorrow's poem.

April 1

Just one a day!
It’s time to play,
but not a vitamin or curse.

Could be a lie,
Told with a sigh,
As long as it’s by you.

It’s not a game
Or stuff for work,
Why, that would be much worse.

If you will try
Then so will I,
And others, they can, too.

So let’s just start,
Take fun and heart,
For poems on April first.

Wow, if you made it this far you must really be tolerant of bad poetry. Just kidding, even I have a limit for self-deprecation. No more disclaimers. Leave a poem you wrote or a link to your own NaPoWriMo site as a comment if you dare!