Flight of Angels

My clanking heart
dreams of transforming
into an army of eagles
rather than this old
harpy, puzzled
and drugged
from too many good-
byes. Morning plans
evaporate into
mourning. Bedtime
fingerprints sprinkle
these sheets, protection
from nesting beasts
that have clipped
my wings.

You've Earned Your Wings

The prompt for Day One (copied from the Writer's Digest):

For today’s prompt, write a morning poem. Maybe you’re a morning person, maybe not. Your poem can be about a morning. Or it can be set during the morning. And those who’ve done this before probably already know that I have no problem with you interpreting this as a “mourning poem.”

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Subjective Hearing? (A Poem for Day One of PAD)

It's time for the April PAD Challenge again! Here is the prompt for day one: For today’s prompt, write a secret poem. This poem can reveal a secret, incorporate a secret activity, or involve any other secret interpretation. Poem written in code (acrostic, anyone?) or with double meanings.

There Was No Evil to See, Hear, or Smell

He Wasn’t Ignoring You

It’s no secret
she still whispers
I love yous in her mind
to comfort herself
for being unkind—for leaving
him behind—because (she didn’t know
at the time) he wasn’t snubbing
or sneering but simply
hard
of hearing


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[Please note that all prompts have been copied from the Writer's Digest Poetic Asides website.]

Reminiscing the Missus - April 2017 PAD Challenge - Day One Poem

Today's prompt is to write a reminiscing poem. My poem is below. 

He Sees Her in the Trees

Reminiscing the Missus

She was a shortcut to disaster,
a minivan you drove
to your last punk rock concert.
She was your retirement
savings spent on a luxury cruise,
a ridiculously reliable
room and board.
She imagined
having something to hide.
She promised
stories you couldn’t stop
talking about.
She was a secret you gave
away in two days.
She was comfort and wellness
in each of her harsh details.
She said, Being is boring,
but couldn’t break away
from herself.
She answered yes,
no, and maybe
to every single question.

So you remind yourself,
She was a shortcut to disaster.

But sometimes you reminisce
about how if you’d kept her around,
you’d have a different dress code,
you’d go by a name like
Yates or Thorngristle, and life
would be your very own charm
school. Instead, you’re stuck
reviewing summaries of her
every little tat, of her endless tit-
illating symphonies for senses
you didn’t know you had. 


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April PAD Challenge 2017 - Day One

It’s been a while since I’ve written any poetry. I’ve had difficulty in that area and been focusing on a novel-in-progress instead. Since I finished that, I thought I would give the PAD another try.

Here is a bit of encouragement that I made last night:

A Paper or Digital Notebook Will Do

Those bubbles? Soap bubbles, thought bubbles, word bubbles—your choice. 

Have fun!

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A Day Later (a Poem)

How is it November? 

One thing I like about November is Robert Lee Brewer's Poem-a-Day Challenge. Today's prompt is to write a day after poem. My attempt is below.

Delivering Hope

 A Day After

In September I held you 

over my knee,
tickled giggles
from your single-
digit outlook.
October came
you wore your goblin
mask all month long, stabbed
me with your plastic
scythe, gouged
out my rose-colored
eyes, moved tears in
where my father’s
once lived.
Now it’s a day after—
a new November.
The only hope a solitary
bird reporting
news of an un-wounded
sun
still shining,
the only light
left in this turbulent
world.

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Revolt of the Spawning Adult - a Poem for Day One of the PAD Challenge

I'm so glad it's April—a time when I get to hang out and share poems with a bunch of other poets.

The prompt for day one of Robert Lee Brewer's 2015 April PAD challenge is resistance. I may write another one later today, but for now my attempt is below.

Fighting her Nature

Revolt of the Spawning Adult

Like a salmon swimming upstream,

against the current in frigid,

familiar waters, she fights, kills time,

swishes away her reflection,

                                    the past.

She resists her nature—rocky

rapids, hardy falls, sinister

nets and hooks, hungry bears—

threatening and tearing apart

hazardous saltwater memories

living inside her mind. 

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Thank you for reading!

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