Never

Today's prompt was to write something about 'never' - as I'm getting older, I'm running smack dab into 'never' pretty often now... never retire comes to mind, although I can barely stand to think about that... here goes...

Facing Never

Never came again today, took
three of my best dreams right
off the shelf where

I was keeping them until I had
the time, money, and energy,
to use them

the older I get, the more often
he comes, I think I’ll take my
last few dreams

and hide them in my sock
drawer with my secret stash
of chocolate

Three Word Wednesday

This site gives you 3 words you have to make a poem from... today's were 'quarrel', 'service', and 'opportunity' - service was the tough one, turns out to be a wierd word to use if you don't start with it...

Dissolution

pivotal quarrel
prolonged silence
overtures ignored
trial separation
legal service sought
opportunity lost

Pining for ?

Today we had to write about 'pining' for something. Well, after

spending the first 3 months of the year on a diet - guess what came to mind?

Ode to a Chocolate Donut

How do I love thee?
Well, let me tell you how.
I love you
from the tip of my tongue
to the curl of my intestines.
I love you
from the drips of chocolate frosting,
falling over your rounded sides,
to the hollow emptiness at your center.
I love you
from the chewiness of the first bite,
to the crumbs I lick from my plate.
And though my
donut days are done,
and I am doomed to carry on alone,
I fondly remember the Sunday mornings
we spent together, before
my metabolism
died

Exercise Prompt - Totally Optional Prompts

Working Out

Three times a week,
we crack open sleep-stuck eyes,
grumble out of bed into gym shorts,
tank tops, tennis shoes, schlep
caffeine-starved selves to treadmills,
weight benches, submit to increasingly
futile attempts to thwart time,
other days we linger,
touching

Miscommunication

The challenge today was to write about a miscommunication - nothing in my own life came to me as inspiration so I did a little research - I remember when this happened - it was a horrible mistake...I felt so bad for the families...


Tragedy in West Virginia Mine Kills Eleven

you thought you heard they were found alive,
when you only heard they were found,

deafened by hope, you didn’t hear the stop,
but completed the sentence yourself,

the mind hears what it wants to hear, yours
no different, the crime was in passing the news

to the families, telling them it was safe to drop
their defenses, to rise in jubilation, praise God

for delivering their brothers, fathers, husbands,
sons, then whisking the miracle away

Event

Today we had to write about an 'event' - I don't do 'events' so I had to dig pretty far back to find a memory related to this - started writing it, lost control as usual - when the last bit came out I was appalled at first, then I thought it was funny, am leaving it alone for now....

Company Party

long time ago, when corporate still allowed
Christmas, when open-bars were standard,
when we’d never heard of designated drivers

all glammed up, with our poofy layers of hair,
aircraft carrier shoulder pads, we hit the party
to see who would play this year’s fool, I felt

hot, no, foxy!, in my one-piece electric-blue
jumpsuit, carried a little beaded purse, empty
except for ID, lipstick, car-keys, twenty

emergency dollars, straight to the bar, hit up
the man in the white shirt for a Fuzzy Navel,
sucked it down through a little red straw,

again, again, woke up in my own bed next day,
pictures say I had a great time, kissed Santa,
danced with the boss, drove home pregnant

Travel

Today we were instructed to write
a 'travel-related' poem. What
popped into mind was a very
small journey I witnessed
yesterday as a momma-duck
crossed a busy road in front
of me with the teeniest little
ducklings I've ever seen.
So here goes...

Queen of the Road

she crosses: head high, chest out, back stiff,
she radiates confidence - you will yield right-of-way

behind her waddle seven, no, eight, tipsy-tiny ducklings,
barely bigger than the eggs they emerged from,

their quick, crooked steps revive a pale memory
of herding toddlers down a narrow-sidewalk,

as she reaches green-grass safety, she turns,
begins the parental counting-ritual, satisfied,

we heave relieved sighs, she lifts her beak,
looks me in the eye and bestows a royal nod,

I hear the un-quacked ‘you may now proceed’,
drive away, eyes glued to the rear-view mirror

Regret

Today our prompt was to write a 'regret' poem... there are a lot of ways I could have gone with that, but I don't have any patience with 'regret' anymore (not that I haven't spent a ridiculous amount of time wallowing there in the past) but I'm just done with it - it's so useless, and wastes what little time you have... so here's my poem... guess you'll get the idea...


Regret

is a bitch with her head on backwards
a liar who taunts you with how it could have
been different,
if only,
you had (or hadn’t)
blah, blah, blah

Deal with her like any bitch, walk away,
she’s a time waster, with a poison tongue,
what’s done
is done,
you did, (or didn’t)
it’s over now

Work (again)

We had to write a 'work'
poem today... I started
with a little haiku to clear
the air, then did
a little imagining...

Work

bane of existence,
creativity-sucking
dark cloud over life

The way you live now

what if you woke up before the alarm,
too excited about the new day to waste
even a minute, what if you could wear
your pajamas and bunny slippers as long
as you wanted, even all day, what if you
could decide to walk around the lake at
ten o’clock, or at noon, eat your lunch
at nine, or at two, what if you could
choose to work in the bedroom or on
the patio, or in front of the TV, and what
if you decided to quit for the day at three
or work straight through until midnight,
what if you were the one who decided
what to research, how much vacation
you could take, or if you should buckle
down, do the boring stuff today so you
could take that long weekend to go down
to the Keys, wouldn’t that be better than
the way you live now?

Haiku

So today we had to write a haiku - technicallly a haiku has 5 syllables in the first line, 7 in the second and 5 in the 3rd, for a total of 17 syllables. However, that works a lot better in Japanese than in English, so here we don't make it so strict - Still, when I'm supposed to write a haiku I still usually at least try for 17 syllables... here is my haiku for today...

six weeks in springtime
aromatic lilac blooms
perfume perfection

Rebirth

Another non-moving prompt - 'rebirth', I suppose spring
is the perfect time for such a prompt, but I'm definitely not
feeling these last few prompts..



Moving Away From You

new town, new streets, can’t find
the grocery store without checking
it’s global position, once there, can’t
find anything anyway, makes me laugh
new restaurants, new team to root for,
new job, scary boss, new gym, same
equipment, same sweaty fat guy, new
phone number, new zip code, can’t
remember either one, you do, new
roses, same late night call, new friends,
new emptiness, new strength

Anger

Today we were supposed to write an anger poem... didn't really feel that angry! took Harley for a walk around the lake and came up with this 'Toxic Sister' idea - can't say I love it - not sure it worked...Juliene said it did (thanks J) and by the way- I have no sister!

Toxic Sister

born first,
pageant pretty,
straight A student,
everybody’s best friend,
seemed like she effortlessly
rolled downhill while I painfully
trudged up,

no one saw me
saw the special in me,
outside the funny one, inside
rage-ravished, I couldn’t
help the secret stomach punches,
painful arm pinches, only now I
wonder, why didn’t she ever tell?

* * *

baby sister,
made everybody
laugh, scene-stealing
extrovert, seemed like
she got away with murder,
while I walked a net-less high-wire

everyone,
watching me,
hoping for success?
Or rooting for failure?
Outside perfection, inside
confused by love, by hate, both
to me seemed unearned, pinched, punched,
nobody to tell

Interaction

Took Harley out on the boat for the first time today. We weren't sure how he'd take to it, he's not a water dog (he had a bit of an unfortunate experience as a puppy when he chased a bird right into the lake - totally surprised when he was suddenly swimming - hilarious) but he did very well. Spent most of the time in my lap, but we put a towel down by Dale, and sometimes he sat there.

On the 30 days of poetry side, today's prompt was to write a poem about an interaction... as it turns out I had done just that first thing this morning - and who was I interacting with? Well....

Go Lay Down

You’re bugging me, big brown eyes with a spark
of excitement, ridiculous pointy ears tipping left
then right, yes I said ‘go’, no, I didn’t mean now

really, go away, I’m busy, I have a dozen chores
to complete without you under my feet at every
turn, faithfully following just in case this is now

good dog, lay down, front paws crossed, long chin
resting on top, big brown eyes disappointed under
stubby dog lashes, you sigh, I sigh, arms crossed,

what about the dishes, the shopping, what about
the laundry, the banking, I haven’t even made the bed,
pointy ears pop up, irresistible, I sigh, you smile

All I want is...

Yesterday's poem was so bad I didn't even post it! oh well, it happens - I got another good one that wasn't from a prompt...

Today's prompt was 'All I want is (fill in the blank)... I tried to go with a serious topic but it wouldn't write, so here is today's effort.

All I Want Is . .

. . A Foot Massage

you warm lotion between your palms
take my right foot in your lap and smooth
glycerine into my skin with long strokes
keeping your thumbs on the arch, up,
down, out with distress, in with a calm
not available from a pill or a bottle,
or an exercise high, no matter how many
miles I run (ok, walk), wiggle the toes,
each little piggy needs your admittedly
divided attention, pull, knead, neeeeeed . .
don’t stop! What about the other one?

Buzzz!

Today's prompt was to copy a poem's title, then go from there - I have to admit I picked something short on purpose! I've been spending a little too much time on this!

Apiology for Beginners

Bees who swarm around my head

Are bees that I will soon see dead

Though, deeply I appreciate,

The busy bees who pollinate

(based on Ornithology for Beginners by Dorothy Parker)

Sea Green Easter

We got to go out on San Carlos Bay for 5 hours of the smoothest sea-green water you have ever seen. Check out the background! Saw many dolphin, and one manatee...

The boat is docked at the Green Flash on Captiva Island where we had Easter lunch. Dale says if you look real close at the picture below, you can tell I have on two pairs of glasses!

This is my friend Carol (in red) and her friend Andy who I believe is from Delaware? We obviously were all having a great, relaxing time on the water.

Mother Love

So today, it was either a love, or anti-love poem... which is this? not sure... do remember that my poems are not completely truth, they are poems, with a kernel of truth, and hopefully true to the emotion they express...

Mother Love

my mom, the anti-mom, could pull
the love out from under me quick
as that table-cloth trick, nothing
gets broken, just rattled around,
left off balance, no pop-psych, self-
esteem building for her, just verbal
smack-downs designed to what?
stiffen the spine? keep me humble?
no telling what she kept me from
becoming on the outside, but inside
she spawned a knack for the clever,
if silent, comeback, a way with the
unspoken word, and I say, a gift is a
gift, no matter how you come by it,
so here’s to mom, gone now, but
not forgotten

Sew What?

Today we had to write about a hobby.... so (YVONNE) guess what I picked? You might recognize the inspiration for this if you ever came to my blog!

Sew what?

straight stitches bind together,
zigzags prevent raveling, long
loose stitch allows gathering,
adds fullness, adorn with lace
ribbon, buttons, bows, or don’t,
sometimes plain is better, cleaner,
not every dog is a diva like you,
with a closet full of canine couture,
how do you decide what to wear
to the senior center on Fridays, to
the hospital on Tuesdays, to read
with second-graders in Sebastopol,
your demanding service schedule
boggles, is it any wonder you’re not
comfortable wearing the same thing
twice, keeps me busy, but as you say,
sew what!

so we decided to...

Today we had to fill in the blank in "so we decided to...",
make that the title and go from there... I liked this one.



So we decided to have a baby

high side of thirty, who cared
that we weren’t any kind of stable,
he, still fooling around in a rock band,
me, back to college –again– it didn’t
matter, we said, tick, tick and all that

harder than we thought, though
months passed, out came the thermometer,
the graph paper, sex on demand is not
as much fun, as you might think, but it
didn’t matter, we got it right eventually

olden days, didn’t have those sticks,
the ones you pee on to see if they
turn blue, but it didn’t matter, I knew
right away, a girl, thank God, never
did understand boys very well

still remember the night I told him,
you’re going to be a father, even bought
him a book, in case he wasn’t sure
what that meant, but it didn’t matter,
he was gone after that, never did

understand men very well, but we
managed to do it on our own, you
thriving all the way to grown, arriving
no more scarred than the rest of us,
me, so relieved it didn’t matter

object

Yesterday's poem was suppose to be about an object - I glanced around, then looked a little more closely, but I don't have any 'objects' that tell a story or contain important pieces of history - at least nothing I can identify right now - so somehow I started writing about an apple, (probably because I once wrote a fairly long poem just describing a cantalope) - but of course it morphed and instead I wound up writing about a snack....

Midnight Snack

Rub on shirt to shine,
Point of knife breaks skin,
Firm white flesh bleeds juice,
remove stem, core, slice thin,

uncap peanut butter,
quick glance ‘round and then,
no one there to see you,
dip the first slice in,

dozen pieces later,
lick each finger clean,
teeth all stuck together,
incomparable cuisine

Friday

Well, the prompt for today was 'Friday' - took me two days and I still came up with a pretty weak effort! Nothing about Friday triggered anything, or maybe the brain burnout was as complete as it felt..

Work Weak

Monday – refreshed, hopeful,
Anything is possible.
Tuesday – nothing has changed,
No end in sight.
Wednesday – force yourself,
It’s downhill from here.
Thursday – tolerate it,
Eyes on the prize, next
comes Friday!

READ Quilt

I finished it!! Should arrive in CA tomorrow - and yes I signed it, I was the first... should be good for a couple hundred more signatures at least - and I hope it takes a long time to get them, cuz I'm not looking forward to repeating this project real soon.

Enjoy!

Memories...

Today's prompt was for a memory poem, which was harder than I thought, most memories seem incomplete when you start looking for the details...


Oh.

3/17/76
22 years old
Drink green beer
Pass out, wake up
Confusion
Stupid youth

3/17/77
23 years old
Drink green beer
Pass out, throw up
Confusion
Slow learner

3/17/78
24 years old
slam gimlets
vomit olives
annual
alcoholic

3/17/79
25 years old
whiskey shots
royal purple
memory
You died

3/17/75

Oh.

Routine

Today's prompt was to write about a routine, so if you want to know what it's like around here, every single morning, the below is an ode to our dog, Harley. A wonderful , if somewhat opinionated creature.



Daily Instruction Manual
6:30 AM

Get up. Use the bathroom. If you
close the door, it will be nudged open.
Closed doors are not approved.

You may dress, although it is clear
this is seen as pointless. Slip-on
shoes are preferred. Socks are seen

as an unreasonable delay. Grab
the bag. Unlock the front door. Exit
across the parking lot to your

first stop. Wait. Walk west, slowly.
Up to five minutes of sniffing will
be tolerated before you may insist

on the second stop. Wrap results
in the bag. Visit the dumpster. Return
home. Refresh the water supply.

Provide a nourishing breakfast. Sit
on the north end of the couch- NOT
THE CHAIR! Make lap available.

Up to five minutes of petting will
be tolerated before he may insist
on leaving for the coffee shop.

DO NOT CONSIDER MAKING YOUR
OWN COFFEE! Enter the garage.
Open the car door, stand back, you

may enter last. Provide chauffeur service,
opening passenger window at slow points
to allow multi-sensory observation

of morning activities. Return home.
Open the patio door to allow full access.
You may now get on with your day.

Clean and Dirty

Well, we had a choice of prompts today, neither did anything for me. Took forever to come up with these two pieces... oh, well, maybe tomorrow.

WinterClean

freshly fallen snow
sparkling under Long Nights Moon
flawless camouflage



SpringClean

Cumulonimbus
Flash, crackle, bang,
water falls

Missing

Today I am sick, so work is out, but the mind is still working! So, I thought I'd get a head start on my poem-of-the-day early - no luck, the post wasn't up yet. No problem, I thought, I'll just make up my own poem, and I began to write the poem below titled "Missing". An hour later, when I got back to my computer I pulled up today's prompt - "write about something missing"! No kidding, wierd. So I wrote another one... here they are. Which one do you like?


Missing


What is missing from corporate is
color, gray walls, black suits, careful
words, don’t offend lest the rungs
be pulled out from under you

meanwhile, color pulls, give me
Akan cloth, Key West cottages,
Hawaiian shirts, let me paint
myself into a raspberry corner

what is it about color that makes
my heart beat stronger, if I could
write my briefs in crayon, would I
be happy?




Here

I miss the places I have been,
and all the ones I’ll never see,

I miss some things I used to own
from which, thank God, I’m finally free,

I miss the folks I used to know,
although, they never did know me,

I see no point in looking back,
I’m in the place that I should be.

California

I lived in California for 20 years, and I loved it. I know that some of the things that get tried in California, seem a little crazy to the rest of the states, but I loved the fact that Californians were at least willing to try and solve problems in new ways, sometimes successfully and sometimes not.

Today's prompt was to write about a landmark. One of the most important in my life was the Golden Gate Bridge. I crossed it many times in my car, and a few times on foot. I remember my very, very young daughter seeing a picture of it in a book and pointing excitedly, "Look Mommy, the Golden Gate Bridge." And who doesn't love the rainbow tunnel, as we called it.

Golden Gate

Majestic bridge, spans a Golden strait,
two land masses once separate, joined
by engineers and Bethlehem steel.
Eleven died, in it’s building, nineteen
were saved, the lucky ones falling only
halfway-to-hell before landing safely
in the net. Today, some see a symbol,
of hope, of liberty, passing under this bridge
to new lives, in a better place. To others,
the siren beckons, jump, jump into these
treacherous waves, leave your pain behind.
But, to me, the harp-stringed span rises
from the fog to call, home, come home

Pelicans and Dolphins

Long boat ride today - Sarasota to Fort Myers - about 5 hours on the water - saw bunches of dolphin and of course pelicans... I miss pelicans now that we don't live as close to the water.

We stopped at the Gasparilla Boat Club for gas, and had lunch at their Waterside Grill. Dale said the Margarita's were good, I know the Grouper Fingers were great (of course I was starving)...

So what does this post have to do with Dolphins? Well, we saw a bunch of those too - and today's poetry prompt was to pick an animal, make that the title and go from there. Here's mine:

Dolphin

Twenty- three we counted today, you,
the first, the best, the closest, drafted
in our wake. I welcomed you and called
you ‘baby’. You looked me twice in the eye.
I’d like to think you recognized in me
a kindred, open soul, I’d like to think the
sight of me lifted your spirit the way
you lifted mine, I’d like to think that
if I jumped in we could be friends, you’d
teach me how to jump straight up and
out of the water, the best places to surf,
but I’m not as naïve as you might think,
I know you were really just hoping for
free fish

The problem with this ???

Today's prompt was to write a poem with this title (fill in your own blank) and go on from there. Admittedly I didn't have any time to work on this and had to go with my first thought... wasn't hard to come up with the rest - many of my years have been spent in various cubicles...

The problem with this job

is it’s time-consuming, soul-sucking,
foot on your neck and stomping,
control-freaking, unappreciative,
sameness, to what end? Cubicle
living grayness, day-after-day, week-
after-week, dragging yourself there-
and-back for a paycheck that’s spent
before you get it anyway, how did I
get here? seemingly necessary
madness…

Second day

Day 2 of poetry month... the prompt is 'outsider'... here is my quicky (I like quickies - haha)

Preparation

this warm-blooded mammal must squeeze into
a neoprene suit, too fat to sink, add weights,
balance her ups and downs with buoyant vest,
spit in her mask, slip on fake fins,
shoulder a tank of air – carefully regulated,
then – jump into their world, sink
and swim

April is Poetry Month

And naturally I found a web site that challenges everyone to write a poem a day... I have passed that challenge on to Juliene (Hi Juliene!) who I believe is in Sweden at the moment...

Here is the web site if you want to read the prompts and participate:

http://blog.writersdigest.com/poeticasides/CommentView,guid,b18860be-3ebe-4e64-a847-39f454bc420e.aspx

Today's prompt is to write an 'origin' poem. I had very little time to work on this. Work is such a pain - I'm sure I could make better poems if I didn't have to spend my brain on work... oh well, here is today's poem - and you will be getting one-a-day, no matter how awful, for the entire month of April.

Daughter

Scandinavian eyes, from her great-grandmother,
Blonde hair from me, family-nose from her father,
Sings like her grandma, (we all wish she wouldn’t),
Smart like her grandpa, there’s nothing she couldn’t
do, swims like a dolphin, (she got that from me),
but where did she get all the rest that is she?
Her family of origin gave her their best,
but we just can’t explain where she got all the rest!