raise the common denominator

How to Dance in Fire #novpad Day 30

Day 30-Lessons Learned

Well it's the last day of the November 2010 Poem a Day Chapbook Challenge. I managed to keep pace, producing a poem today, and a few bonus poems.

Thanks to Robert Lee Brewer for hosting another great challenge and congratulations to all the poets who participated. 

Now it's time to start revising and organizing this month's poems for the chapbook submission. But first, today's poem:

 

How to Dance in Fire

Keep moving.
That’s the first thing.
Flames can’t touch
the wild dancer.

Think cool thoughts
penguins, ice cream
the Titanic suspended
in the frigid depths.

And no matter how
much it burns,
just tell yourself,
“It’s a dry heat.”

 

 

 

 

Small Steps #novpad Day 29

Day 29 - About next steps

Small Steps

Eggs, a tomato, orange juice
and paper towels.

I’ve given up on long-range plans.

Making it through this week’s
shopping list will be enough.

Odysseus’ Excuse #novpad Day 28

Day 28 - Write a poem about what really happened

 

Odysseus’ Excuse

Odysseus left home
for a loaf of bread
and a gallon of milk.
Came back 10 years later
with stories of a
six-headed monster
storms and shipwrecks,
a one-eyed giant, and
men turned to pigs,
What some guys won’t do
for a Vegas weekend.

Blame the Snow #novpad Day 27

Day 27 - Write a "Blame the (blank)" poem

 

Blame the Snow

Missed appointments
and forgotten tasks.
Hours spent watching
Rockford Files reruns,
and eating food thick
with sugar and grease.
Staring out the window
without purpose at the
cold, white desert piling
up around the porch.
Sitting up late in the dark
listening to the plows
circle the neighborhood,
insatiable sharks
devouring the drifts.
In January it becomes
easy to blame the snow
for all this nothing
I’m making of my life.

Squirrel Runs #novpad Day 26

Day 26 - An "on the run" poem

 

Squirrel Runs

Squirrel runs
a marathon,
against winter,
a sprint crossing
the street to
the walnut tree,
and the gauntlet
between the
neighbor’s cat
and the red hawk
perched on the
fence row.

Tree Frog & Winter Coyote #novpad Day 25

Day 25 - Animal Poems        

Two poems for today's prompt:

The tree frog --
lost and found
in the box of limes

*******

Winter Coyote

How many winters
will you abide?
Even the dead coyote
waits with eyes open
watching the falling snow.

Parallel Parking #novpad Day 24

Day 24 -- A poem about spaces

 

Parallel Parking

Carl lived his life like a
parallel-parking zealot,
banging fenders,
running up over the curb,
opening doors in traffic,
pinning in the car behind.
Some said therapy,
others offered
a punch in the nose,
and tougher-love “cures.”
But I think all he really needed
was a larger space and
a clearer rearview.

Haiku #novpad Day 23

Day 23 - Write a poem in a specific form

I chose to write a haiku:

Walking toward
a crooked smile --
winter moon

My Sister for President #novpad Day 22

Day 22 - Write a "take a stand" poem

 

My Sister for President

If elected,
my sister supports
chocolate cake
for breakfast,
state fairs,
mandatory
four-day
weekends,
and cleaning up
your own messes.
She has my vote.

Permission #novpad Day 21

Day 21 - a permission poem

Here are two poems on today's theme of "permission":

 

Permission

May I sit here
awhile longer
and watch
the sun set
in your smile?

********

Sunset Permission

Setting sun
grants permission
for the tree frogs
to begin
their night song.