raise the common denominator

#novpad Day 7 - Run!

Run!

We are supposed to wait
for the big yellow bus.
But the big yellow bus
waits for no one.
So we run!

 

Today's prompt -- Write a poem about what won't wait. 

#novpad Day 6 "Cap"

Today's prompt - Write an addiction poem. I wrote about a man I knew for a little bit, a long time ago and one of his memories of the drinking life.

 

Cap

“The sharp,
cold taste
of beer
stinging
the back of
my throat.
Can tipped
to the sky
on a hot July
afternoon.”

That’s what
Cap told me
he missed
most about
drinking.

 

#novpad Day 4: Complete Stop

In response to today's prompt, write a poem about finding something unexpected.

 

Complete Stop

I wasn’t expecting
the car on my right
to run the stop sign,
blazing through the
intersection at 40 mph.

I wasn’t expecting
to get hit and
flip sideways
spinning in circles,
sliding down the road.

I wasn’t expecting
we’d remain so calm,
asking each other
how we were doing
as we twirled around.

I wasn’t expecting
to walk from the scene
with my son and dog,
though my wife
needed some help.

Two months later,
I wasn’t expecting
to still feel the impact
and flinch at
a flash of bright light.

 

#novpad Day 3: "Sort of in love"

Day 3 #novpad challenge from Poetic Asides: "... take the phrase “Sort of (blank),” replace the blank with a word or phrase, make the new phrase the title of your poem..."

"sort of in love"

that

almost

kiss

at the

end of

our 

kind of

date

in my 

borrowed

car

after the

OK 

movie

made me

feel like

we were 

sort of

in love

 

 

#novpad Day 2: "Side Roads"

Day 2 of the Poet Asides #novpad challenge: "Use an epigraph to kickstart a poem."

“If you don't know where you are going, any road will get you there.” Lewis Carroll

SIDE ROADS

Diners I'd never find on the beaten path

Lost cities of sausage gravy

Stopping by a farm to ask directions

Discovering a colony of six-toed cats

Cornfield dead end 

that forces me out of the car

In time to be swallowed

by the August sunset

 

 

Another November, another #novpad - "Digital weeds" / Thanks @robertleebrewer

Always look forward to November and the start of Poetic Aside's November PAD Chapbook Challenge.

With November 1, 2011, falling on a Tuesday, Robert Brewer provides two prompts (a two for Tuesday) -- "Write a procrastination poem," or "write a proactive poem."

I chose procrastination. But I did not procrastinate. Here's my day one #novpad poem. One day down, 29 to go.

 

DIGITAL WEEDS 

Facebook page

Left untended. 

Weeds in the

Digital yard.

The last update,

"Happy Thanksgiving!"

Keeps it current

Once each year.

 

 

 

April #PAD Challenge, Day 11: Write a maybe poem

A 'maybe poem.' And it's based on a true story (maybe) ...

MAYBE YOUR FEET GET COLD?
(notes to a diver)

I don't know you,
but I have to ask:

Did you notice the moon shine
on your damp arms?

How did the midnight water taste?
Cool and sweet?

Was this escape or expression,
Painting smiles on the waves?

Did you hope to get caught?
Was it better alone?

And finally, the most
obvious question:

Why did you bother to keep 
your socks on?

April #PAD Challenge, Day 12: Write a form poem

For day 12 of the challenge (write a form poem or an anti-form poem), I chose to write 3 haiku.

 

3 HAIKU

A map made of
scratches, scars, scabs and bruises --
My son’s summer knees


After surgery,
My belly bald like Buddha’s
But for my stitches


Sunday morning –
Watching the bird watcher
Watch the birds

April #PAD Challenge, Day 8: Write a "ready to celebrate" poem

Day 8: Write "ready to celebrate" poem.

When I was a boy, my father told me that I could catch a bird by sneaking up behind it and sprinkling salt on its tail. Of course, I believed him. And of course, I could never get close enough.

This spring, my great niece Elliana really wants to catch a robin. I suggested the salt technique. She's been trying her hardest since, but no success yet. This "ready to celebrate" poem is for her.

 

ELLIANA

Stalking robins

with a shaker

of salt.

 

Try to catch one 

by sprinkling

a few grains

on its tail.

 

Three years old,

every day of spring

a celebration.

April #PAD Challenge, Day 5, Write a serious or goofy poem

Day 5, write a goofy or serious poem. Guess which kind I wrote? 

A BULLFROG ATE MY SISTER

A bullfrog ate my sister.

With one big gulp,
she's gone!

A bullfrog ate my sister.

But what do I
tell mom?