Something That Returns

Our prompt for NaPoWriMo day 30 is to write about something that returns. It’s hard to believe that poetry month is almost over, but it is something to look forward to every year, and I think I’ll try to continue with the daily posts, at least for a little while. I am sharing this with DVerse OLN.

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You return, every year,
Like the cherry blossoms,
Like the swallows returning to
Capistrano (remember when
We went there?)
You return, every year,
Like the cherry blossoms,
And must leave just as quickly.

Come With Me to Maui

For NaPoWriMo day 29, I am responding to DVerse’s prompt, Take Me With You!, and Poets and Storytellers United’s challenge to use enjambment. I didn’t use it for even close to every line, but hopefully there is enough of it.

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Come with me, back to last summer:
I had not wanted to take a 5-hour plane flight,
I had not wanted to be with my family for a whole week —
But come with me, to the Lava Java shop
Or the sweet and savory pie place;
Come get a facial and massage at a spa
Smell the salty air and feel free
Even in the humidity, to embrace
Many beaches (with no need for any face
Mask) — In Kihei there were so many
Chickens in the roads, it seemed like a joke.

I wonder if the roosters rule the town now.
Come with me to see, some other summer.

Beautiful and Terrible

For NaPoWriMo day 28, here is a poem inspired by the photo below, for Fandango’s flash-fiction challenge this week.

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Photo from Tim Short at the USA Today Network.

An orange flare in the sky —
Does anyone ask why?
Or do they gaze at what they see
With impotent curiosity,
Saying nothing but, “Oh, pretty!”
An orange flare sent into the sky —
And nobody is asking why.

Tricks

NaPoWriMo day 27: I wrote two poems in response to Ronovan Writes’ haiku prompt. The first one is rather bleak, so I intentionally wrote a happier one afterward!

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Stick behind donkey
Prodding to an unfree end —
Carrot is a trick

Photo by Hrishikesh Deshkar on Pexels.com

Finding a suitable picture for this was highly enjoyable:

Owner throws a stick
Dog delights in bringing back,
Puppy loves the trick!

Photo by Jim Scharff on Pexels.com

__val__

For NaPoWriMo day 26, I am sharing this poem, which was in response to SoCS from yesterday, with the Writers’ Pantry.

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An evaluation
Of the value of life,
All life —
I have to confess
That all life is precious,
Invaluable —
Despite some horrible
Moments, in what we
call, this vale of tears.

While Watching Mass

It was difficult for me to write any poems today, but here’s one. NaPoWriMo day 25.

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Your heart
Elevated —
My hands over my heart
Whispering “My Lord and my God!” —
Come soon.

Décima: Hope

This is written in response to Ronovan’s challenge and is partially inspired by FOWC: Express. This is for NaPoWriMo day 24.

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Strong as the grave are love and hope:
May hope carry all to the end,
Holding weak hands as a God-send,
Saving maybe more lives than soap.

Beyond four walls widens the scope
With hope as faithful companion;
We see more loving expressions
Reaching out in ways we’re able,
Hope and friendship keeping stable.
At the end, let’s begin again.

 

My Name Begins with a J

I’m not really sure about this, but I have attempted to write a decent poem in response to today’s official NaPoWriMo prompt, using the shape of letters as inspiration.

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We find disparities in each other’s handwriting:
Some people depict this letter with a roof over its head,
And to this way I have been ascribing.

But I’ve seen this letter written with a downward line,
Then a leftward curve, and then — nothing, no defined
Upper limit, no ink ceiling, and I wonder….

 

Novel Reality

NaPoWriMo day 22. This post was inspired by FOWC: Crazy and the current Weekly Scribblings.

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I am not sick enough
To lie in bed all day,
But to keep me
From going crazy — maybe
I shall retreat into fiction
Or fantasy, reading,
This situation for a day renouncing,
My head on a fluffy pillow:
A respite from the novel
Reality we now know.

Shyness

This is (finally) my response to DVerse’s Quadrille Monday. Our word is “flush.”

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When I look at you and smile,

Do my cheeks flush pink?

Are my feelings written boldly

In their shyness, like all this ink?

 

When my heart becomes a-flutter

Like a hummingbird, will it nectar drink?

Promise me this buoyant feeling

Will not sink.