November PAD 30: Leaping

Today's Prompt: Write an "against all odds" poem


Today's Poem:

BEFORE YOU LEAP

You size them up,
these giants of doubt,
cowardice, and unbelief
and most times,
they are nothing more than
bites
when you open your mouth
to scream as you free-
fall into arms of hope, faith,
and love.

Today's Ponderings: Yay!  We made it to the end of another November Poem-A-Day Challenge. I appreciate all the lovely comments and encouragement from everyone because without your feedback, I would not have completed 37 poems in 30 days. Thank you!

So, now what? What am I going to do with all these drafts? I have to get them manuscript ready by December 31, 2011:

1. Select 20 poems from the month
2. Edit the poems
3. Compile the poems into a manuscript 

More details on the way...

November PAD 29: Being

Today's Prompt: Two for Tuesday!

1. Write an evening poem.
2. Write a day-time poem.

Today's Poem:

LET THERE BE

C an words come alive and
R econstruct a dull void into the
E vening and the morning of the first six days,
A ttend to a vat of nothing and dust
T o make this sphere a home for us,
I ntone to make known a love
O f creative and unlimited proportions?
N ot if you doubt the power of his words.

Today's Ponderings: Another acrostic poem on catch up for the last week.

November PAD 28: Redeeming

Today's Prompt: Write a poem entitled "_________ Story"


Today's Poem:

REDEMPTION STORY

How to craft a redemption story:

1. Be saved from something, someone, or somewhere
2. Be changed someway, somehow.

3. Begin with need of emancipation,
4. Meet the middle at rock bottom
(or a point on the way down).

5. End with a timely rescue,
6. Plotting towards a bright a future
with the one who is the savior.

7. Write it.
8. Speak it.

9. Live it.
10. Believe it.

Today's Ponderings: Another catch up poem revised for this viewing audience. I'll probably post a picture of what this looked like on paper, because this came out of a jumbled mess!

November PAD 27: Mistaking

Today's Prompt: Write a tribute poem


Today's Poem:

TO MY MISTAKES

May your sharp edges
be sheathed in victory.

May your poison froth
far away from my mouth.

May your flame-licking
allure be fully extinguished.

May you live forever in my past.

Today's Ponderings: Another catch-up poem. Loose interpretation on the prompt.

November PAD 25: Kindling

Today's Prompt: Write a consumption poem


Today's Poem:

KINDLING

You stoke desire like a magic wand
brushing at the air, commanding
obedience and getting it, every time.

But in the aftermath, flames
of sapped Kleenex litters the
floor and once more

its you against me
with a pane of mirrored glass
standing between us.

This sparkle in your eye
is the torch laden on my heart,
the person I vow to undress

and re-clothe in righteousness.
See, therein lies the issue
of fire vs tissue:

All at once—both will be consumed
because a blood-red love
cascades from above

to unearth the dirt and stain,
pause to remain and resume
this life in greater light.

Today's Ponderings: Still playing catch up!

Free Admission Thursday: Thanksgiving Edition

There's no cover charge here: this is a place of honesty and full disclosure.

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HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE! 

I admit that Thanksgiving is my favorite American holiday because it involves a large feast, but it is reminiscent of Sabbath afternoon lunches back home in Jamaica that I miss. This Thursday celebrates events that happen one day a year that for me happened once a week.

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I admit that the November Poem-A-Day Challenge has been a struggle for me as it applies to discipline and networking. I have had my major problems over the weekends but writing every day is hard! I like reading everyone esle's poems each day but I don't have the time to read them all, much less to comment. I wanted to do better at that this year but I guess there's always next time!

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I admit that the performers on the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade looked ridiculous lip-syncing their songs. Lauren Alaina sang the National Anthem for the Packers vs. Lions and there was some kind of glitch or she forgot to keep singing... tsk tsk.

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November PAD 24: Gathering

Today's Prompt: Write a gathering poem.


Today's Poem:

RIGHT TO ASSEMBLE

Some privileges we left
behind are not worth fighting
for, and ideals worthy of  
raised fists trails the list.
The collectivity bargained
for lacked peace of mind
in the noble gathering
of bodies. In a gallery
of men we’d stand in anger
(most times), hurling demands
across lines we are
(sometimes) conscious
not to cross, but without
cause—we’d charge the lost
with the sins of the living
and leave the accountable
off the hook, for when we
look outside ourselves we
see things to fix, and blame
the mirror for being distorted
when we’re the ones who
aborted the choice to be
right because sometimes
we come together
for the wrong reasons.

Today's Ponderings: This poem has a political flavor but I didn't want to write another cheesy Thanksgiving poem. Maybe I will later on...

November PAD 23: Living

Today's Prompt: Write a travel poem


Today's Poem:

ALIVE

“To travel is to live.”
― Hans Christian Andersen

Goose-bumped gravel speckles the road,
trips the too smooth ride, and we pass
ports and piers, sturdy against sea-tossed air,
lines of anchored stability daring us to cruise,
ship, toss our cares aside
and launch into the water
to ensure we packed our lives.

Today's Ponderings: Love the prompt! How appropriate for this holiday.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!!!!!!!!

November PAD 22: Beeting

Today's Prompt: Two for Tuesday!

1. Pick a fruit, make it the title of your poem, and write the poem.
2. Pick a vegetable, make it the title of your poem, and write the poem.

Today's Poem:

BEET

If you grew misshapen,

and could still fit in my fist,
if your flesh was more fleshy
this simile would fit:

you, beet, (like my heart),
are as veined and scarred
as a war-beaten soldier
recently discharged.

you, beet, (like my heart),
are as dirty and covered
as an old kept secret
waiting for its final hour.

you, beet, (like my heart),
are as vibrant and bold
as a new born wound
freshly cut in the cold.

you, beet, (like my heart),
are as red as desire,
exposed and pierced
bleeding droplets of fire.

If you remained underground
unafraid of being uprooted,
you, beet, (like my heart),
would be naive and unsuited.

Today's Ponderings: Well, I think this poem deserves a redo. The collection I have in mind (if it will still be about items on a to-do-list) will have to change to fit this piece as it is. I wont force it though. December will be interesting as I work on compiling these.

November PAD 21: Consuming

Today's Prompt: Write a poem entitled “Whenever __________”


Today's Poem:

WHENEVER I REMEMBER...

...the rum tinged flavor of December’s
sorrel, how it charred my throat
with ginger, and filled my nose with
memories—I think of you,

not because your face gets tangled
in remembrance (I met you after
my last real sip), but because I’d
nearly choke on the dark red drink,

and then hurry to swallow it down
as a cure, scathing me, addicting me,
knowing each time won’t taste anything
like the last.

Today's Ponderings: This poem needs some work but I have to leave it till later. The challenge really comes in this week with Thanksgiving plans. I will do my best to stay on track.

November PAD 20: Leaving

Today's Prompt: Write a "best ever" poem.


Today's Poem:

BEST EVER FAREWELL

We stand here

on the edge of our

sweet
goodbye,

yet ours has the bitterness
of a winter-morning
blast, rushing up
against our faces,
pushing the calm
warmth from our
fast pumping blood.

While we look forward
to pushing this appointment
to the back of our minds,
we crane our eyes ahead
to the day we say farewell
to our goodbyes.

Today's Ponderings: Ten days to go? Yup.

November PAD 19: Staying

Today's Prompt: Write a "suspicious minds" poem


Today's Poem:

NEXT DOOR

The neighborhood heard
(or maybe just the houses
three doors down),
that you weren’t coming back
or that you were told not to return.

They surmise that a stranger
slept here, that our finances
met chaos, that we met one
another at a crossroads
and went our separate ways.

The neighborhood was not
stunned when you walked
back in, but they were suspicious
of your length of stay.

Today's Ponderings: A little behind, but loving the experience. Writing something creative everyday is harder this month than any other, I think. There are a lot of family activities and school obligations converging on each other but keeping my mind on the goal (at least 30 poems by Dec 1, possibly a manuscript) is the motivating force.

November PAD 18: Timing

Today's Prompt: Write an "its too late" poem.


Today's Poem:

BAD TIMING

Time on the clock:
the eleventh hour
and fourteen minutes
past that.

Time in my mind:
frozen in a moment
of reality I cannot
refund.

Time in my heart:
tardy,
lazy,
juvenile. Daylight
savings cannot
fall back or spring
forward the breaking.
Its too late for rescue,
the day’s damage is done.

Today's Ponderings: I wrote a poem for the writing group's monthly assignment which was "Your greatest disappointment" but it felt like cheating a bit, even though it fit this prompt perfectly, so I wrote this draft instead. 

November PAD 17: Revealing

Today's Prompt: Write a poem that reveals something 


Today's Poem:

REVELATIONS

The morning fog hides nothing,
yet we search through it

to find our way.

It clouds everything
and we wait for it to lift,

but yet it is there for us to see.
The thick gray tones of a morning,

reveals the silence,
the eerie, the same world

in its subdued, cottony way.

Today's Ponderings: I am gearing up to conquer this weekend. I have enlisted my Moleskine notebook to ride in my back pocket (so to speak) so that whenever the moment strikes, I can retain some of my ideas. I did that last year and it helped me so much, I don't know why I did not keep the routine going. Enjoy "Revelations" by Audioslave:

November PAD 16: Training

Today's Prompt: Write a poem entitled "Once Upon a __________"


Today's Poem:

Once Upon A Train

we sat in silent conversation
talking to our own strangers,
but though my words were
requested responses, they
were meant for you to hear,
to show you I meant never
to share a breath with you,
to show you that I stopped
caring where you went
what you did, who you saw,
where you lived, but yes,
ignoring you took efforts you
didn’t deserve and I am itching
to serve you remorse when
the doors open and I leave
you with the remnants of
your last chance.

Today's Ponderings: I've fallen behind with my posts and though I am frustrated with myself for that, I feel energized in the same way I was at the beginning of this challenge. The weekends are difficult but I'll catch up soon. I have written about 17 poems, songs technically, I am still on track but writing daily is yet to be mastered. Too much going on in my life...

November PAD 15: Loving

Today's Prompt: Two-for-Tuesday! 

1. Write a love poem.
2. Write an anti-love poem.

Today's Poem:

LOCATION, LOCATION

Where there is love,
there’s also you.

Where there dwells
a certain longing,
where a moment
houses only two,
there’s me,
and there’s you.

Where there is emptiness
there is your absence.

Where there is happiness
there is your smile.

Where there is love,
there you are
with your open heart.

Today's Ponderings: Every poem a day challenge Robert Lee Brewer gives this prompt at some time in the month and though it is somewhat predictable, I look forward to it. I can't write an "anti-love" poem, at least not on the day. I guess I'm more of an optimist than I recognize. This poem is dedicated to my God, and it made me think of this song: "I Just Want to Be With You" by Don Moen.

November PAD 14: Daring

Today's Prompt: Write a deadly and dangerous poem.


Today's Poem:

THE DARE

This is the product of unmanned
children in a church-side cemetery,
in an age where boring rectangular
headstones were not yet in fashion:

We rationed ourselves to the outskirts,
moving slowly and pointing, sucking
the salt from our thumbs and forefinger
as we ate our banana chip snacks.

We knew all about Obeah* and Duppy
stories**, what not to do near a grave,
but soon we investigated the hovering
statues, the smooth tiles, the names.

We began with the simple things:
a hand on a carved angel for five ticks,
singing “Woman in a Churchyard Sat,”
then, proving I was unfazed and unafraid,

I scoffed at the challenge. But
ten seconds is a long time
as fearful, awed faces cringed
above me, begging me to climb

off the cold slab stone grave,
as if I would fall in, as if it was not
just like a step on which one could lie
supine, as I was, like a breathing corpse.

When I closed my eyes to let the
potential nightmare stay inside my head
they screamed and fled and assumed
I had laid too long with the dead.

*Obeah - Jamaican black magic

**Duppy - Jamaican word for "ghost"

Today's Ponderings: I wrote about a silly event in my childhood because I was inspired by some of the poems on Poetic Asides today. With this, I have discovered the theme of my chapbook: history and lists. More on that soon too come.

November PAD 13: Hunting

Today's Prompt: Write a kind poem.


Today's Poem:

THE LIONESS

There’s much more to say
about the lioness’ graceful
stalk, the matriarchal way
she wears her close-grown
mane and the fierce stance
she takes in her pride than
to mention her role
as the hunter.

Today's Ponderings: Catch up mode. This poem comes 5 days late, but I am glad it arrived!

November PAD 12: Measuring

Today's Prompt: Write an excess poem


Today's Poem:

ENOUGH

There’s no world standard for small:
a petite or pequeno may translate to
medium or extra tiny.

There’s no world standard for large:
a grande or largo may translate to
medium or extra huge.

There’s no world standard for enough
or too much
or too little
or too butch
or too brittle
or too fat
or too thin
or too course
or too smooth
everything translates subject to interpretation.

There’s no world standard for overflow,
but we know what is greed
and need
and desperate
and clean
and disparity
and dirt
and pain
and hurt.

What is most excessive
is inconsistency
but I guess we can
blame Congress
for that too.

Today's Ponderings: Catch up mode! This poem is a bit out of context and I'm definitely marking it as a draft (although it has had a couple makeovers that took me some time). It's six days late, but I am glad to be all caught up!

November PAD 11: Listing

Today's Prompt: Write a poem involving math and/or numbers


Today's Poem:

(CLICHЀ) TO DO LIST

☑ Breathe, count to ten
☐ Reside on cloud nine
☐ Try to lose some w(eight)
☐ Find luck in number seven
☑ Book a table for six
☐ Work a nine to five
☐ Book a table for four
☐ Be in a crowd of three
☐ Enjoy the company of two
☑ Find one love, one heart
☑ Get together and feel alright

Today's Ponderings: Catch up mode! This poem is a week late and though it just hatched, this poem follows the listing theme of my idea for the chapbook manuscript.

November PAD 10: Casting

Today's Prompt: Write a poem from a different perspective.


Today's Poem:

OVERCAST

I am tired of morphing into what you want
to see.
You—laying there on the prickly lawn,
pointing at me, calling me cotton candy—
you all look the same from up here!

I will be myself: fluffy or cumulus
or sparse or thick or foreboding.
Just stop making me out to be
a puppy.

Today's Ponderings: I was the third poet to post a comment on Poetic Asides and I thought I was fast! I will definitely write more with this prompt.

November PAD 9: Wanting

Today's Prompt: Write a poem with the title "_______or  _______"


Today's Poem:

Dead or Alive

I sympathize with the
fugitive. The nervous
battle of suppressing
sweat, calming thuds
inside one’s chest,
making a nest of faces
and aching to blend
into their thatch must
be worth the reward
of knowing one is so
desperately
wanted.
Dead or alive.

Today's Ponderings: I wrote two poems today; actually, this one had a second stanza but they were too unrelated to fit together so I broke them apart and tried staying true to the theme. They require some serious editing. Enjoy "Wanted: Dead or Alive" by Bon Jovi.