#NaPoWriMo 2024 Day Twenty Five

Colbert Questionert

Celebs sit in the hot seat and answer important questions about life. Best sandwich? Should always be cut diagonally. One thing you own you should really throw out? My childhood journals filled with secret longings. Apples or oranges; why not avocados? The first autograph I received was an award for a writing contest. I wonder if Stephen has the same number in mind no one ever gets right. Some questions rotate in and out, but everyone ends with five words describing the rest of their life: messy chaotic dribbles of poetry.

aisle or window
fifteen questions to be known
answers may vary

NaPoWriMo Prompt – Last but not least, here’s our optional prompt for the day. Today, we’d like to challenge you to write a poem based on the “Proust Questionnaire,” a set of questions drawn from Victorian-era parlor games, and adapted by modern interviewers. You could choose to answer the whole questionnaire, and then write a poem based on your answers, answer just a few, or just write a poem that’s based on the questions. You could even write a poem in the form of an entirely new Proust Questionnaire.

Good afternoon. I decided to answer a few questions off the Colbert Questionert. Some of the celebrities have some out of the box responses. When Prince Harry was asked aisle or window he said, cockpit. And I really liked Matt Damon’s answer to what happens when we die? We go home. In my life, I’m a big introvert and not a fan of ice breakers which is what these questions are really about. I prefer to sit in the corner and remain a mystery to everyone else in the parlor.

#NaPoWriMo 2024 Day Twenty Six

Onomatopoeia

Words defined by sound
Found to mimic
Abound in
Nature
Purr
Pronounce with extra oomph!

NaPoWriMo Prompt – And now for our (optional) prompt. Today, we’d like to challenge you to write a poem that involves alliteration, consonance, and assonance. Alliteration is the repetition of a particular consonant sound at the beginning of multiple words. Consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds elsewhere in multiple words, and assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds. Traci Brimhall’s poem “A Group of Moths” provides a great example of these poetic devices at work, with each line playing with different sounds that seem to move the poem along on a sonorous wave.

Good morning and welcome to day twenty six of #NaPoWriMo and I need to go back and work on yesterday’s prompt. In the meantime, I had fun playing with sound and defining onomatopoeia in a teacup dictionary poem. An easy way to write a shape poem, because when centered on the page it resembles a teacup. I am off to enjoy my coffee and the beautiful spring day in the desert. I should be back later to catch up on the missed prompt.

#NaPoWriMo 2024 Day Twenty Four

A Monsoon Splendor

And be my love in the rain
every summer monsoons
ease the sweltering heat
as storm clouds build
blocking out the sun
come outside with me
as heavy raindrops fall
and run down our lashes
lips steam with passion
from your fervent kisses
under the summer sky
our love sizzles in the rain

NaPoWriMo Prompt – Finally, our (optional) prompt for the day is another one pulled from our 2016 archives. Today, we’d like to challenge you to write a poem that begins with a line from another poem (not necessarily the first one), but then goes elsewhere with it. This will work best if you just start with a line of poetry you remember, but without looking up the whole original poem. Or you could find a poem that you haven’t read before and then use a line that interests you. The idea is for the original to furnish the backdrop for your work, but without influencing you so much that you feel as if you are just rewriting the original! 

Good evening and welcome to day twenty four of #NaPoWriMo. I had written this poem earlier today, but I let it sit. I’m not impressed with it. The opening line is from A Line-storm Song by Robert Frost. I actually went back to my 2016 poem to see if it would offer me any inspiration to no avail, so I decided to post what I wrote earlier today. At least there is only one more week to go.

#NaPoWriMo 2024 Day Twenty Three

If She Asks…

Once upon a time;
Eric and Charles approached
Logan inside a bar, recruiting
for the X-men.
In true Wolverine form,
Logan told them:
Go fuck yourself.
They did not know the proper way
to bat their eyelashes.

Tony Stark has an ex-girlfriend,
Veronica, who one day decided
she wanted to hang out
with Wolverine.
She requested sweetly:
Can Wolverine come out to play?
And to her delight
he dropped everything to show
how his claws rise exclusively
for her.

Shawn posing as Wolverine

NaPoWriMo Prompt – And now for our (optional) prompt. Today, we’d like to challenge you to write a poem about, or involving, a superhero, taking your inspiration from these four poems in which Lucille Clifton addresses Clark Kent/Superman.

Good afternoon and welcome to day twenty three of #NaPoWriMo where I recalled a time nine years ago when Wolverine came out to play. Most of the time, Shawn is obsessing over Tony Stark/Ironman. But one day when I was wasting time on Facebook taking quizzes, Shawn took a quick photo posing as Wolverine for me. Shhhh… don’t tell Tony his ex-girlfriend has the hots for Wolverine’s huge talons.

#NaPoWriMo 2024 Day Twenty Two

Dog Versus Tortoise

It happens every year
when my human opens
the backdoor to let me out
and the tortoise has plopped
himself at its threshold.

Hey, dog why are you knocking
on my shell?
Can’t you see me sitting here?

Excuse me, Shaman
but I need to go!
Get out of my way
or I’ll lift my leg
and complete
my business
on top of your shell
instead.
Why must you plop
right in front of
the backdoor anyway?

The humans have the AC running
and you get to sleep inside
with the cool air while
I’m stuck out here
in the brutal sun all day.
The back porch offers
a bit of shade and respite.

I think you’ve grown soft!
A Sonoran desert tortoise
should be basking in the sun
not hiding out in the shade.
Now,
step aside
so I can get back in the house.

NaPoWriMo Prompt – Last but not least, here’s today’s optional prompt. This one comes from the poet and fiction writer Todd Dillard, who provided this idea on his twitter account a few months ago. The idea is to write a poem in which two things have a fight. Two very unlikely things, if you can manage it. Like, maybe a comb and a spatula. Or a daffodil and a bag of potato chips. Or perhaps your two things could be linked somehow – like a rock and a hard place – and be utterly sick of being so joined. The possibilities are endless!

Good morning and welcome to day twenty two of #NaPoWriMo where I imagined the conversation between my dog and the tortoise after letting the dog out this morning and she had to jump across the tortoise as he was plopped right at the backdoor. Sonoran Desert tortoises hibernate in the winter somewhere between October-March. Our tortoise Shaman is around 30 years old and not in the best health anymore. While Shawn was gone this weekend, Gretchen and I went out to feed the tortoises. We got Shaman to eat some lettuce and spinach. He perked up after Gretchen cooled him off with some water. Then I found him right at the backdoor when I woke up this morning. It looked like the morning food Shawn put out for him was untouched.

#NaPoWriMo 2024 Day Twenty One

palo verde tree
stands in dandelion field
yellow flowers bloom

yellow sun shines bright
palo verde blooms each spring
rich shades of yellow

Dandelion photo by Gretchen Hosking and Palo Verde in Bloom

NaPoWriMo Prompt – And now for our (optional) prompt! Today, we’d like to challenge you to write a poem that repeats or focuses on a single color. Some examples for you – Diane Wakoski’s “Blue Monday,” Walter de la Mare’s “Silver,” and Dorothea Lasky’s “Red Rum.”

Good morning and welcome to day 21 of #NaPoWriMo a day late. Yesterday, Gretchen and I walked over to Sprouts before it got too hot. We hit our first 100 degree high for 2024. When Shawn got back home and we were watching the news, he said; didn’t win? This made no sense to me. I made him repeat it a few times before he said the contest. Ah, no it’s the first 110 degree day for the contest so it’s still open. One thing I noticed on our walk though is the palo verde are starting to bloom, and I thought yellow would be a good color to focus on, but the poetry wasn’t going anywhere. Since today is Earth day I figured a couple nature poems focusing on yellow would be appropriate.

celebrate earth day
yellow flowers burst on scene
gilding sallow note

#NaPoWriMo 2024 Day Twenty

Happy Birthday, Buffalo!

In 1832 the city of Buffalo was incorporated.
What an auspicious day: 4-20!
I know everyone is celebrating
with the munchies 😉
Let’s get an order of wings
or fire up the grill to roast
a Sahlen’s hotdog or two.

NaPoWriMo Prompt – Our optional prompt for the day challenges you to write a poem that recounts a historical event. In writing your poem, you could draw on your memory, encyclopedias, history books, or primary documents. If you’re interested in a little research, you might find interesting this collection of letters written during the American Civil War, or this collection of primary documents concerning South Sea voyages. Or perhaps you might find something of interest in digging through Europeana, an online clearinghouse of digitized materials from cultural institutions across Europe.

Good evening and welcome to day twenty of #NaPoWriMo where I learned Buffalo, NY was incorporated 192 years ago today. Shawn has gone up to Miami, AZ this weekend for their art festival; so I spent today cleaning, but I did do some research on the city of Buffalo this afternoon. It did bring back memories of grammar school and learning about New York State history.

#NaPoWriMo 2024 Day Nineteen

notes set to dark mode
blinking cursor haunts my dreams
achromatic mood

notes set to dark mode
blinking cursor hunts my dreams
achromatic mood

NaPoWriMo Prompt – Finally, here’s our prompt – optional, as always! This one comes to us from Moist Poetry Journal, which posted this prompt by K-Ming Chang a while back:

What are you haunted by, or what haunts you? Write a poem responding to this question. Then change the word haunt to hunt.

Good afternoon and welcome to day nineteen of #NaPoWriMo. I actually enjoyed reading the poetry over at the Moist Poetry Journal. But I woke up with a headache this morning and wasn’t really feeling the prompt. The #haikuchallenge word today is dream. And I thought; well, dreams can be haunting. So I used both words for my #haikuchallenge on X. Then I changed it to hunt here. I knew it would give the poem an ethereal feel that would be even eerier with a longer piece. I may revisit this prompt when I’m in a better mood.

#NaPoWriMo 2024 Day Eighteen

I am an Empty Journal

Other chores are forgotten
writing a poem a day,
fold up the paper and place
it inside my pocket.

Writing a poem a day,
inspiration starts to wane.
What if I were a journal
entrusted to keep words safe?

Inspiration starts to wane
no pen scrawls on my blank page
the poet holding words safe
and I remain a dark space.

As she stares at the blank page
other chores are forgotten.
I am an empty, dark space
without a poem in place.

NaPoWriMo Prompt – And now for our (optional) prompt! Today, we’d like to challenge you to write a poem in which the speaker expresses the desire to be someone or something else, and explains why. Two possible models for you: Natasha Rao’s “In my next life let me be a tomato,” and Randall Jarrell’s “The Woman at the Washington Zoo.”

Good afternoon and welcome to day eighteen of #NaPoWriMo where my inspiration took a leave of absence. It didn’t help that the sample poems were long winded free verse. I like structure and very short poetic forms, so I spent my morning doing some of the forgotten chores and left my poetry journal firmly closed. I am not enthralled with this attempt but I did put pen to page and have something to show at least.

#NaPoWriMo 2024 Day Seventeen

Ironic

clear my schedule
ten thousand spoons – ironic
I have none to give

What I’ve Done

clear conscience of guilt
let go of what I’ve done
I have no regrets

NaPoWriMo Prompt – Last but not least, here’s our optional prompt for the day. Today, we’d like to challenge you to write a poem that is inspired by a piece of music, and that shares its title with that piece of music. Need an example? Here’s A. Van Jordan’s “Que Sera Sera” and Adrian Matejka’s “Soave Sia Il Vento.”

Good afternoon and welcome to day seventeen of #NaPoWriMo aka International haiku day, so I took the #haikuchallenge word – clear and wrote a couple haikuesque poems. They both have 17 syllables in honor of the day and use the #haikuchallenge word, but they aren’t really haiku. I did use a couple songs as inspiration – Ironic by Alanis Morissette. As someone with a disability, I would love to have ten thousand spoons. For anyone who does not know the spoon reference, here is my poem from last year, Last Spoon. Then I went on Facebook and looked at my memories; apparently I downloaded What I’ve Done by Linkin Park for Gretchen. I decided to write another poem for that song as well.

In other news, Dr. Robin Hosking has approved a graduation announcement so I have placed my order. June 16, 2024 is less than two months away now.