#NaPoWriMo 2022 Day Twenty Seven

Past Summer Days

I am the sum of my parts
graying blonde hair and dimpled smile

Bright dimples appear on wrinkled face
Years spent under cigarette smoke

Childhood memories a smokey haze
Grandpa whistles cheery tune, Heigh-ho

Heigh-ho, heigh-ho it’s off to work we go
Construct a blanket fort in the family room

Watch TV inside cozy blanket fort
Learn kindness from Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood

Ride bikes down to the neighborhood playground
Catch fireflies on warm summer nights

Spend carefree, warm summer days outside
I am the sum of my parts

NaPoWriMo Prompt – Last but not least, here’s our (optional) prompt. Today, I’d like to challenge you to write a “duplex.” A “duplex” is a variation on the sonnet, developed by the poet Jericho Brown. Here’s one of his first “Duplex” poems, and here is a duplex written by the poet I.S. Jones. Like a typical sonnet, a duplex has fourteen lines. It’s organized into seven, two-line stanzas. The second line of the first stanza is echoed by (but not identical to) the first line of the second stanza, the second line of the second stanza is echoed by (but not identical to) the first line of the third stanza, and so on. The last line of the poem is the same as the first.

Good morning and welcome to day twenty seven of napowrimo where I took some of what I learned in the poetry workshop I attended last night to write my duplex poem. The workshop hosted by the Virginia G. Piper writing center at ASU was ‘Your Four Strands’ and led by Roanna (Rowie) Shebala. She had us look at our identity through four strands: Mother, Father, Maternal Grandfather and Paternal Grandfather. I started this poem by talking about both my parents and then my paternal grandfather (who I remember more clearly) and it grew from there.

Remembering summer days in Buffalo, NY. This poem was written six years ago. The #HaikuChallenge word yesterday was jar and a lot of people were tweeting about fireflies which made me nostalgic even before the workshop started. My piece yesterday:

Lightning bugs twinkle
Washed out peanut butter jars
Catch their summer dance

Then during the workshop last night, I remembered the one time my dad carried my mom upstairs because Kati and I told him to ‘bring mom upstairs’ after he tucked us in I wrote down two lines of a haiku. I finished it this morning with todays #haikuchallenge word, slice.

Girls bedtime request
Dad carries mom up the stairs
Slice of happiness

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#NaPoWriMo 2021 Day Twenty Nine

My mom in silhouette

Through Kitchen Window

Drop by childhood home
Mom in kitchen, drinking tea
Her cigarettes close

Peek through back window
Mom sits at counter reading
Permanent fixture

NaPoWriMo Prompt – And now, for our prompt (optional, as always). This one is called “in the window.” Imagine a window looking into a place or onto a particular scene. It could be your childhood neighbor’s workshop, or a window looking into an alien spaceship. Maybe a window looking into a witch’s gingerbread cottage, or Lord Nelson’s cabin aboard the H.M.S. Victory. What do you see? What’s going on?

Good morning and welcome to day twenty nine of #NaPoWriMo where I’m looking in a window instead of looking out of one. I did go back to my childhood, but I dropped into my own home, and knew I had a picture of my mom sitting at “her spot” at the kitchen counter. I used the #haikuchallenge word – drop for the first part of the poem.

Portrait of Motherhood

Poetry – It’s What’s for Dinner

So the girls and I sat down for dinner and I began playing the Haiku Chronicle Podcast. The girls questioned my listening preference and I told them it’s poetry. Then Patricia said; Hello, Veronica as if we were sitting in the same room having a conversation. After that both my children were more interested in actually listening to the podcast. Of course neither one of them understood my Sylvia Plath inspired senryu. Rachael didn’t even realize I pulled the quote for her birthday back in May.

“I’m dead?”

You were the one telling me you felt twenty was old so when I came across the quote by Plath, I had to share it with you. I did post the full quote on her FaceBook page, but who reads their own wall. 😉 Then we had to watch the KFC/Game of Thrones commercial my cousin Russell posted on my wall as a comment. Why? Because I posted, When your child comes home reeking of chicken, I told her she had a weird job. No, we did not have chicken for dinner. Didn’t think it would be right to feed her chicken after she euthanized them for necropsy at work today.

This was our Tuesday. How did your day unfold?

#NaPoWriMo 2018 Day Nineteen

Most of the trees in our park have a base trunk and then fork off into two separate trunks, making a V pattern that is easy for a child to straddle. After Rachael pointed out the horse to me, I realized that was what she wanted to do. I stood there in total bewilderment as to how her little mind saw this tree as a horse.
Carousel  Veronica Hosking 2003

Imagination

Little mind saw
V pattern
trees in our park
then fork
the horse
bewilderment
tree as a horse

NaPoWriMo Prompt – Our (optional) prompt for the day takes it cue from Brady’s suggestion that erasure/word banks can allow for compelling repetitive effects. Today we challenge you to write a paragraph that briefly recounts a story, describes the scene outside your window, or even gives directions from your house to the grocery store. Now try erasing words from this paragraph to create a poem or, alternatively, use the words of your paragraph to build a new poem.

Good Morning! And Welcome to day nineteen of #NaPoWriMo. Where I figured why reinvent the wheel and copied a paragraph from my first published story. Not sure about what I chose to erase or my arrangement into a poem, but it was an experiment. After work today, Gretchen requested help with her Eng 102 assignment; I’m not sure how much time I’ll have for poetry. I figured I should attempt something now.

Write a paragraph
Create erasure poem
Involves striking words

See tree as a horse
Involves imagination
Child’s wonderful mind

NaPoWriMo 2016 Day 16

Apropos for April

 

Childhood Dream

At the kitchen table she writes
Several years removed from hometown
Young girl dreamed beneath the starlights
One day she could be well renown

Several years removed from hometown
Housewife prattles poetic verse
One day she could be well renown
Across the world her words traverse

Housewife prattles poetic verse
Inspired by Dear Mr. Henshaw
Across the world her words traverse
Write what you know even when blah

Inspired by Dear Mr. Henshaw
Mother puts down in words her life
Write what you know even when blah
Young girl grew to become housewife

Mother puts down in words her life
At the kitchen table she writes
Young girl grew to become housewife
She still dreams beneath the starlights

NaPoWriMo Prompt – Today, I challenge you to fill out, in no more than five minutes, the following “Almanac Questionnaire,” which solicits concrete details about a specific place (real or imagined). Then write a poem incorporating or based on one or more of your answers. Happy writing!

No more than 5 minutes – I had a hard time with some of the questions. But I have dreamed of being a writer ever since the 3rd grade and I read Dear Mr. Henshaw. Great link to click on, as yesterday Gretchen came into the kitchen and said, You’ll have to say goodbye to me at the door. I replied, Yeah I do that every morning.

But today I’m going to school and not coming back.

Yay! I’ve been trying to achieve this for years.

Mom! I’m wearing a red shirt. The red shirts never come back.

Well yesterday she must have been Scotty because the red shirt did return in the afternoon.

And speaking of prattling in poetic verse, I did say I’d give the pantoum another go sometime in April. Since we are past the halfway point, I thought today was a good day to try.

NaPoWriMo Day Three – Charm

Charm to Stop Birthdays

Children grow up too fast
Tomorrow marks thirteen
So this spell I will cast
Needed – One time machine
Travel back to the past
Make my girl’s childhood last

 

 

NaPoWriMo Prompt – And now, the (as always, optional) prompt. In keeping with today’s status as the third day of NaPoWriMo, I challenge you to write a charm – a simple rhyming poem, in the style of a recipe-slash-nursery rhyme. It could be a charm against warts, or against traffic tickets. It could be a charm to bring love, or to bring free pizzas from your local radio station. 

 

Speaking of radio stations, one of the founding editors of Stone Crowns magazine was interviewed on his local NPR station.  I was privileged to have my poem, “Spikier Spongier,” published in their second issue.  I printed the poem out, and while it was sitting on my fridge, one of my oldest daughter’s friends was over and read it. 

“James and the Giant Peach was one of my favorite books growing up. I never thought the Aunts died.”

The poem said the peach flaunts after rolling over the Aunts; not that the ladies are dead.  But I guess reading it in my perspective made her think the Aunts were permanently dispatched.  Pardon me, since I don’t think my anti-growing charm will work.  I need to wrap some birthday presents. Can anyone tell me how to get a hold of the thirteenth (12th) Doctor?