Boston Marathon poems and more

Two weeks ago the Boston Marathon bombings racked our world. Ever since I’ve experienced uncontrollable tears and deep sadness whenever I read or hear anything about the dead, the injured, the survivors, the heros, the young men who allegedly did the deed.

Times like these bring all the pain of losing my son back. Especially the suddenness of his death. They also remind me how important it is to take care of ourselves in whatever way we can. Writing usually helps me. I’ve been journaling like crazy lately, and I selected three of Robert Lee Brewer’s prompts for the April Poem A Day challenge to write about that unconscionable event in Boston.

HUNDREDS OF SNEAKERS FROM FELLOW MARATHONERS 

HANG ON THE BARRICADES SURROUNDING THE MEMORIAL. 

PHOTO BY REGINA MOGILEVSKAYA

15. write an infested poem. There are many different infestations–from physical infestations to infestations of the heart and soul.

Infested with Violence

Guns abound used for

mass killings at our schools.

North Korea's young leader

with an itchy trigger finger

gets ready to nuke the world.

A Ungandan named Kony

steals children, training them

to be murderers and whores.

And today we found

it isn’t even safe

to compete in a marathon.

Bombs awaited the runners

just as they sprinted

through the finish line.

16. a Two-for-Tuesday prompt. Here are your options:

• Write a possible poem.
• Write an impossible poem.

Impossible

It is impossible to fathom

what goes on in the mind

of someone who decides

to kill and maim total strangers,

people who never did any harm

to the perp.

How does a mind

like that work?

22. write a complex poem. Complex is a complex word that can refer to mental state, apartments, difficulty of a situation, and so many other complex situations.

 A Complex Question

As I asked my husband this morning,

shouldn’t a sales person alert the authorities

if someone from out of state

(she took his name and address)

came up to her and wanted to know,

about the most powerful material in the store,

and then bought two bags of that stuff

paying over $400 in cash?

Now I realize this was a clerk in a fireworks store

and buying gun powder is like buying guns,

and  people have a right to do that.

But I can’t help just asking.

Two more April PAD challenge poems

I submitted these two poems and three others posted here to the April 2012 PAD challenge contest. Robert Lee Brewer promises results in August.

I love succulents. 

Their colors are like a poem.

Day 22. The prompt was to write a judging poem

From the looks of it

Food TV’s Chopped judges

all seem to disagree

about the texture, taste, seasonings,

cooking style, and presentation skills

of the chefs competing on the show.

And yet, when their bickering

time is up, they say,yes,

nodding their heads up and down.

They know for sure

who is in and who is out.

How do they do that

this viewer wants to know.

Day 23. The prompt was to write a morning poem

I walk in the dark

of the morning,

just before a bit of moon

and the few remaining stars

give up their space in the sky

to the first light of dawn.

April poem a day challenge

In honor of National Poetry Month, Robert Lee Brewer, editor at Writer’s Digest and creator of Poetic Asides, holds a poem a day challenge. I love to take the challenge because his prompts are always fun. He also provides his examples to help get us started. This month Robert has also created a platform building challenge through his blog: My Name Is Not Bob. I’m doing that one as well.

Here are a few of my April PAD poems with Robert’s prompts.

Day 5. Write a poem about something before your time. Maybe it’s a certain time in history. Or a type of music. Or a story that was shared by friends or family–before your time.

Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris

brought back a world before my time

and people that I would kill

to have known:

Hemingway, Stein, Fitzgerald

Porter, Baker,

Picasso, Man Ray, and Dali

all in the raucous 1920s.

And for a little more romantic and quiet

take he took us even further back

to the 1980s Belle Epoque

and the artistic worlds of

Toulouse-Lautrec, Gaugin, Degas.

If I can’t be as lucky as Gil

to go back in time,

Woody’s homage to the creativity,

beauty, and romance

of the City of Lights long past

will have to do.

Day 10. Today’s “Two-for-Tuesday” prompts are: 

1. Write a Forest poem or 
2. Write a Tree poem.

Three Palms (Tweet-length)

Outside my window I only see

their wide round trunks

still wet from last night’s rain

that seeped in streaks

into their vertical pores

Day 11. Pick a season (any season) and make it the title of your poem; then, write your poem. For instance, your poem might be titled “Winter” or “Spring” or “Rabbit Season” (if you have a sense of humor and like Looney Tunes cartoons).

What Spring?

In sunny southern California

we have no spring,

and no summer, fall, or winter

either for that matter.

Here the seasons are all mushed together

It’s never hot enough to break a sweat

or cold enough to see your breath

But somehow the flowers

know when to bloom

and the leaves

know when to fall.

Day 15. Use the following five words in your poem: slash, button, mask, strap, and balloon. Use them in any order.

In sharp sweeping strokes

he slashed the flimsy fabric

eliminating all traces

of straps and buttons.

He let the skirt flow free

to billow like a floating

balloon.

Challenges and writing work update

Yesterday and today’s assignments for the April platform challenge were to accomplish things I had already done – build a Facebook profile and give myself a Twitter name. I also have a Facebook author page. So I was ahead of the game there. 

However, Robert Lee Brewer is always very generous with his helpful hints. I’ll give you the links to Day 3 and Day 4 here and you can visit both sites if you’re interested in learning more. I feel that I know very little about how to use Twitter so I can use all the help I can get. I have, however, heard that Re-Tweets are golden. I had two yesterday that got to thousands of followers. I guess I’m doing something right.

I’m also keeping up with my goal of writing 1000 words on my novel a week, and I'm now writing a poem a day for Robert Lee Brewer’s other April challenge. The prompts are always interesting. Today’s was: take the phrase 100% (blank), replace the blank with a word, make that the title of your poem, and then write a poem. So far my poems are very drafty. They will need a lot a work before the end of the month. But at least I’ve written something to work with.

And in case you’re interested, here’s an update on the hummingbird.

The hummingbird is gone. I went out to check yesterday morning and it was nowhere in sight. The day before he was quite active. He was talking, turning his head every which way, and sticking his beak into the hole in the squeeze bottle spout to drink.  Every time I came by he opened his mouth. I was told to try putting him on a tree branch, so I did. But he was back on the path within twenty minutes. Maybe that showed him he could fly and he just finally got up the nerve to fly away. I hope so. I’ve left a hummingbird feeder out for him in case he comes back to his old neighborhood. After all he lived outside our front door for almost a week.