30 Day Poetry Challenge - Day Thirty

Day Thirty - Write a poem where something (big or small, abstract or concrete) comes to an end.



And in the End…

And in the end,
I stare at the precipice of eternity
A gaping, sucking maw of uniform chaos
Dissolving the foundations beneath my feet.

Grain after grain, stone after stone;
Everything that was safe and recognizable
Is crumbling to bracingly unrecognizable dust,
Bringing me closer and closer
To my own destruction… or my own reimagining,
For this could be my a new beginning
Just as easily as it might become my undoing.

Set in motion long ago by invisible cosmic forces,
Guiding me like a friendly cobblestone path
Through the thick of the forest…
I follow it forward with never a thought
Of where it might take me,
Telling myself I’ll turn back soon enough.

There is no going back for me;
The paths behind me are a faded wash
Of sandy, unattainable nostalgia,
Far beyond the grasp of my wishful fingertips,
So there’s only the end for me…

But do I let the ground fall beneath my feet?
Do I let the upheaval sweep me away;
A flailing, floundering passenger trapped
In the rush of a raging river’s current?

Or just perhaps… I’ll bring my knees in,
Hold out my hands before me,
Bow to the breathtaking rush of unknown
And spring forward into a graceful dive,
Proudly, and on my own terms.

Here I go…

30 Day Poetry Challenge - Day Twenty Nine

Day Twenty Nine - Write a prose poem. Not sure what a prose poem is? Visit: http://bit.ly/4B4diE

Bathed in Shadow

I was always afraid of the dark. I would constantly
Croak with dread as the lights inexplicably went out,
(Thank you, Chad) because that’s when the monsters
Were free to consume me; monsters that forever
Lingered out of the corners of my darting eyes, and
Within the shadows of my frenzied imagination. Then
One day came and the dark was no longer the icy shroud
Of terror that had once suffocated me with dread. I
Accepted the inevitable darkness; I welcomed it, in fact,
Because it brought still peace and an opportunity to
Understand myself. The monsters may still be waiting
For their moment of fury, but I now know that they’re
Far more afraid of me than I am of them. After all…
I’m Batman. (Okay… I made that last bit up.)

30 Day Poetry Challenge - Day Twenty Eight

Day Twenty Eight - Write a poem that’s less than 140 characters. If you’re on Twitter, tweet it!


A New Day Dawns

Golden solar rays trickle down;
A shower of resplendent hope
To tantalize my sleepy mind.
They coax me from my shell,
Inviting me out to play.

30 Day Poetry Challenge - Day Twenty Seven

Day Twenty Seven - Spend some time with an object you feel connected to. Write a poem using the object to construct an extended metaphor.


Imagine in C


Mouth harp lying on a table,
A lost soul, lonely and dying;
Cold and lifeless, it lies stilly,
Waiting for the warmth of caring hands
To compassionately cradle it
While healing commences.
Lips brush upon its airway…
The kiss of life begins.
Breathing in… breathing out…
Slowly; purposefully,
Until the lost soul cries out
In grateful revitalization…
Gleefully ready to sing again.

30 Day Poetry Challenge - Day Twenty Six

Day Twenty Six - Circle all the verbs in a magazine article. Use as many of them as you can to construct a poem. Title your poem with the article's title. (This poem was brought to with help from History Magazine.)


This Day in History
 

She debuts on my silver screen,
Starring in my wildest dreams,
Entertaining fantasy,
Collecting in my memories.

We’ll educate each other, when
Our fingertips connect and then
We run from start to in-between,
Then move on to our final scene.

30 Day Poetry Challenge - Day Twenty Five

Day Twenty Five - Write a poem inspired by a YouTube video. If you share your poem, be sure to share the link to the video that inspi…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8cfeTZNcA3g



Amazing Face

Twang… swoosh… thump… missed.
I’m getting closer; need to do what I gotta do…
Need to make it go;
Need to taste the sweet, supple victory…
Reload… draw… release.

Twang… swoosh… sudden popping blindness.
The taste of sweet, juicy agony
Splashes across my thunderstruck lips.
The world is spinning; confusing;
An explosion in my head as my senses numb.

What do I do now?
Gotta finish… there’s no turning back.

30 Day Poetry Challenge - Day Twenty Four

Day Twenty Four - Instead of writing a poem, compose it out loud. Use a tape recorder, your smartphone, or have someone else write it down for you. Don’t over think it! Spend no more than 15 minutes “writing.”



I Stand

I stand, the lonely;
Miles beyond my comfort zone…
Looking for a friend.

30 Day Poetry Challenge - Day Twenty Three

Day Twenty Three - Write a poem that fits on a post-it note. Stick it somewhere public. (Don’t forget to take a picture of it before you leave it!)  - For my part, I had stuck my Post-It on my workspace at the office where people can clearly see it and/or ignore it at their convenience. Since my handwriting is utter crap and my camera is severely lacking, I have included the text of the poem along with the picture of my Post-It.

Eating a Sandwich        

Eating a sandwich,
Day after day…
A soggy, cold, unfulfilling imitation.
Hungrily, I choke it down,
But find my appetite scarcely sated,
And my stomach longingly rumbles
For a bite of succulent lobster.

30 Day Poetry Challenge - Day Twenty Two

Day Twenty Two - “All you have to do is write one true sentence. Write the truest sentence that you know.” –Hemingway. Write a short poem that is also “truest sentence that you know.”


One Truth to Rule Them All…

In thirty two years,
I have peered microscopically
At our blue, purposefully-whirling orb
And a thrilling spasm
Of realization
Splashed over me like an icy wave;
What I know of the universe
Won’t fill the eye
Of a needle.    

30 Day Poetry Challenge - Day Twenty One

Day Twenty One - Modify someone else's poem posted from yesterday’s Creative Commons 2.0 part 1 prompt.


Is Change a Constant?

(Adapted from “Changing Family,” written by James Dubeau  http://www.inkstainedjeans.com/2013/04/20/changing-family/ )

The next day has come
And quickly gone…
More things have stayed the same
Than they’ve changed.
Maybe we’re not as old as we think;
Drink­ing beers and chat­ting,
While sit­ting around,
Play­ing video games
In air con­di­tioned Ozark cab­ins.
Inevitably,
life does change us,
Molding us
Into who we become…
That’s not to say
It will be a noticeable change.

30 Day Poetry Challenge - Day Twenty

Day Twenty - Write a short poem about change.

Your Daily Affirmation

The change you seek is outside your door…
You’ll find it at the adventure’s end.

The change you seek is deep within…
You must look closer.

The change you seek is the fruit of your labor…
You should probably get to work.

The change you seek is not just going to happen…
You have to make it happen.

The change you seek is scattered all about…
You might look beneath the sofa cushions.

30 Day Poetry Challenge - Day Nineteen

Day Nineteen - Write a poem about something you hold sacred.

Age of the Geek

I am a geek.

I dwell within a communal fantasia

Of infinite possibilities;

A vast highway with innumerable

Branching avenues

Of adventure and excitement,

Where robots and dragons

And gods and wizards

Hold dominion with a good blaster

At their sides.

I am a knight in the fanboy army;

Living by the roll of the dice

And clad in my Justice League armor,

I make my lifelong herculean pilgrimage

Into the planetary depths

Of epic geekdom,

Boldly going where millions have gone

Before…

A lightsaber in one hand,

A sonic screwdriver in the other.

I am Star Wars, D&D, Marvel, DC, WoW,

Harry Potter, Seth Green, Wil Wheaton,

Joss Whedon, George Lucas,

A Whovian, a Browncoat,

A Trekker, a Unicorn,

A Nerdist disciple,

A Geek & Sundry devotee…

I march proudly onward,

Waving my banner for all to see,

Confident in my noble company…

I am a geek… we are mighty.

 

30 Day Poetry Challenge - Day Eighteen

Day Eighteen - What’s your favorite color? Jot down three adjectives that describe that color. What’s your favorite animal? Write three adjectives that describe that animal. What’s your favorite body of water (general or specific)? Jot down three adjectives that describe the feeling it evokes. Now, imagine yourself in a white room, no windows, no doors, no noise. Write down three adjectives that describe the feeling that evokes. Now, write a poem using all of your adjectives in any order.

Color = Blue – Cool, Sorrowful, Quiet

Animal = Chupacabra – Bloodsucking, Fierce, Mythical

Body of water = Atlantic Ocean – Overwhelming, Freezing, Intimidating

White Room – Still, Uneasy, Maddening

Me Time

Alone in the quiet, still hours,

Lost to my own uneasy devices,

A fierce, mythical battle rages

Within my overwhelming cranium.

Bloodsucking vampires of burden

Bare intimidating, undermining fangs

With the bite of long-forgotten winter,

Freezing my sorrowful soul

As I stand on the cool, dry banks

Of an introspective bayou,

Looking out into uncertainty

And the deprecating cackles of voices, joking...

This whole affair feels awfully maddening.

 

30 Day Poetry Challenge - Day Seventeen

Day Seventeen - Use volta (a poetic turn) in a poem of any length (it can be a sonnet, or not).




The Slumbering Sonnet
 
The moonlight sparkled on a lazy pond,
As rippling winds dispelled its glassy sheen,
A weary boatman settled back and yawned,
And dreamt a little tantalizing scene.
Solar inferno-scorched volcanic lakes,
An airy heat-haze shimmering with gold,
A dancing mystic shaman plagued by aches;
The rueful debt incurred by getting old.
But as four naked penguins climbed palm trees,
And coconut-shaped bubbles blew away,
The boatman’s dream-filled eyes saw only seas
Of periwinkle blue and skies of gray.
And yet, though ten-mile tides came crashing in,
The weary boatman woke with giddy grins.

30 Day Poetry Challenge - Day Sixteen

Day Sixteen - Do you find it difficult to express one sense (sight, hearing, taste, smell, touch) more than others in your writing? Paying special attention to that often ignored sense, write a poem with exaggerated sensory detail.




Nestle Crunch


Smooth, glassy slab of chocolate
Slickly slides across my parted lips.
It melts into a silky sweet ocean
And splashes across my tongue
While the course, crispy underside
Grates my covetous taste buds
Like a tantalizing road rash.
Swishing, chewing…
I mull the confectionery bliss over
And let the flavor-Pompeii
Pop like fireworks over each receptor,
Until every last scrap dissolves
Down my hungry throat…
Then I take another bite.

30 Day Poetry Challenge - Day Fifteen

Day Fifteen - Experiment with a poetic form. Break all the rules!

Oreo Cookie

You are not misreading this

Strange haiku of mine

…but you are going crazy.

30 Day Poetry Challenge - Day Fourteen

Day Fourteen - Terza rima was created by Italian poet Dante in the late 13th century for his epic poem The Divine Comedy. It’s composed of “tercets woven into a rhyme scheme that requires the end-word of the second line in one tercet to supply the rhyme for the first and third lines in the following tercet.”

It’s sometimes considered too difficult to use this structure in English, but we're going to do it anyway! Today's challenge is to write a poem in terza rima.

Texas for the Cup

 

Seven skilled players thundering down the field,

Toward towering hoops; the target of their aim;

Armed with ball and broomstick, refusing to yield.

Scored one brilliant goal; the next was just the same;

They followed with three goals, four goals, five, and more,

Determined to know victory in this game.

Across the grass with balletic grace, they soar,

Guiding quaffles with surgically practiced hands,

Their deft aim flies true and elevates their score.

But one amongst them has the greatest demands,

For within his skill contains the match’s end,

And the crowd intently marks him from the stands.

Against his quick grasp, the Snitch could not defend,

And so the victory Cup, they’d apprehend.