NaPoWriMo Day 22 –word play

Prompt Day 22
Today, I challenge you to write a poem for children. This could be in the style of a nursery rhyme, or take a cue from Edward Lear or Shel Silverstein.

It could rhyme
it could not
either way
it hits the spot


kids all ages
love their pages
word play fun
has just begun

it's pouring rain
don't disdain
rhyming all
or rhyming none!

NaPoWriMo Day 30 –fare thee well

Today, as befits the final poem of NaPoWriMo, write a poem of farewell.  Find some examples in this selection of goodbye-and-good-luck poems from the Poetry Foundation website.

Old Man Winter, fare thee well! 

Old Man Winter, fare thee well
Glad to see you gone a spell
You were a wickedly horrible master
The more snow fell – I shoveled faster

 Knee-deep in snowfall I felt empowered

Our three seasons: construction, bugs, snow

Despite wishing to see things flowered
Rain it falls and wind it blows
Glad it seems: no more snows

 Down in the south tornadoes wreak havoc
No one there lies on a hammock
On the horizon grass will need mowing
Water will run, hurricanes blowing

Construction, snow and bugs; our seasons
Some will say they are our demons
Building character they teach us patience
Canadians cannot have complacence

 In the meantime, spring flowers bloom

Phoebe nest 

Colourful faces erasing the gloom
Birds they have begun their nesting
Bugs, like mad, they've been ingesting

Nature awakens, begins to smile
I'll enjoy it here for just awhile
Leaves and buds begin to swell
Old Man Winter, fare thee well!

NaPoWriMo Day 25 – Anaphora

Prompt
Anaphora is a literary term for the practice of repeating certain words or phrases at the beginning of multiple clauses or, in the case of a poem, multiple lines. The phrase “A time to,” as used in the third Chapter of Ecclesiastes, is a good example of anaphora.

 I take a deep breath, beginning anew...
Glorious time of year as garden wakes
I've spent hours using rakes
Creating sanctuary birds return
Twitterpated, I do discern

I take a deep breath, beginning anew...
Chickadees flutter, preen and cajole
Fluttering above the grassy knoll
Surprises daily in my inherited garden
My skills the plants they duly pardon

Painted Lady, flowers

I take a deep breath, beginning anew...
Successes better a list to keep
For past mistakes I've buried deep
Each trial and error and tribulation
Do not require cogitation

I take a deep breath, beginning anew...

As Phoebe begins their ritual yearly

Females taken cavalierly

Daffodils their heads they raise

Springtime's here, we all do praise

 

NaPoWriMo Day 28 – news headlines

Day 28
Find a news article to write a poem using (mostly, if not only) words from the article! You can repeat them, splice them, and rearrange them however you like.
This is a good prompt. I remember giving students newspapers and they 'wrote' poems using headlines, physically cutting and pasting them. I thought using the 'life' section or the Ottawa Citizen might bear some fruit.

a fashion show
a night to remember
for the slim and the trendy
I'm no club member

dieters offered hope
a pill to turn off hunger

you'd have to diet to fit into fashion
afraid I'd eventually turn up ashen

is there a trend here?
Canada's obesity epidemic exaggerated
media makes us look saturated

drug resistance has spread worldwide
Superbugs cannot be denied
keeping clean is one great practice
also fights against malpractice

Fight affluenza by giving back
I'm feeling peckish– want a snack?

NaPoWriMo Day 26 – curtal sonnet

Day 26
Today’s prompt comes to us from Vince Gotera. The curtal sonnet is shorter than the normal, fourteen line sonnet. Instead it has a first stanza of six lines, followed by a second stanza of four, and then closes with a half-line. The form was invented in the 1800s by Gerard Manley Hopkins, who used it in his famous poem “Pied Beauty” .

Mother, take it easy

I nagged my mother about this kind of thing.
Confronting her cancer, determined to be formal
Leaning heavily, making my dad some lunch.
Standing at the counter, visibly shaking
She wanted to create the illusion of normal.
Dad perfectly capable of finding something to munch.

She used to work Saturdays, when I was a child.
He'd do the housecleaning, acting as caregiver.
Susie Homemaker, shakingly she'd hunch.
I told her to save her energy for disease reviled.
    –But she would not listen.

NaPoWriMow Day 27 – an ekphrastic poem

Day 27
A lot of poetry prompters like to inspire an ekphrastic poem – a poem inspired by or about a work of art. I tend to use my own photographs, since most artwork is copywritten.

High Waters

Mother Nature is a powerful force
as rivers flow down its speedy course
her fury manifests in blowing rain
melting snow that fails to drain

dread seeps into my weary soul
along the river we cannot stroll
cold, white, rushing water flows
as bitter wind on water blows

what did we do to deserve this weather
we shiver in fear and huddle together
roiling water boils and lathers
basements flood as water gathers

recover we must as water recedes
for flora and fauna my heart it bleeds
kindness of strangers in helping hands
as all begin to clear the lands

Flooding Mississippi River 2014 from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.
You can see it is lowering, also the high water mark as evidenced from the debris on the shore. The swallows are happily dancing on the fast, high water at the latter part of the video.

We took a drive into Carleton Place to pick up a water barrel, and passed through Mississippi Mills. I was driving, and veered off to look at Mississippi Lake. The horror of flooding and high water, and the dank smell of mould haunts me. Not only that, but the tragic ferry incident in South Korea just gives me the shivers.

 It seems as if the media has abandoned those in southern Ontario affected by flooding. While the water has gone down, it's still pretty high for many families. Those who simply cottage there are far less affected than those who live there, for many cottages don't have basements.

 

NaPoWriMo Day 19 -sea shells

Day 19: OK. Weird prompt based on species of sea shells! I haven't seen a sea shell in ages, but I have seen zebra mussels.

With your Peruvian Hat
and your Strawberry Top
You pranced down the aisle
Like a proud Shuttlecock

A Striped Enigma
Your proud demeanor
Reminded me of
a Ghastly Miter

A Lazurus Jewel Box
Bereft of treasure
I crown you Sparse Dove
For deadly measure.

zebra mussels at the beach

NaPoWriMo Day 17 – a sense poem

Prompt Day 17
Today’s prompt is to write a poem in which you very specifically describe something in terms of at least three of the five senses. I used to teach this style of poetry, back in the good, old days!


stepping out on the dewy deck
inhaling scents of springtime
twittering birds register their glee
playing chase me in the forest
Pileated woodpecker hammers for bugs
Canada geese honk with joy on the pond
I hear them beckon
Phoebe chatters in complaint
her hubby hasn't chosen a nest site
time is ticking away
Coyotes howl in the forest
looking for breakfast
all falls silent for a moment

NapoWriMo Day 23 -inspiration

I eschewed the prompt for today. Instead, I wanted to reflect the sounds of the stone mason students in my video.

♪♫♩

tap tap tap
hammering
music to our ears
listen to the music again
what can you hear?
at first the pitch is sweet
the deeper in the deeper the sound
arms sore from the work
hear the sweat trickle off of their brows
rebuilding that which was laid down
sometimes they tap in concert
sometimes in harmony
repairing the work of those who have gone before
apprentices following a long line of pillars of the earth
the sound of tapping soon replaced
by the soft spread of buttery mortar
carefully mixed to the right consistency
placed like icing amongst old stones
caressing the stones
laid there 200 years ago
by long-dead Scots who crossed an ocean
desiring to build and create testaments




 

NaPoWriMo Day 24 –masonry

Masonry was the prompt for today! Here is a mason/poet who only writes of masonry!

Build it up

lift that stone
find the right one
make it fit
pick up another stone

note the standing wall on the right
Port Elmsley

eye it carefully
it just doesn't quite fit
don't throw it away
put it aside for another day
each stone is precious
alone
they do nothing
together
nested in amongst one another
they provide a firm foundation
a solid wall
an invitation
to set down roots
a lasting creation

I've been waiting for them to finish this beautiful set of pillars. They aren't yet done, which makes me imagine they are being done by a family member or a friend.
Perth, the town nearest to us, has a long history of masonry, with stone masons imported from Scotland to create some beautiful old buildings, dating back to 1816, when the town was founded.
Algonquin College teaches this craft. I've captured several videos of the students working. They do work repairing the buildings as part of their practicum. I happened by one day! The local stone, and the demobilized Scots officers with money, meant that they built a strong number of solid buildings.