NAPOWRIMO 2016 DAY 30

Write a poem translated from a language you don't know.

A poem by Hanshan translated from Chinese


COLD CHILL


The atmosphere up high
Is where the snow drifts
Take away your breath
Freezing on contact with
Thin air.
Swirling birds of prey
Are the only thing that
Dare to stand on cold mountain.

NAPOWRIMO 2016 DAY 29

Write a poem based on things you remember.


PAPA'S FARM


I remember Papa on the farm feeding grain to baby chicks
In their wire-mesh coops. Churning cow's milk into butter
From a giant silver bucket . Plucking huge blackberries off
A prickly vine in a ditch by the road side. Butchering pigs in the pen
And hanging the sausage in the smokehouse.

I remember Papa sitting on the back porch on a cool summer evening
After supper drinking Jim Beam bourbon from a paper cup and smoking
A hand made Cuban cigar.

I remember Papa as a hardworking man on the  farm.

NAPOWRIMO 2016 DAY 28

Write a poem that tells a story--the story should be told backwards.



FALL SCENE AT JOHN BISHOP PARK


Blowing in the wind
The smell of fall
Cutting the grass with
A lawn mower
Trimming tree branches
With an electric saw
On the highway
A car engine revving
A plane in the sky overhead
I sit and watch and listen

NAPOWRIMO 2016 DAY 27

Write a poem with very long lines.


ALL YOUR CARDS ON THE TABLE


If you know what I think I know you'll get yours now. Don't wait for the big meeting on high.
There might not be no pie in the sky bye and bye. You got to go
With your gut feeling, go for what you know. Don't wait until the day you
Die. There might not be no pie in the sky bye and bye. Go for what
You really know not what I think I know. Life is too short to presume.

NAPOWRIMO 2016 DAY 26

Write a poem that incorporates a call and response.



OH LORD SAVE MY SOUL


Down a long country road
By the wayside on the way back
From visiting the sick and shut-in
Rev stopped for peanuts and
Pepsi cola at a store in the woods
I heard by the edge of the road a
Church revival service going on
People singing

Come by here good Lord
Come by here

Mourners on their knees
At the altar bench praying
For salvation

Somebody need you Lord
Come by here

They prayed a mantra repeatedly
Feverishly
Oh Lord save my soul
Oh Lord save my soul

Somebody's praying Lord
Come by here

A mourner leaps up in faith
Yelling and shouting thank God
I found Jesus thank God I found Jesus

Oh Lord
Come by here

Parishioners led the new-born Christian
Away filled with the holy spirit
Singing thank
God I found Jesus

NAPOWRIMO 2016 DAY 25

Write a poem that begins with a line from another poem but then goes elsewhere with it.

...won't you celebrate with me - by Lucille Clifton



TURN IT UP


Come, come now won't you
Celebrate with me  life is
A blessing beyond our knowledge
To understand we were born
Free as the whispering wind

NAPOWRIMO 2016 DAY 22

Write a poem in honor of Earth Day

SAVE THE EARTH

Earth day celebrate

Living on this planet

So misused

Environmentally abused

But you can help

Help save the earth 

Plant  a new tree

Give a wildflower a kiss

Conserve energy

Walk through the woods

Hug a tree today

Long live Mother Earth

NAPOWRIMO 2016 DAY 21

Write a poem in the voice of a minor character from a fairy tale or myth.


THE BIG BAD WOLF

A girl on a mission all
Dressed in red all alone
Got food in a picnic basket too
Wonder where she's headed down
This path in the woods
I'm smelling those goodies in the air
Hot and succulent food too
Human cooking for a change
Food I don't have to chase down
Ready to serve ready to eat
I'm bout to have a delicious meal
Why are my teeth so sharp the better
To eat with my dear

The better to eat with

NAPOWRIMO 2016 DAY 20

Think of a single thing or person and then write a poem that consists of "kenning-like"*** descriptions of that person or thing.
***Calling something not by it's actual name, but by a clever, off-kilter description.


SILVERY MOON


The mood was perfectly right  cause the
Man showed his full face last
Night so I walked my honey love
By his light  a lop-sided sphere in
The night shining down as we both
Took flight.
Will you be my bubbly bright her smile
Said I just might.

NAPOWRIMO 2016 DAY 19

Write a "how to" poem, a "didactic" poem that focuses on a practical skill.

HOW TO MAKE A "U" TURN


Arm over arm lean
Into it now hold it
Steady now keep control                                            

Foot on  the brake now smooth
And easy now check
The rear view make sure
No cars are coming straighten
Out the wheel now that's it
Keep it moving now

NAPOWRIMO 2016 DAY 18

Write a poem that incorporates the "sound of home."


PAY AS YOU EXIT


The insurance man
Always came by the
House in the 50s  driving his
Late model Chevy to
Collect premium payments.
Yall get out and come in
Grandma would say smiling
And  going to get her purse
Be back directly.
I hope God will kill me
If I can't pay on time
Grandma would say smiling
Everybody needs to pay
For their own death

NAPOWRIMO 2016 DAY 17

Write a poem that incorporates at least ten words from a specialized dictionary.

(DICTIONARY OF ASTROLOGY by H.E. Wedech


ALPHA

When Ramses ruled
Ancient Egypt astrology
Reigned supreme overall
The knowledge of prognostication
Was at it's zenith
But during roman rule
Domitian banished it when
Astrologers predicted he would die
By the dagger and sent the art
Into a downward spiral which
Took it out of favor
For life

NAPOWRIMO 2016 DAY 16

Write a poem incorporating or based on one or more of your answers to the "Almanac Questionnaire."


 SWEET HOME


Columbus is the capital of
Ohio the buckeye state in
The mid-west where Dayton
Was the home of poet
Paul dunbar who took
His craft to the next level
With ease until disease ended
His writing life

NAPOWRIMO 2016 DAY 15

Write a poem that incorporates the idea of doubles.


DOUBLE-MINT



The pratt sisters
Are inseparable
Nearly identical
Not twins though
Born nine months apart
Closer than other siblings
In age they share in pairs
Even got two lovers they
Love  both the same
And they not ashamed
To admit it

NAPOWRIMO 2016 DAY 13

Write a poem inspired by fortune cookies.


TRY TRY AGAIN

Decide plan and act
Have the courage to make a mistake

Try and fail
Try and fail
Try and succeed

Every act of self control
Produces a feeling of self respect

Average people make mistakes

Have the courage to be wrong in the trivialities of everyday life

Try and fail
Try and fail
Try and succeed

NAPOWRIMO 2016 DAY 12

Write an index" poem


WHERE WOULD I FIND?



The thought of                                                                                                      
ABORTION
           Fertility    makes some people violent
                            enough to blow up buildings an
                            issue of
           Safety      so pray for those not wanting children
                            not to die especially

 ACCOUNTANTS       who manage the little money
                                     you have left in face of the IRS
                                     and

ADOLESCENTS        who don't really care but know that
               Defiance       equals danger and

               Drugs            become the detour
                                     to a happy life and
                                     empty wallet

                                      see ACCOUNTANTS
                                           

NAPOWRIMO 2016 DAY 11

Write a poem in which you closely describe an object or place, and then end with a much more abstract line that doesn't seemingly have anything to do with that object or place, but which, of course, really does.


ON SOLID GROUND


First set foot on
Brooklyn soil more like
Concrete in Marcy
Projects right outside 605
Park avenue when I was 10
Looking up because I had never
Seen a building down south taller than
One floor before where years
Later my own sons grew into
Manhood at 552 Marcy avenue tip
Toeing through the urban terror
That marked daily living
Beyonce' and rocafella records
Were still just a pipe dream

NAPOWRIMO 2016 DAY 10

Write a "book spine" poem

GREAT EXPECTATIONS


Ancient history
Is the collected poems
Of  Carl Sandburg  and the selected
Poems of Langston Hughes.
They are both an invitation
To read and write poetry.
Write down the lyrics of
Lowly life and poem your
Heart out.
Calling on all american poets
To learn about creating poetry and
Writing the life poetic.

NAPOWRIMO 2016 DAY 9

Write a poem that includes a line you're afraid to write.


FACING FEARS



This is the preface to
The line I'm afraid to
Write. Just know that
It takes a moment to
Collect and build up
Courage to go against
Myself and confront the
Boogie man like this so
Bear with me...

I'm not scared of dying and
I don't really care. If it's peace
You find in dying then let
The time be near.

There I wrote it.

NAPOWRIMO 2016 DAY 8

Write a poem about a flower.


FLOWER POWER


It was natural
High school lovers
Cultivated in the organic soil
Of our southern hometown but like
The domesticated sunflower that
Tends to spread rapidly
Becoming invasive dominating
The soil
Her love drove me out of
The garden of paradise

NAPOWRIMO 2016 DAY 6

Write a poem about food


FRUIT BOWL


Give me my little green
Apples. Let them mature
And ripen in the Sun.
Let them be nurtured
By nature's nutrients.

NAPOWRIMO 2016 DAY 5

Spend some time looking at the names of heirloom plants and write a poem that take it's inspiration from, or incorporates the name of, one or more of these garden rarities.


My childhood recollections are
Of the Burpee seed catalog
The mailman left
At our house filled with
Pictures of the flowers
My mother planted in her
Garden by the roadside
Zinnias and morning glories
In beautiful splashes of
Pastel colors that made
Springtime the
Season of choice

NAPOWRIMO 2016 DAY 4

Write a poem in which you explore what you think is the cruelest month, and why.





WINTER ARRIVES


Blustery winds blow and
Form a brisk Arctic chill
Over the land.
It forces gloves up
On the hands woolen
Caps down over the
Ears.
A slick icy frost ushers in
December closing out the year
With it's cold emptiness
A prelude to Springtime's warm
Embrace

NAPOWRIMO 2016 DAY 3

Write a poem in the form of a fan letter to a celebrity.


Dear Marvin Gaye
Thanks
Your music
Has given us good advice
We know how to handle
The romantic slice
Of
Life

NAPOWRIMO 2016 DAY 2

Write a poem that takes the form of a family portrait.



SNAP-SHOT


After the Lloyd-Joy family reunion ended
We-all crowded on the brick stoop
On Tompkins Ave for one
More pic before sundown.
Daddy already teetering taking turns
From a silver flask tucked next to Uncle JT's
Heart. Junior still in grown folks business busy
Peeking at Aunt Pauline's Jesus
On the cross tatoo inked on her chest.
Sissy sitting alone looking silly pretending
Like she don't care Grandma's cat
Tabby died last week.
And poor Momma trying to keep us holding
Those cheesy grins still one
More minute so she could
Click-clap-flash capture another
Snap-shot for her prized collection

NAPOWRIMO 2016 DAY 1

Write a lune:


Tic-toc You Don't Stop


Life keeps you busy

At all times

Going, going, gone.