April 2016 Poetry A Day: Week 5/5

It's the final week of the Poetry A Day Challenge!  My thoughts on the challenge will be given after this weeks prompts.  Speaking of prompts, 2016 April PAD Challenge: Day 25 prompted for us to write a poem about exercise.  My first thought was the emphasis on health and exercising for that, but there are so many types of exercise, that suddenly I was trying to figure out which type I wanted to write about.

EXERCISE

enveloping so much

from drills to runs to writing

each has its own type

The military uses exercise

to help get the recruits in shape

Known as drills or just trying to be killed

There are writing exercises

like following prompts

or mapping out a story

Exercising rights

is another concept

that has come under fire

Of course, Tuesday is double-prompt day.  This time we received the prompt to write a love or anti-love poem.  I had to double check, and yes, it's 2016 April PAD Challenge: Day 26.  If you remember in my Future of April 2016 post, we did a similar one as a warm-up for the PAD challenge.

Against most anything

Not caring for emotion

Telling themselves it's not real

Intelligence is more than heart

Loyalty reigns supreme

Ongoing even when their being a bastard

Veering thanks to their heart

Ever willing for some emotion.

I know it's a bit of a strange acrostic poem, but it works for me.  I'm just not sure on how to title it.

So the 27th was Administrative Assistant Day.  I think this was a more PC (politically correct) term for National Secretary's Day, but I'm just as likely wrong.  So for all the administrative assistants out there, thank you for the jobs that you do.  The prompt for the day was not exactly based around it being Administrative Assistants Day.  No, the prompt for 2016 April PAD Challenge: Day 27 was to write a take off poem.

TAKE OFF

I wished to live off grid

to be as independent as I could

Life just wasn't willing

and Fate agreed with her

I tried to distance myself

to cut off ties of old

but Life just wasn't willing

and Fate agreed with her

So I let them carry me

with Destiny's aid

to where they wished me to be

and not where I truly yearned

For I wished to take off

disappear in the distance

Fate and Life and Destiny

they had different plans

They chose to inundate me

with friends and family

who could freely leave

while I stayed stationary

I think he really likes those poems where there's a blank for a person to finish the title because the prompt for 2016 April PAD Challenge: Day 28 was "Important ___________".  So here's my attempt at it.

IMPORTANT DECISIONS

there comes a time

in every life

when a decision

must be made

it may be big

it may be small

but to be made

must be done.

They are important

no matter the size

decisions to be made

in every life

Two more days, two more poems.  I don't know why, but it's a bit bittersweet.  Will I keep writing poems after this?  Sure, but only as the muse strikes me.  I'm very much a spontaneous writer.  I tend to be a pantser in NaNoWriMo events.  That's why the prompt for 2016 April PAD Challenge: Day 29 made me smile.  The prompt was to write a haphazard poem.

HAPHAZARD WRITING

For most

planning takes precedence

For me however

it's just too much

Too take things away

and when i wish

this is my plan

for every event

i write as i wish

i play, eat or work

it's makes no difference

it just seems right

so take your outlines

calendars and lists

and burn them in bonfire

of failed plot bunnies and trysts

i'll write as i see fit and

enjoy the results

if someone else likes them, great

if not that's not why i write anyway

This brought us to the final day of the PAD challenge.  It's nice to know that even if I didn't write each one on the day they were posted, I've written thirty different poems in a month.  2016 April PAD Challenge: Day 30 gave us our final prompt.  As is fitting for the end of a poeming event,  the day's prompt was to write a dead end poem.

DEAD END POEM

they said it was easy.

they claimed it would flow

if you just sit  down and write

the words would make themselves known

it didn't work the way they said

it refused to flow as they claimed

i tried to sit down and write

the words refused to reveal themselves

Then suddenly it changed

the words, they came

the poem flowed

even if it wasn't in a poetic form

the words stopped as suddenly as they came

the poem isn't never ending

whether it's good or bad

it hit its own dead end

So there's the last of my PAD poems.  Hope you enjoyed at least one or two out of the thirty I managed to write out.  Was it easy?  I personally don't think any kind of writing is easy, but it was fun.  I wasn't sure I could do the poems daily, but I tried.  I didn't write a poem a day, but I did write thirty poems which would have been a poem a day.  I enjoyed writing them even if they didn't always flow.

How about you?  Did you enjoy one of my poems?  Did you have suggestions for untitled poems?  How about going through the links to read other poets works?  Did you do so, and if so did you find one you liked?  Did you participate?  If so, did you enjoy writing them?  Leave your answers in the comments.

April 2016 Poetry A Day: Week 4/5

So, Monday was another return to the office which gave us the prompt for 2016 April PAD Challenge: Day 18: write an office poem.  Pretty self-explanatory, right?  Wrong, because it could be anything in the office, about any kind of office, or even the creation of an unique office.  It leaves it open to multiple things.  So since I recently started a job in an office setting, though it couldn't really be considered an office job, I thought I'd try to give a poem about offices from a perspective that is neither visitor nor office worker.

BEHIND THE SCENES

They get there early

receive little to no appreciation

these bastions of the office

Constantly present

They mop and vacuum

water the plants

stock supplies and even

clean the toilets

They dust and polish

every room

They have an office

and closets are numerous

They don't get recognition

though they keep those offices going

For how could the workers get by

without coffee, tea, or seeing the sky

So if you work in an office

Remember the ones

that work behind the scenes

your maintenance staff

On Tuesday, once again, we received a two-for prompt.  The first 2016 April PAD Challenge: Day 19 prompt was to write a "cool" poem, while the second was it's opposite: an "uncool" poem.  We weren't given any qualifiers or expansions on these, so temperature versus fads versus whatever you think would be cool or uncool.  It leaves for a lot of interpretation.

NERDS AND GEEKS

They claimed we would never be cool

Games would never be in

That knowledge while power

would remain epically uncool

They never saw Gates nor did they

realize their claims would set in motion

a revolution that was fought

Though not in typical fashion

We flooded our own conventions

We refused to hide our pride

We proved that it didn't matter

Nerds and Geeks may have once been uncool

Then they rose to the forefront

Became stars in every realm

Actress mathematicians and gamer action stars

Nerds and Geeks are now an expected cool

I know, but I couldn't keep from doing another poem dealing with "nerd culture."  I keep hoping to find one that is actually prompted...I think it would be a unique set of poems.  There are so many that would either be completely against things within said culture, or that would be the culture's steadfast guardians, that I truly think it would be a phenomenal group of poems!

2016 April PAD Challenge: Day 20 we were prompted to write a poem about things unsaid.  Such a huge expanse again to choose from!

THE UNSAID

There are words never spoken

lest it's too late

for any true meaning

to be derived

There are events never mentioned

hidden in the annals of history

be it for our safety or to keep

us from destroying everything else

There are names never given

for the lives too short

nor are there books writ

for the journeys to bored

No matter where one goes

there is hidden messages

in the silence surrounding

The Unsaid

Apparently, Wednesday was another holiday day.  Poem in your Pocket Day gave us the idea for 2016 April PAD Challenge: Day 21 prompt which was to write a response poem.  Brewer even gave us a few poems that we could respond to if we were having problems working on it.  I decided to make mine in response to one of my earlier poems.  This particular poem can be found in my post April 2016 Poetry A Day: Week 2/5.   Why don't you guess which one?

Time has passed 

some have left

it's not so hard to know

whose new and whose old

The bumblers and stumblers 

have either left or entertained

having fun the whole way

learning as they go

Experience helped but

didn't really matter

for their enthusiasm made

it hard to see them go

It took quite some time to figure this poem out which is why this post is going to be late being published.  Sorry, but apparently my muse refuses to be rushed!

The prompt for 2016 April PAD Challenge: Day 22 was to write a "Star _______" poem.  He gave some examples but all I could think of was:

STARTING ANEW

they said I wasn't going anywhere

they claimed I should give up

I chose not to listen

And now I've a mess to clean up

It doesn't worry me any

It makes me strive even more

I keep wondering why

they think I need something else

I'm always starting something new

Something that catches my eye

It never gets finished

I hit a snag every time

I lose a random chapter

or find it doesn't flow

My muse has gone missing

and with it my willpower

But now I'm going back

To those unfinished projects

I'll restart them this time

Keeping the old as reference

I'll start each project anew

I'll study what went wrong

I'll stick it to my naysayers

And I'll finish them this time

The poem kind of stole my fingers and hijacked me while I typed it, but that's why I'm here.  So the stories and words that need expressing will hopefully be expressed.  Thank goodness there's a title!

2016 April PAD Challenge: Day 23 prompted us to write about footwear.  If not making it the star, at least mention footwear somewhere in the poem.

BAREFOOT PREFERANCE

Just when I thought things couldn't be better

They got terribly worse

I had no sweet boots or 

striking sandals

There lay no comfy sneakers

or worn-in flip-flops

Just a pair of too small pumps 

or work boots needing lacing

Why can't we roam barefoot

feel grass beneath our feet

enjoy a sudden dip in a puddle

Let our feet breathe

But no, when we go out

they need protection

from the bees and the gravel

from the heated sun or frozen snow

The title wasn't really that surprising to me, to be utterly honest.  The take the poem took did since I wanted to highlight on being barefoot instead of wearing shoes or really any kind of footwear, not even socks!  The poem however decided on a different flow.  Hope you enjoyed it!  I must admit though, I almost tried to make it a Doctor Who tribute.  Figuring out all the pieces of footwear just the Doctors wear would tire me out though!  Although, I guess I could have thrown the term Sand Shoes in and most fans would have gotten it.

2016 April PAD Challenge: Day 24 is the last Sunday for the poem a day challenge.  I'm hoping you've been enjoying mine and following the links to enjoy some others and perhaps even try your own hand.  The prompt for this particular Sunday was to write a lost and regained poem.  It's tempting to include the saying of letting what you love and if it's truly love or if it love's you it'll return but it just didn't feel right for this particular piece.

The time is past 

when it was seen as 

cute or adorable

Now we get to pass that on

to the youth who happen

to be one half us

It's short and has no title, but it works, at least for me.  Just a reminder, for those who like me find title-less works annoying, if you have a title suggestion, leave a comment about it.

Next week is the last week.  The last of the poems and a quick overview of personal feelings during this particular journey.

April 2016 Poetry A Day: Week 3/5

On Monday, a very wet Monday, though with it being spring I really should not be surprised, we entered the second trimester of this poem a day challenge.  Thankfully it was another prompt that leads to a large array of choices.  2016 April PAD Challenge: Day 11 gave us the prompt for a defensive poem.  It took me a lot of thought to put this one together.

Wanting to do more

Expecting to do more

Strategies in place

To hinder every step forward

Things change 

people move around

Accusations are made

Offense is the best Defense

With an old episode of Biggest Loser playing in the background, I finally managed to put some semblance of a poem together.

Once again Tuesday was a double prompt day.  2016 April PAD Challenge: Day 12 gave us the choice of either writing a serious poem or silly poem.  Of course a person can always choose to write two poems, one for each prompt.  This could be a bit of extra work or they could be combined like I did last week into one poem.  Here's my attempt for this particular challenge.

SERIOUS VS. SILLY

Sullen

Enamored with silence

Remaining unhumored

Intrigued to solve the mysteries

Only to be disappointed 

Until deciding to become

Something other than serious

Standing in circles

Intriguing moments of

Laughter and

Love

Yearning for continuous joy

Surprisingly, I knew the title before I even thought of what type of poem or how it would be worded.

Wednesday we were given another _______ poem.  This time it was "Last _________" for 2016 April PAD Challenge: Day 13.  After recently hearing Shinedown's Second Chance, the only thing I could think of was "Last Chance"  which then made me think of a line from a different song, "this is the last night that you'll feel like this".  I can't remember the title or artist though...

LAST ATTEMPT

There comes a time

In every life

Where the liver decides

It's time to end

It could be their life

But more often than not 

it's just some thing

they've been trying for a while

they've approached it in various ways

Head-on, backwards, sideways

They've gotten tired of trying 

They've decided on their last attempt

They'll start something new

After this attempt

For now they feel

They're beating on a dead horse

Thursday was 2016 April PAD Challenge: Day 14.  We were challenged to write a "time-out" poem and I had to take a "time-out" from poeming thanks to real life(RL) obligations.  So, now as I'm going back to finish out the week's poems, I find it slightly ironic.  But anyway, here goes:

TIME-OUT

I need a break

from deadlines and try-outs

from work and even fun

Yes, I need a time-out

before the stress buries me

and I somehow destroy my own world

Friday marked the halfway point in this challenge and with real life having forced a break, I wasn't sure what to expect.  So, when I looked over 2016 April PAD Challenge: Day 15, I was pleasantly surprised.  We were given a list of eight words and challenged to use at least four.  Can you locate mine?

THE TARRASQUE TOOTH TRACKED

Challenged on a quest

I daren't blacklist

the king who made

such a lavish request

He dared us five to journey

in a vessel of rare design 

to lands unknown in search

for not some gaudy ring

Nor was it plans 

upon paper of poor design

It took us across many lands

both hilly and flat

No, this particular quest

took us to the den

of the very rare tarrasque

in search of a single solitary tooth!

Well, it's pretty simple to spot them, I think.

Yesterday's prompt was great for foodie poets.  2016 April PAD Challenge: Day 16 basically told us to go out and eat.  We were tempted to, that's for certain!  It was to write a poem either about or in a food establishment, though I think the main point is to write one about a food establishment.

Journeying out

for late night munchies

Nothing too it

or so we thought

It turned from a quick trip

to a complete sojourn

as we quickly realized

we were late to our favorite haunts

So we googled and gps-ed

our way to a late night meal

finally settling

at a nearby Jack-In-The-Box

I thought I did fairly well.  Don't have a title, though.  Any ideas?

Apparently today is National Haiku Day(I really need to start up a blog about the daily holidays...Or someone should, anyway!)  In honor of it, 2016 April PAD Challenge: Day 17 challenges us to write a haiku.  We can also choose to right a poem about haiku's, but I do enjoy writing in this particular format.   I know I wrote one in Future of April 2016, but I don't like repeating efforts if I can avoid it, so here's my latest haiku.

HAIKU

take a five word start

seven syllable center

and five sound ending

Turns out, I decided a haiku about haikus was in order!  Hope you enjoyed this week's attempts.  As always, make title suggestions in the comments!

April 2016 Poetry A Day: Week 2/5

Week 2 of the Poem A Day challenge.  It's been a little harder to keep with it because I'm not adding these into my NaNo Camp project, at least not yet, but it's fun.  One of them might make their way into my NaNoWriMo project or another work (My Rock Falls series does have a few writers within.) So Monday's poem theme was distance.  Seriously, 2016 April PAD Challenge: Day 4 is to write a distance poem.  Upon reading this, my brain compared how I learned to tell distance with that of those who learned to use meters or miles.  Surprisingly, this poem gave me it's title before I even started letting it flow.

Varieties of Distance

They say distance makes the heart fonder

yet they contradict with

long-distance relationships won’t work

For distance between cities I’ve noticed

While several use miles and kilometers

Even more go by time

Distance works in length of songs, books, movies, too

But nothing is nearly as long

as the distance of a life

Nothing is as short either

For some life is ended at the start

Gone before they truly live

Others go beyond the distance of their life

Known generations later

For distance is just a measurement

2016 April PAD Challenge: Day 5 was actually a "two-prompt challenge."  He gave us the option to write an experienced or an inexperienced poem.  Since the word experience can refer to so many things, I have to agree with Robert Lee Brewer, the author of these posts, that this should provide a large selection of poems.  My attempt at an experienced/inexperienced poem is actually slightly influenced by the series Dancing With The Stars.  No, I haven't given it a title, but if you have suggestions, don't be shy.  Leave it in the comments!

They dance as gazelles run or grass waves

Magic leads every step

It’s so hard to know

just who is the professional and whom is new

Then there are those who

obviously have two left feet

stumbling, bumbling, and no sense of rhythm

dancing on a stage just to have fun

Does experience always matter

when you love what you’re doing

or when the story is so compelling

it makes a person forget the dismal dance they see

Day 6 was a bit harder for me to actually focus on.  Okay, so it was nearly impossible for me.  2016 April PAD Challenge: Day 6 was to write an "ekphrastic poem".  I'm so glad Brewer gave a definition for this and provides his own example of the poems.  Anyone who knows me well, knows that anything can be inspiration for a new piece of work.  In fact I couldn't tell you the number of times a picture I saw was the inspiration for a person or piece of work.  Look at my NaNo Camp project...it was inspired by a picture I took on my phone!  Either way, apparently an ekphrastic poem is inspired by a piece of art.  For mine I took a pic that I had saved to my husband's computer that had originally been shared by a friend (or was it group?) on Facebook.

Chained by a warrior

Of unrivaled power

She reeks of goodness

Though she appears dark

She seems almost calming

To the ghostly image 

Of a creature much worse

than any she'd known 

It came from a time

ere humans e'er lived

A time populated with

creatures more noble than she

The strength the pair exudes

The grace and nobility within

They eclipse all making night

seem like day and day like night

They overpower even Arthur

with his noble ideals and 

Knights of the Round Table

This flying creature and it's majestic captor

Apparently once again there was no title forthcoming from this poem.  Any suggestions are, as always, helpful.

2016 April PAD Challenge: Day 7 marked the end of the first week which is surprising as the month seems to be flying by.  This time the prompt is "Urban _________".  All I can think is 

URBAN RANGER

Tracking in the sewers

City streets make no difference

This hunter is at home

in a bustling city or minuscule village

They have no need

of learning the ways of the wild

or patterns of the tides

Not when they can weave through a metropolis

They've learned to track in the merchant's home

or through a thieves'guild's den

The urban ranger is no tracker of the wild

they are the bounty hunter of the old days

2016 April PAD Challenge: Day 8 had a prompt that gave me a bit of a memorable trip.  He says to write a doodle poem.  So here's my attempt and a title as well!

DOODLE TO A MASTERPIECE

I sit bored as I wait

Can't help myself 

On the blank page before me

I take a pencil and mark

The lines take a life of their own

the swirls expand to create

a picture of their own

A masterpiece from a doodle

I can't stop the connections

I can't remove the pencil

I don't remember why 

I was so bored before

For 2016 April PAD Challenge: Day 9, we were challenged to write a Hide Out poem.  As you'll see, my hideouts have never been in a physical place.  Likely they never will be. 

HIDEOUTS IN THE PAGES

Pull the blanket over your head

Grab the flashlight from beside your bed.

Disappear a bit from a cruel, cruel world

Into one we know will end happily

It may take hours days, weeks or years

But through the tears a smile will emerge

As each journey ends A forced return

From the hideout that exists between the pages

The stories that are used to hide away

from cruelties of a modern world

Hidden from our injustices 

by following the heroes of other worlds

That's where my hideouts are

They're between the pages of stories

The images in daydreams 

My hideouts have never been on this physical plane

Yes, a library worked 

So would a bed or chair or even hidden room

They weren't where I disappeared to though

It was in the stories on the paper in my hands

It was the romance of the wild west

The adventures in far off lands

Mysteries that needed solving

These are still the hideouts I seek

Today is day 10 out of 30.  A third of the way through the challenge and while I might not have written them daily, I'm proud to say that I have written a poem so far for each challenge.  So today's challenge, 2016 April PAD Challenge: Day 10, the prompt was to write a poem about an emotion using said emotion for the title.  With the wealth of emotions and their synonyms available for usage, I think the option  are endless.  So, here's my attempt.  Hoping you enjoy it!

JUBILANT

Joyous

Until the end

Birth is its beginning

Intelligence unneeded

Love can cause it

As well as

Numerous other events

Transcending most emotions

April 2016 Poetry A Day: Week 1/5

So, April 1 was the first day of the 2016 April PAD Challenge.  The poem we were tasked to write was "a foolish poem" - apropos for April Fool's Day.  Basically a poem involving fools, pranks, and/or tomfoolery.  So this was my attempt, possibly a bit more or less refined from the actual submission in the comments section for 2016 April PAD Challenge: Day 1.

Tricksters extraordinaire

Come out to play

On this 

All Fool's Day

Illusionists and hypnotists

Pranksters and general populace

Let out a side that's hidden

364 days of the year

From mild misplacement

And sleight of hand tricks

To worldwide dupings

Played upon unsuspecting targets

So enjoy it whilst one can

The pranks and tricks, hijinx and hilarity

For those unsuspecting victims

While it may end up cold - Revenge is sweet

I haven't thought of a title yet, but am willing to accept suggestions.  Go ahead and leave one in the comments.


For 2016 April PAD Challenge: Day 2, the poem was to be a He said, She said type poem.  It just seemed to flow for me, but once again I have no title for it.

He said he needed space

She claimed it was okay

He said it would be a short time only 

She claimed she would wait.

He called her to hear her voice

She said things were fine

He mentioned some places he saw

She said she was still waiting

He finally returned

She waited in the door

He went to greet her 

She stopped him with a bag

She said she needed space

He demanded why

She said she needed time

He replied she'd had enough

She pointed out that was his

He claimed she could have as well

She couldn't say anymore as she walked to a waiting vehicle

He tried to call her back

He never noticed the tears on her face 

Neither did she on his 

He didn't notice the changes

But neither had she

The biggest thing they missed

Besides each other 

The biggest thing left unsaid

Were three little words

Both had waited for the other to say them

Neither wanted to be first

To admit to those three little words

I love you

Today's challenge, 2016 April PAD Challenge: Day 3, is to right a "Three ________" where the _________ is a word or phrase.  With it being the third day of the third month, the only thing missing is a three in the year....

Three

three songs to describe

three ways to sing

just as there are three types of stories

to describe three styles of writing

Three games to play

Three cheers to yell

Three dances to try

Three ways to cry

Tragedies in three

But Blessings are sole

Couples are doubles or duos or bi

But Triples are trios or tri

I know, it's not exactly a "Three ________" poem, but it's what flowed for me.  At least this one has a title!  Let me know what you think of the poems or if you have title suggestions for me for the above poems.