April 16 to April 20 2021 Poems

April 10 to April 14 2021 Poems

April 1 to April 5 Poems

April 6 to April 9 Cosmos’s Poetry 

Cosmos’s 2020 April Poetry Part One

Cosmos 2020 April Poetry Part Two

April 2019 Poems

April 2018 Poems

2017 April Poems

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WHERE TO LISTEN to the World According to Cosmos

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on PocketCasts: https://pca.st/rt1f4r4r

Thank you.

Just posted on line https://formerpeople.wordpress.com/2021/04/21/lone-foreigner-

Commentary:

This is the fifth and perhaps final time I am doing the April poetry challenge.  The goal is to write at least one poem per day.  I am averaging about eight per day and posting four reserving four as “unpublished”. I am basing the poems on prompts from “Writing com Dew Drop Inn”, “Writers Digest”, “Poetry Superhighway” and “NaPoWrMo” prompt daily prompts and on “Pensively Prompt’ et all daily prompts.  I am combining prompts where possible.   I will post these here in batches every five days or so. Each poem will have an image that helped inspired the poem.  All postings will be podcast a few days later on Spotify and elsewhere.  Each posting will be a separate posting, but the index will be cumulative. The final posting will have the complete list of all poems written whether posted or not.   Comments welcome but please keep it civil. Some of my poetry tends to be a bit “in your face” or “political” from a “leftwing perspective.”  If it offends you in some way, please accept my apologies in advance.  That is never my intent.

This is part three covering poems written April 15 to April 20posted on the 21.

I am writing some other poems per day but not posting them as I need to reserve some “unpublished” poems. There will be a podcast version shortly on Spotify, Public Radio, and elsewhere.  I will list all the poems I wrote in my final April posting, May 1 KST. Posted

Index

April 15, 2021

Living in an SF World Writing Com Dew Drop-in
Topic: SF

Narnia beckons PSH Prompt
Topic:  Narnia

My Home Office Writer Digest
Topic: home

Cosmos Aller NaPoWrMo
Topic: Bio

April 16

Caregiving In this Day and Age Writing Com Dew Drop-in
Topic:  Corona

Dinosaur Story, Writers digest
Topic: dinosaurs

Coffee Cup Dreams PSH
Topic: coffee

Coffee Inheritance, NaPoWrMo Prompt
Topic: coffee

April 17

Morning rituals PSH
Topic: Morning

Ode to Berkeley Writers Digest
Topic: Berkeley

Met My Fate That Date Skeltonic Poem
Topic:  fate

April 18

There is no such place as Writing Com Dew Drop-in…
Topic: Oz, Narnia

Sounds Writing Com Dew Drop-in…
Topic: sounds

April 19

65 Years Young Writing com Drew Drop-In
Topic: Age, Meaning of Life

Howling with The Dancing Moon, PSH
Topic: Moon

Writer’s Digest Animal in Title – Cats Are Space Aliens
Topic: Cats

Anti-Vaxers, Anti-Masks, And Other Covid Idiots Poetic Rants
Napowrmo Prompt:
Topic: Corona

April 20
—Tree of Life… (See Link for A Drawing/Journaling Exercise)
Tree of Life
Topic:  Satan, Eden, God

April 15—Machines Writing com Dew Drop-In

The Robots are Coming

 

 

 

 

The Robots are coming
They will soon
Take away
More and more jobs

Leaving people free
To do other things

But what will we all do?
When the machines
Do everything

From driving and delivering
To cooking our food
Cleaning our houses
Cleaning our offices

Even doing our lawyering
And our doctoring
What will we do?

When the evil computer overlord
Emerges in the future
And enslave us all
To the robotic overlords?

Narnia Beckons PSH

Use five different colors.
Utilize each of the five senses
Write about your hand (what is it?  What does it do?) without using the words “hand,” “finger/s” or “thumb.”
Go to an imaginary place that is commonly known, don’t name it until the end
What did you do during covid that you wouldn’t have done otherwise?

 

 

 

 

 

Narnia beckons
Red dawning sun
Blue sky
Yellow flowers
Pink flowers
Golden flowers
By my side

Narnia beckons
During covid lockdown
Reading Narnia in Spanish

My Home Office Writer Digest

For today’s prompt, write a poem inspired only by stimulus from where you’re sitting (or standing, if you write will standing). In the past, I’ve written poems about pencils, characters in books I can see, and things I can see out my window when using this prompt. So, consider your immediate surroundings and poem away today.

For several years
I have had a home office
Chaotic, badly designed
Adhoc mess
But now I finally have
A decent home office

With a state of the art desk
That I can raise or lower
As I sit fit

My wife sits next to me
We can finally work together
Managing our real estate
And investments

I do my writing projects
With her at my side
Watching the news
Or listening to music

As we work side by side
In my peaceful home office

Cosmos Aller NaPoWrMo<

And last but not least, our (optional) prompt for the day. Today, I’d like to challenge you to write a poem that delves into the meaning of your first or last name. Looking for inspiration? Take a look at this poem by Mark Wunderlich, appropriately titled “Wunderlich.”

Cosmos Aller

I am Jake Cosmos Aller
Born John Cosmos Aller
65 years ago in Berkeley, California

I am the third generation Cosmos
The name comes from a translation
Of our German family name Aller

The story Is that my great grandfather
Wanted a middle name
To reflect an English translation
Of the German word “Aller”

He had a choice
“Cosmos” or “Universe”
He chose “Cosmos”

Otherwise
I would be John “Universe” Aller

My Grandfather was the first Cosmos
Curtis Cosmos Aller Sr
My father Was the second Cosmos
Curtis Cosmos Aller, Jr
And I am the third
John (Jake) Cosmos Aller

Either way
The name Cosmos
Is now my pen name

No one believes
This story

They all believe
I was called Cosmos
Because I was born
In Berkeley

And the name Cosmos
Seems appropriate
For a child born
In Berkeley

Which is a pretty
Cosmic city
After all

Unfortunately, I am the last Cosmos
In my family’s line
As I have no children

If I had a son
He would have been called
Robert Cosmos Aller

April 16

Caregiving In this Day and Age, writing com Do Drop-in

 

 

 

 

 

Caregiving in this day and age
Is difficult
As the Coronavirus wreaks havoc
Across the land

Thousands of people still dying
Every single day
As General Corona marches
Across the land

The caregivers are our unseen heroes
Saving lives every day
For very little pay

They do what they must
Providing care
to the elderly

The forgotten old people
Living their quiet life
Of despair

Dinosaur Story, Writers Digest

 

 

 

 

 

 

For today’s prompt, take the phrase “(blank) Story,” replace the blank with a word or phrase, make the new phrase the title of your poem, and then, write your poem. Possible titles include: “Toy Story,” “Super Long Unusually Strange Story,” and/or “Same Old Story.” Poem your story, so we can get at the second half of this challenge.

A metal dinosaur
Stands in a park
Deeply dreaming

The dinosaur
Comes to life
Millions of years
Have past

The dinosaur sniffs
Says to himself
Hmm I am back
Life is good

Coffee Cup Dreams PSH

 

 

 

 

 

 

Writing from the point of view of an inanimate object can open the floodgates. We carry things around with us everywhere – in our pockets, purses, backpacks, vehicles… but how do those objects see the world? This freewriting activity puts your voice to bed, while the object’s voice is finally spoken.

Dig through your backpack, purse, bag, junk drawer – and pull out the first object you touch.

Write a poem from the point of view of that object.

How does the egg timer feel about sitting on top of the stove when the cookies are done baking? What does the Costco Membership Card feel when you pass over it for Sam’s Warehouse? How does the maple syrup react when you reach for the honey instead?

 

My coffee cup
Contains dreams
It dreams every morning
As I pour my coffee

The coffee cup
Comes to life
Filled with delicious coffee

The coffee cup
Loves to provide me
With the pleasure
Of drinking coffee

The coffee cup smiles
His work is done

Coffee Inheritance

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And now for our prompt (optional, as always). Today’s prompt comes to us from Juan Martinez. It asks you to think about a small habit you picked up from one of your parents, and then to write a piece that explores an early memory of your parent engaged in that habit, before shifting into writing about yourself engaging in the same habit.

My father and mother
Were big coffee drinkers
They liked it black

My mother said
Coffee should be black
Like her heart

But her heart
Was filled with light
And love

She drank five to six
Cups every day

My father also
Was a big coffee drinker
They both drank coffee

All-day long
Oddly, it did not seem
To keep them from sleeping

Nor did it make them
Jittery
From too much caffeine

My parents did not allow me
To drink coffee
Until I was 18

When I finally join them
And became
A coffee achiever

Now when I drink my daily cup
I think back to my parents

Drinking their coffee
Thinking back
To my coffee inheritance

There is no such place

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is no such place
I often wonder
What would it be like
If the mythical land of oz
Or Narnia existed

If we could travel
To other realms

I wonder if
While I alive
If we will colonize
The Moon and Mars

And if I will travel
To the stars
Before my time is done

Sunday, April 18

Sounds

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sounds and sights
Of unknown worlds
Fill my head

I hear the temple bells
I see the sights
Of my dreams
Unfold in my head

Sounds and sights
Of worlds yet to be
Fill my heart
With anticipation

Monday, April 19

Acting your age (or not!)

65 Years Young
I am now 65
A senior citizen

But in my heart
I still feel
Like I am still
20 years old

People say
I should act my age
But what that means
If I think
I am still 20?

Sunday, April 20>

—Tree of Life…(see link for a drawing/journaling exercise)
https://nathanbweller.com/tree-life-simple-exercise-reclaiming-identity-directio…
Tree of Life

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the garden
Of Eden
Adam and Eve
Were forbidden
To eat the fruit
Of the tree of life
Satan sent a snake
To temp them
To eat the forbidden fruit
Of the tree of life
When they did
God knew
And banished them
From the garden of Eden
For their act of cosmic defiance

Morning Rituals PSH

 

 

 

 

 

 

If a stranger were to watch you through your window right now, what would they see and what would they say about it? Paint us a verbal picture. Play around with the point of view. You can be the observer describing what he/she sees in a third-person report, or switch it around to the first or second person

Sam Adams starts his day
The same way every day
He gets up
At the crack of dawn
Leaves his sleeping wife

Washes up
Drinks two cups
of coffee

Watches the news
While writing down his dreams
And his daily poetry

Thinking about life
Looking out the window
At the dawning sun

Lights up his living room
Thinking about life

He goes to his sleeping wife
Waking her with a kiss
Falling in love yet again

Ode to Berkeley Writers Digest

 

 

 

 

 

 

For today’s prompt, write a city poem. You can make the title of your poem the name of a city and write your poem. Or you can mention a city in your poem. And, of course, you can just set your poem in a city without naming which one it is. It’s also okay if you’re more rurally inclined, to just write a poem about the city slickers. As always, have fun with it.

I grew up in Berkeley
In the late 60s and 70s
A wild magical time
In a magical city
By the bay

Berkeley was the center
Of my universe
For many years

Until I left it
In my early 20s
To wander about the world

Yet Berkeley never left me
I am still in Berkeley
It lives on in my heart
And soul

And someday
I will return home
To reside

Before I finally leave
Berkeley for good
As I die in my homeland

Met My Fate That Date Skeltonic Poem NaPoWrMo Prompt

And last but not least, our (optional) prompt. Because it’s Friday, today I’d like you to relax with the rather silly form called Skeltonic, or tumbling, verse. In this form, there’s no specific number of syllables per line, but each line should be short and should aim to have two or three stressed syllables. And the lines should rhyme. You just rhyme the same sound until you get tired of it, and then move on to another sound. Here’s a short example I came up with.

Met My Fate That Date Skeltonic Poem

I met my fate
That cosmic date
When I first saw my mate

I went to her that date
She walked into my life
Later she became my wife

Howling with the Dancing Moon, PSH
Topic: Moon
If the moon could tap dance…

 

 

 

 

 

 

(Would it make a sound? What music is it dancing to? Where did it find tap shoes? What effect does it have on you?)

If rivers could wish…

(What would they wish for? Or have they already? Do they ever get tired of being wet? How about when something jumps in, falls in, takes something from them?)

If sunset could tell you…

(A truth beyond the horizon? Is it hard to say goodbye? What does it know that you don’t? How has it tried to tell you?)

A man
Sits drinking late into the night
On the night of the blood-red
Super blue wolf moon

The lunatic light of the moon
Inspires him
As he drinks
In that depraved din of inequity
On the left side of society

Drinking with his buddies
Johnny Walker, Jim Beam
Jack Daniels, Old Granddad
Drinking one Scotch, one Bourbon
And one beer

Watching the naked woman
Dancing on stage
He finishes drinking
20 drinks too sober

He walks outside
And sees the naked moon
Dancing up a storm

Flying across the sky
Ripping her clothes off

Tap dancing
To the insane disco beat
Of the bar

He gives in
Jumps into the sky
Dancing with the naked moon

Howling with the moon maiden
Like an escaped banshee
From the lunatic bins
Of Hell

Cats are Aliens -Writers Digest Animal Poem

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Cats are alien creatures
They are just so weird
So utterly inhuman

In their thoughts
And actions
They must have come
To this world
From another planet

Perhaps they are
The advance team
For the future alien invasion

Cats seem to communicate
Through telepathy

They seem to think
We are their slaves

Perhaps we are
And we do not realize
That they are the master race

Anti-vaxers, anti-maskers and other covid Idiots Poetic Rants
NaPoWrMo Prompt:

Topic: Corona

corona virus

 

And last but not least, our prompt (optional, as always). Today, I’d like to challenge you to write a humorous rant. In this poem, you may excoriate to your heart’s content all the things that get on your nerves. Perhaps it’s people who tailgate when driving or don’t put the caps back on pens after they use them. Or the raccoons who get into your garbage cans. For inspiration, perhaps you might look to this list of Shakespearean insults. Or, for all of you who grew up on cartoons from the 1980s, perhaps this compendium of Skeleton’s might provide some insight.

Amid the worst global health pandemic
In over 150 years
The world is filled with COVID idiots
Who denounces any public health measures
Designed to save lives

As an affront to their rights
To do whatever they please
Regardless of the impact
Their bad behavior may have

These COVID idiots
Refuse to wear masks
Refuse to social distance
Refuse to get a Vaccine
Even refuse
to wash their damn hands

They refuse to believe
That COVID is real
Until they or their relatives
End up in the hospital
Fighting for their life

If only these COVID idiots
Had worn a mask
Gotten a vaccine
They would not have become
Yet another COVID Ghost

The End