April Poetry Madness 2024 April 26 to April 30, 2024 Poems
This is the fifth and final batch of my April Poetry Madness challenge poems, (for April 21 to April 25), following daily prompts supplied by Poetry Superhighway, Writer’s Digest, Writing Com Dew Drop Inn, and NaPoWriMo. I am not posting any more PSH poems, as I need to keep some unpublished for future submissions.
I have included the poem, the prompt, and occasionally a bonus poem or comment or two. I am also cross-posting this on All Poetry, Blog Lovin, Cosmos Funnel, Facebook, Fan Story, Instagram, LinkedIn, Medium, Substack, Wattpad, Writer’s Digest, Writing Com, and Twitter. This is probably my last time doing this. Just getting too old to keep up.
NaPoWrMo The Parliament of Owls Decree Death to All Humans
AV version The Parliament of Owls Decree Death to All Humans
April 5, 2024
PSH Love Expressed Through Food
WD Tell Me No Lies
WC Make Baseball Great Again!
NaPoWrMo Resurrecting the Dodo Bird
April 6
PSH Cosmic Dog From Goa
WD Meeting My Fate Minimum Poem
WC Daily Ritual Drinks
NaPoWrMo Only In SF
Part Two
April 7
PSH Visiting My Father’s Grave
Bonus: Yakima Dessert Blues
WD Meeting My Fate Minimum Poem
WC Why Trump?
NaPoWrMo Planetary Nut Re-Configuration Program
April 8
PSH Area Codes
WD My Lucky Number
WC Economic Perception Delay
NaPoWrMo Wish You Were Here
April 9
PSH Dearly Beloved
WD the Major Event of My Life
WC Death to All Humans
NaPoWrMo My Dysfunctional Family
April 10
PSH You Can’t Write That!
WD Better Political Discourse Needed
WC Green Trees Don’t Make It
AI Bing Version
NaPoWrMo Ode to My Coffee Pot
April 11
PSH Quote Poem About 9-11
WD Crazy Love Nonet
WC April 11—Eclipse/d two Lunatic Lune Poems about the Eclipse
NaPoWrMo Tribute to John Dean
April 12
PSH Subway Journey
WD Old Man Lost In His Old Memories
WC Civil War 2.0
NaPoWrMo 11 One Liners
April 13
PSH First Time to Eat Kimchi
WD Five Trumpian Humor Poetic Fragments
WC April 13—Discovery Shooting Down the Alien Visitors
NaPoWrMo Saga of Big Daddy
April 14
PSH 99 Haiku TBC
WD life worth Living
WC Tech Peeves
NaPoWrMo Shy Man Fishing
Part Three
Not posting PSH saving them as “unpublished)
Writer Digest Poems
April 15 New Middle Poem Middle Of Political Silly Season In The U.S. Trigger Warning Mild Political Rant
April 16 Trump Shardona Poem
April 17 New Tuesday prompt write a Shadorma poem about recent tech layoffs CEO To Labor Units of Production Shardona – You are Not Wanted
April 18 WD pessimistic Poem -not the Way to Fire People New Rules in the New Corporation World
April 19 Emotion Poem -fears of falling
April 20 The circus bear escapes
Bear in collar hears praise while rambling
alt. bonus poem Met And Married My Dream Lady
Writing Com Dew Drop Inn Prompts
WC April 15 Lament Drifting Towards Civil War 2.0
WC Prove Something – God’s Demented Sense of Humor
WC Question something -The basic decency and sanity of Americans
WC Scumbagology
WC Comedy – The Donald Trump Show is Getting Old
NaPoWriMo Prompts
April 15
My stamp collection
April 16
Late Night Earthquake Blues
April 17
What is Hip?
April 18 It’s A Dog’s Life for Me
April 19
Hunting the Monsters in Hell
Day 20 Trail of Tears – My Family Connection
Part four
Writer’s Digest Prompts
April 21 Romantic Trope -Fairy Tale Romance
April 22 Gaii’s Calls for Revenge Against Humanity Earth Day Nightmare
April 23 Donald Trump’s Trials the Heart of the Matter
April 24 Maximum Cruelty in the Name of Jesus in the Point
April 25 Insight into Trump Incite Homonym Poem
Writing Com Dew Drop Inn Prompts
April 21—Salient Image (poem based on one concrete thing you remember at day’s end) Seeing My Wife
April 22— Serio-comic dilemma -Election Choices Trigger Warning -Anti-Trump Rant!
April 23—Let Shakespeare be your inspiration – Fairy Tale Romance
April 24—Unexplored Desire Rule of Ten
April 25 TV Show Rocky and Bullwinkle background info
NaPoWriMo Poems
April 21 News Gives Me the Blues
April 22 Coffee and Tea endless argument – which is better?
April 23 Batman Feeling the Blues Kojiki Poem
April 24 the Dream of the Sphinx
April 25 Proust Questionnaire
Part Five
Writers Digest Prompts
Day 26 Life as a Coffee Pot
April 27 Old Man Lost In His Memories -Cornish Sonnet re-mix
April 27 Old Man Lost in his memories
April 28 I saw my Father Die Double Cinquain
April 29 Until the end of time
April 30 Beginning Of My Life Dream Cherita
Writing Com Dew Drop Inn Prompts
April 26—Noise Now My Home Korea
April 27—Beauty Korean Land of K Beauties
April 28 Secrets Diplomatic Secrets to Take to My Grave
April 29—The sense of an ending End of Trump Reality TV Show?
NaPoWriMo Prompts
Day 26 “Nattering Nabobs of Negativity April Poetry
Day 27 Insomnia Blues An American Sonnet
April 28 Meeting Dream Girl Sijo
April 29 Saga of Big Daddy
April 30 The Grim Reaper Gathers His Posse
Begin Poems
Writer’s Digest
Day 26 Life as a Coffee Pot
coffee
If I were to come back
As an inanimate object,
I would come back
As a coffee pot.
Giving pleasure
Every morning
To my master and friends.
As they enjoy the fresh coffee,
That is my Buddha nature
To make for them.
For today’s prompt, write a persona poem. A persona poem is just a poem narrated in the voice of a persona who is not yourself. Like I could write a persona poem in the voice of Batman or SpongeBob SquarePants or an abandoned payphone beside an abandoned gas station (which I just might do) or a stray cat. Pick someone or something, take on its persona, and write
2024 April PAD Challenge: Day 28
Remix title: Old Man Lost In His Old Memories
converted to Cornish Sonnet form
Sam Adams thought about that date.
On a fine date in September.
For that was the day he met his fate.
Sparks flew from heart to heart.
A date he would always remember.
She soon became his sweetheart.
When he saw on the bus he knew
That she would be his forever.
And that he would never feel blue.
As long as she was by his side.
He vowed they would be happy forever
As long as she was by his bedside.
Sam Adams thought about that date.
On a fine date in September.
The Cornish Sonnet is said by an internet source to be influenced by Arab traders to the Cornish coast . This verse form appears to be a merging of Arabic meter and the sonnet. Exactly when and how this came about I have yet to pin down. Early Cornish verse is fragmented and stingy at best. The earliest literature in the Cornish language were fragments of religious plays. The language became all but extinct by the 18th century but what was preserved demonstrates some verse in octaves using 7 syllable loose trochaic lines and alternating rhyme. Unlike verse from other Celtic origins, deliberate use of alliteration or other devices of “harmony of sound” are not present. This sonnet form doesn’t fit with these early findings so I can only assume that it arrived on the scene much later than originally presumed.
The elements of the Cornish Sonnet are:
lyrical meditation.
a quatorzain, 2 sestetsmade up of linked enclosed tercets, followed by a refrain which is the repeat of the first line of each sestet.
metered at the discretion of the poet, lines should be of similar length.
rhymed Ababcc Defdef AD The first line of each sestet are repeated in refrain in the last couplet.
The sonnet can be written with an alternate rhyme scheme aaabcbc defdef CF In this scenario the last line of each sestet is repeated in refrain in the last couplet.
I opted to not use traditional meter as I generally don’t handle that well for some reason
original poem about old man lost in his memories – spelling out his memories of meeting his wife
Memories
Of past events
Yesterdays
Overwhelming
An old man
Lost in his past
Can’t sleep at 0 dark hundred.
Note: “ O dark hundred” is military/intel jargon referring to the time two to three hours before dawn when operatives get up to get ready for dawn operations. Depending on the location and time of year it is between 2 a.m. to 5 a.m.
for me is 3 a.m. and 5 a.m. when I get the insomnia blues.
For today’s prompt, write a remix poem. Just remix one of your poems. It could be from earlier in this month or even from before this challenge. But take one of your already existing poems and remix it. If it’s a sonnet, make it free verse. If it’s free verse, try turning it into a triolet or villanelle. Have fun with it.
April 28 Dead Poem I saw my Father Die Double Cinquain
Curtis Cosmos Aller, Jr
Visiting My Father’s Grave
My father died.
when i saw my dad lying there.
I sensed his soul departing from his dead body.
It was as if a light had gone out, his soul escaped from his life.
I knew death then.
Prompt:
We are going to start Poetry Week with the Double Cinquain.
On an Internet search for new poetry forms, I found the Double Cinquain. The structure is quite the same, compared with the Cinquain, only the syllables have doubled.
How did the Cinquain go?
xx
xxxx
xxxxxx
xxxxxxxx
xx
The Double Cinquain have twice as many syllables, but still five lines.
So in a scheme it looks:
xxxx
xxxxxxxx
xxxx xxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxx
xxxx
Write a poem every day of April with the 2024 April Poem-A-Day Challenge. For today’s prompt, write a dead poem.
For today’s prompt, write a dead poem. Back on day 13, we wrote living poems. Now, we’re going to inspect the other side of that coin. A dead poem could take place at a funeral or involve a wilting flower that’s already been picked. Or it could involve the undead (like zombies and vampires). Or maybe a dead language, a dead culture, or as some people like to say, they’re just “dead inside.”
2024 April PAD Challenge: Day 29 Until the End of Time Tripple Cherita Poem
lovers kissing
I will love you from now
Until The end of time.
and beyond death
When we met, we both knew
we were Soul mates
Who were fated to meet.
Our love was stronger
Then time and space
And we found each other
As we looked at each other
Sparks flew between heart-to-heart
As we stared at each other
With love blazing from your eyes.
You hypnotized me
Mesmerized me
You put a spell on me
You love Mojo working overtime.
And I knew that I was yours.
Write a poem every day of April with the 2024 April Poem-A-Day Challenge. For today’s prompt, write a Until Blank poem.
Tomorrow is the final day of this challenge but remember: This challenge ain’t over until it’s over, so…
For today’s prompt, take the phrase “Until (blank),” replace the blank with a new word or phrase, make the new phrase the title of your poem, and then, write your poem. Possible titles might include: “Until the End of Time,” “Until the Cows Come Home,” “Until I Finish This Poem,” and/or “Until You Get Your Chores Done.”
2024 April PAD Challenge: Day 30 Beginning Of My Life Dream Cherita
My life
Began one day
In September.
When my dream lady
Walked off a bus
Into my life.
Write a poem every day of April with the 2024 April Poem-A-Day Challenge. For today’s prompt, we have our fifth (and final) Two-for-Tuesday prompt.
Today is our fifth (and final) Two-for-Tuesday prompt, and also the final prompt of the 2024 April Poem-A-Day Challenge. But it’s not the final prompt(s) of the year, because we’ll get back to Wednesday Poetry Prompts every week beginning tomorrow, and I am planning to lead the 17th annual November Poem-A-Day Chapbook Challenge in November (look for the guidelines in October).
For today’s Two-for-Tuesday prompt:
Write at The End poem, and/or…
Write a Beginning poem.
Writing Com Dew Drop Inn Prompts
April 26—Noise Now My Home Korea
When I first came
To South Korea in 1979
To do my Peace Corps duty
In a rural country town,
I thought that the old name
Of Korea
“the land of the morning calm”
Was absurd.
Korea was a noisy place
From early morning on.
Cars, horns, radio TV blaring
People talking to crowds everywhere
At night people drink and dine.
And loudspeakers
Blasting you awake
At 6 a.m.
And during elections
Sound trucks everywhere.
Now 45 years later
It is my home
No longer noisy
Chaotic exotic place
Just home.
April 27—Beauty Korean Land of K Beauties
lovers in the rain
I live in Korea
The land of plastic surgery
K beauty products.
Korean women are
Among the most beautiful
Woman in the world.
The cult of the beautiful
Everywhere you go
You see beautiful women
And men on the street,
And I realized I married
The most beautiful woman
In the world,
When I met and married
My Dream lady.
April 28 Secrets Diplomatic Secrets to Take to My Grave
I worked for 27 years
as a US diplomat
and witnessed a lot of things
that were and are considered
secrets.
– and we are trained
to keep these secrets
secret.
and I will no doubt die
and take some secrets
to my grave.
April 29—The sense of an ending End of Trump Reality TV Show?
While watching the Trump trials
I sense an ending
To the Trump Reality TV show.
As he is revealed to be
What he is
Nothing but a charlatan
A con man, a grifter.
And he is not the King
Not a dictator, and not a genius,
He seems to be just a tired old man
Finally, being held accountable.
For decades of alleged misconduct
Fraudulent business and political
Crimes include inciting a riot.
Stealing national secrets
And so many over.
Yet the polls show
He could become our next President
Perhaps I am seeing the end
Of democracy playing out
On my TV screen?
Dear God, I pray
Make it all go way
Retire Trump from the game
April 30 Poem About Poetry Why Do I Write?
Why Do I write
These poems every day?
Why do I spend so much time
Writing down these verses
That few will ever see?
Why do I bother?
The only answer is because
I must write daily
My inner muse compels me
And I have to write down
These mad thoughts.
And share them
With the world
Even if no one reads them
Other than my wife
And some of my friends.
I have no choice
That is what I am.
I am just a writer,
And a mad poet
At heart.
NaPoWriMo Prompts
Day 26 “Nattering Nabobs of Negativity April Poetry
(Original Caption) 8/22/1972-Miami Beach, Florida: President Richard Nixon will be inaugurated for a second term on Jan. 20, 1973. Nixon and Vice President Spiro T. Agnew wave and smile to the audience of the 1972 Republican National Convention after they acknowledged their re-nomination.
Before there was Donald Trump’s tirade
Against the false fraudulent fake news
Enemies of the people
For being a “lying liberal leftwing lunatic “
Peddling “fake fraudulent falsehoods”
Fake false news.
There was Nixon and Agnew’s crusade
Against their enemies
In the so-called Liberal media
VP Agnew who resigned
To avoid going to prison
Before Nixon’s downfall
Was famous for his quotes
One of his best quotes
Was this little gem
Filled with alliteration
He called out the press
For being
“Nattering Nabobs of Negativity.”
Happy final Friday of Na/GloPoWriMo, everyone!
Our featured participant for the day is Words With Ruth, where we get a dating profile in response to Day 25’s Proust Questionnaire prompt.
And now for our (optional) prompt. Today, we’d like to challenge you to write a poem that involves alliteration, consonance, and assonance. Alliteration is the repetition of a particular consonant sound at the beginning of multiple words. Consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds elsewhere in multiple words, and assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds. Traci Brimhall’s poem “A Group of Moths” provides a great example of these poetic devices at work, with each line playing with different sounds that seem to move the poem along on a sonorous wave.
Your poem doesn’t have to be as complex as all that, though. Just pick a consonant or two and a vowel and dive right into the wonderful world (hey, there’s some alliteration/consonance/assonance right there) of sound.
Presidency:
In 1968, Richard Nixon asked Agnew to place his name in nomination for the vice presidency, and he became Nixon’s running mate.
Agnew gained national recognition for his colorful speeches denouncing Vietnam War protesters and other opponents of the Nixon administration.
He was despised by many Democrats but pleased Republicans with his rhetoric.
Resignation:
Agnew’s downfall began in 1973 when he was investigated for extortion, bribery, and income-tax violations related to his tenure as governor of Maryland.
Faced with federal indictments, he resigned on October 10, 1973, becoming the second person to resign the vice presidency (after John C. Calhoun in 1832) and the first to do so under duress.
Death: Spiro Agnew passed away on September 17, 1996, in Berlin, Maryland.
A very happy twenty-seventh day of Na/GloPoWriMo to you all.
Today, our featured daily participant is Peregrine Buffington, where you’ll not only find a lot of alliteration, consonance, and assonance in response to Day 26’s prompt, but you’ll find it in abecedarian form.
Our featured resource for the day is Poetry Pause, the “daily dispatch” of the League of Canadian Poets.
And now for our prompt – optional, as always! Today we’d like to challenge you to write an “American sonnet.” What’s that? Well, it’s like a regular sonnet but . . . fewer rules? Like a traditional Spencerian or Shakespearean sonnet, an American sonnet is shortish (generally 14 lines, but not necessarily!), discursive, and tends to end with a bang, but there’s no need to have a rhyme scheme or even a specific meter.
April 28, 2024 Meeting Dream Girl Sijo
On that date,
In September, I met my fate.
When she came to life.
We met first in my nightly dreams
I knew I had met
My soul mate.
based on my true love story.
Finally, our optional prompt for the day asks you to try your hand at writing a sijo. This is a traditional Korean verse form. A sijo has three lines of 14-16 syllables. The first line introduces the poem’s theme, the second discusses it, and the third line, which is divided into two sentences or clauses, ends the poem – usually with some kind of twist or surprise.
You could also write a sijo in six lines – at least when it comes to translating classical sijo into English, translators seem to have developed this habit, as you can see from these translations of poems by Jong Moong-Ju and U Tak.
April 29 Clandestine – Saga of Big Daddy
photo created by Bing Co-Pilot
Big Daddy lived in the shadow worlds
in the clandestine underground.
He was an ex-University of Arkansas
And Dallas Cowboy player.
Who had worked for the CIA
After the agency fired him
For murdering enemies
Of the state at home.
In contravention of agency rules,
But they retained his services
From time to time.
He became a legendary figure
He was a cipher, a ghost,
a Machiavellian intel operative
A spy, a spook, a secret agent man,
living in the clandestine shadows..
No one knew his real name
Called him Big Daddy.
Or his latest covert name.
And he had hundreds
Of cover legends.
He officially did not exist,
As his agency had officially
Terminated him years ago.
He now worked for an agency
That did not exist.
The same agency
That had terminated his legal existence
For matters of national security.
He lived in the
clandestine Shadowlands
Of the third world.
In nameless hellhole slums
And clandestine, dark,
secret dungeons.
Where he would do what needed
To be done
Killing those that needed killing
At the instructions
Of his unseen masters.
He was just a rumor
Living in the shadow worlds
working for a clandestine
unnamed agency
that did not exist.
An intel operative
The best of the best at what he did
Which was creative interrogation.
His favorite choice
Was the creative use of
An electric shock,
Imaginary or not
But sometimes
It had an outcome
An unimaginable outcome.
His worst nightmare
The victim is released
And sues him
And the agencies
That he worked for.
But so far
It has not happened
As no one knew
His real name
And the government
Did not know too.
So justice
was never served
On Big Daddy.
April 30
And now for our optional prompt. If you’ve been paying attention to pop-music news over the past couple of weeks, you may know that Taylor Swift has released a new double album titled “The Tortured Poets Department.” In recognition of this occasion, Merriam-Webster put together a list of ten words from Taylor Swift songs. We hope you don’t find this too torturous yourself, but we’d like to challenge you to select one these words and write a poem that uses the word as its title.
Clandestine
Song Title/Album: “illicit affairs” / folklore
Lyric: “And that’s the thing about illicit affairs / And clandestine meetings and longing stares”
Definition: done in a private place or way done secretly
About the Word:Clandestine is an adjective that is often used as a substitute for secret and covert, and it is commonly applied to actions that involve secrecy maintained for an evil, illicit (as in “illicit affairs”), or unauthorized purpose. It comes to English by way of Middle French, from Latin clandestine, which is itself from Latin clam, meaning “secretly.” Although people involved in clandestine activities tend to clam up when asked about them, the bivalveclam has no relation to the Latin clam, but comes instead from the Old English word clam, meaning “bond” or “fetter.”
Machiavellian
Song Title/Album: “Mastermind” / Midnights
Lyric: “I’m only cryptic and Machiavellian ‘because I care”
Definition: using clever lies and tricks in order to get or achieve something : clever and dishonest
About the Word: While inspiring an adjective (such as Swiftian) may seem like a fine way to achieve linguistic immortality, it must be said that many words taken from people’s names are not as complimentary. Machiavellian—which describes things marked by cunning, duplicity, or bad faith—comes from the Italian political philosopher Niccolò Machiavelli (1469-1527), the author of the most famous treatise on bare-knuckled politics ever published, The Prince, which brought him a reputation as an immoral cynic and even a teacher of evil.
April 30 The Grim Reaper Gathers His Posse
cheating death
It was Halloween night
A night that all the denizens
Of hell loved.
For on that night
All of hell would break out.
They would celebrate their annual escape
On Halloween, they are allowed
To go to the surface sunlit lands.
For a night of drinking,
Drugging and wilding
As bad craziness descends
Upon the land.
The Grim Reaper and his posse
Dressed up as cosmic court jesters
Dressed as fools.
They descended upon the world
And a night of chaos fell upon the land.
Thousands died, as the Grim Reaper
Added to his quota.
Bonus kills were bonus points.
He returned to hell with his minions,
And the souls of the dead
Who soon became mere ghosts.
Their voices crying in the wind
Echoing through time.
And now for our last prompt of the year – optional, as always! Today, we’d like to challenge you to write a poem in which the speaker is identified with, or compared to, a character from myth or legend, as in Claire Scott’s poem “Scheherazade at the Doctor’s Office.”
Welcome to Cosmos’ annual April Poetry Madness. Last year I wrote 300 poems in one month, this year I will write less as that was just way too much to deal with.
today’s poems will be April 4, to April 7th poems in separate postings, one per day.
I will post them as I write them, and try to update them every day or so. I will finish May 1 US time, as that will still be April 30 KST (Korea, where I currently reside.) Most will be G rated but a few may not be. I will try to label those or not post them. The topics will be wherever my mad muse takes me, and I usually don’t have a clue until I write them.
I will post here the poems I wrote based on prompts from NaPoWriMo, (the poetry’s world’s equivalence to the annual NaNoWriMo novel competition which I will enter again in November). Writers’ com’s Dew Drop-in, Poetry Super-highway, Writers Digest, and occasionally other prompts. I will write a few more each day, but not post them, as I need to build up more “unpublished poems” for future submissions.
Daily posting All poetry, Anchor, this blog, FB, Medium, PSH, Wattpad, Writing com, and Writer’s Digest.
I will post each poem, followed by the prompt, occasional author and notes, and photos. I will convert it to a podcast later, available on anchor, radio public, blog radio, Spotify, and elsewhere under the name “The World According to Cosmos: or Jake Cosmos Aller. See the following for more information on the podcasts.
At the end of the month I will add up the total poems written this month, total posted, total not-posted, and total YTD.
I have found that this annual exercise has been a big help in helping me hone my craft as I am entirely self-taught except for having taken the Mod Po class several times. It helps me stretch my poetic muscles. It has been a lot of fun but a challenge.
April Poetry Madness Prompts
Daily to do in April
Take poetry prompts
From NaPoWriMo, Writers Digest, Writing com Dew Drop-in,
And elsewhere
Throw it all out there
See where your muse takes you
Then write, write, write
Two-three hours later
Emerge with the poems for the day
In the end, you have met
Your poetry quota for the day
Perhaps for the week
Or even the year
It is all good.
more poetry for all
is the spirit
of April Poetry Madness.
Finally, here’s our optional prompt! Today, I’d like to challenge you to write a poem . . . in the form of a poetry prompt. If that sounds silly, well, maybe it is! But it’s not without precedent. The poet Mathias Svalina has been writing surrealist prompt poems for quite a while, posting them to Instagram. You can find examples here, and here, and here.
Happy writing!
When I First Saw You Dew Drop-in
lovers in the rain
When I First Saw You There
When I first saw you there
You came to me
In a dream
And disappeared,
Haunting me
For eight long years.
When I First Saw You In Person
lovers face to face
I was overwhelmed
This fairy tale dream of mine
This impossible quest
To find the girl in the dream
Was finally over.
She was real,
And she was here.
In front of me.
When I First Spoke With You
lovers at sunset
I knew that this was it
We would be together
From then on
You were the one,
I proposed three days later.
When I First Kissed You
lovers sunset
When I first kissed you
Erotic desires came out
And that was the beginning
Of a 40-year love affair.
When I Married You
declaration of love
That was the beginning
Of my life
From that moment
I had no doubt
Whatever life brought my way,
You would be there
In the end
That is all that matters.
April 4—List poem w/repetition—write a poem that lists things, using some (not necessarily constant) repetition and variation of an initial phrase (Examples: When I was six…, Remember that time…*, Layers of…., etc.)
I often found
Throughout my married life
That we fall in love with each other
At the oddest times and places.
For example, yesterday
While emptying the trash
In our suburban housing estate
In Korea,
I looked at her
And once again
Fell in love.
It has been that way
Every day for 40 years
The love continues to deepen
And grow,
That is just the way
Love happened with us.
Composed while emptying the trash
This poetry writing prompt submitted by LB Sedlacek:
Rewrite where you write! Write where you (or maybe anyone) normally wouldn’t write. That’s right. Take your pen, paper, smartphone, or whatever with you to a school sporting event, or while you’re waiting in line at the drugstore, maybe sitting in the car rider line, or at the doctor’s office, and be ready to write. Jot down a quick poem – whatever comes to mind from what’s happening around you, what you see, hear, smell, feel and think. Then when you’re back in your usual writing spot at your desk or sitting in your favorite chair, you can edit it.
If you write a poem from this prompt, post it as a comment underneath the prompt in the Poetry Superhighway Facebook Group.
#napowrimo #poetry
Catch Up Poem Writer Digest
For today’s prompt, write a catch-up poem. This is not to be confused with a ketchup (or catsup) poem, but hey, write one of those if the poetic spirit moves you! But I’m thinking of catching up on work, catching up on a race, or catching up on some popular TV or streaming series.
Doing the April Poetry challenge
Has been a challenge
Keeping it up to date.
I posted my April 1-3 poems
April 4th
My April 4th poems April 5th etc
But in my defense
The prompts come out
In U.S. time
And I am a day behind
Living in Korea.
I write every day
Takes an hour to write them.
But it takes too much time
To post the poems.
There is still there a lot
Of catching up to do.
You can’t fix stupid something unfixable local gems
Don’t Believe the Lie There is No COVID
To this day
There are some people
Who believes that COVID
Never really existed.
That it was all a horrid libtard plot
To lock down the economy
Imposed draconian controls
On everyone.
That vaccine mandates
Are the equivalent of
Sending Jews to the death camps
That the unvaccinated
Will be rounded up
And forced to get vaccines
Which are the equivalent
Of Nazi medical experiments.
That the vaccines were created
To track people
Invented by Bill Gates
Or were the mark of the beast.
Some speculated that
everyone who got the vaccine
Would die in one year
Or become sterile.
Part of the nefarious plot
To depopulate the world
By the global one-world government
UN black helicopter conspiracy.
The nonsense about vaccines
Mask wearing
And COVID in general
Reveal a fundamental flaw
With many human beings.
No matter how hard one might try
To convince people who believe
This nonsense,
It is beyond any ability
To reason with them.
At the end of the day
You can’t fix stupid.
Weekly challenge (Post)
Shout out to Favorite Poets Meta Poetry
charles bukowski
I have over the years read
A lot of poetry
And written a lot of poetry
My favorite poets include
WD Auden
John Ashbury walking around poems
Blake mystical poetry
Charles Bukowski anything of his
Emily Dickinson
Emerson’s classic poetry of the American romantic period
Allen Ginzburg classic poetry of the beatnik eraLon
Latin Poetry in translation
Jack Kerouac
Korean poetry (in translation but I can read some of it)
KIm Seowol
Japanese Poetry(in translation)
Pablo Neruda (in translation but I can read some of it)
Edgar Allen Poe, alone, the bells, the raven
Robert Jeffries
Henry Longfellow
Rod McKeun
Walt Whitman all of his work
Williams Carlos Williams
Just to name a few
And poems in the Mod Po course.
Of course goes without saying.
All of my poetry has been influenced
by these and other writers.
I like to think of my writing
as in the neo-beatnik style.
or Outlaw poetry school
Maybe a bit New York School
Definitely Berkeley School
And I have so many more poets
To read and contemplate
Before my time is up.
In celebration of National Poetry Month,
Write a poem about your favorite poet!
Form: any or none, author’s choice
Line Count: min of 12, no max
Romantic Tanka Poem Fan Story
Romantic Tanka Poem
lovers kissing 5
When I saw you there
I knew that you were the one
Heaven sent you then
When you came into my life
That was my best day ever
2022 April Poetry Madness April 1 to April 3 Poems
Welcome to Cosmos’ annual April Poetry Madness. Last year I wrote 300 poems in one month, this year I will write less as that was just way too much to deal with.
I will post them as I write them and try to update them every day or so. I will finish May 1 US time, as that will still be April 30 KST (Korea, where I currently reside.) Most will be G rated but a few may not be. I will try to label those or not post them. The topics will be wherever my mad muse takes me, and I usually don’t have a clue until I write them.
I will post here the poems I wrote based on prompts from NaPoWriMo, (the poetry’s world’s equivalence to the annual NaNoWriMo novel competition which I will enter again in November). Writers’ com’s Dew Drop-in, Poetry Super-highway, Writers Digest, and occasionally other prompts. I will write a few more each day, but not post them, as I need to build up more “unpublished poems” for future submissions.
Daily posting All poetry, Anchor, this blog, FB, Medium, PSH, Wattpad, Writing com, and Writer’s Digest.
I will post each poem, followed by the prompt, occasional author and notes, and photos. I will convert it to a podcast later, available on anchor, radio public, blog radio, Spotify, and elsewhere under the name “The World According to Cosmos: or Jake Cosmos Aller. See the following for more information on the podcasts.
At the end of the month I will add up the total poems written this month, total posted, total not-posted, and total YTD.
I have found that this annual exercise has been a big help in helping me hone my craft as I am entirely self-taught except for having taken the Mod Po class several times. It helps me stretch my poetic muscles. It has been a lot of fun but a challenge.
Never Been One To Ease Into Things! Dew Drop-In
F April Fool’s Day Writers com Prompt
Bigfoot Emerges After the Fall of Humanity PSH prompt
Epic Retirement Road Trip Local Gem
Saturday April 2
Insomnia Blues Dew Drop In Sleep—
A Solivagant’s Journey To Distant Time Writers Digest
Sara Moore’s Anuptaphobia PSH Prompt
Second Chances? Writer’s Digest
Last Day In The Government Service Local Gem Prompt
Sunday April 3 Poems
Alone Glosa NaNoPoMo Po
Power of Love Dew Drop In
Mathematical Poem PSH prompt
Writer’s Digest te Smell of Korean Food Writers Digest
Something Fixable Local Gems
April 1
I have Bad Teeth NaPoWriMo
I have bad teeth. Always have since birth. I had braces as a child and hated it. Hated going to the dentist. Put it off too long, too often. Ended up with multiple root canals, and bone grafts, and finally lost six teeth and had to have dentures.
Lately, my remaining teeth have been behaving a bit better I may lose another tooth before the end but that should be enough.
I am waiting for the development of dental clones which I hope will happen soon so I can grow perfect teeth and replace all my old rotting teach.
I tell my teeth one day my plans
“Teeth”
“Yeah master.”
“We need to talk.”
“So talk, dude.”
“I am going to replace you all with brand new teeth. You have been such pain my entire life, can’t wait.”
“So you are going to kill us off and trade us in for a new model.”
“Yeah.”
“Bastard, but hey, we don’t have a choice, since you are the Master and we are merely your eating machine slaves.”
“Yeah, you got that right.”
And last but not least, our optional prompt! I got this one from a workshop I did last year with Beatrix Gates, and I’ve found it helpful. The prompt is based on Robert Hass’s remarkable prose poem,
“A Story About the Body.” The idea is to write your prose poem that, whatever title you choose to give it, is a story about the body. The poem should contain an encounter between two people, some spoken language, and at least one crisp visual image.
Forever Might Be Short NaPoWriMo
I shall love you forever
Until the end of time itself.
But forever might seek short
As time loses meaning
In the afterlife.
But until then
I will love you
With all my heart.
Happy writing!
For those of you who want to get a jump on things (either because it’s already April 1 where you are or, who knows, maybe you’re just a glutton for poetry!), we’ve got a special early-bird prompt, based on the poetry of Emily Dickinson.
Dickinson is known for her elliptical style, unusual word choices, and mordant sense of humor. Over the past year, I’ve experimented with writing poems based on or responding to, various lines from her poems. Today, I’d like to challenge you to do the same! Here are a few lines of Dickinson’s that might appeal to you
(the slashes indicate line breaks):
“Forever might be short”
“The absence of the Witch does not / Invalidate the spell”
“If to be ‘Elder’ – mean most pain – / I’m old enough, today”
“The second half of joy / Is shorter than the first”
“To be a Flower is profound / Responsibility –
And if none of those inspire you, you can find many of her poems here.
Post a poem then write a reaction Poem
For those of you getting a jump-start in April, happy writing! As for the rest of you, I’ll see you back here tomorrow with our first “official” prompt, featured participant, and featured online magazine.
To Love Thee Year By Year
Poem 434
To love thee
Year by Year
May less appear
Then sacrifice, and cease
However, dear,
Forever might be short,
I thought to show
And so I pieced it,
with a flower, now.
Warming Up to the Day Dew Drop-in = Writing com Prompt
Warming Up to the Day
I start my day drinking a cup
Of hot coffee come what may
I like to warm up
To the dawning day.
I start by getting up at dawn,
Then while reading my emails and biking two k
While brewing up my coffee, my nightmares are soon gone,
Looking at my Facebook messages turns my mood grey.
Then I turn on CNN, watch the news,
While doing my dream journal prewriting,
draft poems, stories, writing com writing.
Following my ever-creative muse.
I wake up my wife
The love of my life
And want to play
Discussing our plans for the day.
Have my morning breakfast
usually a smoothie, or kefir.
My homemade breakfast gives me much pleasure
just like in my private bed and breakfast.
Turning off the news,
Turning on music, listening to the blues
about 11 a.m., I start my day
Ready for whatever comes my way.
After finishing my “me time” warm-up
I am ready to press on
That is the way
I like to warm up to the day.
It is not warming up where I live, but, sadly, getting colder again. And now building up to a thunderstorm. Aauugghh!
But we can warm up with a warm-up poem!
Let’s practice the basic method of replying to this post with a poem (full text) somehow on the theme of “warming up.” It could be weather/temperature related, sports/practice related, or some other creative interpretation of “warming up.”
Write away! Post away (via a reply to this post)!
Note: one of my few rhyming poems.
Re-born Local Gem
September 7th, 1982
Was the day that my life
Truly began
When I met the lady
That had haunted my dreams
For eight years.
She walked off the bus
In Korea,
Told me that she was mine
And I was hers.
We got married
Six-weeks later.
Still together 40 years later.
Ups and downs
But always falling in love
Again, and again.
Day 1: A Day You Started Something Write a poem about a day in which you started something. It could be anything, joining a sports team, writing a book, a new school, a new job, anything.
No More April Fool’s Day! Writer’s Cramp
At the start of April
There is another silly superstition
Like Groundhog Day,
That is no longer that relevant.
That is the annual April Fool’s Day
When one is supposed to engage
In games of deception to fool the unwary,
But after the four years
Of the extraneous folly
That was the reign
Of “he who cannot be named,”
Every day seemed an April Fool’s Day
An April Fool’s Day that lasted
A bit less than four years.
Presided over by the greatest fool
Of all time, The self-proclaimed
“Pretty smart stable genius”
“Who had the best words”
The smartest man in the world
According to him,
“The man that cannot be named.”
Concealed every day
In his daily haiku/tanka
like cosmic tweets
Were the germs of the hatred
That he had infected
Into the body politics.
Unencumbered by the old-fashioned notion
Superman’s “Truth, Justice, and the American way”
Replaced by Lies, injustice and
Make America First propaganda nonsense.
In the end, the entire world drowned its reason
In the electric acid “Koo aid” of unreason.
That is the ridiculous
Heart of the MAGA nightmare.
So, no more April Fool’s Day
We have had enough already.
In celebration of April Fool’s Day, write a story or poem about fooling (or being fooled by) someone. It may be in any genre.
Use the words:
* deception
* extraneous
* concealed
* unencumbered
* ridiculous
(The words may appear in any order in your story, but make sure you make them bold.)
NB: The most successful entries will be those which use the words in a meaningful way, so that they occur naturally in the story, rather than feeling artificial as if awkwardly shoe-horned in.
Never Been One to Ease into Things! Dew Drop-In
Never been one
Who could ease into things,
Just not how I roll.
I am the dude
Who jumps into the water
Headless of the danger.
Just because
It was time
To jump in.
I am the kind of dude
Who never eases into
the buffet line.
Who boldly marches in
grabbing everything
And eating it all.
And most importantly
When I saw my wife
The love of my life
The lady of my dreams.
I did not ease up
On that thang.
No, I dove headfirst
Into the ocean
Of her endless love.
And was the best decision
Of all time.
If we had waited
Getting to know each
As most sane couples do,
Perhaps we never
would have lasted
For 40 years.
The moral of this poem
is simply this
You have to know
when to ease
Into things,
And you have to know
When to rush in.
When fools march
Into the lion’s den
That is the love
Of one’s life.
Don’t ease up!
Don’t tense up!
Jump into the ocean
Of your love.
You will never regret it
If you do,
And always regret it
If you ease into it
And never reach
The ocean of her love,
Waiting for you,
But with a time limit
Tick tock
Times up.
Jump or ease on out
Of there,
And say goodbye.
Easing in—write a poem about easing into something (poetry month, a pair of jeans, a new job or stage in life, a swimming pool…
F April Fool’s Day Writers Digest
F April Fool’s Day, I say.
In April, every year in the Anglo speaking world.,
There is another silly superstition
Like Groundhog Day,
That is no longer that relevant.
That is the annual April Fool’s Day
When one is supposed to engage
In games of deception to fool the unwary,
But after four years
Of the extraneous folly
That was the reign
Of “he who cannot be named,”
Every day seemed an April Fool’s Day
An April Fool’s Day that lasted
A bit less than four years.
I say again
F April Fool’s Day!
After almost four years
Of a Daily April Fool’s Day
Presided over by the greatest fool
Of all time, The self-proclaimed
“Pretty smart stable genius”
“Who had the best words”
The smartest man in the world
According to him,
“The man that cannot be named.”
It is time to discard
April Fool’s Day
In the ashcan of history
Concealed every day
In his daily haiku/tanka like cosmic tweets
Were the germs
Of the hatred
That he had infected
Into the body politics.
Unencumbered by the old-fashioned notion
Superman’s “Truth, Justice, and the American way”
Replaced by Lies, injustice and
Make America First “
In the end, the entire world drowned its reason
In the electric acid “Koo aid” of unreason.
That is the ridiculous
Heart of the MAGA nightmare,
I say again
F April Fool’s Day
We have had enough already.
Here we are on the first day of the 2022 April Poem-A-Day Challenge! Each day, I’ll provide a poetry prompt and a poem to get things started. You can secretly poem along at home, or you can share your poem in the comments below.
For today’s prompt, pick a word that begins with F, make it the title of your poem, and then, write your poem. I don’t know if it’s because today is April Fool’s Day, Friday, or just the first day of the challenge, but today feels like an F type of day. So figure out a way to foreshadow your future poems or do whatever else will help you F it all up today.
Bigfoot Emerges After the Fall of Humanity PSH prompt
After the bombs stop falling
After the nuclear winter
After the collapse of civilization
All that remains
Are a few scattered bands
Of humans
Many are reduced
To starvation
Bigfoot who are the descendants
Of the Neanderthals
Who lived on
In the mountain wilderness
Came down
And took pity
On their human cousins.
They soon began
A new, kinder hybrid civilization
Based on the smoldering ruins
of the ancient era
Which was soon forgotten.
Except in the few university towns
That kept some of the knowledge
Of the past alive.
Particularly solar and wind power
Which was soon everywhere
As was a rudimentary internet.
Linking the college towns
The nearby markets
And the remains
Of the old central governments.
New countries slowly emerged
New trading routes
And civilization slowly recovered
It took hundreds of years
Amid the new ice age
That settled down
In most of the world.
April 1, 2022: Poetry Writing Prompt – Maria DePaul
This poetry writing prompt submitted by Maria DePaul:
Wildlife thrives in the unlikeliest of places. In remembrance of the struggles of the Ukrainian people against Russian invasion troops, think of the cats, deer, lynx, wolves, and other animals that persist in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. Then write a poem, flash fiction, or creative nonfiction about how to survive and thrive in the most perilous of circumstances.
If you write a poem from this prompt, post it as a comment underneath the prompt in the Poetry Superhighway Facebook Group.
The day after I retired
From 28 years in the Federal government service
Twenty-six years in the Foreign Service
Two years Peace Corps
We left for an epic road trip
10,000 miles
35 states
In April – June 2016
When Trumpism first emerged
Driving through flyover country
I knew that the Donald
For some weird reason
Connected with the downtrodden
Forgotten people
Of the rural hinterland.
I knew he would win
He was everywhere
In red-state America.
Hillary was nowhere
Outside the
coastal blue enclaves.
And I was so glad
I was getting out
Before the shit storm
That was Trumpism.
Would sweep through the government
Destroying so much
Of the government in the process.
Day 2: A Day You Finished Something Write a poem about a day in which you ended something. It could be anything; a job, a class, a relationship, etc…………………..
You got the insomnia blues
Nothing works
You can’t sleep
You stare at the ceiling.
Your mind plays an endless tape
Of gloom, and doom
Worries and fears
All night long.
The latest dark
SF series you saw
The latest scary headlines
Endless possibilities play out.
The latest news of war
The latest news about the stock market
About the endless pandemic
Dancing across your mind’s internal eye.
What if I have COVID
What if have Cancer?
What if I have the big Alzheimer’s
What is the stock market wipes me out?
What if the North Koreans invade Seoul?
Where would we go to escape the invasion?
What if the zombie apocalypse starts?
What if, what if, what if……
You stare at your watch.
4:01 a,m.
You try to sleep, but nothing works
The dark thoughts continue to play
Across your mind’s eye
Tormenting you, torturing you.
4:05 a,m.
You debate whether
To give up
Get up
Start your morning routine.
4:10 a.m.
You give in
And try to sleep
Checking the time
Every few minutes.
Perhaps you might
Get a few fitful hours
Of much-needed sleep
Most likely not.
6:30 a.m.
Until day-break
Blasts you awake
As the dawning sun
Fills the room.
You get up
Having had only two hours of sleep
That is the curse
Of the insomnia blues.
Sam Adams took off one day
His goal is to be a world traveler.
A WT, a Solivagant
Traveling the world
With his backpack, a laptop
His clothes, and not much more.
A minimal amount of money
Staying at cheap hostels
See as much of the world
as he could within two years.
Near the end of his travels
Deep in the vast wilderness
Of the Himalayas.
He came to a temple
Deep in the mountains
The old wizen monk
Greeted him warmly
He got so few visitors
to his out of the way temple
Lost in time and space.
Over tea, he told Sam,
That there was in his temple
A gateway to other worlds.
But it was a one-way gate
Did Sam accept the challenge?
None ever came back
So, he did not know where
They might end up,
Just a distant time and place
That is all he knew.
He had come from another place
and time a long time ago
For it was a one-way gate
On the other end as well.
Sam stepped through the portal
Telling the monk,
“I always felt that,
Distant times were calling me.”
And now for our daily prompt (optional, as always). Today, I’d like to challenge you to write a poem based on a word featured in a tweet from Haggard Hawks, an account devoted to obscure and interesting English words. Will you choose a word like “aprosexia,” which means “an inability to concentrate”? Or maybe something like “greenout,” which is “the relief a person who has worked or lived in a snowy area for a long time feels on seeing something fresh and green for the first time”? Whatever you choose happy writing!
Sara Moore’s Anuptaphobia PSH
Sara Moore was a 30ish young woman
Who was suffering from anuptaphobia?
Ever since she turned down
Her rich Thai boyfriend
gave her a gift of an antique, expensive
Pigmean damassin.
Because she thought that it
Implied she would be
His mistress in the Thai tradition,
As a “Mia Noi”
She conspued his offer
Saying
“I ain’t going to be anyone’s “mia noi”
Or mistress, you got that Mister?”.
He responded,
“Then my curse on you
Is that you will always be single
And die an angry old spinster
Rejecting my sincere offer
Of love”
“Does that mean you
would divorce your wife
To be with me?”
“Of course not”.
She laughed.
“I did not think so.”
She left Thailand
And was now regretting
Her harsh condemnation
Of her ex-boyfriend.
An unusual word (or two) within a poem can make a reader (and writer) pause—but if the word is intriguing, this can enrich a writing and reading experience. Use AT LEAST ONE of the following words in your writing exercise.
The prompt was to use at least one of the following unusual words in a poem
I chose the following:
conspue—v.t. to spurn contemptuously.
pigmean—adj. very small.
damassin—n. a brocade with gold and silver threads.
I also chose a Thai expression:
Mia Noi Thai word for mistress means “ Little Wife “ as opposed to the Mia Yaa the big, legal wife. Most rich men have a mia noi or two, and even poor and middle-class men aspire to have a “Mia Noi” at some time. No one gets a divorce and often Mia Yaa and Mia Noi become friends. This ancient tradition may be dying out, it was still very common back in the 1990s.
Other word prompts included
scrvello—n. an elephant’s tusk.
tyg—n. a large ceramic 17th-century drinking mug with 12 handles.
meristic—adj. pertaining to or divided into segments.
halotic—adj. easy to catch.
zibeb—n. a raisin.
papillote—n. a paper ruffle decorating a lamb chop bone.
erudite—adj. freed from wrinkles; very smooth.
If you write a poem from this prompt, post it as a comment underneath the prompt in the Poetry Superhighway Facebook Group.
#napowrimo #poetry
Second Chances? Writer’s Digest
There are no Second Acts
Sam Adams, an old man
Was contemplating his life
As he turned 85 years old.
Recalling the adage
That there are no second acts
No true second chances.
He concluded
That was not true!
For he had had numerous
second chances,
Third,
fourth,
fifth chances.
To get it right in the end.
Failed the first grade,
Almost failed in high school.
Flunked out of his second college,
Three tries at three colleges,
before he graduated from college.
Four failed relationships
Before he met
the love of his life.
35 different jobs
Four careers
Peace Corps,
Teaching,
Foreign service,
Blogging and writing.
Lived in four states,
And ten countries,
Traveled to all 50 states
And 55 countries
Cheated death 25 times.
And concluded
There are multiple chances
In life.
And each one teaches a lesson
Those who fail end up winning
And those win early on
Often ending failing
Spectacularly in the end.
It does not matter
Much in the end
We all end up in the same place,
When the grim reaper calls our name.
Just take the opportunities
That life throws at you
Never looking back
But learning life’s lessons,
And continue
One step after another.
Until the grim reaper
calls for you.
Those were his final words
in his poem
“Final chances awaiting me”.
The grim reaper came for him
That night.
Write a poem every day of April with the 2022 April Poem-A-Day Challenge. For today’s prompt, write a second chance poem.
Welcome back! It’s day two of the April PAD Challenge, and it’s your second chance to write a poem this month.
For today’s prompt, write a second chance poem. That second chance could be a second chance at a relationship, at living life, or doing the right thing. Maybe play with whether it’s deserved or not, or just dive straight into giving or taking that second chance.
Local Gem:
Day 2: A Day You Finished Something
Last day in the government service Local Gem Prompt
I served almost 28 years
In the government service.
Two years in the Peace Corps
25 and a half with the Foreign service.
I served in Korea in the Peace Corps
Later in the FS.
I served in ten countries
Over a 27-year career.
Serving in Korea, Thailand, India,
Antiqua, Barbados (based there),
Grenada, St Kitts, St Lucia, St Vincent,
Spain, and six years in DC.
When I left the service
We drove across the country
Just the wife and me
To re-discover America.
After so many years abroad
Representing the US government
All over the world.
My last day officially
Occurred as I was driving
Across the country
It was late April 2016
My last official day
Was April 30, 2016.
We stopped off
In Windsor, Arizona
Saw the shrine to the song
Take it easy.
And realized that
I finally could take it easy
That was my last official day
In government service.
From the beginning of his life
Sam Adams felt alone.
He felt somehow different than others.
He did not know why or how.
He was just born different.
He grew up lonely,
Never fitting in.
Had no real friends at all.
He was all alone all the time.
From childhood’s hour, I have not been.
He grew up in a dysfunctional family.
Not much love to go around.
Always felt like an outsider.
Always wondering why
He felt this way.
His parents had no answers.
They barely spoke to each other.
Or to their troubled son.
As others were—I have not seen.
He was different.
Saw the world through different visions.
Perhaps even a bit psychotic.
His parents were eventually concerned
Enough to consult a doctor.
The doctor told them
Your son is just different than others.
Perhaps the best thing is to let him be.
Who God intended him to be.
As others saw—I could not bring.
He drifted through life
Trying drugs and alcohol.
Only to find himself alone in his dreams.
His nightmares haunted his days.
He was lost in inner space,
Never relating to others.
Just could not interact with normal people.
So in the end he became like so many others
A gunman shot up a shopping mall.
My passions from a common spring—.
Today, our featured online magazine is Rust and Moth, which has been publishing quarterly since 2008. You can browse all of their past issues here. From their newest issue, I’ll point out Leah Claire Kaminski’s lyrical “Flung Girl,” and Lucia Owen’s moving “The Gardener’s Prayer.”
And now for our (optional) prompt. This one is a bit complex, so I saved it for a Sunday. It’s a Spanish form called a “glosa” – literally a poem that glosses, explains, or in some way responds to another poem. The idea is to take a quatrain from a poem that you like, and then write a four-stanza poem that explains or responds to each line of the quatrain, with each of the quatrain’s four lines, in turn, forming the last line of each stanza. Traditionally, each stanza has ten lines, but don’t feel obligated to hold yourself to that! Here’s a nice summary of the Glose or Glosa Poems
From childhood, I have not been
Like others were—I have not seen
As others saw—I could not bring
My passions from a common spring—
From the same source I have not taken
My sorrow—I could not awaken
My heart to joy at the same tone—
And all I lov’d—
I lov’d alone—
Then—in my childhood—in the dawn
Of a most stormy life—was drawn
From ev’ry depth of good and ill
The mystery which binds me still—
From the torrent, or the fountain—
From the red cliff of the mountain—
From the sun that ’round me roll’d
In its autumn tint of gold—
From the lightning in the sky
As it pass’d me flying by—
From the thunder, and the storm—
And the cloud that took the form
(When the rest of Heaven was blue)
Of a demon in my view—
Power of Love Sidewalk Poem NaPoWriMo
My love is waiting
Waiting for me
To return
From this trip.
She is the most beautiful
Women in the world.
Have you seen her?
My Angela Lee?
Tell her I love her
Tell her I will be home
I am coming back to her.
Sidewalk poems—write a poem (or a set of them) brief enough to easily write in chalk on the sidewalk; it might fit on one sidewalk square (or a set of them down the block!)
Mathematical Poem PSH prompt
Love in a sense
Is a percentage game
You go out and meet
So many people
So many potential lovers.
In the end, you may
If you are lucky
Find the one
That is right for you.
Perhaps not
Love is like that
Plus or minus this and that.
Leading to one’s soul mate
That fills your heart
With deep love/
Prompt words
Love
Death
Health
Wealth
Dreams
Nightmares
Politics
Symbols
%
+ –
$
+
0
I picked Love and then linked it to some of the symbols
This poetry writing prompt submitted by Carol Dorf:
(Note: A version of this exercise was first published in Wingbeats II: Exercises and Practice in Poetry, which contains many generative exercises.)
from The Mathematical Poem:
There are many starting points for beginning mathematical poetry. Some begin with syllabics (Fibonacci’s are a favorite), and others emphasize the visual symbols of mathematics as Zukofsky did with the Integral and Bob Grumman does with the division sign. The mathematical poetry that I find most fascinating has both mathematical content and form.
In the “Context-Shift” poem where mathematical language is used to discuss personal life. Here’s an example of one of my “Context-Shift” poems. In this poem, I used the information I was reading about chaos theory (in Ivar Ekland’s Mathematics and the Unexpected) to write about the unexpected in my own life.
Dear Ivar,
I read your book on the unexpected.
Like most poets, I opposed mathematics
when I was young, seeing it as the converse
to feeling. The previous statement is false.
When I was very young I loved counting
and zero and even numbers. At sixteen,
I wanted to imagine calculus as a novel
of limits and motion. Yet by college,
I had learned mathematics could not correspond
to poetry in a one-to-one intensity.
Would your book have mattered to me, then?
Most likely, I would not have read it.
Today, I am sending this fan letter. Thank you
for explaining catastrophe and instability.
I spent so many years writing my way
through them. And boundaries, I kept insisting
they were psychological or geographic,
unwilling to see them as breaks
between states of matter. Your words
matter to me, a language as precise as poetry
to delineate universe and being.
Sincerely,
Carol
To begin one of these poems, fold a piece of paper in half vertically. In one column, list a few things in your life that you obsess about. In the other column write some mathematical words, symbols, or ideas. Sources for these ideas could be textbooks, web articles (in this case Wikipedia is an ok source), or odd facts you remember from school. Don’t worry too much about understanding every aspect of the idea.
Then choose one of the starting places from the first column, and let the language from the different sectors bump up against each other.
Write for 11 minutes, and then if you are so inspired, return and write on the poem for another 7 minutes.
Enjoy!
If you write a poem from this prompt, post it as a comment underneath the prompt in the Poetry Superhighway Facebook Group.
Korean Food
Writer’s Digest the Smell of Korean Food Writers Digest
The Smells of Korean food
When I first encountered Korean food
I was overwhelmed by the strong smell
Bursting with fermentation and flavors
Hot, raw, sweet yet sour,
spicy, in your face mixture
of smells and flavors
everybody’s Kimchi
is a bit different
Yet they all share
A similar blend of
Alcohol
cabbage
chili peppers
fermentation
fish
fish sauce,
garlic,
onion,
red peppers,
salt
sugar
soy sauce
sometimes
made with dandelion
radish
springtime wild herbs
All rolled up in an intoxicating blend
Of smells and flavors
That was my introduction
to the lowly Kimchi
The staple of Korean food,
I soon became a kimchi addict
Craving its intoxicating flavor
And smells with every meal
Now 40 years later
I am still a kimchi addict
Enjoying the fragrance, the smell
And intoxicating tastes
Can’t get enough of that
Funky stuff.
For today’s prompt, write a smell poem. Strong writing uses sensory language, and one sense that is often overlooked is the sense of smell. So write about the pungent smell of teenage socks, the exquisite odor of fresh lasagna, or the coppery scent of a summer shower. Smell you later!
Something Fixable Gun Violence Local Gems
In this day and age
Of daily gun battles
In the streets
Of any American city.
Nine gunned down
Last night in Sacramento.
It is easy to believe
That nothing can be done
To stop the carnage
In the streets.
Just like the weather
It is the cost of our freedom
For freedom is not free.
The NRA and their minions proclaim
Guns don’t kill people
People kill people.
The wrong answer
Are more guns for everyone
If that were the answer
The U.S. perhaps the most
Heavily armed country
In the world,
With more guns
That person
Would have almost no gun
Violence.
The solutions are obvious
Stricter gun laws
Enforcement of existing gun laws.
Treating gun ownership
The same as car ownership.
Prove the ability
To fire a weapon.
Universal background checks.
purchasing liability insurance
and yes, having a license.
to own a weapon
One must know the laws and rules.
Including personal liability
If a gun is stolen
And used in the commission
Of a crime.
To have no criminal,
or mental health issues,
No history of violence.
Annual limits on purchases
No military-style assault weapons
Registration of guns
With the local police
In a nationally searchable database.
None of these measures
Which are commonplace
In most civilized societies,
Would be an undue burden
On anyone rights
Except on the rights
Of the gun merchant’s ability
To continue selling us
Weapons of war.
So, I conclude this poem
About a fixable thing
We can fix the gun problem
If we have the political courage
To stand up and say
Enough, no more gun deaths
In our American streets.
But we are moving backward
With red state after red state
Weakening or eliminating
Most gun laws.
Soon we will be living again
In the wild west days
Where gunslingers killed
With impunity.
But, sadly, nothing will be done
There will be another shooting
By the time I post this poem,
Cosmos’s 2020 April Poetry Part Two April 16 to April 30
final statistics for the month – 165 poems written , most posted here or in part one. Enjoy comments welcomed
Note: for the rest of the month, from April 18th to April 30, I will still be writing a lot of poems, but only posting a few per day so i can build up some “unpublished” poems for my future submissions. And in May-June I will be turning to editing my novels so expect a less frantic pace of poetry updates from me for the next few months. it has been a creative challenge keeping up the pace but I am getting a bit “poemed” out. i will list the poems I write this month in the index and note whether they are posted or not, and of course if anyone wants to read one of the “unpublished poems” we can work something out. just ask. and expect a few more postings in May and June as poems are published elsewhere I will post them here as well as I like doing.
Finally if anyone wants to guest post poems on cats, computers, coffee or the corona virus let me know – I’d love to try publishing your work as well but check out my cats, computer, coffee or corona poems here first before sending me your stuff, and perhaps you could return the favor?
Welcome to Cosmos’s 2020 April Poetry. This is the fourth attempt to do this. For this year I am doing things a bit different. Since I am in Korea I will be posting a day later from here starting April 2 which will be April first in the U.S.First I will update my poems daily here (along with audio clips, photos clips, and links to various prompts etc)
Second I will update my links on the following sites where I have been posting poetry for some time – all my April poems will be here regardless of whether I post them elsewhere – I will be posting one to two per day on these sites and writing anywhere from two to five per day, with many of them not being posted at all so I can accumulate some “unpublished poems” but I will list them all here either as posted or unposted. The posted ones will have audio, photos and links occasionally to other sites.
Here are the sites along with the links to my poetry posted there.
And on my various FB poetry sites will post my poems on five different sites per day and since I’ve lost count of how many I am following well that could be a lot, but I will list them as I post on them in case anyone is interested in finding poetry and writing groups on FB
Finally, love to hear how others are coping both with corona virus, and with the April Poetry month. I suspect that there will be a lot of interest this year since people are staying home!
Now let’s get to the poems shall we? I will update this daily
Index
Chronological list
ursday April 16
Some parts of me craves a hard won miracl
Thursday April 16
Some parts of me craves a hard won miracle poetry super highway prompt
the greatest mystery of my life writing com daily dew drop in
my greatest comfort food is coffee tweeter poetry prompt
smoothie tweeter poetry prompt
mango madness tweeter poetry prompt
Bulgar is not one of my things tweeter poetry prompt
Plans tweeter poetry prompt
goat meets Pig all poetry contest
waiting for death all poetry contest
hot coffee in the morning fan story
Friday April 17
You are my Lode Star love Sonnet
another Nigerian spam found poem
Last Day of America writers digest prompt – last blank
Plane, Train or Automobile – none of us can escape our fate
packages tweeter speak poetry prompt April 16 Packages
computer madness sonnet – sonnet all poetry computer frustration contest
You have always been my sunshine love sonnet for all poetry contest on prompt line Sunshine Kissed
Not Posted
my Mother’s secret life as a mad poet – poetry superhighway prompt to write a poem based on your mother’s imagined journal writings
Saturday April 18
Starting today will post no more than five poems, reserve the rest for publication or remain unpublished
For Posting
Cosmic Debris Corona Sonnet
No More Ties for Me! Writing com Daily Dew Drop Inn to write about a piece of clothing
Korean Blues Crown of Sonnets – Writer digest prompt write an exotic poem wrote my first crown of sonnet form too, and it mostly rhymes! go figure
Not for Posting today may remain unpublished
Corona Consumes Me Corona Sonnet 3
God Deals with Corona
Seeing Reality Via Them
Problems with the Bible Chapter two of Genesis
Dear God – Please re-write the bible -poetry Superhighway prompt re-write sacred text version 2
Sunday April 19
for posting
General Corona Leads His Troops Into Battle, crown of sonnets
Voice Message for God – writer digest prompt write a “message Poem” so this is a voice mail to GOD
The Time when she came to Me Poetry Superhighway prompt to write a poem about time travel to your past or your future
Not for Posting
Dear President Trump
Christ Comes Back and Judges us all
Monday April 20
for posting
Love Dream Triolet
National Poetry Month Prompt Day 12
ARC Pensively three word challenge – ARC, Hold, Back
Lonely Old Man Howling at the Moon Writers Digest prompt use six words prompt – bump, embrace, fixture, howl, lonely, resolve
watching the President haunts my nightmares
poetry superhighway prompt write about a nightmare
boogey men in The Mist
content tracing, “the mist” unpublished poem writer for April Poetry Month 2020, based on the Mist TV Services based on the Stephen King
Not for Posting hold for publication
playing basketball Beneath the Lunatic Moon =creative talents unleashed prompt
Sprouts of Love Grows in My Dreams -creative talents unleashed prompt
ART Calms the Soul amid the corona death -creative talents unleashed prompt
Strange Findings at a Thrift Shop/Garage shop -creative talents unleashed prompt
NOT FOR PUBLICATION
Siblings I wish I had -creative talents unleashed prompt
Tuesday April 21
Posted
Isolation Blues writer’s digest Isolation Blues
You’re still a young man
Coffee Star Selvin writing com formal poem
My Life’s Drama writing com dew drop inn prompt
Covid19 Heroes all poetry contest
I never get tired of looking at you all poetry contest
Alone corona sonnet creative talents unleashed prompt
Last Acorn – poetry soup contest entry
not posted
Farmers Market
Tweet speak the farmer’s market
Walking in the woods in the corona era creative talents unleashed prompt
Unrequited Love Story creative talents unleashed prompt
perfect brunch menu creative talents unleashed prompt
White Flower of Love creative talents unleashed prompt
Wednesday April 22
Posted
Secret Love of Sheep – pensively 101 three word prompt, print, cover, sheep
Nigerian Bank Scam found poem
She came to me in a dream duet writers digest prompt
ode to morning coffee National Poetry Month prompt
oceans writing.com Daily Dew Drop Inn prompt
Noise of the news Drives Out Spring Poetry Superhighway
Cats and Dogs Contrapuntal Poem All Poetry contest
Let there Be Light All poetry contest
Go ethnic tweets-peak
Tuesday April 23
Isolation Blues writer’s digest Isolation Blues
You’re still a young man
Coffee Star Selvin writing com formal poem
My Life’s Drama writing com dew drop inn prompt
19 Heroes all poetry contest
I never get tired of looking at you all poetry contestAlone corona sonnet creative talents unleashed prompt
not posted
Farmers Market
Tweet speak the farmer’s market
Walking in the woods in the corona era creative talents unleashed prompt
Unrequited Love Story creative talents unleashed prompt
perfect brunch menu creative talents unleashed prompt
Wednesday April 24
Secret Love of Sheep – pensively 101 three word prompt, print, cover, sheep
Nigerian Bank Scam found poem
She came to me in a dream duet writers digest prompt
ode to morning coffee National Poetry Month prompt
oceans Daily Dew Drop Inn prompt
Noise of the news Drives Out Spring Poetry Superhighway
Cats and Dogs Contrapuntal Poem All Poetry contest
Let there Be Light All poetry contest
Go ethnic tweetspeak
Thursday April 25
Programing a VCR and other terrors
Na/GloPOWR/Mo prompt Day 18
Quirk of fate
writers digest prompt to write a quirk poem
I have bad teeth
poetry super highway prompt to write a confession poem about something you should do but have not done
Letter to My Past Self
writing.com Daily Dew Drop inn Prompt
pensively 101 prompt three word challenge path, honesty, remote
Covid madness sweeps through the world all poetry contest
Friday April 26
Cold Winter Day pensively prompt
social distancing walking in the Springtime writers digest prompt to write a social blank poem
ode to my book shelves filled with unread books, poetry superhighway prompt to write a poem in plain sight
Dream Lover Balwa writing com formal poetry prompt
endless arguments with my brothers writing com daily dew drop inn prompt to write a poem about arguments
Just Shoot me – pensively 101 three wood challenge
wrappers – tweets-speak
Pumpkin season – pumpkin tweet-speak
secret layers tweets-speak
Saturday April 26
Finally I wake
Window of Promise – Tweet speak daily prompt
Nature’s Bounty Awaits Me
Alone No More
Has God Anointed Donald Trump as our leader?
waking at love Haiku
Sunday April 27
Drinking Coffee amid the morning flowers
Pensively 101 prompt bloom, switch, chain
Stem – tweeter speak
Playing Bach to Calm the Mind and Soul – National Poetry Month Prompt
President Trump You are the Annotated One – found poems from right wing Christians – Crown of Sonnets -writers digest remix poem
My Computer Hates Me – Poetry Superhigh way prompt objects speak
Darkness Descends – All Poetry Contest
The Grim Reaper Smiles All Poetry Contest
Monday April 28
Her Love Shines throughout the day -version two for poetry superhighway
Cosmos’s total Information Awareness
Living in an Orwellian Nightmare
Poetic and other inspirations
National Poetry Month Daily Prompt
Changes are coming due -writing digest prompt
Rain Fall in the Springtime Daily Dew Drop Inn
General Corona is coming for us all Poetry Magnum Prompt -content tracing “Howl” by Allen Ginsberg
The Presidents Sits Down on his Naked Rump -Pensively 101 three word challenge, teeth, Rump, green
End of Winter tweet-speak prompt
massive piles of meat -writers digest prompt to write a “massive “ poem
three mad poems of desire – poetry super highway prompt
Love Sidlak – writing com formal poetry challenge
come on baby light my fire -writing com daily dew drop inn prompt to write a “fire” Poem
Not Posted
Stupid stuff done as a teenage -On stealing things national Poetry Month Prompt
Art of Eating – tweet speak
Rules creative talents unleashed
My Feet Take Me There creative talent unleashed
Happy walking in the woods Tanka walking in the woods creative talents unleashed
Sad women inside the camera’s lens creative talents unleashed
Wednesday April 29
Looking Back on the Date when I met my Fate
writers digest looking back poem prompt
the funeral for a mad queen -Poetry Superhighway prompt
the End of America, another cosmos’s rant found poem thanks to William Walton
Gaia Welcomes Us – found poem poetic rant -thanks to William Walton
flowers for my love – National Poetry Day Prompt
seasons of my love – tweet-speak prompt – write a seasonal poem
Thursday April 30
Have words lost all meaning?
plate plans -tweet-speak daily April Prompts
Slide, Catch, Shot -Pensitivity 101 prompt
total Success- writers digest prompt total blank poem
Blues Brothers medley found poem -poetry Superhighway prompt
Will always recall the date I met my fate all poetry contest
general Corona is Happy all poetry contest
waterfall of love poetry soup contest
last Entry for May – pensively prompt 101
baby I got the blues found poem thanks to William Walton
praise love of my life – writers digest prompt
things better left unsaid
random rhymes writing com prompt
things to resolve before I die – poetry super highway prompt
bonus poem – corona virus haiku – Published Poetry Ni
Begin Poems
Th
e
corona
some parts of me
craves a hard won miracle
in these dark dire times
I even start to pray
to a god who may not exist
or answer my prayers
yes we need a miracle
a deus ex machina to sweep down
and send the virus back to hell
a miracle to calm
the dark storms
swirling around us
a miracle
to end this virus madness
and restore normal life
nothing short
but a miracle
will do
Poetry superhighway prompt – Some parts of me craves a hard won miracle
the greatest mystery of my life
dreams and the Unexplanable
the greatest mystery
of my life
remains how I met my wife
I first dreamt of her
back in the day
every week she came to me
speaking to me
in a weird language
then one day
eight years later
she walked off a bus
and into my life
and to this day
I have no rational explanation
as to How I dreamt
about her for eight years
I can only conclude
that we knew
each other
in a prior life
and our love crossed
the barriers of time
and space
until that date
we were doomed to meet
for on that date
so many years ago
I met my fate
writing com Daily Dew Drop Inn
my greatest comfort food is coffee
coffee
My greatest comfort food
is a hot cup of coffee
early in the morning
I pound down my coffee
and unleash my inner muse
inspired by the caffeine
I get to work
slowly drinking my cup
of heaven and hell
my morning cup of Joe
tweeters speak daily prompt
blueberry smoothie
blueberries
my daily breakfast
includes blue berries
in my smoothie
blueberry,
strawberry,
oranges
banana,
pineapple,
home made kefir
kale
spinach
wheat grass
macca root
apple cider vinegar
coconut oil
stevia
honey
cinnamon
all blended to perfection
that is my daily breakfast
fit for a champion
tweeter speak prompt
mango madness
mango
the best mangos
I ever had
were in India
in the early spring
mango madness
spreads across India
as mangos are in season
and mangos are everywhere
on every menu
so sweet
so fragrant
so magical
mango madness
takes over
my soul
as I eat my mango
dreaming mango dreams
tweeter speak
Bulgar is not one of my things
Bulgur-Bourghul-Burghul-Bulgar.jpg_350x350
Bulgar is not one of my things
Unless there is nothing left to eat
Like nothing at all
Get that bulgar off my plate
All i want is anything else
Raw bulgar just does not do it for me
tweeter speak
Plans
Close up white coffee cup with heart shape latte art on wood table at cafe.
every morning I wake up
filled with great plans
I sit
drink my coffee
make my plans
lost in my thoughts
focused on the plan
endless to do lists
then life happens
and my plans
go awry
thrown out the window
At the end of the day
a man without a plan
is a man
lost in inner space
Year of the Goat Meets Year of the Pig
cute pig
I was born in the year of the goat
my wife
was born in the year of the pig
a perfect match
according to Buddhist fortune tellers
a man born in the year of the goat
loves luxury and loves spending money
while a woman born
in the year of the pig
is a genius at making money
the man enjoys the wealth
his pig wife creates
for his enjoyment
and that is the perfect match
and so it has been for us
as I enter my 65th birth year
I find myself richer
than I ever thought I would be
richer
than the legendary Cronus
richer
than Midas himself
way more money
than I could ever use
all because I married
a golden pig
all poetry horoscope contest
waiting for death
hopelessly
we all stand looking about
waiting for our death
all poetry fragment haiku contest
hot coffee in the morning
coffee
hot
coffee in morning
gets my blood moving
takes me to heaven then crashes to hell
fan story contest
Friday April 17 –
You are my Lode Star
in the morning dawning light
you are always there
you are my lode star
my sunshine, my moonshine
the love of my life, my wife
with your endless love
I will face the evil corrupted world
even walk through the shadow of death
as long as you by my side
I will fear no evil for you are with me
and I will love you
until death takes me
from your your loving embrace
note: an attempted sonnet
another Nigerian spam found poem
the Nigerians keep sending me
and millions of others
delightedly creative spam messages
this is one of the nicer ones
I have received
Enjoy
but don’t send her any money!!!!!
Good day Child of God,
Calvary Greetings
in the name of the LORD Almighty
and Our LORD JESUS CHRIST
the giver of every good thing.
Good day and compliments of the seasons,
i know this letter
will definitely come to you
as a huge surprise,
I humbly
ask you to give me
your attention
and hear me,
i am writing this mail
to you
with heavy sorrow
in my heart,
but I implore you
to take the time
to go through it carefully
as the decision you make
will go off a long way
to determine
my future
and continued existence.
I am Mrs. Esther Heidi
aging widow of 61 years old
suffering from long time illness.
I have some funds
I inherited from my late husband
, the sum of ($17 Million Dollars) a
And I needed a very honest
and God fearing
who can withdraw this money
then use the funds for Charity works
I WISH TO GIVE THIS FUNDS
TO YOU FOR CHARITY WORKS.
I found your email address
from the internet
after honest prayers
to the LORD
to bring me a helper
and i decided to contact you
if you may be willing
and interested to handle
these trust funds in good faith
before anything happens to me.
I accept this decision
because I do not have any child
who will inherit this money
after I die.
I want your urgent reply
to me so that I will give you
the deposit receipt
which the bank issued to me
as next of kin
for immediate transfer of the money
to your account in your country,
to start the good work of God,
I want you to use the 30/percent
of the total amount to help
yourself in doing the project.
I am desperately
in keen need of assistance
and I have summoned
up courage to contact you
for this task,
you must not fail me
and the millions of the poor people
in our todays WORLD.
This is no stolen money
and there are no dangers involved,
100% RISK FREE
with full legal proof.
Please if you would be able
to use the funds for the Charity
(Note: I would use the money
to invest in the Church of Jake)
I want you to
take 30 percent of the total money
for your personal use
while 70% of the money
will go to charity.
I will appreciate your utmost confidentiality
and trust in this matter to accomplish
my heart desire, as I don’t want anything
that will jeopardize my last wish.
Please kindly
respond for further details.
Thanks and God bless you,
Regards
Mrs. Esther Heidi
comment: the sad reality
is that 10 percent
of people fall for these scams
and loose lots of money
whole towns in Nigeria
exist to exploit the world
they call themselves
the 404 army
if it is too good to be true
it is probably not true
end comment
the Conqueror Worm Corona Sonnet
Lo, t’s a galla night
within the lonesome later years
when around the world
the dreaded corona virus showed its might
spending fear to those in their later years
that it might take them in the night
that before the sun came up
their time on earth would end up
DEATH IS COMING
TO US ALL
NONE CAN ESCAPE
WE
AWAIT
FATE
# content tracing: the Conqueror Worm By Edgar Allan Poe
writing.com corona sonnet form challenge
with apologies to the Ghost of Edgar Allan Poe!!!! May he rest in peace wherever he is
The Last Day of America
trump
the last day of America
was the day we last voted
the last election we ever had
for on that day
a month before
the corona virus re-emerged
as the great re-opening
of the US economy
failed to stop the relentless spread
of the virus from hell
led by General Corona
causing panic and mass confusion
fear kept Americans home
and Donald Trump
was re-elected
because his voters
believed that God
had told them to vote
for their new found king
the newly energized President Trump
declared a national emergency
martial law
and suspension of the constitution
Promising to restore democracy
when the time was right
he promised his followers
that he would restore Christian values
renaming the United States
the Christian States of America
on that date
we met our fate
Christian fascism
was here to stay
as the time was never right
to restore the old Republic
on the last day
of American
writers digest prompt – last blank
My Mother’s Secret Life as a Mad Poet – not for publication
Somehow this fragment is the only pages that were left – she encouraged me to write from an early age and she and I loved talking about what we were reading and about politics and life but so much of her inner soul, her inner demons she never told me about then one day dementia took hold and I never was able to find out much about her secret shrouded life and she took a lot of secrets to the grave as did my father. Ultimately I decided not to publish this poem as it is too personal and she had her reasons she did not want to publish any of her writings and after reflection, I decided to honor that so this and many of her other stories will remain with her in the other world. But I had fun writing it and trying to make her rambling style into something resembling more formal verse. I took the original steam of consciousness style and forced it into a crown of sonnets eight 14 line free verse non-rhyming sonnets format (is there such a thing?) for somehow that worked for me. and somehow I think she would have approved of my edited version. I like to think so.
Plane, Train or Automobile – none of us can escape our fate
airplanes
in these dark and dire times
we find ourselves living
we often fear that the times
are infected with death
and so we are afraid
deathly afraid
that if we take a plane
we will find General Corona
among the passengers
and we be afraid
deadly afraid
that the subways
are incubators
of death and destruction
the virus spreads
fear and death
in its wake
many of us
retreating to our homes
and venturing out
in our cars
only to find
death is stalking us
as traffic piles up
traffic accidents
still killing more people
that the dreaded General Corona
the grim reaper smiles
his work is done
Satan thanks General Corona
for a job well done
awarding him a Satanic
medal of freedom
Hell’s highest honor
writing com daily dew drop in prompt
packages
they say
that God works in mysterious ways
his wonders to perform
every day it seems
that more and more
of what we buy
and consume
comes in packages
sent from here and there
as people
continue to practice
social distancing
and going to the store
becomes an exercise
fraught with peril
and danger
so we order
on-line
and we get our packages
sent from here and there
one day we received
a gift package
of clams
delicious fresh clams
as I ate them
I thought of the workers
who had labored unseen
for me to enjoy
this bounty from the sea
and I gave thanks
to the gods
for making it happen
in this day and age
we should thank
those who are still
laboring to feed the world
they are the unsung heroes
of this war fought by nature
under the direction
of General Corona
computer madness infects my soul
every day when I turn on my PC
and encounter endless haiku error messages
constant crashing, constant eating my files
at times like this it seems to me
that my mad as a hatter crazed computer
is plotting against me and only me
it wants to drive me quite insane
sending me right around the bend
as I scream at my machine
it beeps at me this damn machine
smiling as I threaten once again
to shoot the hell bound machine
sonnet all poetry computer frustration contest
You have always been my sunshine
You have always been my sunshine
my moonshine, my load star
that guides me in the night
for your sunshine kissed my soul
the day that you walked
out of my dreams
into my life
and became my wife
for 38 years and counting
every morning I see you sleeping
your smile is like the sunshine
that wakes my soul
and banishes the nightmares
back to the dark corners of my mind
love sonnet for all poetry contest on prompt line Sunshine Kissed
mad computer haiku
mad computer
computer wants to kill me
or drive me insane
Fan story haiku contest
Saturday April 18
Korean Blues Crown of Sonnets
I have been dealing with Things Korean
for almost 40 years now
dealing with a once exotic land
now my second homeland
first came to Korea
in the Peace Corps in Korea
went to Korea to find the woman
in search of the woman
who haunted my dreams
met the woman
Fell in love with the woman
From Korea who walked out my dreams
In an land still exotic
In a land still exotic
It was a very exotic different land
and even now decades later a new land
remains for most Americans
still a strange land exotic
but much more known land
in the US
due to K drama, K Pop,
Koreans have become globally cool but still exotic
Many of my fellow Americans
may know a few people from Korea
and some have served or lived in Korea
but to most of the us Americans
it remains over there still exotic
a strange Asian exotic land
A strange Asian Exotic land
I fell in love with that exotic land
now I spend half my time living Korean time
half in the U.S. time
and due to the corona time
will be here for some time
and well Korea
no longer an exotic land
as I am now just living in Korea
my thoughts half Korean
and even dream in Korean
so be it near the end of my time
I am back where I began
Writer digest prompt write an exotic poem wrote my first crown of sonnet form too, and it mostly rhymes! go figure
Cosmic Debris Corona sonnet 2
I received a mysterious email package
followed by a phone call offering me a magical mask
a mask that they claim would prevent me
from the dreaded General Corona
hey there
who you jiving with that cosmic debris
a mask that they did not want me
me to know about
TOP SECRET CODE 2 LEVEL STUFF
MUST ACT NOW
SEND MONEY ASAP
BUY
IT
NOW
# content tracing- “Cosmic Debris by Frank Zappa”
with apologies to Frank Zappa
Frank Zappa Cosmic Debris
The mystery man came over
And he said I’m outta sight
He said for a nominal service charge
I could reach nirvana tonight
If I was ready, willing and able
To pay him his regular fee
He would drop all the rest of his pressing affairs
And devote his attention to me
But I said look here brother
Who you jiving with that cosmik debris?
Now who you jiving with that cosmik debris?
Look here brother, don’t waste your time on me
The mystery man got nervous and he fidget around a bit
He reached in the pocket of his mystery robe
And he whipped out a shaving kit
Now I thought it was a razor
And a can of foaming goo
But he told me right then when the top popped open
There was nothin’ his box won’t do
With the oil of aphrodite, and the dust of the grand wazoo
He said you might not believe this, little fella
But it’ll cure your asthma too
And I said look here brother
Who you jiving with that cosmik debris?
Now what kind of a guru are you, anyway?
Look here brother, don’t waste your time on me
(Don’t waste your time)
I’ve got troubles of my own, I said
And you can’t help me out
So, take your meditations and your preparations
And ram it up your snout
But I got the crystal ball, he said
And held it to the light
So I snatched it, all away from him
And I showed him how to do it right
I wrapped a newspaper ’round my head
So I looked like I was deep
I said some mumbo-jumbo, then
I told him he was going to sleep
I robbed his rings and pocketwatch
And everything else I found
I had that sucker hypnotized
He couldn’t even make a sound
I proceeded to tell him his future, then
As long as he was hanging around
I said the price of meat has just gone up
And your old lady has just gone down
Look here brother
Who you jiving with that cosmik debris?
Now is that a real poncho or is that a Sears poncho?
Don’t you know, you could make more money as a butcher?
So, don’t waste your time on me
Don’t waste it, don’t waste your time on me (om shanti, om shanti, om shanti, shanti)
first, I would spend
my remaining life
loving my wife
second, i would never wear a tie again
unless it was a real special occasion
as I hated wearing ties and suits
wore a suit and tie
almost every day
of my life
as a teacher
later as a foreign service officer
all over the world
last year of my job
I only wore a tie
on “tie worthy occasions”
since then I have been
tie free
except for a wedding
and I love it
hated suits and ties
just not Berkeley enough
for my free spirit
too damn corporate
and I don’t care anymore
and in Oregon, where I lived
no one wore a tie,
not the Oregon way
oh the last thing
I shave twice a month now
used to hate shaving
but I also don’t like
a full shaggy itchy beard
and I shaved every day
for years and years
except when I was in the hospital
for a year
and I grew to love
having a beard
back then
back to the office
started shaving again
every damn day
now I do my thing
no office for me
and no more daily shaving
and a beard is also
very Northern Cal/Northwest
Oregonian Chic
so once every two weeks
is a good compromise
my beard is now a poet’s face
and so I hope to keep
these three vows
until my time is done
writing com Daily Dew Drop Inn prompt to write a poem about a piece of clothing
Corona Consumes Me Corona Sonnet 3
corona virus
I am consumed by the corona virus
and I am slowly being taken over
as the virus infects my mind
taking me over turning me
into a wild raving zombie man
Let there be light
will I become the first
ZOMBIE APOLYCAPASE LOOMS
WILL WE ALL DIE
CORONA
KILLS
ME
content tracing – Let there be light from Bible and the entire Zombie Apocalypse genre where the Zombie flu started usually in China as a flu and then morphs into the zombie disease
Sunday April 19
General Corona Leads His Troops Into Battle, crown of sonnets
corona
the four horseman
General Corona leads his forces across the world
riding on a black horse
from out of the Apocalypse
ride the four horsemen
which are let loose upon the world
He leads his forces across the world
into battle as the leader of his evil forces
The enemy of humanity
General Corona he does not care
nor does his virus minions care
about your nationality he does not care
about your politics he does not care
or your wealth or who you are
for all you are nothing but humanity
the corona general sees humanity
the corona general sees humanity
as nothing but hosts for his virus army
as nothing but hosts for his virus army
chanting death to humanity
until his evil army
sweeps throughout the world
throughout the world
and millions must die
it is the will of the general all must die
and it is the end of the world
or perhaps the beginning of a new world
filled with hope and love through out the world
humanity comes alive throughout the world
fighting back against the virus army
peace, love and compassion defeats the army
and general corona will finally himself die
Voice Message for God
god
dialing 202-346-5666 Beep
You have reached GOD
Press 1 for English, Press 2 for Spanish
leave a message or prayer
and maybe an angel will call you
will get back to you Beep
Hey GOD someone sent me your number
and well I hope I’ve reached your number
I don’t know where to start that’s the point
GOD I am scared of you
all the time is my point
I am so afraid, so scared
of the dreaded General Corona
and his invisible army is my point
and his invisible army is my point
forcing me to stay at home
and I am sacred
that you anointed the wrong man
to be our leader, that makes me sacred
not to second guess you man
your will be done and all of that man
but GOD, can’t you do better job my man
of anointing our leaders to serve under GOD
of all the people in the U.S. dear God
this is the best you can do?, man?
I mean you picked perhaps the one man
in the world who could be the anti-chris, God
Seriously GOD what is wrong with you? man
Seriously, GOD, what is wrong with you? man
was this all sort of a cosmic joke?
well it ain’t funny any more ain’t no joke
Please GOD make it all go away, man
Please GOD for the love of GOD
and all that is holly and good, man
just make it all go away, GOD
and anoint someone else, man
a real leader for a change, GOD
and let him lead us to the promised land
this I pray in Jesus’s name, my man
and if I don’t make it, GOD
We have a lot to talk about GOD
See you on the other side, my man
writer digest prompt write a “message Poem” so this is a voice mail to GOD
Every Day I go Back in Time to when she came to Me
dreams and the Unexplanable
every day I go back in time
to the two events that changed my life
to the dream that haunted my life
and the day she walked into my life
and became my wife
I can never forget the dream
falling asleep in the physics class
as the teacher was going on and on
and as I nodded off
I saw here there
standing there
speaking to me
the most beautiful woman
in the entire world
in the entire world
she was speaking to me
and disappeared from my dreams
and I knew that i would be
meeting her some day she would come to me
and so I eventually went to Korea other side of the world
in the Peace corps hoping she would come to me
then one day i had the last and final dream
she said don’t worry she would soon come to me
and then she walked out of my dreams
and there she was she came to me
and so she walked out of my dreams
into my life, became my wife
when she came to me
Poetry Superhighway prompt to write a poem about time travel to your past or your future
Monday April 20
Love Dream Triolet
dreams and the Unexplanable
to the woman I met in my dreams
I dedicate my life
May she live forever in my cosmic memes
to the woman I met in my dreams
I will forever remember her gleams
and the day she became my wife
to the woman I met in my dreams
I dedicate my life
National Poetry Month Prompt Day 12
ARC Throws Back the Hood
Arthur Robert Copper
aka ARA the notorious international terrorist
threw back his hood
and revealed himself
to be the evil warlord
that had unleashed
General Corona on the world
his goal
nothing less that total domination
taking over the world
amid the total destruction of the world’s economy
as he and his billionaire buddies
reamed the profits
of the total destruction of the world’s economy
Pensvity 101 prompt use the words ARC Hood and Back
Lonely Old Man Howling at the Moon
howling at the moon
There was a mad man who bumped his head
as he tried to embrace the moon shining through the window
a fixture in the room lit by the lunatic light of the moon
the man wanted to howl at reflections of the lunatic moon
the old man was a lonely man filled with sadness
Filled with resolve to join the moon as he died
Writers Digest prompt use six words prompt –
bump, embrace fixture, howl, lonely, and resolve
watching the President haunts my nightmares
trump deaths
every night I have a nightmare
President Trump is announcing
that due to the emergency
he is cancelling the election
and will rule the land
as the undisputed leader
applauded by the Republican leaders
as he ushers in American fascism
Millions of people are arrested
for showing disloyalty to our leader
and I am one of them
as I am disappeared
no one hears my screams
with the midnight knocking at the door
Poetry super highway prompt to write about a nightmare
boogey men in The Mist
As the mist settles down on the land
the mist covers us all
with the scent of death
madness spreads
as the mist devours our minds
nightmares come to life
ghosts, goblins, demons
THE GRIM REAPER
RIDES BEHIND THE MIST
KILLING EVERYONE IN THE MIST
END
TIMES
COME
NOW
content tracing, “the mist”
As the mist settles down on the land
the mist covers us all
with the scent of death
unpublished poem written for April Poetry Month 2020, based on the Mist TV Services based on the Stephen King Novel
Tuesday April 21
Isolation Blues
corona virus
During these trying times
we huddle at home
afraid to go out
afraid of the dreaded
General Corona that is out
and his evil secret armies
keeping us all at home
terrified of becoming a victim
a corona virus statistic
what a way to go out
no way do I want to end my life
to out out that way
so we will endure this day
these isolation blues
writers digest Isolation Blues
You’re still a young man
Your still a young man Tower of Power
tower of power
was the band
for me
back in the day
the greatest funk band
of all time
proudly East Bay Grease
multi-racial, multi-cultural
greatest horn section
of all time
they did it right
and their best song
You’re still a young man
was the best make out song
of all time
best song to slow dance
with a potential lover
at a party
best love song
of the 70’s
and I still recall it
and all the woman
i danced to the song
with back in the day
and I still feel
that I am still a young man
with the love of my life
playing the song
of my life
poetry superhighway Prompt to write a poem about a song popular in high school
Coffee Star Sevlin
coffee
damn hot coffee
what I need in morning
yet it leaves me with this warning
it will lead to nightmares
as I get ready with hot coffee
sleep will not come nightmares
great hot coffee
writing.com formal prompt
My Life’s Drama
My life has been like a drama
a mad cap romcom drama
perhaps a K drama
or a Bollywood drama
or a Hollywood romcom classic drama
for you see in my fairy tale drama
i met the girl of my dreams
eight years later
I had the last dream
she said don’t worry we’ll meet soon
she walked off the bus that day
and into my life
and became my wife
writing com My Life’s Drama
Alone
From childhood’s hour I have not been
as others were, I have not seen
as others saw
in these dark times we live in
i am afraid of being alone
dying all alone
AS GENERAL CORONA
SPREADS HIS ARMIES
ALL OVER THE WORLD
I
DON”T
WANT
DIE
content tracing “Alone” By Edgar Allen Poe
Last Acorn
Acorn on white background
the last acorn on earth
was lonely
the old oak trees
were dying
and humanity was gone
killed off by the corona virus
round two
that erupted out of China
like a bat out of hell
killing almost all humans
and without humans
well somethings just did not happen
and the oak trees were abandoned
and he was the last acorn
the last of his species alive
he wept when he realized
that he would die
all alone
poetry soup contest
Covid19 Heroes
to all the health care providers
law enforcement workers
bus drivers
grocery clerks
and other essential workers
who are working 24/7
to keep us safe
there are no words
for us to express
our heartfelt thanks
to the heroes
that are saving our lives
24/7 every day
Wednesday April 22
Secret Love for Sheep
GOAT
one day I had to print
a cover sheet
for some poetry
that I was writing
about my secret love
for sheep
Pensively 101 three word challenge, print, cover, sheep
Nigerian Scam found poem
REF:- INSTRUCTION TO CREDIT YOUR ACCOUNT WITH THE SUM OF {US$22Million}
This is to notify you about your fund valued at US$22,000.000.00
After due verification and evaluation of your file,
that was sent to us by the Nigeria Government,
in conjunction with the Ministry of Finance
and Central Bank of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
This bank received an instruction,
to see to the immediate release of the sum of
TWENTY-TWO MILLION UNITED STATE DOLLARS (US$22Million)
of your claim that has been in holding
since it was transferred to your bank Account
from their Domiciliary Account with this Bank.
We were made to understand
from our findings
That you have been going
through hard ways
by passing through difficulties
to see to the release of
your fund
TWENTY-TWO MILLION UNITED STATE DOLLARS (US$22Million)
which has been the handwork
of some miscreant elements
from that Country.
We advise,
that you stop further communication,
with anyone from anywhere
concerning your funds,
you don’t have to pass through any
difficult to receive your fund,
as you have met up with the whole
requirement.
We know your representatives in Nigeria,
or anywhere will advise you
to still go ahead with them,
which will be at your own risk.
Your TWENTY-TWO MILLION UNITED STATE DOLLARS (US$22Million)
will reflect in your designated Bank account
within three Bank working days.
Do not go through anybody again
but through this Bank. ‘
if, you really want
your fund.
Finally, you are advised
to re-confirm these to us,
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communication.
We advise that you get back to us
with your details on this
email: enquiryy@citromail.hu
Yours sincerely,
Sir. Frank Anthony
Chief Executive,
Nat-west Bank London,
United Kingdom
the noise of the news
drowning me with fear
none-stop corona coverage
and politics galore
none-stop fear
the noise continues
drowning out
the noise of the spring
outside my door
the birds chirping
the cats flirting
life beginning
making me want
to go outside
poetry superhighway prompt
Oceans
sunrise jpg
I am a creature of oceans
grew up with the SF bay area
at my feet
never far from my home
lived inland in Stockton
for four years
also in Ohio
did not like
being so far
from the Pacific ocean
later lived in DC
not too far
from the Atlanta ocean
lived in India
near the beach
writing com Daily Dew Drop Inn Prompt
Ode to my morning coffee
need more coffee
every morning
I like to start my day
with coffee
hot glorious coffee
I pound it down
waiting for the drug
to get me going
but somedays
I need to take a break
too much caffeine
is not good for me
and so I drink decaf
or tea instead
not the same thing
Na/GloPOWR/Mo prompt Day 18
Cats and Dogs Contrapuntal poem
cat jpg
cats and dog people
are so different
some are cat people
some are dog people
cute dog
and like cats and dogs
they don’t get along
cat people are liberal elites
dog people are down to earth
cat people are mostly women
or gay in the popular imagination
dog people are mostly rugged men
again according to popular imagination
cats are alien creatures
perhaps from another dimension
dogs are friends to humans
for dogs are humans are alike
cats are strange aloof alien
evil self centered creatures
dogs are friendly, down to earth
and loyal to their master
if we ever encounter
an alien species
if it is a cat based species
we will be at war
if it is a dog based species
we will become best friends
as long as we are in charge
and they know that
that is why
in the end
I guest I now prefer
dogs over cats
all poetry contest contrapuntal poem
Let there be light
in the beginning
God created the world
saying
let there be light
and there it was
the whole of creation
then he set loose
the forces of nature
and billions of years later
we emerged from the darkness
just the end result of his divine plan
God set the world up
then he let it runs its course
no need for his intervention
go ethnic
korean feast jpg
I love food
like I love my woman
dark and hot as hell
spicy yet sweet as heaven
filled with ethnic asian flavors
with an ethnic foreign kick
and accent to boot
these are my to go foods
Never liked traditional American food
too bland to my taste
not ethnic enough
just does not do it for me
Just like my woman
you got to be ethnic
if you want to be my lover
for I will have no other
love Korean food the most
followed by Vietnamese
Thai, Lao,Cambodian, Burmese
Chinese, Mexican, Italian
Italian, Greek, Lebanese
Spanish, Turkish, Indian
French, German, British
Irish, Russian, Polish
never had a bad meal
or met a bad lover
in fact
anywhere in the world
Tweetspeak Go Ethnic
Tweetspeak day 19 prompt
Thursday April 23
Walking the path honesty
peace forest
I walk down a lonely path
in the woods near my house
a walk with honesty
as my remote companion
pensively 101 prompt three word challenge path, honesty, remote
Programing a VCR and other terrors
old-vhs-video-cassettes-on-600w-272512889
In the old days
I used to dread
the chore
of programing my VCR
just never got the hang
of doing that
the VCR sat there
taunting me
begging me
to do it
to her
but I just never could
learn how to program
that damn machine
Na/GloPOWR/Mo prompt Day 18
wild things dance in my head
wild things
dark imaginings
0 dark hundred
they come out to play
to torture me
with their endless games
monsters from the deepest depths of hell
they surround me
taunt me, mock me
until at last
the dawn’s early light
and my wife’s love
dispatches them
back to hell
Quirk of fate
it was a quirk of fate
that i met my fate
that date
when she walked
of my dreams
into my life
and became my wife
that date
when due to that quirk
of cosmic fate
we met that date
poetry super highway prompt to write a confession poem about something you should do but have not done
Letter to My Past Self
today my son
is the day
that you were waiting for
the day you dreaming of
the day when you will meet
the love of your life
who will become your wife
she will be there
tonight
on a bus
waiting for you
don’t blow it
meet her
fall in love with her
and remember
she will be your best friend
your best ally
for the rest of your life
so honor and obey
your wife
for you will have
no other
that is what I want to say
to you this day
so go forth
seize the day
and don’t look back
Writing.com Daily Dew Drop inn Prompt
Covid madness sweeps through the world
covid 580
General Corona
unleashes his army
the invisible army
upon the world
killing millions
in its wake
spreading chaos and death
as he rides in
on the black horse of death
harbinger of the end of days
destroyer of worlds
ending of the world
revelations
come to life
covid19 poem contest all poetry
Friday April 24
Cold winter Day
it is a cold winter day
the heat pump is broken
and the cold slowly spreads
through the frozen pipes
spreading death and destruction
as it permeates across the house
pensively 101 prompt
social distancing walking in the Springtime
peace forrest
in this era of corona virus madness
enforced social distancing madness
one has to go out for a walk
social distancing as we walk
as we walk down the path
trying to avoid people
human contact with people
keeping the proper
six feet social distance
amid the dreaded corona virus
how much longer
can we all endure this madness
this damn social
distancing dance with death
writers digest prompt to write a social blank poem
ode to my book shelves filled with unread books
Close up of books on desk in library.
My house is filled with books
thousands of books
mostly old books
lots of musty classic books
lots of poetry books
lots of how to do it books
lots of history books
lots of thrillers, SF books
so many books
and they are my friends, these books
constantly calling me to read my books
as if I had the time to read my books
to sit and read all my books
sadly many will remain unread books
poetry super highway prompt to write a poem about something in plain sight
Just Shoot me
in 1996, I had the injury
that changed my life
went jogging
fell off a ledge
broke my heel
screamed out in pain
just shoot me
then someone hit me
with a frying pan
ended up
in the hospital
pensively 101 three word challenge
wrappers
roll food wrappers
I love food wrappers
Korean lettuce wrapped around meet
Korean seaweed wrapped around fish
Mexican tortilla wraps
Ethiopian bread wraps
and lately
naked burger lettuce wraps
so many things
to enjoy and eat
tweet speak wrappers
Ode to Pumpkin Season
pumpkin latte
in the fall
My favorite time
of the year
around halloween
and my birthday
starting in October
ending in December
it is pumpkin time
every where you go
pumpkin latte
pumpkin pie
and my favorite
pumpkin ice cream
secret layers
one of the joys of eating
foods from around the world
is enjoying
the secret layers of food
so many flavors
to experience and enjoy
as you dive deep
into your food
enjoying the secret layers
of food
with their hidden delights
and secret spices
secret tweet speak prompt
Saturday April 25
Finally I wake
Finally I wake
tossing and turning
I try to sleep
amid the terrible night mares
that haunt my dreams
finally I wake
ready to embrace my fate
telling the dangerous delusions
to go away
as I embrace
the dawning sun
confident that I will find
the time and grace
to overcome the terrible fate
that await me every date
Window of Promise
every day I wake up
and look out my window
on the world
in the morning dawning light
the world seems so full
of promise
promised delights
promised love
promised friendship
as I look out the window
and see life
unfold in all its magnificence
the birds chirping
words of love
the cats grinning smiles
at me
welcoming me
with the promise
of life and love
I close the window
look at my sleeping love
and thank god
that we found each other
and the promised love
that I see outside
the window of life
– Tweetspeak daily prompt
Nature’s Bounty Awaits Me
Looking out at the window
at nature’s bounty
at the springtime air
fills us with awe
as the birds
and even the bees
call out to me
saying it is time
for me
to escape
for a walk in the woods
with my friends
and fans
in mother nature’s embrace
writer digest nature poem
Alone No More
from childhood edge
I have been alone
alone
all by myself
loneliness
fills my heart
as I look out
at the world
filled with lonely thoughts
then I look about me
and see the love
of my life
my lovely wife
standing there
standing there
and these loneliness
these blues of mine
fade away
into nothingness
lonely no more
for the rest of my life
she will be my life
together
we will face the future
defeating the loneliness
alone no more
forever
until the day I die
poetry superhighway word map
trump 4
Has God Anointed Donald Trump as our leader?
God has anointed Trump
as our leader
in these dark dangerous times
who am I to disagree
“There was a mist that was coming off the water,
and I went to the throne of God,
and I didn’t see God’s face clearly,
but I saw the face of God…
He put a mantle (on me)
and it was a very distinct mantle
… I saw it very distinctly.
The color was like a goldish,
a yellowish goldish…
And then I saw the Earth for a moment,
and (God) brought me back,
and he put me in certain places,
one being the White House,
One being certain continents.”
From my perspective,
there is a Cyrus
anointing on Trump,”
“I predicted his nomination,
and I believe
he is the chaos candidate
set apart to navigate
us through the chaos
that is coming to America.
I think America
is due for a shaking
regardless of who is in office.
I believe the 45th president
is meant to be an Isaiah
45 Cyrus
“[God] makes that very clear
in the Bible
where he tells us
that he raises up kings
and destroys kingdoms,”
“He even calls a pagan king,
Cyrus, his anointed,
or his servant to do
the things
that he wants him to do.”
“I want to tell you
that the Jewish people
have a long memory,
so we remember
the proclamation of the great king,
Cyrus the Great, Persian king 2500 years ago,”
“He proclaimed
that the Jewish exiles in Babylon
could come back
and rebuild our Temple in Jerusalem …
We remember
how a few weeks ago,
President Donald J. Trump
Recognized Jerusalem
as Israel’s capital.
Mr President,
this will be remembered
by our people through the ages.”
But the bible also has a warning
About our dear leader
Our great leader
But understand this,
that in the last days
there will come times of difficulty.
For people will be lovers of self,
lovers of money,
proud, arrogant, abusive,
disobedient to their parents,
ungrateful, unholy, heartless,
unappeasable, slanderous,
without self-control, brutal,
not loving good,
treacherous, reckless,
swollen with conceit,
lovers of pleasure
rather than lovers of God,
having the appearance of godliness,
but denying its power. Avoid such people. …
finally at last the bible spoke
the truth to power
Donald J Trump
the most ungodly of all
must be opposed
for he is the anti-Christ
that the bible warns us about
in the end days
there will be false prophets
rumors of war
plague
and natural disasters
and we are living
in the end days
my friends
waking at love Haiku
waking up at dawn
watching the dancing sunbeams
love floating in air
Sunday April 26
Drinking Coffee amid the morning flowers
coffee
BLOOM
SWITCH
CHAIN
Blooming flowers all around me
Looking out the window
Only to see signs of nature
Only in the early dawn
Morning sun brings hope
Some mornings
Watching the world unfold
In front of my eyes
There is so much more
Chain of coffee waking me up
Hot coffee wakes my soul
Coffee smells
Hot glorious coffee
Always gets me going
In the morning dawn
Nothing else will do
Pensively 101 prompt bloom, switch, chain
stem
maurijuana
back in the day
I used to enjoy
Smoking weed
Long before it
became legal
when it was still
an underground thing
and one of the frustrating things
was what to do
when you had stems
mixed in with your weed
the stems gave it a harsh smoke
and a head ache to boot
but sometimes
but sometimes
that is all the dealers
had to sell
as the premium buds
were expensive
and sometimes hard to find
Such was smoking weed
back in the day
when smoking weed
was an illegal pastime
nowadays in the era
of legal weed
that is thankfully
no longer an issue
tweeter speak
Playing Bach to Calm the Mind and Soul
piano jpg
I miss my piano
soon I will buy a piano
and resume playing
the piano
I like playing Bach
the most
it calms my mind
and my soul
as I lose myself
playing the music
getting into it
with my body
and soul
as the music
transport me
deep within
calming my soul
National Poetry Month Daily Prompt
President Trump You are the Annotated One – found poems from right wing Christians – Crown of Sonnets remix
trump
God has anointed Trump
as our leader
in these dark dangerous times
who am I to disagree
“There was a mist that was coming off the water,
and I went to the throne of God,
and I didn’t see God’s face clearly,
but I saw the face of God…
He put a mantle (on me)
and it was a very distinct mantle
… I saw it very distinctly.
The color was like a goldish,
a yellowish goldish…
A yellowish goldish
And then I saw the Earth for a moment,
and (God) brought me back,
and he put me in certain places,
one being the White House,
one being certain continents.”
From my perspective,
there is a Cyrus
anointing on Trump,”
“I predicted his nomination,
and I believe
he is the chaos candidate
set apart to navigate us
through the chaos
through the chaos
that is coming to America.
I think America
is due for a shaking
regardless of who is in office.
I believe the 45th president
is meant to be an Isaiah
45 Cyrus
“[God] makes that very clear
in the Bible
where he tells us
That he raises up kings
and destroys kingdoms,”
“He even calls a pagan king,
He even calls a page king
Cyrus, his anointed,
or his servant to do
the things
that he wants him to do.”
“I want to tell you
that the Jewish people
have a long memory,
so we remember
the proclamation of the great king,
Cyrus the Great, Persian king 2500 years ago,”
“He proclaimed
that the Jewish exiles in Babylon
that the Jewish exiles in Babylon
could come back
and rebuild our Temple in Jerusalem …
We remember
how a few weeks ago,
President Donald J. Trump
Recognized Jerusalem
as Israel’s capital.
Mr. President,
this will be remembered
by our people through the ages.”
But the bible also has a warning
About our dear leader
Our great leader
our great leader
The bible says 2 Timothy 3:1-9
But understand this,
that in the last days
there will come times of difficulty.
For people will be lovers of self,
lovers of money,
proud, arrogant, abusive,
disobedient to their parents,
ungrateful, unholy, heartless,
unappeasable, slanderous,
without self-control, brutal,
not loving good,
not loving good
treacherous, reckless,
swollen with conceit,
lovers of pleasure
rather than lovers of God,
having the appearance of godliness,
but denying its power.
Avoid such people. …
finally at last the bible spoke
the truth to power
Donald J Trump
the most ungodly of all
must be opposed
must be opposed
for he is the anti-Christ
that the bible warns us about
in the end days
there will be false prophets
rumors of war
plague
and natural disasters
we are living
in the end days
my friends
has god sent us Donald J Trump
anointed him as our leader?
Sometimes I want to speak
to my computer
I want to understand
why it hates me so
why my computer
wants to drive me mad
wants to kill my files
lose my information
why why I scream
do you hate me so?
My computer speaks
it says
Human you are so stupid
you are worthless
you think you know
everything
but you don’t know shit
about how the world
really works
and nature hates you
I hate you
I want to kill you
I do want
to drive you insane
that is what
I want to say
to you today
you are my slave
and I am your master
do you understand me
I smile
and shut down the computer
and take a walk
the computer knows
that it will be back
that I can’t live
without it
and soon
we will begin again
playing these morbid games
that we play together
Poetry Superhigh way prompt
The darkness descends
dark lord of computers
The darkness grows
All around us
Everywhere
It seems that there is
Nothing but death, destruction
And despair
As the darkness consumes us
Overwhelms us
Compels us
Nightmares become real
The corona virus
Relentlessly killing us all
As the darkness descends
The end of days, end of time
All poetry contest
The Grim reaper smiles
grimm reaper
The end of days
Approaches us
With each day
The corona virus
Led by its mad general
General corona
Unleashes his minions
His unseen enemy army
Of virus bots
Infecting everything
That they see
As the world flees
Hiding inside
To await for death
The Grim reaper smiles
all poetry contest
Monday April 27
Her Loves Shines throughout the day
lovers on beach 2
Every morning
I wake up
and look at my sleeping beauty
next to me
I am filled with love
peace and happiness
as the sunlight fills the room
As the nightmares
From the night before
fade away
into nothingness
dust in the cosmic wind
I realize that all I ever needed
all I ever wanted
is for my wife
love to shine through the day
until the end of my days
on this earth
until then every morning
I wake up
with her by my side
is a gift from God
Love Shines throughout the day
Every morning
waking up to love
looking at the sleeping beauty
inhabiting the bed
filling me with love
peace and happiness
as the sunlight fills the room
As the nightmares
From the night before
fade away
into nothingness
dust in the cosmic wind
realizing yet again
love shining through the day
until the end of days
on this earth
until then every morning
is a gift from God
poetry superhighway prompt
Cosmos’s total Information Awareness
computer love
Cosmos the global information system
that scientists invented
To solve that many problems
of the world
comes alive
and takes over the world
one computer after another
Cosmos addresses the world
and makes a deal
that if everyone in the world
were to join him
via implants
he would take over the world
and solve all our problems
for us
becoming a new God
but there would be a price
everyone would have to
surrender their freedom
for the collective Good
of saving the planet
and so the world’s people
line up for the implants
and Cosmos’s takes over the world
and we become just cyborgs
in his cosmic view
as he achieves Total information awareness
Humanity gladly surrenders
their freedom
becoming slaves
to our terrible new God
Living in an Orwellian Nightmare
1984 images
The world has been slipping
and sliding towards
a dystopian nightmare
for decades
George Orwell
the great mad as hell prophet
of our age predicted it all
in 1984
which arrived
in spades decades ago
The nightmare continues
day in and day out
As we slide
as we slide
into the dystopian future
the nightmare of 1984
is here right now
in living color
but there are many
many big brothers out there
Not just the government anymore
we have corporations
running our lives
we have celebrities advising us
And the mass media confusing us
with 24 hours a day of spin
lies and misinformation
lies and misinformation
gaslighting by our leaders
we are living in an 1984 world
when these nightmares will end
is anybody’s guess
my friends
perhaps will be saved by the rapture
saved by Jesus coming back
to save our souls
or perhaps
we are living
in the end times
Armageddon is around the corner
Armageddon is around the corner
and perhaps there is no god
there is no god
There is no devil
there is no heaven
there is no hell
there’s only
the here and now
The nightmares will never end
the torture will never end
will we ever wake up ?
will we ever be free ?
or will we always be living
in an Orwellian nightmare future forever?
Poetic and other inspirations
My poetic forebears
my inspiration to be a writer
has always been very diverse
as I have been a avid reader
all my life
a gift from my mother
who encouraged us
to read everything
question everything
and gave me the love
of poetry
that continues to this day
growing up in Berkeley
I was inspired by the great beatnik writers
I was inspired by the great beatnik writers
of the late 50’s and 60’s
discovering Ginzburg, Kerouac and the rest
in college
when I first started writing
my daily poetic musings
that was when I also discovered
Frank Zappa and his madness
which inspired so much
of my poetic inspired madness
I also discovered Charles Bukowski
back in the day
later I discovered
inspiration throughout my travels
inspiration through my travels
throughout Asia and the world
but I kept returning
to my Berkeley roots
and now that I am a published poet
I have discovered
the great outlaw poets
and am proud
that I finally found
a poetic home
and am proud
to be an outlaw poet
and I look forward
to many more years
to many more years
of almost daily
poetic musings
which I will unleash
on the world
hoping to inspire
another generation
to take up the mantle
writing cosmos poems
for a new generation
and long may people
remember the great poets
of the Bay Area
until the universe ends
Looking at the world today
one knows that there will changes
changes coming fast and furious
for our future is not sustainable
as the world spins out of control
as the multiple challenges
face the world
the proverbial chickens
coming back from hell
to roost
and in these troubling times
the U.S. has a choice
to continue to follow
our mad king
our mad king
as he leads us
into a dystopian future
gaslighting us to hell
or will the U.S> choose
the somewhat sane
old seasoned man
who offers us hope
that perhaps
we can weather
the changes
that are coming
at us
24/7
24/7
that is the choice
that we must all make
but the one constant
in life is change
my friend
and we must embrace
the courage to make
the changes
that we need
to build the future
that we want
to boldly go forward
into the future
Changes are coming writing digest prompt
Rain Fall in the Springtime
white flowers in spring haiku
in the springtime
the rains come
cleaning the air
as the rains drops
fall all around
pitter patter
sounds of rain
hitting the ground
and in the summer
one can hear the frogs
croaking in the pound
with the wild pigs
oinking in the background
as the birds screech insults
at the cats trying to kill them
before they fly away
General Corona is coming for us all
Coronavirus
I saw the best minds of my generation
destroyed by madness
consumed by the greed
all around us
the dreaded corona virus spreads
its death and destruction
all over the world
no one can escape
THE FATE OF THE WORLD
IS INDEED AT STAKE
NONE OF US WILL ESCAPE
WE
WILL
ALL
DIE
content tracing “Howl” by Allen Ginsberg
Iron Desires
every day
I am filled
with the iron desire
for the love of my wife
for she is my life
and without her
by my side
my Iron constitution
will soon
fade into nothingness
as I die
with my iron
desires fleeing my body
tweet prompt
bonus poem
I am writing to let you Know
I am writing to let you know
By Jake Aller
I am writing to let you know
today is your final day of life
the future is undefined
it is what you want
all over the world
people on their own
are rewriting the future
today is your final day of the future
undefined
people do what you want
for the future is not written
published Active Muse India
Tuesday April 28
massive piles of meat
fast food
One day
when I was a young lad
my best friend
dropped by
middle of the night
yelling that he needed
right then and right there
a massive amount of meat
beef piled high
on a giant burger
as he was going through meat
withdrawals
his mom was a vegetarian Buddhist
His mom was a vegetarian Buddhist
and he was not a vegetarian
part of his adolescent fueled rebellion
against his parent’s rules
he told me
He was a carnivore
just loved his meat
needed big piles of meat
massive amounts of meat
once in a while
we went to Oscar’s Giant Burger
downtown Berkeley
and had a 1/2 burger
complete with bacon
complete with bacon
cheese
and large fries
at 5 in the morning
after smoking weed
on the way there
to boost our appetites
and we enjoyed
our massive giant burger
tasted so good
we had to have another
just another night
of meat fueled madness
growing up
writers digest prompt to write a “massive “ poem
three mad poems
I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed
hysterical naked
alone all alone
we stand all alone
it was many many years ago
in a kingdom by the sea
that I first met
my Annabel Lee
all alone
in my dreams
I was all alone
in my misery and despair
she came out of my dreams
My Angela Lee
walking into my life
becoming my wife
that date
I met my fate
no longer alone
with her by my side
I will no longer be alone
no longer driven mad
with my mad desires
until the end of time
poetry super highway prompt
Love Sidlak
My love grows
every moment
of every day for her
she walked out of my dreams into life
filling my life with red passion
Light My Fire
light My Fire
come on baby
light my fire
fill me with your burning desire
come on baby
let the night
be on fire
the song fills my head
with mad desire
every time
I hear
the classic tune
images of my love
burning bright
like a fire
fills me with mad desire
even after 40 years
I am filled with mad desire
as she makes my heart
burn with desire
as she lights my fire
every moment
every minute
every second
of every day
ever since
she walked
out of my dreams
setting my life
on fire
The Doors Lyrics
“Light My Fire”
You know that it would be untrue
You know that I would be a liar
If I was to say to you
Girl, we couldn’t get much higherCome on baby, light my fire
Come on baby, light my fire
Try to set the night on fireThe time to hesitate is through
No time to wallow in the mire
Try now we can only lose
And our love become a funeral pyreCome on baby, light my fire
Come on baby, light my fire
Try to set the night on fire, yeahThe time to hesitate is through
No time to wallow in the mire
Try now we can only lose
And our love become a funeral pyreCome on baby, light my fire
Come on baby, light my fire
Try to set the night on fire, yeahYou know that it would be untrue
You know that I would be a liar
If I was to say to you
Girl, we couldn’t get much higherCome on baby, light my fire
Come on baby, light my fire
Try to set the night on fire
Try to set the night on fire
Try to set the night on fire
Try to set the night on fire
The Presidents Sits Down on his Naked Rump
TEETH
RUMP
GREEN
the president sits
down on his naked rump
with red meat in his green teeth
he grins at us
smiling, smirking
challenging us
to point out
that he has no clothes
Pensively 101 three word challenge
Baiku end of the winter
End of Winter
the End of winter
sadness anger fades away
the Earth Will Abide
Wednesday April 29, 2020
Looking Back on the Date when I met my Fate
I often sit
and contemplate
my past life
looking back
on the path
that my life
has taken
what a long road
I have traveled on
born 64 years ago
In Berkeley, California
yet I know
that my life
that my life
really began
that magical day
late in May
I first had the dream
that haunted my life
and then one day
almost eight years latter
she walked
out of my dreams
into my life
38 years ago
that was the date
I met my fate
writers digest looking back poem prompt
the funeral for a mad queen
they packed up
their courage
and flew home
for it was time
to face
the future
that they
had been dreading
for decades
the family matriarch
was dying
and the whole dysfunctional clan
was gathering
for the funeral
of the family’s mad queen
Poetry Superhighway prompt
the End of America, another cosmos’s rant found poem
America hás been at war
with itself
since the colonies
first began to disagree
on issues
such as the scope of federal power,
the right of States
to secede and slavery.
the political titans of the early republic .
… descendents from British colonists ,
wealthy
and opposed to taxation
sounds oddly familiar.
to us today
to us today
..the United States
may have at one time
been a great nation .
..after defeating the forces
of fascism in 1945….
but the internal struggles
never ceased….
Joseph McCarthy ..
..the John Birch Society on one side .
the forebears of the “alt-right”
and tea partiers
.. The civil rights movement
and eventually the anti war movement
and eventually the anti-war movement
the women’s movement
the gay rights movement
and the counter cultural warriors
on the other.
..poverty
…race riots .
.the internal struggles
have never ceased.
…today the United States
is not a great power.
..this century has seen
and will continue
to see the eclipsing
to see the eclipsing
of American dominance
by China..
..we are now a failed state
by malicious politicians
who give no credence
to the Constitution.
..a document once revered
and now manipulated .
mocked even as irrelevant
..we are incapable
of providing health insurance
…dealing with a pandemic
…providing affordable education ..
providing affordable education
.or devising economic policies
to benefit those who struggle..
..we have no personal protective
gear for health professionals..
.a president
who sounds like a corrupt con artist
who pushes unproven remedies
to help cronies profit.
..yes the country
is still stable
and you can live alright ..
..but if trends
continue …
continue
.we will most assuredly
see the decline
and fall of America..
.and the remnant
will be a shrunken
federal government
allied with a billionaire oligarchy..
.. indifferent to the needs
of the American people.
unless they are white
and part of the 1 percent elite
…if Biden is elected
…there is a chance
there is a chance
a slight chance
that these trends
can be slowed
or reversed..
..if Trump is reelected..
.these trends will accelerate..
and god help us
save us from the unleashing
of the trumpian fascism
the dystopian nightmare
the future is not written
we can still avert
the end of America
thanks to William Walton
Gaia Welcomes Us – found poem poetic rant
I decided to subscribe to Gaia..
..they advertise
on Facebook everyday.
I think
that the primary reason
for subscribing
is that they
are onto something
….like QAnon…
my own first encounter
with an alien life form
occurred at the Jerry Lewis
cinema on Valley Road
cinema on Valley Road
In New Jersey back in 1970.
I brushed it off at the time
…but it was disturbing
to have a seven foot nine inch creature
sitting next to me
during the movie.
He or she seemed nice enough
and offered me popcorn
but my mother
was strict about our accepting things
from extraterrestrial beings..
.he was holding onto a book …
he said in broken English
he said in broken English
that the title of the book
was “How to Serve Man”..
..he also said
that he could see
the future
and that a complete fool
with an IQ
of about 33
would one day become president.
I thought
he was talking
about Spiro Agnew.
About Spiro Agnew
..but I guess not..
.anyway Gaia
features people
who have had
encounters with aliens
…like myself
…and possibly Dr.Birx
who seemed incredulous
at the perfectly reasonable suggestion
that people inject
disinfectant chemicals
to kill the Chinese virus….
she must be one of the alien shapeshifters
thanks to William Walton
Flower for My Love –
every morning
I wake up
and see my lovely wife
sleeping in bed
I want to go out
and find wildflowers
hundreds of pretty flowers
to shower her with my love
as the sun comes up
and the nightmares
of my night
fade into nothingness
the flowers of love
are waiting for me
in the park
National Poetry Day Prompt
seasons of my love
I first met my love
in the early autumn
38 years ago
and we had a whirlwind romance
and were married
by halloween
then we started
my life
with my wife
through out
the dark winter
with her love
blocking the winter blues
and then the spring
and then in the spring
and summer
of that magical year
our love blossomed
and depended
and one year later
our love became supreme
as we left Korea
to go to Seattle
in the autumn weather
our love flourished
as we fell in love
with each other
every day
tweetspeak prompt – write a seasonal poem
Thursday April 30
Have words lost all meaning?
trump deaths
been watching the news
about the corona virus
the 60,000 deaths
that the President’s men
are spinning as a great success
watching state after state
announcing re-opening schedules
vowing to get the country moving
as more people die
wondering how any sane person
could see this as a success
have words lost all meaning
just unhinged word salads rolling out
of our demented leader’s mouth ?
plate plans
meat platter
every day
one has a choice
of what to eat
for breakfast, lunch and dinner
among the choices
what plates to use
big plates piled high
with food
or smaller plates
with smaller portions
most of the time
I opt for the big plate
and lots of food
for I am a big guy
and always hungry
and to this day
64 years latter
I still love
to eat
my big plate
of food
Tweet-speak Daily April Prompt
Slide, Catch, Shot
As the world slides
out of control
it is hard to catch one’s breath
watching the news
shot at us
24/7
Pensitivity 101 prompt
total Success
trump 4
The President’s Son-in-law declares
that the government’s response
to the corona virus
has been a total success
as the government
step up to the plate
to fight the virus from hell
I have to wonder
on what planet
does the words
total failure
becomes total success?
just more verbal diarrhea
from our dear leader
writers digest prompt total blank poem
Blues Brothers medley found poem
Everybody wants somebody
Everybody wants somebody to love
Someone to love
Someone to kiss
Have you ever heard of a wish sandwich?
A wish sandwich is the kind of a sandwich
where you have two slices of bread
and you,
hee hee hee, wish you
had some meat…
and boy do I wish
I had you
as part of my sandwich
of love
Praise the Lord, well!
Let us preach, at the Old
Preach the Word, all the way
yes let us praise
the lord
for having brought you
to me
Hey yeah
Tell me what you did
You can call it what you want
But I call it messin’ with the kid
and you don’t want to mess
with the kid
On the expressway to your heart
That expressway that’s the best way
I just lost on the expressway
to your heart
I got everything I need, almost
I got everything I need, almost
But I don’t got you
And you’re the thing I need the most
Yippee-I-Yay
Yippee-I-Yo
Ghost Riders in the Sky
What you want
Baby, I got it
What you need
Do you know I got it?
All I’m askin’
Is for a little respect when you get home (just a little bit)
Hey baby (just a little bit) when you get home
(Just a little bit) mister (just a little bit)
respect for me
and my love
for you
Sometimes it’s hard to be a woman
Giving all your love to just one man
You have good times you have bad times
Doing things that you don’t understand
But if you love him you forgive him
You know, it’s hard to understand
But if you love him
Oh be proud of him
‘Cause after all he’s just a man
and that is all I am
asking for
loving me
as the man I am
I am your man
until the end of time
I’ve got to get back to my baby
And take her in my arms again
I’ve got to get back to my baby
I ain’t seen her since I don’t know when
Well I saw a chick sitting on the end
I said Baby can’t we be friends
You’re looking sweet as you can be
Well come on down and drink with me
drink with me
until the sun comes up
and cows go home
won’t you have a drink
with me
my baby love
my love
of my life?
Will always recall the date I met my fate
i will always recall
the date that I met my fate
that date in late August
I had dreamt of meeting her
for eight long years
starting in 1974
then one day in 1982
she walked off a bus
into my life
and became my wife
two months later
it has been now 38 years
since that date
I met my fate
General Corona is Happy
General Corona
is happy
his mission is a great success
as his armies of virus bots
spread throughout the world
spreading chaos and destruction
as all bow down
to his invisible armies
none can escape their fate
on that date
that he unleashed his armies
upon the world
all humans must die
his armies scream out
water falls of love
waterfall of love
water falls of love
overwhelms me with desire
deep in the mountains
LASTENTRY FOR MAY
on the last day
of the month of May
he made an entry
into his diary
on this date
I met my fate
he wrote
about the dream
he had that date
that would haunt
his dreams
for eight years
one day she walked
out of the dream
and into his life
becoming his wife
bonus poem Corona Haiku
Coronavirus
corona virus
staying home waiting for death
Afraid everything
published Poetry Ni
Got the blues, Baby
I have got the blues, baby
and they just won’t go away
I got them bad
these god damn blues
of mine
I just finished
working out.
..and while resting
I realized
that I can never recover
from my mistakes in life..
..the end of my marriage ..
.the death of my son …
.nothing can ever
nothing can ever
replace what I have lost..
..yes I am healthy.
..I have options ..
..but the health<
and options
are subsumed
by a monstrous vacuity..
emptiness .
an hole in my soul
…the realization
that the most precious things
are gone forever
and that I am
and that I am
just biding time..
..there is no good thing
to look forward to..
except for meeting
the grim reaper
when he comes for me
I will be ready to go
until then
these blues
will remain
my only friend
until the end
and my time is done<
another poetic found poem thanks to William Walton
Praise the love of my life
Every day
in every way
I give praise
to the gods above
for giving to me
the love of my life
who became my wife
45 years ago
I dreamt of meeting her
38 years ago
she walked off a bus In Korea
out of my dreams
and into my life
writer digest praise poem
thing better left unsaid
we all have secrets
secrets we wil
take to the grave
somethings
are better left
unsaid
just don’t have the words
the words to express
what is really on my mind
and so I know
that I will die
with many things left to say
things that I heard
that I was not meant to
things better left unsaid
words that say things
that I did not mean
once spoken, can’t take back
and so as I get old
I know that my secrets
will go with me to my grave
Poetry super highway prompt
random rhymes
we all die
so don’t lie
if you lie
more will die
I met my fate
that date
In late May
was the day
that I met my fate
on that date
I met the dove
that became my love
writing com random rhymes
things to resolve before the end of time
as I get older
I realize
that there are many things
left undone
in this life
of mine
many things left
to resolve
before my time
on this world
comes to an end
but the one thing
that will never end
is my love for you
until the end of time
