April 9-11, 2022 Poems

I am falling behind as I took a trip last week.  I have kept my quota but slipping on posting them.   Here’s poems for April 9th to April 12th.

Here are links to my Previous April poems

Ten Best April 2021 Poems

April 25 to April 30 2021Poems

April 16 to April 20 2021 Poems

April 16 to April 20 2021 Poems

April 10 to April 14 2021 Poems

April 1 to April 5 Poems

April 6 to April 9 Cosmos’s Poetry 

April 6 to April 9 Cosmos’s Poetry 

April 6 to April 9 Cosmos’s Poetry

 Cosmos’s 2020 April Poetry Part One

Cosmos’s 2020 April Poetry Part One

April 2019 Poems

April 20 to April 25th 2021 Poems

2022 April Poetry Madness April 1 to 3 poems

April 5 2022, Poems

April 4th 2022, Poems

April 6th, 2022 Poems

April 7th Poems

April 8, 2022 Poems

Begin Poems

Saturday Day 9:

Coffee Nonet NaPoWriMo Prompt

The first thing I do every morning
Is to make my morning cup of Joe
While watching the daily news
While writing in my journals
Waiting for my wife
In the morning
My coffee
Must be
Hot

And now for our (optional) daily prompt! Because it’s a Saturday, I thought I’d try a prompt that asks you to write in a specific form – the nonet! A nonet has nine lines. The first line has nine syllables, the second has eight, and so on until you get to the last line, which has just one syllable.

Sam Adams Gunslinger in Wild West April 9—Persona—write a poem in the voice of a person who is Not You Dew Drop Inn, Writing Com

 

Sam Adams was a cowboy
Back in the wild west
A badass gunslinger
For hire to the biggest bidder
Often working for the law
Sometimes working for the outlaws
He did not see much difference
He took the jobs
That paid him the most
Thought that if he did not do it
Someone else would no doubt
Sam Adams thought about death
As he shot those that needed killing,
Better them than him he thought.

Breakfast of Champions Smoothie Poetry Superhighway PSH

My daily breakfast consists
Of a super-foods
Smoothie containing:

Apples
Apple cider vinegar
Banana,
Blueberry,
Carrots
Cinnamon
Cherries
Coconut oil
Kale
Homemade kefir
Honey
Oranges
Macca root
Pineapple,
Raspberry
Stevia
Strawberry,
Spinach
Walnuts
Wheatgrass

All blended to perfection
That is my daily breakfast
Fit for a champion.

Write a poem based on a recipe. It can be an actual recipe for food or it can be a recipe for something else entirely. Ferlinghetti wrote a recipe for happiness. I have a poem called “How to Make Meatballs” that has the meatball recipe in it.

If you write a poem from this prompt, post a comment on the PSH Facebook page. For some reason, this has been my most popular poem on All Poetry, go figure.

Will the U.S. Break Apart? Writer’s Digest

The Color of Politics

15 nations of North America

Note: I explore this topic in my unpublished novel, “the Great Divorce”. My feeling is that it is a possibility, although more likely the U.S. will evolve into ten or more regional governments, that will largely take over the responsibilities of the increasingly dysfunctional Federal government. and I could see the breaking up of big states into mini-federations, such as five mini-states in California, Upstate NYC vs NYC metro, and of course Washington DC, VI, PR, Gaum/Samoa/Micronesia all becoming states, and Canada dissolving as well ,with Canadian provinces joining various sub-federations in the New North American union. Now the poem:

In this day and age
Of deep partisan divide
Into the blue and red states.

And open talk among both
The right and left
Of a possible second civil war
Commonly called Civil War 2.0.

Is it conceivable that
The United States will break up
Into new nation-states?

If so, what would be
The new nations
of North America?

Will there be a Christian States of America/Canada?
With a new capital perhaps in Omaha?
Will there be a Northwest Pacific States of America/Canada?
Will there be a Southwest  Pacific States of America/Mexico?
Will there be a Great Lakes States of America/Canada?
Will there be a great Utah?
Will Texas emerge as the Lone Star Republic?
Will there be a Pacific Islands Federation including
Perhaps the PI?
Will there be the Native State of America?
Spread-out, embedded in the other states?
Will, there be a French Speaking America
Based in Quebec but uniting French speaking
States, and countries including Haiti,
Dominica, St Lucia, Guadeloupe, and Martinique?
Will there be Caribbean Federation based in Miami?
Will Guam, PR, Micronesia, Washington DC, and VI
become states in one of the new nations?

I don’t have an answer
A lot will depend
In the coming few years.

But if I had to bet
I would bet that somehow
The United States will stay together
Just too difficult to break apart
Into new nation-states.

But new federalism might emerge
With regional governments taking
More responsibilities
From the Federal government
And State governments as well.

Overtime the new regional governments
Might supplant the federal government,
Leading to a new arrangement
Without the drama of another civil war.

For today’s prompt, write a breaking poem. The poem could be about breaking down walls, break dancing, breaking up, or breaking stuff. However, you’d like to break it down and then write your poem.

What ‘They” Never Tell Us Conspiracy Writer’s Digest

QAnon Is More Important Than You Think – The Atlantic
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2020/06/qanon-nothing-can-stop-what-is-coming/610567

May 14, 2020 … The Prophecies of Q. American conspiracy theories are entering a dangerous new phase. By Adrienne LaFrance. Illustrations by Arsh Raziuddin.

Watching the news unfold
Every day
I wonder what “they”
The secret powers
Behind the news

Are not telling us.

For starters,
Are their aliens?
Are they secretly in charge?

Is climate change
Going to doom us all?
Do they have a plan?

Is there a plot
To reinstate the former guy.
If so when and how?

Is Q telling the truth?
Is there a secret cabal
Of cannibalistic pedophiles
Satanists running the government
And society?

Was the last election stolen?
If so, how, and why?
And did Trump win?

Finally, is there a plot
To invent cloning.
And if so, when can I
Get in line for a new body.

There is just so much
That “They” are not
Telling us.

For today’s prompt, write what they never tell you in a poem. I’m not sure who “they” are, but “they” talk a lot, and there are things people tell you, and there are things you just have to learn on your own, because “they” (them again) never tell you ahead of time. Like, for instance, “they” never told me that I’d still feel like a teenager in my 40s, but here we are. Think about what “they” never tell (or told) you, and write that poem.
Local gem: Second Chances Everyone deserves a second chance. Write a poem of about second chances.  Second Chances

Local gem: Second Chances Everyone deserves a second chance. Write a poem of about second chances.  Sam Adams

Sam Adams
Was a man who had
Numerous second, third, fourth
Fifth chances in life.

He failed first grade
Failed courses in high school
And college.

Went to three colleges
Before he finally graduated
On his third chance.

Failed in his career
Never advanced as far
As he wanted to.

But in the end
There was one thing
He did right
On the first try.

When he met his wife
He did not hesitate
Proposed in three days.

Did not want to take
A second chance
On happiness.

Sunday, Day 10, April 10

Where Do You and I Begin NaPoWriMo
(reviously published)

Blessed with Love Publishes Love Poems

Where Do I and You Begin?

I woke up one day and realized
I no longer knew
where you and I began
and where you and I ended

we had become almost one
We talked in half sentences
Knowing what the other wanted
and knowing how it would end

We ate the same foods with some resistance
because I still crave an old-fashioned American meal
but still, we were becoming more and more the same

and I feared losing myself
In your embrace
and becoming you

and you becoming me
and this fear of losing me
in the ocean of us
overwhelms me at times

but I know I will always
Return to your arms
because I cannot live
A moment without you at my side

and I know you are the same
we feel each other’s inner pain
we feel each other’s outer pain

and our history has merged
into one

and is that not the secret
of a long marriage?
Have I figured it all out

in the end, does it come to this
a merging of two souls and two bodies?

I don’t have the answers
But I don’t have any more doubts
or regrets with the path I have taken

I still look forward
to waking up each morning
Seeing you there

and knowing that every day
we have together
is a gift that I will cherish
Until my dying breath

Today’s (optional) prompt is pretty simple – a love poem! If you’re having trouble getting into the right mood for a love poem, maybe you’ll find inspiration in one of my favorites, June Jordan’s “Poem for Haruko.”

The Unicorn General Conquers the World Dew Drop Inn

A unicorn silhouette in a galaxy nebula cloud. Raster illustration.

Sam Adams
was a paranormal researcher
he was searching
for mystical creatures
that he was sure
still existed somewhere.

The banshees, bigfoot, the centaurs,
the demons, the dragons, the giants,
the hellhounds, the minitours, the leprechauns.
The snowmen, the unicorns, and yeti.

Sam Adams found a book
the legendary infamous necormicron.
Which many had dismissed
as nothing but a story
by Lovecraft and his fellow
demented writers.
Chanting from the book,

He opened the door
the first through
was the king of the unicorns.

He brought with him
thousands of his followers
who launched a war
against the modern world.

The unicorn and his army
quickly overwhelmed the world
appointed Sam Adams
as their ambassador,

the unicorn smiled
at his victory
it had been a long time
living in exile
in the other dimensions.

April 10—Free day—a topic or focus of your choosing! (And this might be free verse, too! Or not! Exercise your free will!)

Too Much Stuff  PSH

I have too much stuff
Too many things bought
Over the years

Too many books
Too many records
Too many kitchen gadgets.

Too many khachkars
From all over the world
Too much artwork,

Too many clothes
Just too much stuff.

Since I live abroad
If I die overseas
Most of what I have
Will be thrown away.

We are getting rid
Of somethings
Along the way.

Donated some books
To the Army library
Might downsize some
Of my library,

Maybe sell it
To a used English
language bookstore.

My record collection
Will be given
To my younger brother-in-law
Who can sell it off?

The artwork
The kitchen stuff
The clothes

Probably will stay
With me.

Some may go
With me, if I ever
Return home.

But I doubt anyone
Will pay to ship things back
Just the way it is
Being an aging ex-pat.

Write about your knick-knacks, your tchotchkes, and your Dollar Store finds. Explain why you can’t quit buying them, and what you think your heirs will do with them when you die.

Taste of Korean Food Korea Writer’s Digest

When I first encountered Korean food
I was overwhelmed by the strong taste, fragrance
And the strangeness at time of Korean food
Now known worldwide as K Food.

Hot, raw, sweet yet sour,
spicy, in your face mixture
of smells, textures, and flavors.

Sweet, sour, spicy hot with a nice
Lingering after taste
Bursting with fermentation and flavors
That is the essence of K food.

I tried it all
When I first got to Korea
43 years ago

It was just overwhelming.
Took a while
But I learned to love
K food.

A typical Korean meal
Is somewhat like a Japanese
Or a Chinese meal
But different.

Consists of rice,
A soup of some sort
Sometimes hearty stew
Lots of vegetable-based side dishes
Perhaps some eggs.

And a meat dish
Or fish dish

And of course
Lots of Kimchi.

My favorite soup
Is beef turnip soup

Favorite stew – Kimchi Jijae –
Kimchi, Tofu, beef, mushrooms, hot sauce

Favorite meat dish
Kalbi – BBQ ribs Korean style

Favorite fish
Grilled mackerel.

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
Cucumber
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 K food,

I soon became a K Food fan
Craving its intoxicating flavor
And smells with every meal.

Married a Korean gal
We eat Korean style
Almost every meal.

Now 40 years later
I am still a K Food efficient
Enjoying the fragrance, the smell
The overwhelming tastes.

And intoxicating tastes
Can’t get enough of that
Funky stuff.

For today’s prompt, write a taste poem. Back on day three, we wrote a small poem; let’s write about the sense of taste today. Of course, I’m thinking about tasting wine, cheese, or chocolate. But feel free to indulge in a person’s taste in fashion, cars, or whatever else requires real taste.

two related poems The Smell of Korean Food and the Feel of Korean food follow:

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!

The Feel of Korean Food Writers’ Digest

 

 

 

 

 

Korean food is a full sensory experience
Overwhelming one with smells, flavors
And textures as well.

One day back in the Peace Corps day
My best friend visited me
From Indonesia where he
Had been hanging out.

It was the dead of winter
15 degrees F.
When he got on the plane
It was 90 degrees F.

We bought winter clothes
Then I decided to treat him
To an infamous Korean disk

산 나치

San Nachi
or Live Octopus.

they brought it out
the octopus tentacles
were moving about.

I taught him
The proper technique
Grab it by the chopstick
Dip it in hot sauce

And chew it a long time
Sometimes unwary
Or drunk eaters

Encounter a problem
When the suckers
Get stuck in one’s mouth
Sometimes requires a trip to the ER.

The texture is slimy
And a big disgusting
Need a lot to drink
The first time around.

My friend tried it
But said never again
And we both bring it up
From time to time.

He was not a big fan
Of the 산 나치
San Nachi.
Never tried that again

But he did like
Other things we ate
That winter.

For today’s prompt, write a touching poem. We’ve already done smell and taste; let’s move on to the sense of touch. Of course, all these prompts are open to interpretation, and touch connects many paths, including touching up a picture, touching down an airplane, bringing a soft or human touch to a situation, and even playing touch and go (or tag). However, in your poem, feel encouraged to put your personal touch on this prompt.

Sam Adams Final Chances Local Gems

Sam Adams
At the end of life
Was looking back
In his past life.

 

 

 

 

Lost in his memories,
Remembering things he had done
Thinking about things he had done
And thinking about second, third,
Fourth, fifth and sixth chances
in his long life.

But in the end, he thought most about
His only final chance
He took regarding love.

When he jumped into life
With his beloved wife
After dreaming of her
For eight years.

When they met
He knew that was it
That was his final chance
Of finding true love.

And that was how
He met his fate
On that September date.

 

The Revenge of The Shrimp

Sam Adams and friends
Were enjoying a shrimp feast
Watching the live shrimp

Being roasted
Waiting to enjoy eating them.

The head shrimp
Jumped out of the pot
Followed by other shrimp
Soon thousands of shrimp
Were everywhere.

The head shrimp spoke up
“humans,
What gives you the right to kill us
To eat us?
To burn us alive.?

Perhaps we should kill you

Tear you apart

And eat you?

Would you like that
You human scumbags?”

The shrimp surrounded the humans
Swarming all over them
Killing them, burning them.

As they overturned the flaming pots.
Biting them
Smothering them in hot sauce.

As they ate them.
Screaming,
“Death to all humans!”

The head shrimp finally said,
“Enough, no more
Time to go
We are so out of here.”

The shrimp
All ran out the door
And back into
the shrimp farm waters.

The firefighters
Found the charred remains
Of the humans.

Now just charred
skin and bones
Wondering how they died.

The shrimp in the pound
Looked out,
Wondering if they should attack

But decided they had eaten
Enough human meat
For the evening.

Monday Day 11:

Hillary Clinton and the Right-wing Conspiracy NaPoWriMo

Hilary Clinton said
that her husband
Had been the victim

Of a vast,
large right-wing conspiracy
That continued to this day

Little did we know
That the real leaders
Of the conspiracy

Was based in Russia
Where Putin
Wanted to try large

Remaking the world
And in the process
Destroy the world

Putin was the large
Master of the world
Trump was just
Their latest puppet

Our featured participant for the day is . . . two featured participants because, once again, I just couldn’t choose. First, we have Whimsy gizmo’s, which brings us a love poem for that most poetic of celestial objects, the moon, and second, Snigdha Choudhury, who brings us an exclamatory take on unrequited love.

Today’s online journal is Tinderbox Poetry Journal. So far, Tinderbox has published more than forty issues, and all of its archives are available online. In their latest issue, I’ll point you to Grace Q. Song’s “HOW THE STORY GOES,” and Ayo Kunle Falomo’s “ETYMOLOGICON.”

And now for our (optional) prompt. Following up on yesterday’s love poem, I have for you another deceptively simple challenge. Today, I’d like to challenge you to write a poem about a very large thing. It could be a mountain or a blue whale or a skyscraper or a planet or the various contenders for the honor of being the Biggest Ball of Twine. Whatever giant thing you choose, I hope this chance to verify in praise of the huge gets your poetic engines humming.

Love in Korean Dew Drop Inn

When sam Adams
first met her
The lady of his dreams

There was as the Koreans
Would say

Spark from heart to heart
이심촌심isimchonsim

truly love at first sight
첫눈에 반하다cheosnun-e banhada

they both knew
that it is just fate
운명unyoung
that they had met
that date.

Two months later
They were married

It all happened
40 years ago

48 years after
She first came
To him in his dreams.

April 11—somehow incorporate a word or phrase of another language into your poem

The Powers That Be –  Who are They?  (Revised) Writers’ Digest

Watching the news unfold
Every day
I wonder who “they” are

The secret powers
That run the world
From behind the scenes?

There are rumors
That the powers
Of the universe,

The masters of the universe
The secret power brokers
Are not-human.

They are shape-shifting
Reptilian creatures
from the Palaskan empire
in Sirius, the dog star.

their agents Trump and Putin
were doing a great job
disrupting and weakening the world.

It was time though
Said the head of the committee
The committee does not exist.

That was the control tower
Of the alien conspiracy
Of the secret powers that be.

For the invasion fleet to arrive
And finish the job
Of enslaving humanity

A job that they failed to do
When they controlled Atlantis
And later the Roman Empire.

For today’s prompt, write a power poem. Your poem could somehow involve electricity, solar power, fossil fuels, wind, or water. It could illustrate a power play or someone exerting their power over someone else. Of course, you could also write about a power outage. You alone have the power to poem your way through this prompt.

Lost Alone in the Desert  writing Com

Sam Adams
Was walking alone
In the desert.

After fleeing the alien
Invasion of Las Vegas
As the giant Nazi Spiders
took control.

He joined other refugees
Wondering in the desert
The hot sun bearing down
On him.

There were rumors
That the aliens
Would be bombing Las Vegas
With nuclear weapons.

he paused to look back
and saw the city
disappear in a nuclear blast.

he continued
wandering through
alone, lost in the desert.

The desert can be metaphorical or literal, your choice.
Line count: minimum of 12, no max

Obsolete Tech Items PSH

Over the years
I have collected a few
Obsolete items
That is no longer made

 

 

 

But for some reason
I have saved it.

The first is an old telephone
From Mumbai
That was the police hotline phone

Between the consulate
And the police headquarters
Back in the 1940s or earlier.

The telephone people
Found it when they were updating
The consulate’s phone lines.

I took one look at it
And fell in love with it
And the history behind it
Still have it.

The other item is a 1920’s era
Typewriter I inherited
From my grandfather.

I kept it to remind me
That I am a writer

When I look at it
It calls to me.
Keep writing

These items
Have been around
The world with me.

And will be with me
Until I die

Then who knows
Where will they end up?
Who will care by then?
As I will be in the next world.

The End