April 8th, 2022 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.
Today’s poems will be April 8th poems, followed by April 9th to 15th 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 I will write a few more each day, but not post them, as I need to build up more “unpublished poems” for future submissions.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.
Here are links to my previous April 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 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 20 to April 25th 2021 Poems
2022 April Poetry Madness April 1 to 3 poems
Begin Poems
Big Daddy In the Cosmos Bar NaPoWriMo
Big Daddy, was the man
who always had a plan.
He was an ex-University of Arkansas
and Dallas cowboy player
who had worked for the CIA
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 supplemented his CIA payments
And bar income from money laundering,
drug smuggling, human smuggling
and other assorted crimes, big and small.
Big Daddy had lots of enemies
Many people wanted him dead
Relatives of his many victims
Of the covert wars, he waged
On behalf of his nation.
He had moved to Bangkok, Thailand
after running a bar and grill
in Little Rock for a few years,
He opened the Cosmos Bar
With the assistance of his manager.
Kuhn Lek, and her uncle
The police chief and his cousin
The biggest drug kingpin
In the northern triangle.
The Cosmos Bar
Became world-famous
The spot to go to in Bangkok.
Located in Soi Cowboy
It was an after-hours club
Secretly owned by the Thai police,
One of the few places
That served alcohol 24/7.
It was filled with
Criminals, drug dealers, government agents
Journalists, prostitutes, pimps,
spies, counter-spies, sex tourists,
tourists, undercover cops,
and assorted other low-lives,
From all over the known world.
Had the best looking woman
The best-looking travesties too,
The best beer, wine, and liquor list
In the city,
And the best burgers in town.
It looked like the Bar in Star Wars
Filled with probable human life forms
And perhaps a space alien or two.
Trouble Found Big Daddy
He was hoping to stay out of trouble
But one day trouble found him.
One day a mysterious Korean woman
Came into the bar asking for him
By his universal nickname
“Big Daddy”
Maria Lee was a Korean-American
Drop-dead gorgeous woman
Who was on the lam,
from her rich Korean husband.
She had one question for Big Daddy.
“The word in the Korean community
is that you are a man
Who knows how to launder money.
Can you launder 50 million dollars?”
“Hmm for a fee.”
“What’s the fee?”
“A night of wild sex with you.”
“Done, but only after the deed is done.”
She smiled sweetly.
He called his underworld contacts
and they laundered the 50 million dollars
and he gave her the bank receipt.
He had parked the money
in a Cayman Islands account.
That night
she honored her
agreement with Big Daddy.
The next morning
while drinking his cup of coffee,
She revealed that she had poisoned him
because she did not want anyone to know
about the transaction
and her affair with Big Daddy.
She smiled,
“Thanks, Big Daddy,
I liked last night,
You are a real stud, Big Daddy,
Perhaps that is why you are called, ‘Big Daddy’
But hey it is nothing personal, Big Daddy.”
After all,
it was just a business deal
in the end.
And that was
how trouble found Big Daddy.
Today’s prompt comes to us from this list of “all-time favorite writing prompts.” It asks you to name your alter-ego, and then describe him/her in detail. Then write in your alter-ego’s voice. Maybe your alter-ego is a streetwise detective, a superhero, or a very small goldfinch. Whoever or whatever your alternate self may be, I hope this prompt lets you stretch both your writing skills and your self-knowledge.
Watching Cats Fight in Incheon, NaPoWriMo
Watching two cats
Fighting alongside the sidewalk
In suburban Incheon New Airport Town.
Completely indifferent
To the humans walking around them
And the humans
were indifferent to the cats.
As they stood there fighting
And screeching at each other.
One orange one
One half-black-half-white one
Both middle age in cat years
As I sat there watching the cats
getting into it, I wondered
what they were arguing about?
But since I don’t speak cat
I didn’t know
All I know is they were screeching at each other
And almost looked like they were
about to attack each other
But one cat backed down
As the other cat stood their proverbial ground
If they were humans,
One would have pulled out a knife, or a gun
And someone would have been killed
But being mere cats
They stared at each other
And walked away.
But they kept glancing at each other
So, I knew the fight was not over
Merely postponed until a later hour.
Cats truly are the aliens
Who live among us humans
Or perhaps we are the aliens
Who live among the cats?
Creature—write a poem in the voice of some living creature that is not human.
Death of Big Daddy PSH
After Big Daddy was assassinated in Bangkok
His adult children arranged for his remains
To be brought back for a funeral
In his hometown of Little Rock.
Big Daddy, aka Sam Adams
was the man
who always had a plan.
He was an ex-University of Arkansas
and Dallas cowboy player
who had worked for the CIA
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.
After running a bar and grill
In Little Rock for a few years
He moved to Bangkok, Thailand
Where he opened the Cosmos Bar
With the assistance of his manager.
Kuhn Lek, and her uncle.
The police chief and his cousin
The biggest drug kingpin
In the northern triangle.
He supplemented his CIA payments
and bar income from money laundering,
drug smuggling, human smuggling
and other assorted crimes, big and small.
Big Daddy had lots of enemies
Many people wanted him dead
Relatives of his many victims
Of the covert wars, he waged
On behalf of his nation.
He was hoping to stay out of trouble
But one day trouble found him.
Big Daddy’s Funeral
The funeral was a big affair
Lots of people came to the funeral
Lots of people came to make sure
That SOB was indeed dead.
His children were hoping
To find out where his rumored
Millions of dollars were located.
Hoping that they could gain access
To the ill-gotten gains
Of his life of crime.
Big Daddy’s lawyer
Told them that his account info
Was one of many secrets
He had taken to his grave.
But they were now the owners
Of the Cosmos Club
Which was worth
millions of dollars.
His business partners were willing
To continue to run it
And send them 100 K each
For the year in royalties
Provided that they did not
Interfere in the management
Of the Cosmos Club.
They all agreed to the arrangement
And hired the lawyer
To track down the money.
The money was never found.
For his business partners
Had located it
And looted the account
Before anyone could find out.
April 8, 2022: Poetry Writing Prompt – Duane L Herrmann
This poetry writing prompt submitted by Duane L Herrmann:
“As the casket was lowered into the ground, the four adult children stood dry-eyed and looked at each other with knowing stares.”
Who was in the casket?
What did they know?
Did anyone else know?
What had the deceased done to them?
What will or did they do in response?
If you write a poem from this prompt, post it as a comment underneath the prompt in the Poetry Super Highway Facebook Group.
#napowrimo #poetry
The Fog Local Gems
Note: one of my oldest poems was written in 1972 when I was 16. Revised as a Cherita.
The Fog
The Fog
Rolls in and in.
And on forever
Till the end of time
Past where once stood proud San-San.
Now there is nothing.
But bones rolling in
Forever and ever.
Rotting in the blue sunlight
Turning in the yellow clouds
filling the air
With the stench
The fear
The feel
Of a people forever dead
Merging with the fog
Filling the air.
The fog rolls in and in
Laughing as the Sun
Sinks into the purple coated sky
Above the encrusted sky of time
With the people of the earth
Just another dead civilization.
Day 8: A Layer of Fog