Ekphrastic Poetry

November 11, 2013  - For today’s prompt, we’re going to write ekphrastic poetry–or poetry based off another piece of art. 

(I've been wanting to use this photo for something. I took it at my friend Cassandra's house one late afternoon in October.)

it was time that melted

while you spoke

in smoky drones;

redwine smudged your teeth

and bluesky turned to black;

i crept

like a mouse

(some might say rat)

my small ear cocked in the direction of your murmurs…

just to know

(before the candles were blown out…)

the chances, luck, the secrets of our destiny.

my shadow slid against the wall

and one of you said

“did you hear something?”

and the other said

“it’s nothing”

as if I wasn’t there…

~~~~~~

Crescent Moon

The moon

A crescent

Rolled over on its back

You could toss your hat in the air

Land it on the chin of that moon

To say hello to me

~~~~~

Today's prompt is to write a perspective poem

November 6, 2013




AS THE CROW FLIES

We fly home across the lake

And stop to rest and watch

you beneath us

On shiny roads

In your cold metal bugs that roll along with big gleaming

Lights that dangle from the

sky and flash

Red Green Yellow Red Green Yellow Red Green Yellow Red Green Yellow

We talk amongst ourselves and complain about the way you

CAW

CAW

CAW

To one another

And rushrushrushrushrush

All wanting to go the same way at once

No need for us to be in such a hurry

We preen and cackle and fight a little, too

And then

In our own smug way

We fly home across the lake

A concealing poem and a not-concealing poem:

November 5, 2013

I have chosen as the subjects of my poems two that are fraught with revelation and the lack thereof:

Death and Poker 

My mother died in the middle of quick.

Not sudden;

nor slow and agonizing.

She took her news and made her plans.

As day turned into another day,

she died as she lived,

crossing things off her meticulous list.

When ready, she closed her eyes

And waved goodbye.

Not a crashing, shocking end,

Or the agonizing, drawn out, emaciating finish

But in the middle of quick;

a good leaving.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I know my hand. I glance at it from time to time

and make a habit

of keeping my eyes on the

table.

I’ve played what’s been dealt and at times

pulled to an inside

straight, against the judgment

on my shoulder.

When chips were

down,

I’ve called a bluff and

once or twice, tapped out. It's

not in my nature

to fold

but I learned from the

best,

when odds are against me, to not raise my

stakes.

November 4, 2013 Poem a Day Challenge

Prompt: write a poem using "sheet"

Winter arrives and billows

Like a sheet covering the dead;

Time is a harbinger of the wind

Whistling tomorrow

Tomorrow

Tomorrow

a “the last time I was here” poem

November 3, 2013

there was no bloodletting; only sorrow

the will to have a hollow heart …

yet all the tears that once filled an ocean

had turned to salt and stood like a pillar in the land of Lot.

we stood akimbo from one another

chins of steel

elbows piercing

one to the west, the other south.

if only I had allowed you to spend your back on mine, to feel the warmth, to nuzzle, coo and let go of a tiny giggle…

A "News of the Day" Poem

November 2, 2013

gerardo i herandez

whose name was continually mispronounced

will be honored

until sunday

with blue columns of light

(that guide tourists in and out of the city of angels)

because he died

for no reason

at all

An Appearing Poem

November 1 ~ An Appearing Poem

the moon continues to appear
sometimes to my astonishment
and month turns into year
the moon, with her admonishment
seems to croon
don't give up too soon
we await your accomplishment