April 6, 2016 For today’s prompt, write an ekphrastic poem. An ekphrastic poem is a poem inspired by art.

The piece of art I’ve chosen is 

“If Once You Have Slept On An Island”

 - Jamie Wyeth

Foghorn tells me in early morning hours

I am still here. Its heavy resonance

warns sailors

I sleep here.

I sleep here.

If once you have slept on an island,

the sound of the water beating

the shore makes percussion with

the ceiling fan that

thrums the air, the tinkle of chain

hitting dull light bulb is not unlike

pebbles awash in erosion,

peeling layers of the earth,

one

per every ten thousand years.

Cicadas and other

small

green species,

rubbing legs together or

mating, all through the night.

Wind passing through fronds and branches, boughs and limbs,

singing, moaning, keening.

Sleeping on an island is trapped

like on a boat that

does not move. Every sound reminds me

I am here.

I sleep here.

I wake here.

If the wind blows

over this island, I must cling to it or

perish in an uncaring sea.

...................

Thanks for reading

April 5, 2016 - Write a poem about experience

“The Only Source of Knowledge is Experience” – Albert Einstein

How does one climb

without a ladder? How do you find the way

when you have no charts? What happens if you

do it wrong the first time? How do you know

this

is

the

first

time?

What alphabet, what language, what code???

How do you light a lamp

if you have no match?

When no one

needs you,

how can you help? Where do you begin

when you don’t know what you’re doing? How do you get

experience

when you have no

experience? How do you know

what tools to use when you don’t know

what the job is? How did the first person

do what they had to do to

get

it

done?

.....

Thanks for reading.....

Day 4 - Write a poem about Distance

Distance


The foothills are within sight. I can see the snow is beginning to melt.

You live there. Just outside the city, where foxes come into your yard and steal fish out of your pond and you don’t know whether to be amused or angry.

Your collection of cars keeps you busy and the auto shows are a priority for you. Having no children, these hulking machines are like your babies.

Sometimes in my dreams, I carry you on my shoulders.  Other times, you are down a long road, maybe alone, or with others, and I call your name but you can’t hear me. You’re too far away. 

I had to leave behind the flowers you gave me three years ago because there was just too much to pack. Now I wish I had them. It’s sad to have nothing of you.

I worry about you when I die. It will be over then and you won’t have done the things you need to do. I will be gone and I can’t save you. 

I often think about the time we thought you were lost at sea and the terror that invaded my nights for weeks to come. I got over it finally.

This last Easter Sunday, you couldn’t come because you had other plans. It was too bad; you could have helped us remember details of the time you chased the robber all over the back yards of the neighborhood and the cops eventually caught him. You would have laughed with us. We laughed until there were tears in our eyes. 

........

Thanks for reading...

The Three Blanks

April 3, 2016

Three _____      The prompt for today is a "Fill in the Blank" poem

Three Blanks

Three Blanks walk into a bar.

Being from the shores of the Black Sea

The first one orders vodka from Krasnodar

Fills himself up and claims he is the Czar!

The second says she’ll take whiskey in a mason jar

The way they drink it in Zanzibar

And struts to the stage with her electric guitar

Where she begins her repertoire,

Empty of soul, but bound to be a star.

The third Blank, a canvas from a previous seminar,

Orders champagne and caviar

Pulls out a pistol purchased earlier at the bazaar  

Says to the keeper of the bar

“I’m not shooting blanks

Give me the keys to your car

and

Stay where you are!”

The czar, who’s really from Dakar,

Snickers and yells

“You won’t get very far!”

While the singer, who’s actually a basketball star

Leaps in front of the shooter, like a Final Four quasar

And says

“The barkeep walks to work,

You silly Renoir…

Close. But no cigar.”

........

Thank you for reading...

Day Two PAD 2016 – Write a he said or she said poem

That's What He Said










“She didn’t know what hit her.”

That’s what he said.

But I wanted her to know what'd hit her.

She wouldn’t have liked not knowing what hit her.
"She didn't feel a thing."

Wherever she is now…she is wondering and

Believe me; she’d want to know

and she’s mad as hell.

“She didn’t know what hit her.”

That’s what he said.

How does he know?

How could he know?

We don’t know.

Her pain may still be hurting 

Wherever she is now…

I look down at his shiny black shoes,

The ugly linoleum floor

With black skid marks

Stains from fluids and substances I could 
only imagine

Chips and scars in a floor

of people going too fast to 
get somewhere not in time.

”She didn’t know what hit her.”

That’s all he said.

.........

Thanks for reading.

Day One - Poem a Day - Prompt - write a foolish poem

Morning

The crow

And the mystery train

Drove me through the night rain

Cars swishing by in rivulets

Swimming rats go down the drain

Black tar roof out my window

Puddles pooling, mirroring shadows of clouds

Overhead.

I'm not dead

I'm only dreaming

Waking up for rainbows

Nothing but fool's gold.

This was supposed to be a foolish poem written on Aprils Fools' Day. These images stayed with me all day and this is what I came up with.

Thanks for reading...

...

2015

This is what I’ve learned:

A homeless person can find a home for a dog but a dog cannot find a home for a homeless person.

Small groups of ambitious people who want to make something good happen can seem like a mob.

Probably 100% of homeless people started out life in a home.

You can jack up the price of a life saving drug for dying ordinary citizens with zero consequences and get yourself on talk shows and TV; but try to defraud rich people and you will get arrested immediately and go straight to jail.

Locs (dreads) are acceptable if you make millions of dollars helping to get a ball over a goal line. Otherwise, keep a low profile.

Everybody is somebody’s child.

There are some people who know the proper use of  the word “plethora.” (And how it's pronounced.)

Gunfire is very scary.

People are greedy beyond belief.

It is easier to find a home for a cat than a box for a person. 

Very few people have any idea of most personal legal rights.

Books feel better if you can smell them.

You don't need to pay a penny to watch TV. (Thanks, Frank.)

Children should be heard.

My Personal Resolutions:

Do not start sentences with So and Well, and eliminate the use of like while speaking. You are not a teenager. You have an education.

Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

Practice more generosity, less greed.

Help save KPLU.

I believe that deeply, there is goodness is all of us. Some have lost their way and need more guidance than others. Some are guides. Some need to find a different path... or maybe just get out of the way.

Thanks for reading.