Today’s theme is gratitude, with the prompt being to write a poem about a handmade or homemade gift that you have received. Whilst out on a run today I noticed an artist had painted a thank you to the NHS. Here goes:
***
For the things the few
give the many: Life, Time, Breath.
Heartfelt gratitude.
Today’s prompt is to write a poem based on collected things which reminded me of a picture I took a few weeks ago in the middle of packing up my house ahead of a move abroad which is now on hold thanks to the CV-19 induced shutdown.
***
I am finding
lost joy in found things,
each object saved
from the detritus
of a past life,
a reminder to remember,
to imagine again
past seasons of loving
and of losing. Of losing
oneself in the delight
of being, and feeling.
Each page revisited
is a present from the past
to the present, a tribute
to the loves that
once lived here.
For Day 18 of NaPoWriMo this year, the prompt is to write an ode to life’s small pleasures. My first cup of coffee of the day is one of those for me. Loosely inspired by what is becoming one of my favourite poems, Wendell Berry’s The Peace of Wild Things.
***
When the darkness of night lifts
and I awake to the dreariness
of existing in this place,
forgetting where Yesterday ends
and Today begins to slip into Tomorrow,
I reach for this worn mug,
its stained sides and chipped edges
reassuring in their durability.
At first light I lose myself
to the muscle memory of returning
and find joy in small sips.
Today’s NaPoWriMo prompt is to move backwards in time away.. to write a poem that features forgotten technology. For me, it was my first Walkman.
***
Farewell, Walkman
protector of my ears
and overcomer of my fears
with soothing sounds.
Farewell, Walkman
the opener of my eyes
to worlds unknown,
translator of songs,
from thin tape
to all engulfing sound.
You may have gone
the way of all
frail things
but you live on
in the soundtracks
of my life.
Today’s NaPoWriMo prompt is to write a poem of over-the-top compliments. Pick a person, place, or thing you love, and praise it in the most effusive way you can. Here goes:
***
You smile. Your eyes dance.
Morning breaks with glorious light.
Forgotten, Night’s fears.
Today’s prompt is to write a poem inspired by your favourite kind of music. Here goes, very loosely interpreted as always:
***
Breathe in
with the clash
of the cymbals
and then out
as the drums begin.
Let the patter
of your feet
lose themselves
in the patterns
of the music
of the rain
as they rise
and fall, pausing
like a runner
at the crest
of a seventh hill.
Let the patina
of red earth
be washed away.
Breathe in
and out, and dance,
Begin again.
Day 14, off prompt:
***
Nothing hides
yesterday’s sins like
nostalgia. Nothing
rewrites the memories
of things seen
like the desire to
forget, the ineluctable wish
to untether oneself
from the burdens of grief,
and the weight of things lost.
For the daughter
kneeling here, oblivious
of the paths that we have trod
we wish peace, that the things
which weigh us down may cease.
Today’s NaPoWriMo prompt focuses on stealing, a challenge to write a non-apology for the things you’ve stolen. Here goes:
***
The dog-eared book with your name scratched
in its tired cover, the familiarity of
its worn pages like the scent of home,
a welcome. The picture, battered
by the sunlight until it begins to age
into a sepia blur, reviving memories
of a distant time. The song, your song,
repeated until its notes invoke the
memories of stolen times and places,
Lost but not forgotten.
The prompt for NaPoWriMo Day 11 is to write a poem in which one or more flowers take on specific meanings. I went off prompt for this one though…
***
They say
in the brightness
of the right light
everything is beautiful,
the cuts and scrapes
that things bear
all birthing beauty in
the intricate interplay
of flickering light
and flitting shadow.
So catch the light
shine, be beautiful.
A Geek's Life 