NaPoWriMo Day 2

Posted on April 3, 2021 by Meg

Hello All. The prompt for today was to use Robert Frost’s wonderful poem The Road Not Taken as inspiration. It is a poem I love, so it was easy to run with this one. I hope you enjoy it.

 How Way Leads On To Way

 No sense of direction have I,
 Not naturally pulled by the tide.
 All instincts criss-crossed,
 My natural state is lost.
 I never worry of my whereabouts,
 Inside my head I have no doubts.
 I heard a wise man say
 That way leads on to way.
  
 Each turn I take is full of mystery.
 Please don’t try to East or West me.
 The sun, I use, just for warmth and light,
 The stars, add sparkle to the night.
 Though the journey might take longer,
 The call of the road grows stronger.
 I’m not concerned about a delay
 Knowing that way leads on to way.
  
 Trips are full of a brief digressions,
 Around the block style processions.
 You never know what you might see,
 The cutest porch, a flowering tree,
 That dog, those squirrels, I’m never unraveled
 By finding myself on the road less traveled.
 For me the joy of the day
 Is how way leads on to way.

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Welcome to Poetry Month 2021

Posted on April 2, 2021 by Meg

Hello All. The crazy times have lasted a whole year now, and Poetry Month is once again upon us. Thank you for joining me on this journey. Because we have all had a heck of a year, I am going to try to keep things as light, and fun as possible. The NaPoWriMo prompts will sometimes take us into other territories, but I promise come back to the silly side of creation whenever possible. So, to begin NaPoWriMo 2021, day 1, the prompt I used was pulling a work from The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s extensive collection, available on the website metmuseum.org.

Manuel Osorio Manique de Zuniga by Francisco Jose de Goya 1787-88 from The Jules Bache Collection
The New York Metropolitan Museum of Art

Modern Art 1988

 My name is Francisco Jose de Goya
 King Charles the Third is my employ-a.
 Many portraits I must paint,
 Kings, courtiers, maybe a Saint.
 Today, it’s Manuel, this little boy-a.
  
 His mother has dressed him in royal red
 And combed the long curls on his head.
 His pale little face
 Will be surrounded by lace.
 His fine satin sash painted with white lead.
  
 Making a worthy work is always the thing,
 How does one paint a toddler, and please a king.
 To assure my work is remembered
 By every Spanish Court attender,
 It needs more than just a magpie on a string.
  
 Though the King’s pleasure I now enjoy-a,
 If the court gets bored, my career it destroy-a.
 It might be modern for 1788,
 But to curry favor I must create
 The funny cat pictures of Francisco de Goya.
  
  
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Happy Pi Day 2021

Posted on March 14, 2021 by Meg

Hello All and Happy Pi Day! A little throw back to the Life of Pi series popped into my head this morning, so I put it together. I hope you enjoy it. I call it – 3-14-21 Sailing Into A Brighter Dawn

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NaPoWriMo day 30! – April 30, 2020

Posted on April 30, 2020 by Meg

Greetings all!  We made it!  It’s day 30 and the final day of Poetry Month.  Today’s prompt was to write a poem about something that returns.  Being that I am a thing that returns, this one was an easy finale.

The Show Will Go On

I am a thing that returns
Part of a touring show
That travels the country
Month after month
Year after year

I am a thing that returns
Revisiting each town.
Every few years
Seeing the changes
Closures and sprawl

I am a thing that returns
We know your theaters
Lobbies, and hotels, of course
Your quaint coffee shops
And downtown dives

I am a thing that returns
Visiting your museums,
Zoos, local parks, book stores.
Delighting at different streets
Lined with local flavor

I am a thing that returns
We restaurant on every level
From grab-to-go favorites
To your exquisite dining
That lingers in memory

I am a thing that returns
Looking for those special shops
Remembered from years past
With the friendly owners
Greeting us each time as family

I am a thing that returns
We crave to rejoin
And reconnect with friends
And colleagues we have
Made along the way

I am a thing that returns
We bring our songs and stories
You greet us with smiles
And a sense of welcome
Your town becomes our town

I am a thing that returns
Now we must stay at home
The music online, all in masks
But someday you will be ready for us
And we will be the thing that returns

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NaPoWriMo day 29 – April 29, 2020

Posted on April 30, 2020 by Meg

Hello all.  Today’s prompt was to write about a pet.  So with only one more day to go, today’s poem is –

Dash Cat

They had a cat that liked to lay flat.
Some say it’s that he was a bit fat.
The boy was his fan so as summer began
Long trips they’d plan with the cat in the van.
But flat cat would jump to ride in the front,
Then leap up with a grunt to finish the stunt.
He knew he’d scored the best place onboard
Stretched out like a lord on the dashboard.
The mom said the dash would be bad in a crash.
The boy said don’t crash with a cat on the dash.
He can be ignored said the boy she adored.
It can be a reward for not being bored,
And because he is flat we can drive like that.
He didn’t need a mat, he was Dash Cat!
The sweet look on his face she could not erase,
So she decided to embrace the cat in his place.
Vast miles they record, boundless memories stored,
Always facing toward the cat on the dashboard.

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NaPoWriMo day 28 – April 28, 2020

Posted on April 29, 2020 by Meg

Hello All.  Today’s prompt was to write about a bedroom from our past.  So here it is:

Far from Needham

Far from Needham
A painting by Andrew Wyeth
The print hung in my room
A print I chose, at the museum.
A large rock in the foreground
A towering pine tree behind it
Wyeth painted it in Pennsylvania.
It was not of Needham.
His father grew up in Needham.
I grew up in Needham.
My print hung on the wall
In the room of my teen years.
An architectural oddity, once an attic
It suited me just fine in its quirkiness.
A spiral staircase to climb
And a long balcony to cross.
Like a bridge to a castle
(A castle with a huge abstract painting).
Sliding glass doors to enter
Light filled the room at all times.
A beaded curtain because it was cool.
Sloped ceiling with dark beams
Mobiles spinning shadows on the walls.
Electric green shag carpet underfoot,
An attempt to bring the outdoors in.
This was Needham, my Needham.
And yet, the towering pine,
Wyeth’s pine, was outside my window.
And the rock, Wyeth’s rock
Existed in my back yard.
Was the painting my world, and
Wyeth, far from it, could see it?
Or were there other Needhams,
Far from this one, that I should find?
Every night in that room,
I watched my pine against the night sky,
Next to his pine against the white wall.
And I thought about the other worlds
Waiting for me to discover them,
Far from Needham.

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NaPoWriMo day 27 – April 27, 2020

Posted on April 28, 2020 by Meg

Hello All.  The prompt for today was to write a poem, in the style of a review, about something that is not usually reviewed.  So . . .

The New Sport

There once were some sports fans from Denver,
Who’s games had no pandemic presenter.
They wanted some fun
And when they were done
They invented a new style sports center.

They surveyed folks on the ground
To see what activities could be found.
Options were thin
But the fans needed a win
Spectator sports for the homebound

So fans, here’s the first introduction
To a new live sporting seduction.
I know you’ll cheer
For the civil engineer
And live sportscasting of construction.

Like a track and field event,
They give 110 percent.
All doing their best
On an historic quest
But instead of javelin, it’s cement.

It’s also like a cricket game,
Long days of play and not much fame.
They gather each morning
And begin with out warning
So fans, that’s your new ballgame

It’s the condo site obstacle relay,
Install pipe with walls in the way.
Our team in the know,
Uses a tiny backhoe,
Now that was the play of the day!

From my arm chair as the sportscaster,
I see the Forman, a real taskmaster.
The gang keeps it going
And makes a good showing.
It doesn’t get any better than plaster.

While our team appears on a break,
We check in with Crane operator Jake.
His work day has slowed
Cause he skipped a payload
And you miss every shot you don’t take.

Enjoy watching the fruits of production,
While the players avoid all obstruction.
So on any given day,
With no sports in the way,
We can root for the folks in construction.

 

 

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NaPoWriMo day 26 – April 26, 2020

Posted on April 27, 2020 by Meg

Hello all and Happy Sunday!  I must admit that I was involved in other things, and almost forgot to write something today.  So here is a last minute haiku:

Silly Walks

And now for something
completely different
Spam spam spam parrot

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NaPoWriMo day 25 – April 25, 2020

Posted on April 26, 2020 by Meg

Hello All.  Today’s prompt was based on a long, free form poem by James Schuyler, titled, Hymn to Life.  It’s train of thought, meets DC vacation, meets learned poet.  So, with out the learned poet part, here is my take for today.

Long form poem like James Schuyler, yes, no,
Maybe, for a poet a good way to chronicle
Vacation, a spring time trip to Washington, DC
The flush of cherry blossoms, museums of portraits,
Gallery after gallery of headstones, so much to
Process, the beautiful and bland, the familiar and
Novel, no more than we in the spring 2020 are
Processing, ours different, making beautiful from bland,
The familiar of every everyday upstaging the novel,
Being of being trumping the ancient pursuit for the
Extraordinary, bringing about the recognition of
The fluffy feeling of tea towel reds contrasting with
Builder beige-i-ness of what could be if we let it
Indoors, instead we throw flavors on it with our
Soundtrack variety spinning Copland into a juicy
Smoothie with Beastie Boys and Fred Astaire
Keeping our minds as vibrant as the masked
Walks in the wide carriage house laden alleys
Historical disrepair accented with glass brick and solar,
Gargoyles, dog fences, mutts on patrol, Yorkies on the
Roof seeing periwinkle skies, hidden yards studded with
Tulips and pansies, happy just to be, processing
The day, everyday, every way, always looking forward.

 

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NaPoWriMo day 24 – April 24, 2020

Posted on April 25, 2020 by Meg

Hello All!  Today we were suppose to write about fruit. :)

macintosh

  Apple of my childhood.
MacIntosh, crisp and juicy
Deep red with green and shiny
A tad tart, but oh so sweet to.
The tongue curls catching
The fractured bits of flesh,
While tiny bits of juice.
Slip down the chin

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