April 2016 Poem A Day #30

The prompt was write a dead end poem. I hate that.

No absolutely not

No endings, dead or otherwise
are permitted in this poem
this is a living cascade
it will not stop this day
or any day to come
this life will
go on with or without me
with or without another poem
the little one celled things
will stretch and divide
and the little wavy armed things
will reach out and grab a meal
somewhere in the miniature
a future of spinning orbs
until a black hole grabs
it all, and then who knows
what happens in there?

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April 2016 Poem A Day #29 Grief Hazard

Grief Hazard

Boxes neatly packed
stacked in closets
under tables
stowed in odd spots
boxes unlabeled but for
a single word: Mom.
.
I packed them last year
numb not knowing
what to do
I packed for days, hid
this and that away
carefully wrapped,
and now
.
I wonder
what memories hide
in each, if I look....

maybe not right now.

April 2016 Poem A Day #28 Let the memos begin

Let the memos begin:

trivial outcomes * noticeable chaos * important resolutions

riotous beginnings * interesting research * calm procedures

mournful happenstance * breathable equilibrium * celebratory fireworks

calamitous collapse * undetermined consequences * fortunate coordination

ambitious manipulation * opportunistic flaw * low energy

virtuous approach * flexible consideration * spiteful divergence

love *  hate
indifference 

April 2016 Poem A Day # 27 Relief Sculpture

Relief Sculpture

Remove a little here
scoop out some more
deep enough to accentuate,
to undercut, the line of something or other.
Smooth the center, or rough it wildly up.
Remove more, take off the edge itself
so the world curves into concavity.
Take away the center.
See clear through
to the other side.

April 2016 Poem A Day #26 Law of Emotivity

The Great Law of Emotivity

Everyone knows
love and anti-love
cannot coexist
in the same space
as they readily ironically
annihilate each other.

April 2016 Poem A Day #25 - Planting

Planting
the spring exercise

  Position the shovel.
  Place your full weight
  on the shovel by standing
  on its top rim so the shovel
  sinks into the earth.
  Rock the shovel back and
  forth to loosen the earth.
  Leverage it down
  and swing up
  this small load of earth
  out of a brand new hole.
  Empty the shovel to the side
  Do over. Do over. Do over. Do over.
  Remove the container and wrappings
  from the plant and set it in the hole.
  With a trowel ease the dirt around the plant.
  Gently tamp with a thumb or a toe.
  Keep filling in with rich loose earth.
  Water liberally.

April 2016 Poem A Day #24 Lost // Not Lost

Lost // Not Lost

The scale
like history
repeats itself
damn it.

April 2016 Poem a Day #23 Sole Entanglements

For this prompt (to write a poem about footware) I am posting a poem I wrote many (MANY) years ago - because it is my definitive footware poem.

Sole Entanglements

Old shoelaces unravel
unruly as love
as likely to trip you.
Untied, each lace dances
frayed and flaccid
reluctant to knot again.
.
Velcro closures lock
and cling too willing to grip
but Velcro can't let go
There's rip and uproar
when suddenly undone.
.
Old loafers are the best.
So easy to slip
in or out of at a
moment's whim, they
shelter your pennies
never ask for socks.

April 2016 Poem A Day #22 Conditions for Constancy

Am getting silly here. The prompt was use the word star____


Conditions for Constancy

Human beings
require a certain stability. Therefore
it would be best if the constellations
held steady on, not wobbling about
or shooting off into another paradigm
skipping into another multiverse
or tripping oversubtle event horizons
lurking at every bend of light waving,
or every twist of history's winking
or twinkling. Yes, to  remain
would be best so always
use starch when laundering
an inhabited universe.

April 2016 Poem A Day #21 Not going anywhere

The prompt today was to write a poem to another poem.  So, growing up there was a picture in hall of a little boy sitting under a tree on a hilltop, fishing pole near, schoolhouse in the far distance. Under the picture was a poem expressing a wish not to be bothered doing so much but to rest a thousand years. I read it over and over, through many years. I thought of it whenever I was stressed. But all in all it was a bad direction to take!

Not going anywhere
.

He wished to be
a little rock
not off to work
not deep in hock
.
He wished to sit so very still
in wind and sun
on crest of hill
beneath a tree
without a thrill
.
I think he rested
far too long
his influence on me
far too strong
.
I dreamed and dreamed
without a peep
I sat too long
whilst thinking deep
.
I spent my life
all half asleep.

April 2016 Poem A Day #20 - How I learned to say no

Prompt is write a poem about something not said

HOW I LEARNED TO SAY NO
.

Will you do x
Will you do Y
Will you do z
She never said yes
but never said no
and did all three....

April 2016 Poem A Day #19 Heaven and Hell explained

Heaven and Hell explained

Considering the sea, it may be, life and time
must brew themselves in boiling brine
near some star 'splosion or volcanic vent
Melt the immobile start the drip
set off the ticking universe
for a hot, rotational trip.
But for timeless or eternal
an absolute zero temperature is best.
As any motion
would be a timeline,
cancel out eternal rest.

April 2016 Poem A Day - #18 Restless

the prompt was to write an office poem

Restless.

The day Jim said
"You could retire from here,
head of a department."
"Just give it time." he said
That same day I went into the big boss
and gave my two weeks notice.
I feared it would be true
that Jim was right
and I couldn't let that happen.
"What can we do to keep you," they asked me.
And so from then on
I had Wednesdays off
every Wednesday.
Monday, Tuesday, Day off.
Thursday, Friday, Two days off.
It wasn't enough.
I lasted another year
then moved on.

April 2016 Poem A Day # 17 - a Haiku

Haiku day
.
For fifteen years now
warming my life, chair, lap, bed:
small bread-colored cat

April 2016 Poem A Day #16 - My Order

The prompt was go to a restaurant and write a poem there - or write a poem about eating out....


My order

I want a small order
not a plateful big enough for ten
I don't want butter or salt
Forget the meat, not today
I don't want a lot of sugar
or while flour or grease
Don't bring me green vegetables
cooked into a grey green blob
no wilted lettuce no
clump of white rice
Don't bring any soda
no creamer either
Wait.
.
I'm going home for lunch.

April 2016 Poem A Day #15 In The Gallery

For this prompt a set of words were given, an instructions were to pick four to use in the poem:

flat ring lavish gaudy vessel paper tooth blacklist 

In the Gallery

the statue wore a flat gold ring of gaudy teeth
around its marble neck, a lavish emblem
of artistic excess or social extreme
.
each tooth covered in scrimshaw
ceremonial pictures
for a biting afternoon
.
A critic in the paper said
the show should be blacklisted
or delisted or at the least recycled.
.
No one
read the review.

April 2016 Poem A Day #14 Avoidance Syndrome

Temporary Avoidance Syndrome

Decades ago I sang in noisy bars
a couple times a month
four forty-minute sets
songs of my own construction.
Between sets, for
15 minutes, I'd hide
outside in the car
or in the restroom stall
to think or read a book
too shy too introverted
needing to gather
my strength
to navigate the next set
and during each song
break the social contract
take off the daily mask

April 2016 Poem A Day #13 The Last Rain

The Last Rain

trickled off over hardened parched earth
didn't stop to water a plant
fled down hill but
in the terrible heat
shrank into vapor
failed to reach the streambed
didn't say goodbye
or write a note
to the mysterious properties
of a lovely storm.
Maybe next season.

April 2016 Poem A Day #12 Cafe Faux Pas

The prompt was write a silly or a serious poem. Obviously I went silly today.


Cafe Faux Pas

Coffee with cocoa
Coffee with loco
and a side of sly
caffeine
to keep up
the dream of busy
days.
While I'm scratching my head
they bring decafe instead.
Now I's ready for bed. :(

April 2016 Poem A Day #11 Defensive

Defensive

Little crab has backed into a corner.
The backwards days are over.
Side-to-side is not an option.
.
Little crab waggles eye stalks,
blinks, raises claws,
ready to go forward.
Go forward or bust.