Category Archives: Challenges and Writing Prompts

NaPoWriMo 2024 – Day 1 – matriarch

matriarch
 
in troubling times when chaos rules the day
mother beckons, come away, come away
balm, sweet as honey, she pours o’er our heads
with tales of yore, tucks us tight in our beds
mother knows best when we are led astray
 
buried secrets hum, things we dare not say
stay busy…busy, to hide our dismay
the sting of truth drives us from things we dread
in troubling times
 
when justice denied requires a stay
when power’s a poison, patriarchs play
when terrible truths rise up from the dead
when madness compels us to flee instead
mother calls us to dance amidst the fray
in troubling times

~kat

NaPoWriMo 2024 Day One Challenge: Write – without consulting the book – a poem that recounts the plot, or some portion of the plot, of a novel that you remember having liked but that you haven’t read in a long time.

The Book: The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd

Today’s Poetry Form: The Rondeau

The rondeau is comprised of 15 lines across three stanzas with the first word or phrase from the first line represented as a refrain (R) and a rhyme scheme of two rhymes throughout (A and B). The rhyme and refrain scheme looks like this:

A (R)          
A
B
B
A

A
A
B
R

A
A
B
B
A
R

The A and B lines are usually eight or 10 syllables in length. The refrain is usually one to three words (or so).


NaPoWriMo 2024 – Early Bird Challenge

the windows

the windows in this house have never been dressed
they are naked but for the soul of Gaia adorned in the season’s greens, pastels, ambers, gray-blacks, and whites
the moon in her phases, new to full and
the sun, midst a galaxy of stars streaming in

~kat

NaPoWriMo 2024

Early bird Challenge: Write a poem titled either “A [your word]” or “The [your word]” in which you explore the meaning of the word, or some memory you have of it, as if you were writing an illustrative/alternative definition. Word: window.


The Poetry Form:

The Gogyohka by Enta Kusakabe (1983).

• Gogyohka is a new form of short poem that is based on the ancient Japanese Tanka and Kodai kayo.

• Gogyohka has five lines, but exceptionally may have four or six.

• Each line of Gogyohka consists of one phrase with a line-break after each phrase or breath.

• Gogyohka has no restraint on numbers of words or syllables.

• The theme of Gogyohka is unrestricted.


Deja Vu

deja vu
we’ve been here before
history
repeating
lessons from the past ignored
this never ends well

~kat

Shadorma is a Spanish 6-line syllabic poem of 3/5/3/3/7/5 syllable lines respectively. Simple as that.


whispers

whispers

a whisper
caught my attention
words I tried
to ignore
then robbed me of innocence
burdened with secrets

~kat

Shadorma is a Spanish 6-line syllabic poem of 3/5/3/3/7/5 syllable lines respectively. Simple as that.


A “Mash-Up” ReVerse Poem – Sunday, 3 September 2023

Well it’s been a week. Took time away from my day job to catch up on a few big projects at home. Here in the US we call it a staycation but don’t let that close kinship to the word vacation fool you. Staycations are anything but relaxing, recharging, getaways because, as the name implies, one “stays”. All this to say after an exhausting week, I only managed to pen three poems. I really like the shadorma though, and will give it another go next week when life settles into normal.

With only three days worth of inspiration to glean from, I decided to do a full harvest of verse taking each line in sequence from each day. A mashup reVerse poem if you will, rather than waiting for another week to assemble adequate content. Amazingly, it works.

We’d less to say, the silly chores did not wait, but I have a much cleaner garage to show for it, several appointments finally attended after having been canceled when life sidetracked our plans, and I got a few naps in…boy did I need those.

I’m looking forward to this coming week, getting back to my day job and the routine I’ve perfected over the course of this challenging year. I’m still exhausted but it feels oh so good to be able to find a hammer when I need one!

Happy September and impending Autumn to you! The cooler mornings are exhilarating! 😊


A “Mash-Up” ReVerse Poem - Sunday, 3 September 2023

a day off
clouds hang low
this I know
with so much to do
a blanket of mist
when nothing seems true
but I’m trapped
dawn is east
underneath
on treetops
dusk is west
two hundred pounds of pure love
cool rain droplets dust my face
the sun rises, then it sets
silly chores can wait
this could be heaven
the moon lights the night

~kat

A ReVerse poem (a practice I started many years ago) is a summary poem with a single line lifted from each entry of a collection of work over a particular timeframe and re-penned in chronological order as a new poem. Unlike a collaborative poem, the ReVerse features the words of one writer, providing a glimpse into their thoughts over time.