Category Archives: Challenges and Writing Prompts

April 12, 2020

the oracle speaks – NaPoWriMo/GloPoWriMo Challenge Day 12

the oracle speaks

the tea leaves in your cup have much to say
one last sip and the oracle appears
so have a look, don’t toss them straight away
the tea leaves in your cup have much to say
the answers that you seek in damp display
will suddenly become magically clear
the tea leaves in your cup have much to say
one last sip and the oracle appears

~kat

For today’s NaPoWriMo/GloPoWriMo Challenge Day 12, a Triolet is a poetic form consisting of only 8 lines. Within a Triolet, the 1st, 4th, and 7th lines repeat, and the 2nd and 8th lines do as well. The rhyme scheme is simple: ABaAabAB, capital letters representing the repeated lines.

Make writing a Triolet more challenging! Make each line 8 syllables in length (4 metrical feet), written in iambic tetrameter (the more common way), or try it in pentameter (English version) where each line only has 10 syllables (5 metrical feet)

10 Comments | tags: Challenge, digital art., GloPoWriMo2020, NaPoWriMo2020, Poem a Day, Poetry, Triolet | posted in Challenges and Writing Prompts, Digital Art & Photos, napowrimo, Poetry, Random Thoughts and Musings, Triolet

April 12, 2020

only a rose – NaPoWriMo/ GloPoWriMo Challenge Day 11

By Kat Myrman

only a rose

if your love for me is true as you say
bring to me a red rose every day
a red carnation’s sure to make me weep
like clusters of marigolds, my tears to keep
take care the blooms you choose for my bouquet

the wormwood taunts me when you are away
white dittany with my emotions play
swallow wort ensnared, I’m losing sleep
if your love for me is true

thorns should not deter your grand display
forget me not my dear, don’t be dismayed
the greatest cure for all is love that’s deep
a simple rose of red, painful and sweet
is all I ask to prove you’re here to stay
if your love for me is true

~kat

A rondeau for NaPoWriMo/ GloPoWriMo Challenge Day 11. It was a busy day. I barely managed to eke this one out…so many flowers to consider, so little time! The prompt: write a poem in which one or more flowers take on specific meanings.

Rondeau

A Rondeau is a French form, 15 lines long, consisting of three stanzas: a quintet, a quatrain, and a sestet with a rhyme scheme as follows: aabba aabR aabbaR. Lines 9 and 15 are short – a refrain (R) consisting of a phrase taken from line one. The other lines are longer (but all of the same metrical length)

4 Comments | tags: Challenge, digital art., GloPoWriMo2020, NaPoWriMo2020, Poem a Day, Poetry, poetry month, Rondeau | posted in Challenges and Writing Prompts, Digital Art & Photos, napowrimo, Poetry, Random Thoughts and Musings, Rondeau

April 9, 2020

Concrete Haiku – NaPoWriMo/GloPoWriMo Challenge Day 9

By Kat Myrman

haiku

tRees bend with the w i n d
barely GREEN leaf bUd-BURSTS cling
i should be brEAThINg

~kat

A Haiku for today’s NaPoWriMo/GloPoWriMo Challenge Day 9: inspired by Kaschock’s use of space to organize her poems, write a “concrete” poem – a poem in which the lines and words are organized to take a shape that reflects in some way the theme of the poem.

5 Comments | tags: Challenge, concrete poem, digital art., GloPoWriMo2020, NaPoWriMo2020, Poetry, poetry month | posted in Challenges and Writing Prompts, Digital Art & Photos, Haiku, napowrimo, Poetry, Random Thoughts and Musings

April 8, 2020

NaPoWriMo/GloPoWriMo Challenge Day 8

By Kat Myrman

death,
distinct
with ripeness
lines corridors
casualties of war
denied last rites for now
sealed in polyethylene
an invisible foe looming,
poison wafting in the putrid air
where superheroes with stethoscopes fight
to save those stricken from drowning
the last acts of compassion
some will know in the end
in solitary…
darkness falls
on us
all

~kat

Another poem for our times today for NaPoWriMo/GloPoWriMo Challenge Day 8. I cannot adequately express the gratitude I feel for those on the front lines of the battle against the coronavirus. This week our country is facing the incomprehensible death tolls. To the heroes who give their all in doses of much needed compassion for the fallen. We owe you everything, our gratitude and our prayers!

The prompt: peruse the work of one or more of these twitter bots, and use a line or two, or a phrase or even a word that stands out to you, as the seed for your own poem.

I chose a bot from @percybotshelley “death, distinct with ripeness”. Today’s poem is a variation on a nonet.

15 Comments | tags: Challenge, coronavirus, GloPoWriMo2020, NaPoWriMo2020, nonet, Poem a Day, Poetry | posted in Challenges and Writing Prompts, Digital Art & Photos, napowrimo, Nonets (9 Lines/9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1), Poetry, Random Thoughts and Musings

April 7, 2020

Vicar on Fire! – NaPoWriMo/GloPoWriMo Challenge Day 7

By Kat Myrman

Vicar on Fire!

A vicar from Plymouth, his parish, St. Budeaux
gave his virtual flock quite the spirited show
as he paused for a prayer
brushed a wick, unaware
then he ended his sermon with “stop, drop and roll”!

~kat

True Story: Coronavirus Vicar Accidentally Sets Arm on Fire While Recording His First Virtual Service. A Limerick seemed to be the perfect form for today’s NaPoWriMo/GloPoWriMo Challenge Day 7 prompt: Write a poem based on a news article.

7 Comments | tags: Challenge, GloPoWriMo2020, Humor, limerick, NaPoWriMo2020, Poem a Day, Poetry, strange news | posted in Challenges and Writing Prompts, Limericks, napowrimo, Poetry, Random Thoughts and Musings