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A ReVerse Poem

A ReVerse Poem

i’m not honest, not one bit
she is a wall at the forest’s edge
it’s zaniness, that’s what it is
i am not a fan of flying
devoured by madness
because what matters most
beyond conclusion
from dark dawn to dark dusk
turned into months into years
down, down, downsized
floor to ceiling windows
the sweet scent of buttercups
my heart swelling, splintering
did you know? I write poetry
by fireflies in pickle jars
she fancies herself organized
bitter, and smooth to the tongue

~kat

NaPoWriMo 2023 Challenge Day Thirty: Off prompt. Rather than writing a palinode – a poem in which you retract a view or sentiment expressed in an earlier poem, I decided to extract a line from several previous poems as a finale to this year’s daily challenge. Doing a ReVerse Poem* has always been my way to sum things up at the end of the day. Sometimes the combination of lines make sense…and sometimes, not so much. But it does give me a snapshot into each previous day’s endeavor. So, there you have it! Another NaPoWriMo in the bag. Until next year…😊

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.

the great reshuffle

the great reshuffle 

1-
soot dusted space
morning sun glare
floor to ceiling windows
leak streaked inside
from too much rain
cubicle of cubicles
the corporate sweatshop
that devoured me

2-
down, down, downsized
from a one hundred year old
money-trap, a thousand
square feet of accumulated
stuff to lose, memories are
not things, to a forever home
in the Blue Ridge foothills with
undressed windows, ambient green

3-
the pandemic, people were dying,
they told us, “pack everything,
work from home”, a few weeks
turned into months into years
from cubicle to corner nook
sheltered, stir crazy, in place
hummingbirds at the window
squirrels in the hickory trees

4-
i don’t miss the commute
from dark dawn to dark dusk
the break room chatter,
gossip, office politics ugly
they’re telling us, “pack everything,
come back to the cubicles”, but
i have decided to stay where life has
balance, home where my heart is

~kat

NaPoWriMo 2023  Challenge Day Twenty-Three: write a poem of your own that has multiple numbered sections. Attempt to have each section be in dialogue with the others, like a song where a different person sings each verse, giving a different point of view. Set the poem in a specific place that you used to spend a lot of time in, but don’t spend time in anymore.

courage


courage

courage
is a child
who goes
back to school
after a massacre

courage
is telling
the truth
even if it means
losing everything

courage
is wearing
a dress because
it makes you feel pretty
even if they named you Jonathan

courage
is helping those
who are different
because what matters most
is acknowledging their humanity

courage
Is not laughing
when the joke
is not funny
but hurtful to someone

courage
is saying,
“me too”
“Black Lives Matter”
“I stand with you”

courage
I have learned
evolved from
the Latin word, ‘cor’
meaning heart

courage
is following
one’s heart
showing the rest of us
how to truly live

~kat


NaPoWriMo 2023 Challenge Day Twenty-One: choose an abstract noun from the list below, and then use that as the title for a poem that contains very short lines, and at least one invented word.

Glory
Courage
Anxiety
Failure
Defeat
Delight
Confusion
Calm
Belief
Cleverness
Despair
Honesty
Deceit
Strength

land-lubber


land-lubber

i am not a fan of flying
and you can take the stairs, not me
i get queasy, knees, weak, wobbly
fear of heights is terrifying
it’s downright debilitating
for as long as I remember
been a reticent ascender
with feet on terra firma set
but haven’t missed a vista yet
a snail’s eye-view, full of splendor

~kat

NaPoWriMo 2023 Challenge Day Nineteen: write a poem about something that scared you – or was used to scare you – and which still haunts you (if only a little bit) today.

For today, a Décima poem:

Décima poetry is a 10 line stanza with 8 syllables per line. The rhyming pattern is abbaaccddc. Using the 10 lines there are generally two ways to organize: The 10 lines, or breaking the 10 lines into two stanzas using abba/accddc.

all that

all that

arrogant as always, because you believe,
(conceit with a capital C) you deserve
extra, first-class-grade grandiose
homage, how indulgent, how
insolent, insulting in fact
just keeping you in luxury…how
loathsome, mean, offensive
particularly privileged,
quintessentially
rude and revolting is your
self-absorbed, self-centered self
to think that others are under
you, useless, except to be used
to voluntarily venerate your value,
wait on your every want, whim,
and wish…x plus y always equals
you, yourself, and you, you, you
it’s zaniness, that’s what it is
just zip it…the world owes you zilch!

~kat
(too much??? I hear you thinking…sheesh kat! tell us how you REALLY feel!!! Haha!)

NaPoWriMo2023 Challenge Day Eighteen: write an abecedarian poem – a poem in which the word choice follows the words/order of the alphabet. You could write a very strict abecedarian poem, in which there are twenty-six words in alphabetical order, or you could write one in which each line begins with a word that follows the order of the alphabet.