Category Archives: napowrimo

April 6, 2024

NaPoWriMo 2024 – Day 6 – an empty sink

By Kat Myrman 
an empty sink

it was the unspoken rule 
a sure antidote for the insanity
that seeped through the walls
and haunted the dark rooms
of my childhood home
everything in its place and
most of all, no dishes in the sink
it was nightly chore my sister and I hated
but one we knew, if not completed 
each night to our father’s satisfaction 
when he returned from his nightly binges
we could expect to be roused from sleep
by the sound of the cabinets being emptied
of dishes and silverware hitting the floor 
ordered to clean the mess “we caused”
all because there was a fork left in the sink
or a tea cup, it didn’t matter, 
I remember hiding in the clothes closet 
to avoid his manic outbursts of rage
I learned to be perfect on the outside

eventually I realized that a spotless sink somehow provided my troubled father 
with the appearance of order
a way to hide the disfunction 
that hounded him and terrorized
our seemingly happy, little family
we looked good in Polaroid snapshots
we almost looked normal…

it would be years before I was able 
to let dishes air dry in the sink
my sister too suffered this peculiar trait
eventually we both realized that life
can be a bit messy, that unfolded laundry 
on a chair or dishes in the sink are not
grave sins, but simply signs of normal life 
and messy normal is okay
but it’s a character flaw I contend with 
because perfect is an illusion 
so please don’t judge me
by my spotless sink…I’m not trying to hide
some horrible secret or assuage my angst
sometimes I just can’t help myself
but sometimes, I’ll leave a spoon 
in the sink overnight on purpose
because I need to remember 
though I am my fathers’s daughter 
I am not crazy…
at least that’s what my therapist tells me

~kat

NaPoWriMo 2024 – Day 6 Challenge – And now for our (optional) prompt. Today’s we’d like to challenge you to write a poem rooted in “weird wisdom,” by which we mean something objectively odd that someone told you once, and that has stuck with you ever since. Need an example? Check out Naomi Shihab Nye’s poem “Making a Fist.”

11 Comments   |  tags: , , , , | posted in 2024, Challenges and Writing Prompts, free verse, napowrimo, Poetry

April 5, 2024

NaPpiWriMo 2024 – Day 5 – the hound, the cat, and the old man

By Kat Myrman
Photo Source: istockphoto.com
the hound, the cat and the old man

“happiness,” declared old hound,
“is a good chew, a bone, a stick, a chair,
it’s a soft bed, a full water bowl and 
plenty of kibble, shelter from the storm, 
belly rubs, a window with a view, and
most of all my very own human to love
who treats me kindly and calls me good boy.”

cat rolled her eyes at hound, “happiness? 
I’ll tell you what happiness is you old fool
happiness is owning a devoted human
one who serves me prime pate. I must
have a water fountain and sun-warmed 
spots to nap, a fresh litter-box, catnip
and limited touching…no belly rubs 

an old man sitting nearby overheard  hound and cat, 
“It’s true. happiness is having enough to eat, 
someone to love, i agree with you two
but it’s also satisfaction from a job 
done well, hope and dreams, it’s learning 
something new, helping others, friendship 
It’s a way of life, a choice, a blessing!”

hound flipped onto his back, “belly rub please, belly rub paleeeeeeeaze!!!!”
cat leapt up on a windowsill, “whatever!“, she hissed, as she curled into a ball.
the man smiled, happiness is this moment

~kat

NaPoWriMo 2024 -Day 5 Challenge: Now, let’s get to our optional prompt! Today we’d like you to start by taking a look at Alicia Ostriker’s poem, “The Blessing of the Old Woman, the Tulip, and the Dog.” Now try your hand at writing your own poem about how a pair or trio very different things would perceive of a blessing or, alternatively, how these very different things would think of something else (luck, grief, happiness, etc).

9 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , , , | posted in 2024, Challenges and Writing Prompts, free verse, napowrimo, Poetry, Prose Poem

April 4, 2024

NaPoWriMo 2024 – Day 4 – Lemmings

By Kat Myrman
Does this fellow’s face looking disturbingly familiar? ,,, nah! SMH! 🤣
The Suicide Marches of Lemmings

every four years or so, or eight
lemmings emerge and fall in line 
entranced, though certain death awaits 
undeterred, they lose their minds

resistant to all reasoning
when truth is plain, as plain as day
pressing on, it’s frightening 
to watch them sell their souls this way

and as each one succumbs to lies
their numbers dwindle as they go
over the edge, shutting their eyes
and ears to what onlookers know

how tragic is the lemmings’ fate
as if they never had a choice
deceived, thinking things could be great
they drank the koolaid, lost their voice

~kat

NaPoWriMo 2024 – Day 4 Challenge: write a poem in which you take your title or some language/ideas from The Strangest Things in the World. First published in 1958, the book gives shortish descriptions of odd natural phenomena, and is notable for both its author’s turn of phrase and intermittently dubious facts. Perhaps you will be inspired by the “The Self-Perpetuating Sponge” or “The World’s Biggest Sneeze.” Or maybe the quirky descriptions of luminous plants, monstrous bears, or the language of ravens will give you inspiration.

My inspiration:

The Suicide Marches of Lemmings

2 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , , , , | posted in 2024, Challenges and Writing Prompts, Digital Art & Photos, napowrimo, Poetry, Rhymed Verse

April 2, 2024

NaPoWriMo 2024 – Day 2 – dear Luna

By Kat Myrman 
dear luna, 
how you move me 
as if my soul were water
given to tidal swells and ebbs
you call me to sway, to dance 
with my sisters and our mothers,
ancients who reside on veil’s cusp 
summoned by your full kind face
‘round the rhythmic pyre’s crackle 
you’re my North Star, my guide
illumine the darkest of nights, 
full, gibbous, crescent, new
every night I look to you
dear sweet Luna 
I see you
~kat~

NaPoWriMo 2024 Day 2 Challenge:

Write a platonic love poem. In other words, a poem not about a romantic partner, but some other kind of love – your love for your sister, or a friend, or even your love for a really good Chicago deep dish pizza. The poem should be written directly to the object of your affections (like a letter is written to “you”), and should describe at least three memories of you engaging with that person/thing.

Poetry Forms used:

On prompt, this is a Letter Poem, but I also added another twist, by creating a Concrete Poem.

Concrete poetry—sometimes also called ‘shape poetry’—is poetry whose visual appearance matches the topic of the poem. The words form shapes which illustrate the poem’s subject as a picture, as well as through their literal meaning.

This type of poetry has been used for thousands of years, since the ancient Greeks began to enhance the meanings of their poetry by arranging their characters in visually pleasing ways back in the 3rd and 2nd Centuries BC.

7 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , , | posted in 2024, Challenges and Writing Prompts, concrete poem, Digital Art & Photos, Letter Poem, napowrimo, Poetry

April 1, 2024

NaPoWriMo 2024 – Day 1 – matriarch

By Kat Myrman 
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).

10 Comments   |  tags: , , , , | posted in 2024, Challenges and Writing Prompts, Digital Art & Photos, napowrimo, Poetry, Rondeau