an activist judge
decreed covid’s end
no need to wear masks
eat, drink, live your life, be free
while the plague mutates, raging
~kat
Na/GloPoWriMo 2022 – Day 26 Prompt: write a poem that contains at least one of a different kind of simile – an epic simile. Also known as Homeric similes, these are basically extended similes that develop over multiple lines.
Off topic…a tanka for today…just a commentary on the lunacy of our times. Science? Reason? Reality? I’m in no hurry to join the lemmings.
lady of the blue m on
one summer’s eve she came to call
a moonlit vision peering in
rousing me from slumber’s cusp
amidst the wooded hollow’s din
with eyes of green, face white as snow
raven curls from her hooded cloak, cascading,
then whispered she, my name
it would rude of me i thought
to look away, to hide my head
instead i rubbed my eyes in case
it was a dream…”i’m not” she said
“what then, are you, or rather who?”
i might as well engage this sprite
it’s odd i don’t feel any fright
just curious why she happened by
before i could ask her she replied,
“i am the mounded loam beneath
your feet, my voice is sometimes
light, a breeze, or birdsong sweet
and other times it roars,
a tempest swift to rage,
my eyes from green turn steel gray
i smell of honeysuckles, roses too,
lilacs, lavender, and bells of blue
my thoughts are many as the stars
and every wish you’ve ever wished
i keep close, guarded in my heart.”
then just like that, the moon behind
clouds drifted, she was gone
leaving me to wonder if what i saw
was real or just my mind slipping
‘tween lucidity and dreaming, yet
i felt her cradle me, calmed by her breath,
or was it mine, finally i slept
~kat
Na/GloPoWriMo 2022 -Day 25 Pronpt: based on the Aisling, a poetic form that developed in Ireland. An aisling recounts a dream or vision featuring a woman who represents the land or country on/in which the poet lives, and who speaks to the poet about it. Today, I’d like to challenge you to write a poem that recounts a dream or vision, and in which a woman appears who represents or reflects the area in which you live.
old friend
Merlin will be 100
in cat years in a few
short months
a mischievous
imp he is
with fading eyes
and random patches
of gray, a toothless
mouth that pouts
when he mews, but
he still wears
his tuxedo coat like
a regal gentleman
who dines on pâté
while demanding the
servitude of his
ever-devoted human
(that would be me)
of course i comply
to his every whim
i’m a sucker for
soft fur, and deep
rhythmic purrs
mesmerized by
the dark flecks
in his green eyes
deep as wells
and by the trust
implied by his gaze
having tested me
these twenty-one years
~kat
Na/GloPoWriMo 2022 - Day 24 Prompt: write a poem in which you describe something with a hard-boiled simile. Feel free to use just one, or try to go for broke and stuff your poem with similes till it’s . . . as dense as bread baked by a plumber, as round as the eyes of a girl who wants you to think she’s never heard such language, and as easy to miss as a brass band in a cathedral.
Now I don’t know if my similes are all that, (as mentioned in the examples above), but I did manage to pen a few. They say one should always write what one knowS. I guess you could say I know my subject quite well, like an old friend he is…my gentleman kittie, Merlin.
etiquette when death comes to call
never send
cut flowers
to the grieving
eventually
they wilt
wither
and die
a dismal reminder
of their beloved
departed
it’s a cruel
thing to do
don’t you see
but if you must send
something green
a lovely potted plant
filled with buds
on the cusp
of blooming
or a tree
one that’s
hearty and strong
a tribute
a celebration of life
a reminder
that life goes on
~kat
Na/GloPoWriMo2022 Day 23 Prompt: write a poem in the style of Kay Ryan, whose poems tend to be short and snappy – with a lot of rhyme and soundplay. They also have a deceptive simplicity about them, like proverbs or aphorisms.
who will feed the birds when i’m gone
i think these things as i’ve grown gray
how will the world get along
is worrying about this wrong
i guess i’ve always been this way
who will feed the birds when i’m gone
caring for others, being strong
it’s who i am, what can i say
how will the world get along
time is fleeting, we don’t have long
to make a difference, seize the day
who will feed the birds when i’m gone
live, love, forgive when you’ve been wronged
work hard, but take some time to play
how will the world get along
i know. blah, blah, blah same old song
hard to do but easy to say
who will feed the birds when i’m gone
how will the world get along
~kat
Na/GloPoWriMo 2022 - Day 22 Prompt: write a poem that uses repetition. You can repeat a sound, a word, a phrase, or an image, or any combination of things.
For today’s challenge, a villanelle.
Here’s what a villanelle looks like:
A1-b-A2 / a-b-A1 / a-b-A2 / a-b-A1 / a-b-A2 / a-b-A1-A2
where
* A1 is a refrain line that is repeated throughout, sometimes with small variations
* A2 is another refrain line, which end-rhymes with A1
* a denotes lines that end-rhyme with A1 and A2
* b denotes a line using a (usually) different end-rhyme.
There is no set line length, though many poets choose 8–10 syllables.
like mercury colliding... 