Tag Archives: challenge prompt

April 24, 2018

Elegy for Harriet – NaPoWriMo 2018 Day 24

harrietsgarden

‘come see my garden’
she would say with
a twinkle in her eye
she was a cool, clear evening,
an arched gateway, flanked
by flower beds, eclectic,
like tiny worlds within worlds,
a great old tree, with hatchlings
chattering, a small corner nook
lost in faerie whisperings
such beauty, a gift, blessed
to have been, this creative, lovely
soul who crossed beyond the veil
tending a magnificent garden…
time feels sweeter imagining her there

~kat

For NaPoWriMo 2018 Day 24 Prompt: write an elegy – a poem typically written in honor or memory of someone dead. But we’d like to challenge you to write an elegy that has a hopefulness to it. I chose to use a eulogy that I had written for a neighbor a few years ago and to use “blacked out” words to create an elegy poem.

You can read the Eulogy HERE. Below, the blacked out version.

BlackoutElegy

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5 Comments | tags: Blackout Poetry, challenge prompt, digital art, Elegy, NaPoWriMo2018, Poem a Day | posted in Blackout Poetry, Challenges and Writing Prompts, Digital Art & Photos, Elegy, Poetry, Random Thoughts and Musings

April 22, 2018

It Could Happen… NaPoWriMo 2018 – Day 22

By Kat Myrman

Day 22 – NaPoWriMo 2018 Prompt: take one of the following statements of something impossible, and then write a poem in which the impossible thing happens:
The sun can’t rise in the west.
A circle can’t have corners.
Pigs can’t fly.
The clock can’t strike thirteen.
The stars cannot rearrange themselves in the sky.
A mouse can’t eat an elephant.

You know me. when given a list and a choice, I generally choose them all. It’s a running theme.

It Could Happen…

that day when pigs flew, it’s true,
first class, no less, to avoid
all the mice that they’d trapped in
their wheels, churning in circles
producing square profits for
bottom line trawlers, that day
when stars realigned and the
mice jumped their traps, devouring
the elephants in the room
all this, they did, just past noon,
at thirteen zero zero;
mice, in chorus, were heroes
that day we’ll remember,
when news traveled the wires
dawning bright, east to the west
a sweeping blue wave changed
history’s course, what a day
when impossible dreamers
dreamed dreams once again
and tea bagging cups dug graves,
their own, with silvery spoons
that day, the pigs flew the coups

~kat

7 Comments | tags: challenge prompt, free verse, NaPoWriMo2018, Poetry | posted in Challenges and Writing Prompts, free verse, Poetry, Random Thoughts and Musings

April 21, 2018

A Tall Tale

By Kat Myrman

it’s a tale of woe if there ever was one

of a beautiful boy with beautiful hands

a spinner of deals, like no deals ever spun

a boastful lone tweeter who ruled o’er the land

above all, ‘twas loyalty, blind and unquestioning

that he demanded of those in his court

this one-sided toll would become the reckoning

of this narcissist leader who lied just for sport

he surrounded himself with fawners and yessers

with donors and wannabe moguls and fools,

oligarchs too, horsebacked underdressers,

gaslighting the masses, he broke every rule

then one day a hero emerged on the council

a true man of honor, a keeper of justice

one by one he indicted court jesters until

only two of the fawners were left on the list

a scrapper called fixer would squeal for his skin

while a stormy cloud’s lining loomed brash on display

with no favors to claim and his chips all cashed in

the man boy had run out of aces to play

It’s a sad day you know when not everyone’s thrilled

to be rid of the terrible reign of this fool

I’ve kept the main players anon, if you will

to say them out loud; that just wouldn’t be cool

some folks believe that this whole thing is fake

it’s hard to believe it could really be true

history will prove it when less is at stake

how a villainous braggart staged a great coup.

~kat

An Epic poem for NaPoWriMo Day 21, Prompt: try writing a poem that plays with the myth of narcissist in some way.

13 Comments | tags: challenge prompt, Epic Poem, NaPoWriMo2018, Poem a Day, Poetry | posted in Epic Poem, Poetry, Random Thoughts and Musings

April 20, 2018

Burning – NaPoWriMo 2018 Day 20

By Kat Myrman

it turns out we were right to burn
our bras in 1968; to let our ta-tas fly
free… 2018 science has determined our
lymph nodes need a break from hard-wired
push up constriction, elastic straps and
padding…alas we are justified, no longer
chided for those days of our restless
discontent over corrupt leaders, the
establishment, unjust wars (our friends were
dying), our love of free love, pot and folk
ballads, wild psychedelic trips, mania, decades
of mad hazy memories, idealistic musings, we got
a few things right, the bra thing at least, except,
I still wear one every day, clogging, constricting my
lymphs, ignoring science, I’m rebellious that way,
it’s a habit, like flossing, not to mention
the true reason for burning them, and the
fact that no bras were actually burned or harmed,
but a metaphor…a mantra, “Let’s judge
ourselves as people”…it turns out
we were right to burn then…
we’re still burning

~kat

My rebellion poem for NaPoWriMo 2018 Day 20, prompt: write a poem that involves rebellion in some way. I am most comfortable with rhyming metered verses and lines. Testing out free verse, and what I consider to be streaming consciousness…I hope it doesn’t come off as rambling. Though it is not necessarily a bad thing to ramble. It might grow on me. 🙂

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2 Comments | tags: challenge prompt, digital art, free verse, NaPoWriMo2018, Poetry | posted in Challenges and Writing Prompts, Digital Art & Photos, free verse, Poetry, Random Thoughts and Musings

April 18, 2018

The Bees Are Dying – NaPoWriMo 2018 – 18 April 2018

By Kat Myrman

The bees are dying, in droves, you know.
I suppose it was inevitable,
what with global warming, climate change.
Eden no longer exists,
isn’t it obvious?
It’s been a long time
since we lived in harmony with life on this planet
and least of all, with the bees.
Remember them at the pond?
How we ducked under the water to avoid them?
It was the only thing to do;
brave the slime or risk being stung.
It was a good hiding place then,
but now, the bees are grounded, dying.
We should save them, but maybe it’s too late.
I wonder what will become of this place
of sludge and slime, without the bees?
I wonder what will become of us?

~kat

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For NaPoWriMo 2018 Day 18 – The Prompt: Our prompt for the day (optional as always) isn’t exactly based in revision, but it’s not exactly not based in revision, either. It also sounds a bit more complicated than it is, so bear with me! First, find a poem in a book or magazine (ideally one you are not familiar with). Use a piece of paper to cover over everything but the last line. Now write a line of your own that completes the thought of that single line you can see, or otherwise responds to it. Now move your piece of paper up to uncover the second-to-last line of your source poem, and write the second line of your new poem to complete/respond to this second-to-last line. Keep going, uncovering and writing, until you get to the first line of your source poem, which you will complete/respond to as the last line of your new poem. It might not be a finished draft, but hopefully it at least contains the seeds of one.

I normally write my poetry on my phone or laptop these day, but for this prompt I found my favorite fountain pen and printed a copy of the poem so I could follow the directions precisely with a sheet of paper covering each line last to first (see the actual photo of my scribbling above). I used to write like this before computers were a thing. I used the poem by Anna Jackson below. While I let the title guide my thoughts, I made it a point not to read the poem before I started to write my version so I wouldn’t be swayed by the intent of the original. I think this helped me to respond to each line independently in my response. It was a really interesting exercise. I might have to try it again. 🙂

Bees, so many bees.
By Anna Jackson

After twenty years of marriage, we walked out
of the bush and on to a rough dirt road
we followed till we saw a pond
we might be able to get to.
The ground was boggy and buzzing.
The pond was thick with weed
and slime. It was not
the sort of pond anyone would
swim in, but we did — picking and sliding
into the water over the bog and bees,
bees we suddenly noticed were
everywhere, were settling on our hair
as we swam, ducks turning surprised eyes
our way. After twenty years of marriage
what is surprising isn’t really so much
the person you are with but to find
yourselves so out of place in this scene, cold
but not able to get out without
stepping over bees, so many bees.