Tag Archives: free verse

i am not what


i am not what

it’s biology. blood and
spit transport the slurry
of DNA that determines
what i am to the world,
pale, easily sunburned
skin, big arms and hands,
small breasts, and breeder’s
hips…that’s what my dad
called them…I made good
use of them too, squeezing
out several healthy
babies in my day…and
an aversion to cilantro
DNA…now when I look
in the mirror my eyes
look the same as in my
youth, blue, with the
same dashes of gray,
gray like the random
strands that pepper, or
is that salt, my blond
thinning curls, my body
softening, i’m older now,
and wiser, I think
wisdom, while hard-earned
is wasted on the old…
one look at me and you might
decide you know everything
you need to know about
who I am, but I am not
my DNA, my soul begs
to differ…confuse what
with who and you will
completely miss the who
standing in front of you
like a book, it is only
when you flip through the pages…
give it a try…you’ll see…
did you know? I write poetry

~kat


NaPoWriMo 2023 Challenge Day 26: write a portrait poem that focuses on or plays with the meaning of the subject’s name. This could be a self-portrait, a portrait of a family member or close friend, or even a portrait of a famous or historical person.

that moment

that moment

when first we met, the exquisite
pain of longing for you
allayed in an instant
my heart swelling, splintering
into a million pieces, every
cell, every sinew of my body
tingling, flush in that moment
how you terrified me
your perfection, your delicate
fingers, button toes, your
oddly familiar features, my
mouth and nose, his eyes,
the lusty, primal sound of your
first breath’s cry took my breath
away, consumed me full
how intense that moment
when your eyes met mine, how
deep and wise your gaze, piercing
my soul, a glimpse into eternity
beyond the veil where you had
dwelt only seconds before, miracle
hardly explains your entrance, but
a magnificent miracle you are
how you surprised me
with a love so pure, opening
my heart to its perfection, a love
I have never known or imagined
could exist in this jaded world
of give and take, gently persuading
me with a sigh to give you all…darling
baby, how I loved you then and still
a mother’s heart knows no bounds

~kat

For NaPoWriMo 2023 Challenge Day Twenty-Five: write a love poem, one that names at least one flower, contains one parenthetical statement, and in which at least some lines break in unusual places.

I didn’t manage to include a flower but I love where today’s prompt transported me…seems like only yesterday. ❤️

spring reverie

spring reverie

the sweet scent of buttercups
infuses the warm breeze, leaf
buds have popped; tiny flutters
of emerald green against an azure
sky,the Fowler toads have emerged
from their winter hideaways,
a cacophony of spring peepers
greets the dusk with lusty verve,
hummingbirds have returned
buzzling by my head to sip
sweet nectar from feeders that
have been at the ready for weeks,
the world is awake, teeming with life
mourning doves, bluejays, tits,
wrens, phoebes, and bright crimson
cardinals congregate at wood’s edge
twitter-chattering, gray squirrels
toss seed to the ground, while
dangling from the feeders…
spring…Gaia’s first bloom, debutante
of debutante’s, oh, she has outdone
herself, or maybe I’m just getting
wiser, not to mention older, all
this to say, well done, spring…
well done, decades of springs
have come and gone, but first
blooms, and new life never get old

-kat

NaPoWriMo2023 Challenge Day Twenty-Four: write a poem in the form of a review. But not a review of a book or a movie of a restaurant. Instead, I challenge you to write a poetic review of something that isn’t normally reviewed. For example, your mother-in-law, the moon, or the year you were ten years old.


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