Tag Archives: NaPoWriMo2019

April 8, 2019

The Bottom Line – NaPoWriMo #8

By Kat Myrman

The Bottom Line

at the end of the day
if you’re still herding cats
at the end of the day

in light of the fact that
with your ducks in a row
if you’re still herding cats

check the box, good to go
jump the shark if you dare
with your ducks in a row

keep your balls in the air
while you fish or cut bait
jump the shark if you dare

don’t ignore drop dead dates
be an agent of change
while you fish or cut bait

paradigms rearrange
be an agent of change
at the end of the day
at the end of the day

~kat

For  NaPoWriMo #8 Prompt: think about the argot of a particular job or profession, and see how you can incorporate it into a metaphor that governs or drives your poem, a Terzanelle. It’s a cross between a Terza Rima and a Villanelle. By the way, did you guess what profession I focused on? If you guessed business you would be a right. What can I say, the business world sucks up most of my life.  Here’s a link to the jargon used above and then some, with suggestions on how you can STOP using these worn out lines! ;).

5 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , | posted in Challenges and Writing Prompts, napowrimo, Poetry, Random Thoughts and Musings, Terzanelle

April 7, 2019

all i need – NaPoWriMo #7

By Kat Myrman

all i need

what a luxury to give myself
permission to have a dream
without a plan, indulgence,
never was my thing, survival
has its own demands, a never
ending rut of woe where time
moves slow and years pass
fast, the things that last, they
are not things, i’ll tell you true
what moves my heart to sing,
amber turquoise skies at dawn,
lilting bird song, smiles, a gentle
touch, it really doesn’t take too
much, the simplest of all life’s
gifts, bring joy to me when days
are long, three-score and two,
i’ve lived a few and hopefully
a few to come, it is enough for
me and some, to breathe deep
and exhale slow, a moment’s
bliss, that’s all i need to know

~kat

NaPoWriMo #7 Prompt: What do you deserve? Name it. All of it. What are you ready to let go of? Name that too. Then name the most gentle gift for yourself. Name the brightest song your body’s ever held. Summon joy like you would a child; call it home. It wanders, yes. But it’s still yours. Today, we’d like to challenge you to write a poem of gifts and joy. What would you give yourself, if you could have anything? What would you give someone else?

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9 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , | posted in Challenges and Writing Prompts, free verse, napowrimo, Poetry, Random Thoughts and Musings

April 6, 2019

no regret – NaPoWriMo #6

By Kat Myrman

no regret

i don’t care to entertain
or name the what if only’s
wondering may well beget
regret, the past can’t own me

~kat

…and just for the sake of “if”, I’m resurrecting a free verse poem from the archives:

lunacy

if you were brave
i could tell you who
i really am
jot my truths and epiphanies
like a grocery list
or like laundry, wet and
beleaguered hang
myself out to dry
it is troubling…normal
doesn’t fit my vocabulary
or my soul

call me lunatic
manic or insane but
i have noticed
the same wind catches
some leaves of grass
leaving others unmoved

kat 2001

For NaPoWriMo #6 Prompt: write a poem of the possible, a poem that emphasizes the power of “if,” of the woulds and coulds and shoulds of the world, I am trying a new form I found. The Awdl Gywydd, a Welsh form pronounced “ow-dull gee-youth” has the following rules:
• Four lines
• Seven syllables per line
• The final syllable of the first and third lines rhyme with the 3rd-5th syllable of the following lines
• The second and fourth lines rhyme and the a and c rhymes can slide a little. Here’s an example:
xxxxxxa
xxaxxxb
xxxxxxc
xxxxcxb

8 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , , | posted in Awdl Gywydd, Challenges and Writing Prompts, napowrimo, Poetry, Random Thoughts and Musings

April 5, 2019

slaughtered history – NaPoWriMo #5

By Kat Myrman

slaughtered history

it was the age of foolishness1
that’s what the history books will say
all this happened, more or less2

they’ll paint us crazy, dupes at best,
the folks who lost their minds and way
it was the age of foolishness1

mistreatment of the poor, oppressed,
innocents lost, locked away
all this happened, more or less2

our frozen hearts put to the test
found wanting, as we vowed to pray
it was the age of foolishness1

leaving future kin to guess
how we, so easily were swayed
all this happened, more or less2

leaving them a bloody mess
with astronomical debt to pay
it was the age of foolishness1
all this happened, more or less2

~kat

Not my favorite form, though I might have liked it better if not for so many added restraints on the form. Still I managed to pen a villanelle: A1bA2 abA1 abA2 abA1 abA2 abA1A2 where letters (“a” and “b”) indicate the two rhyme sounds, upper case indicates a refrain (“A”), and superscript numerals (1 and 2) indicate Refrain 1 and Refrain 2,  for NaPoWritMo #5 Prompt: write a poem that incorporates at least one of the following: (1) the villanelle form, (2) lines taken from an outside text, and/or (3) phrases that oppose each other in some way.

Outside Verse References:
1-Tale of Two Cities – Charles Dickens
2-Slaughterhouse-Five – Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.

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20 Comments   |  tags: , , , , | posted in Challenges and Writing Prompts, napowrimo, Poetry, Random Thoughts and Musings, Social Issues, Villanelle

April 4, 2019

photographs – NaPoWriMo #4

By Kat Myrman

photographs

my walls are covered with photographs
milestones of my life, of family
silly, happy smiles that make me laugh
precious moments, captured memories
if you visit you’ll notice them all
framed in glass, prominently displayed
in hopes their subjects might come to call
and know they’re with me every day
faded images, collecting dust
it’s been several years since they’ve been by
i’ve haunted  social media sites just
to see what’s new in their busy lives
time moves on, it’s memories that last
my walls are covered with photographs

~kat

A sonnet of sorts…rhyming with 14 lines in response to today NaPoWriMo Challenge Prompt: write your own sad poem, that achieves sadness through simplicity. Playing with the sonnet form may help you – its very compactness can compel you to be straightforward, using plain, small words.
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14 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , , | posted in Challenges and Writing Prompts, napowrimo, Poetry, Random Thoughts and Musings, Sonnet Variation