Tag Archives: Poem a Day

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 1, 2019

offspring – NaPoWriMo 2019 #1

By Kat Myrman
  • Photo courtesy of barskefranck at pixabay.com

offspring

they don’t come with
instructions, and yet
we pop them out as if
life depended on it
(…well, it sort of does)
smelly, demanding,
helpless, tugging at our
raw breasts, depriving
us of sleep, sometimes
for years, testing our
patience, breaking our
hearts…if you’ve loved
one, you know what
I mean…and we do
our best to keep them
safe, to keep from offing
them ourselves when
they challenge us, no,
they don’t come with
instructions, and yet
somehow we manage
to survive the decades
until it is time for them
to leave the nest, literally,
(have you seen a teenager’s
room?) taking a piece of
our heart with them

~kat

NaPoWriMo Day 1: write poems that provide the reader with instructions on how to do something. It can be a sort of recipe, like O’Neil’s poem. Or you could try to play on the notorious unreliability of instructional manuals (if you’ve ever tried to put IKEA furniture together, you know what I mean). You could even write a dis-instruction poem, that tells the reader how not to do something. 

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

March 31, 2019

Self Portrait as Gaia – NaPoWriMo – Early-Bird

By Kat Myrman

Here we go! An early-bird challenge on the eve of National Poetry Month. Today’s challenge for NaPoWriMo: to write a poetic self-portrait. And specifically, we’d like you to write a poem in which you portray yourself in the guise of a historical or mythical figure.

Self Portrait as Gaia

born of Chaos, the gaping
void; she who always was
and is, who in primordial
confusion, fashioned me
from the ooze, greening,
mountains rising from the
seas, caressing the shore
to fields a-flowering amidst
cool springs bubbling into
streams that swell into
rivers…I sigh and a million
stars light the sky as
darkness cloaks the
gloaming, come the dawn

~kat

16 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , , | posted in free verse, napowrimo, Poetry, Random Thoughts and Musings