Tag Archives: poetry challenge

April 1, 2025

day 90 ~ Na/GloPoWriMo 2025 off-prompt 4.1

By Kat Myrman 
s(h)elf life 

I passed my “best if used by” date
over a half a century ago
exposure to the elements 
has taken quite a toll

my skin is leathery and dry
my hair is turning gray
I need bifocals for my eyes
my hearing’s fine…wait, what’d you say?

my plumbing’s gotten leaky
my pipes are filled with gas
I‘ve lost control completely
might toot toot as i walk past 

expirations come, no warning
and the end, I’m sure, is near
luck will keep me ‘til the morning
may the fates grant me a few more years

believe me when I tell you
though I’m slowly losing steam
my mind still thinks I’m twenty-two
filled with hope and unspent dreams

~kat

Na/GloPoWriMo 2025 April 1: Well, I’m not sure where that came from based on the prompt. I started looking at musical terms and artist terms and paintings and ended up considering the concept of shelf lives and expiration dates and how they relate to aging in humans. I blame this detour partly on my day job which bothers itself with product lifecycles, expiration dates and the like. I suppose it’s a sad commentary on the reality of my lack of work-life balance. But I digress. 

And…there goes a butterfly…will ya look at that!

Much love, peace, and unlimited, unspoiled glimmers to you!

~kat

Here’s a link to today’s Na/GloPoWriMo prompt, just in case you want to give it a try. 

16 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , , , , | posted in 2025, Challenges and Writing Prompts, Digital Art & Photos, Essays, Humor, napowrimo, Poetry, Random Thoughts and Musings, Rhymed Verse

April 10, 2024

NaPoWriMo 2024 – Day 10 – time to unplug

By Kat Myrman 
time to unplug

no need to rise from bed today
it’s safer here, i think i’ll stay
and should i drift back off to sleep 
obligations can wait, they’ll keep

they’re not as urgent as you think
sweet dreams await, i’m on the brink
rest is required, don’t you know
whence inspiration freely flows

as you can see it’s optimal
to let me snooze, it’s possible
and you should try it for yourself
sleep’s good for the soul, for your health

so have a day, good, bad, don’t care
i’ll see you where or when, i swear
but now I’ve better things to do
i’m off to dream, no thoughts of you

~kat…zzzzzzzZZZZZZZZZ

NaPoWriMo 2024 -Day 10 Challenge: write a poem based on one of the curious headlines, cartoons, and other journalistic tidbits featured at Yesterday’s Print, where old new stays amusing, curious, and sometimes downright confusing.

Inspiration for today’s poem from Yesterday’s Print

Poetry Form:

Rhyming couplets. Formal verse rhymes; the sequence of rhymes is called the rhyme scheme. AA BB is specifically four lines, the first two rhyming and the second two rhyming. And so on – a poem of whatever length which repeats this pattern AA BB CC DD . . . uses couplet rhymes.

6 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , , , | posted in 2024, Challenges and Writing Prompts, Digital Art & Photos, napowrimo, Poetry, Rhyming Couplets

April 2, 2021

NaPoWriMo – Day 1 – Chaos

By Kat Myrman

exquisite chaos
dissonance
bound in symmetry

~kat

Catching up on my NaPoWriMo challenge – Day 1. This is no way to start the month, but yesterday was UTTER chaos! I am using the Lune (The Lune is a short form: 5/3/5 – no other rules, may rhyme, any topic) as my form of choice in response to the challenge:
Daily prompt (optional, as always)! Sometimes, writing poetry is a matter of getting outside of your own head, and learning to see the world in a new way. To an extent, you have to “derange” yourself – make the world strange, and see it as a stranger might. To help you do that, I’d like to challenge you to write a poem inspired by this animated version of “Seductive Fantasy” by Sun Ra and his Arkestra. If you don’t feel after watching it a little bit like the top of your head’s been taken off, and your thoughts given a good stir – well, maybe you are already living in a state of heightened poetic awareness!

6 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , , | posted in Challenges and Writing Prompts, Digital Art & Photos, Lune, napowrimo, Poetry

March 26, 2021

i see you

By Kat Myrman
Ekphrastic Prompt provided by D.L. (Denise) Finn
i see you

if 
only 
they could see 
you were much more 
but they just saw a tree 
not your vibrant, dynamic core 
your roots winding deep beneath the earth’s floor 
branches that stretched to the clouds, wild bursting bud tips 
how you dance with the wind when tempests roar 
shelter, haven, legend of yore 
chopped down so callously 
to build a door 
but I see 
you ev’ry 
bit 

~kat

For Tanka Tuesday’s Ekphrastic Prompt Challenge - The  Diatelle - PHEW!  Took me a bit of time to make it work. Fantastic form!!!

The Diatelle is a fun, syllable counting form like the etheree with a twist. The syllable structure of the diatelle is as follows: 1/2/3/4/6/8/10/12/10/8/6/4/3/2/1, but unlike an etheree, has a set rhyme pattern of abbcbccaccbcbba.

16 Comments   |  tags: , , , , | posted in Challenges and Writing Prompts, Diatelle, Poetry

December 30, 2020

our heroes

By Kat Myrman

our heroes

if you survived this long, long year
emerged this decade, deeply touched
by global heartache, death and such,
if you faced every day past fear
to rise above, a kinder soul
who cared for others, paid the toll,
then you’ve a right to have a bash
to celebrate, to breathe at last,
to take your place as our heroes

full cold moon on ice
shifting dark of night to light
hope for the future

~kat

A combo Décima/Haiku for Ronovan Writes Décima Poetry Challenge and Weekly Haiku Poetry Challenge.
The Décima Prompt word BASH – D Line Rhyme: 

  1. There are 10 lines of poetry that rhyme.
  2. 8 syllables per line.
  3. There is a SET RHYMING PATTERN we must stick to. ABBAACCDDC OR  two stanzas of ABBA/ACCDDC.

Haiku Challenge Prompt words with Synonyms: Bound – on ice; Sway – shift

14 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , | posted in Challenges and Writing Prompts, Décima, Haiku, Poetry