Today’s Poetry Prompt at my group came from NPR, at this link:
Poetry Challenge: Honor MLK By Describing How You Dream A World
Here is my offering:
All posts by Karen J. McLean
Blitz Poem #1: Town of Life
Last Tuesday at a Poetry and Prompts group, a friend of mine wrote and read a blitz poem. I had never heard of this poetry form before, but I really enjoyed hearing it, and so I looked it up.
Here is my first blitz poem. It was fun to write.
Town of Life university days university town town so small town by the tides tides of change tides ebb and flow flow in as students flow out as adults adults with ideas adults with opinions opinions of ideas opinions of people people who cry people who laugh laugh at children laugh at Fate Fate rolls the dice Fate ain't always nice nice little town nice little shops shops for the students shops for the professors professors of chemistry professors of history history in the town history all around around the town around the harbour harbour the houses harbour the books books in the library books in the classes classes of people classes of animals animals on the farms animals in the bars bars on campus bars on streets streets lined with shops streets lines with homes homes for a lifetime homes for seasons seasons with snow seasons come and go go back to campus go on to real life life lessons earned life well learned learned earned
Poetry and Prompts on Tuesday
A local friend of mine has been hosting “Poetry and Prompts” on Tuesdays for quite some time now. (I’m thinking years.) Except for one failed attempt, when I tried from Starbucks but didn’t realize we would be reading aloud, I hadn’t attended. Since I decided I would be focusing much more on my writing in 2021, I made sure to go today.
The poetry prompt we used today was “Happy _______.”
Sometimes, if I have a poem rattling around in my head, I can just write one, but I usually need a structure to write poetry on demand. My friend Heather has recently introduced me to the nonet, so I decided I would go with that for today.
A nonet is a nine-line poem which has a structure based on syllables, The first line has nine syllables, the second has eight, with each line decreasing by a syllable, all the way down to the last line, which has just one syllable.
Here is the poem I wrote:
HAPPY RAILS The train rolls to a lumbering stop The conductor drops down the step Eager passengers detrain We wait in line to board Finally seated Feel brakes let go On my way Moving Gone
December Morning
I am blessed to live where I do — in a small city along a bay off the Atlantic Ocean. From my driveway, I can be at any one of five beaches within ten minutes’ driving. I can be at the edge of the mighty Saint John River within five minutes. And within fifteen minutes, I can be in the middle of a forest where I will see very few — if any — people.
This morning, my husband, our dog, and I went for a drive. The plan was to take some photographs and to simply see what there was to see today. Our wanderings found us at the edge of a lake, where a thin skim of ice skirted the edges.
Have you ever heard or seen a lake “breathe”? It is quite something. As the water moves, it pushes against the air trapped under the ice, causing a shifting pattern of light and dark, and making a creaking noise.
In short, it is mesmerizing. Amazing what we can witness when we take the time to sit and be present.