the prompt: be inspired by an image or series of images
Another Poem for Jane
poet at work
hair graying
in graceful swaths
glasses perched on nose
hands on typewriter
(typewriter!)
before illness
in love
depressed
loved
sweet Jane
sometimes
you cupped
one side
of your face
in your hand
as you posed
I didn’t
realize
until now
but I do
the same thing
today’s prompt: name your poetry and describe it
Grace
she lives here with me
but she comes & goes as she pleases
never tells me where she’s going
never leaves a note
it’s typical that she’ll come in
just as I’m falling asleep
I catch glimpses of her sometimes
usually when there’s music
we used to be inseparable
I didn’t think she’d ever leave
now, daily happenings of my life
rarely interest her
but sometimes they do
and she’ll spend time with me
when that happens
I remember how good it feels
her company is like an avalanche of
warm towels out of the dryer
I could stay there all day
The prompt today at Read Write Poem was to write about something being inside-out. I was not feeling that at all. So instead I turned to my “Writer’s Book of Days” written by my lovely friend, Judy Reeves. It’s a wonderful book that has a different prompt for every day of the year. I’d thought about writing something on my own, I’ve had some ideas swirling since Seattle, but wasn’t sure where to start. Then, like serendipity, the prompt from Judy’s book was a perfect yet simple jumpstart: It was a rainy day.
“In my heart I hold your photograph
and the thought of you comes on like the feel
of the coming rains…”
- Bruce Cockburn
the morning was overcast
as we headed north on interstate 5
toward Marysville
it was the 2nd day of the year
and we were going to your father’s funeral
we were quiet
still processing all the emotions
that were handed to us
so suddenly
your iPod was on shuffle
when this song came on
something shifted in the air
as we both locked into the words
and wept
~~
a couple months later
we sat in a parking lot
in Austin
you were getting ready for a gig
that could really make something happen
we had time
having arrived early
to make sure
nothing went wrong
suddenly, here was this song again
and we both remembered
the last time we’d heard it
this time you pointed out a favorite line
about smoke sliding into a room
then fell quiet
and wept
prompt # 3: write about something that scares you
close
my mother likes where she lives
because she knows she could go
to downtown LA whenever she wants
because it’s not that far
she rarely goes to downtown LA
but that’s not the point
she just likes knowing she could
because it’s there
I have similar feelings
about the people I love
though it feels dangerous
like I’m setting myself up to lose
prompt # 2: write a poem inspired by the acronym RWP
Catching Up
I woke to the sound of rain
and didn’t know where I was
last night, I slept through three alarms
though their different tones
slipped in and out of my thoughts
my rhythm’s off
I blame it on the time change
my recent trip to Texas
depth of my sleep
my blank dreams
maybe tonight, writing poems
will act like a lullaby
bring back a sense of measure
+++++
prompt # 1 : construct a poem using the first five song titles that come up when you shuffle your iPod
for B
her relationship has ended
she readjusts her sunglasses to obscure
her tear-stained eye
desire wanes and flares
in ways she can’t decipher
the long way around a broken heart
makes her recall the red clay trail
at her grandmother’s house that led to the river
she’d always get dirty but
she knew she’d always get clean
maybe the occasional honky tonk man
will help soften the edges, too
she used to imagine the life she might have without him
now she’s living it the best she can
the songs:
The Long Way Around – Dixie Chicks
Tear Stained Eye – Son Volt
Desire –U2
Imagine – John Lennon
Honky Tonk Man – Hank Williams
