My self-imposed exercise to try to get away from all my recent literalism. Horses Galloping in Your Hair after Mindy Nettifee the photo told lies the typewriter danced the newspaper fell in love shadows clicked in corners light lapped up the sky stars kissed his cheeks kerosene quit sand castles grew roots my breath left…
NPM – 7 of 30
This prompt was: write someone you love a proper heaven a proper heaven 1. for you, Jeffrey Joe, the sun shines all the time and falls perfectly across your table of course, there is music the guests who grace your kitchen are people whose music you’ve always played, Hoagy Carmichael, Nat King Cole, Hank Williams,…
NPM – 6 of 30
Found this prompt in the archives of Rachel McKibben’s website, a true treasure trove of ideas. Diary of a Winged Human This morning, feathers fell unceremoniously into my coffee as I flew to work. I flapped a hello to the new person. It’s hard to sit at my desk with these things. I did a…
NPM – 5 of 30
Lift Team the day he came home, he told them to put him in his recliner in the living room it was early evening Mom made him something to eat then she & I listened to the nurse when he was ready for bed Mom & I each got on a side, put an arm…
NPM – 4 of 30
For this poem, I used this prompt: Write a 15-line litany with the refrain, “then I swallowed it all.” While I would not call this piece a litany, it’s what I could come up with tonight. Cupcake, Pride, Anger my desire for it was unrelenting red velvet covered in cream cheese frosting the thought of the…
NPM – 3 of 30
Today marks 3 months since my dad died. Poem from Inside His Hands when the man takes to his bed he starts on his left side and puts his left arm out so that I am facing up, my palm exposed sometimes I am slightly cupped my other rests along his side he likes to…
NPM – 2 of 30
Lung Point I discovered a bruise about a month ago when I pulled my shirt off at the end of the day I was surprised when I saw it by its darkness, by its shape – a narrow horizontal oval on my upper left bicep I touched it, but there was no pain I thought back…
Happy National Poetry Month! 1 of 30
Here we are again, friends! I have some prompts lined up for myself, so hopefully, I’ll be able to keep up, if not with complete poems, with fragments of some that I can work on at later points. But here’s one I started yesterday. I don’t think it’s quite done, but it’s something. Gaslamp in…
NPM – 30 of 30
So I’ll admit that I’m fudging a little bit here. I wrote something new last night, and I thought I would post it here. But I’m not quite ready to have it be seen. So I’m going to post this other piece I wrote in New Mexico. It’s an ‘identity’ poem where you consider memories…
NPM – 29 of 30
So, I only have 3 more days to post 1 more poem (after this one) for my 2017 national poetry month poems, and then it starts all over again on April 1 for 2018. I had forgotten that I wrote this silly little piece in New Mexico. It was based on an improv exercise we did….
NPM – 28 of 30
Here’s another little poem I wrote while in Taos about the ‘shuttle’ drive from Albuquerque to Taos. This is a True Story Larry liked to talk of death whether he realized it or not he had many anecdotes about it there was the boulder that crashed down a mountain into a Greyhound bus traveling the…
NPM 27 of 30 (New Mexico Declaration)
Last week I traveled to Taos, New Mexico for a creativity retreat. While I plan to write in more detail about the whole experience, I’ll whet your appetite with this poem. I wrote it on the last day (along with everyone else writing their own versions). What’s interesting (maybe?) about this exercise was that it’s…
