OctPo Day 31! Ending

The last day of OctPo! It's been challenging to try to write a poem every day for a month. I missed a few days, but just a few! Overall I'm proud that I was up to the challenge nearly every day. And, most importantly, I had fun and got to read everyone's amazing poetry. You all make OctPo special for me! As with last year, I leave with my favorite form, the one I will never master, the haiku.


creative fire
embers burning quietly
give the sweetest warmth

OctPo Day 29: Love

Today we write of love. Of loves past or present, whether we are madly in love or remember a love with fondness or regret. I'm not sure where I stand when it comes to love. At mid-life, I no longer feel as compelled by desire as I used to. It's an unsure time, and I have no idea what the future holds. So, I reflect on the past here.

Pyre

Yes
I've known love,

hot and fast

and dizzying and

euphoric, like

dancing on burning

coals, faster

and faster

I've known
kinder loves, 

slow and sweet

and steady and 

too good for the

likes of me

I cut my heart out

over and over

again, and then

tried to fill 

the hole

I made there

Nothing grows
there now, and
the frenzied dance

has ended

Perhaps one day
from the ashes
of that which
consumed me,
real love

can bloom

OctPo Day 28: Hunger

Today we write about hunger. Hunger can mean many things; here I try to capture a sense of uncontrollable, unreasonable yearning for something in an acrostic poem. I'm not sure if this is something everyone experiences, but I know I have, mostly related to lust or envy.



HUNGER

Hectic yearning
Unquenchable desire
Need unrequited
Gnawing guilt
Endless ache
Relentless obsession

OctPo Day 26: Fear

Today's prompt is to write about fear. I have so many fears, some are silly and others feel so monstrous that I would not name them here. But one comes to mind easily. A feeling I want to shake off when I am done!


Dread

The contentment of
a rainy evening is
interrupted
suddenly
by a siren
wailing in
the dark.

The sound
of the rain
now seems
ominous,
foreboding
and lonely.

There but for the
grace of God
go I.

OctPo day 25: Magic

Today's prompt is to write about magic! What a wonderful subject. I definitely believe in magic, that it is all around us. I'm enchanted by the idea that the world we walk in day-to-day might exist alongside other worlds. I think we sometimes get a glimpse of these worlds, in flashes and hunches, and things seen or sensed peripherally.


Faerie

the fairy dust
that limns the edges
of our sight and
plays in the corners
of our minds
leads to the
doorway between
dimensions

Photo by Morgan Dragonwillow

OctPo Day 24: Make-up

I had a hard time connecting with today's prompt, which uses reality-based competition shows as a reference. I haven't ever watched any of them. The word prompts are dance, fashion, make-up, and tattoos. When I think of make-up, my mind goes to all of the mornings I've looked in the mirror, and  I think of the decades of subtle changes that happen over time. We look every day, but don't really notice. And then at some point, BAM! You notice the changes. 

Looking glass

mirror mirror

there is no
question of
fairness

as years
quietly pass

and what
was bright 

and fresh

takes on a

patina that
at first glance

seems worn

and without

luster

but

upon longer

contemplation

is alight

from
within

OctPo Day 23: Beginnings

Today's prompt is about new beginnings. A new chapter, turning a page, beginning anew. It's really a wonderful prompt as the day's get shorter as winter solstice draws near. I chose for the word prompt the phrase "I begin again..." and for the form my eternal favorite, the haiku. 



i begin again
dark nights conceal the germ of
summer's bright, long days

OctPo Day 22: Video!

I'm actually doing this! When I first read today's prompt--to post an audio or video reading one of our poems--I thought, no way. But after watching some of your efforts, I felt inspired to join in. I wasn't sure which poem to pick, but I wanted something with some sort of rhythmic flow, so I chose my day-3 poem Afternoon's delight, which features the tri-fall form. 

Anyway, here it is, nerves and all!

OctPo Day 21: Fingerprints

I actually really love today's prompt about leaving our fingerprints, footprints or handprints behind! It instantly reminded me of all the places I've been and lived, and how some small part of me must still be there, whether as a speck of dust, a smear of DNA (hello, Gattaca!), or a lingering energetic signature. 


Linger

My fingerprints are
everywhere
lingering
like ghosts

In the houses
and classrooms
of my childhood,
on forgotten
floors and puzzles
and tables

On the
steering wheels
and dashboards
of cars
now driven
by someone else

On glasses in
restaurants, bars
and coffee houses
in San Francisco
and Paris

I leave myself
behind wherever
I go
as stray specks
and
particles and
atoms

To be woven
back into
the fabric of
the universe

OctPo Day 19: Rain

Today's prompt is to free write for 10 minutes about rain. I love subjects that deal with nature, and I've always loved the rain, whether I lived in Seattle or not. This time of year especially I yearn to hear its pitter-patter on the window.

Word prompts: somber, grass, damp, melancholy (we were asked to use three words; I used four)


Rain

Somber skies
clouds moving darkly
branches rustle
in a sudden gust

Leaves
bob their heads
as drops of water
strike them
before hitting
the grass below

Damp streets
smell of earth
and oil and
metal, of cars
hissing by

Melancholy
contentment
as raindrops tap
against the window
and gurgle down
the gutter

Singing me
to sleep

OctPo Day 17: Word play

I love, love LOVE today's prompt! Which is to use magazine clippings, a word generator or magnetic poetry to create a poem. I love those magnetic poetry generators so much, and playing with words in that way. Something about it just turns on the creativity. I used an online magnetic poetry kit for this.

Song of Earth

worship like languid water

chant delirious beauty

to the wind

OctPo Day 15: Halfway

Today's prompt invites us to explore our thoughts and feelings about "halfway." This in honor of OctPo being half over. I didn't write about OctPo, or even writing. Instead, what comes to my mind when I think of "halfway" is all the false starts I've had over the years, and how I regret that and think of it as a personal failing. Why can't I just see something through for once without dithering? I admire decisive people!



Halfway to nowhere

I'm going halfway
to nowhere, which
seems odd
I know

A journey is
supposed to
take you
somewhere

Somewhere
you want to
end up

But
I've set off
on this journey
many times

With good intentions
and the wind
at my back

And then
I stop, suddenly
unsure
and
I drift

I meant to
stay the course
this time, I
really did
as always

I guess
I'm just a
halfway
sort of person
going nowhere

OctPo Day 14: Poetic Inspiration

I found today's prompt difficult, and yet not. T.S. Eliot is without doubt one of my favorite poets. I am moved every time I read The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock--awed at this master of words. It's breathtaking to me. When I think of poetry, he always comes to mind first.



Aspire 

Sitting
looking out of
a window,
sipping tea
perhaps

Looking out upon
a garden, or
the sea, or
a bustling street

Listening for
the mermaids
singing
or
the Jellicles
at play
or
a whisper
of fog

I listen
for them too
because of
you

OctPo Day 13: The Color Blue

A bit late with this one for the color prompt, but as they say better late than never. I hope. This is a small lament about the sadness of watching a parent live with Alzheimer's, and the loss of your own sense of who they once were. 

Blue

Blue is how i feel

when i think of

what we've lost

as the memories

of the family we 

were together

fade to

gray

OctPo Day 12: The Art of Obsessions

Today's prompt deals with desire, obsession, wanting. We can desire many things, but many of us think of love and/or sexual passion when we hear that word.

When I was younger, I was one of those girls who was always running after some guy who either wasn't interested in me (or not as much as I was in him), or who got off on jerking my chain. My heart would soar when I felt wanted and loved, and shatter when he was suddenly cold to me. I wish I could go back and tell my young self that it's not worth it, and to please do something else with your life energy. But it was rarely dull! 

Wanting

honey

ambrosia

delight

sweet

delicious

intoxication

I

need

to

want

you

OctPo Day 11: School

I didn't quite follow today's prompt, not exactly. The prompt was to write about creating a better world for children, reflecting on the announcement of the Nobel Peace Prize winners Malala Yousafzai and Kailash Satiarthi. We may want better for our children, but too often we end up repeating what we went through. Sometimes I think that part of the reason I never had kids was to spare myself from having to send them off to what I remember as twelve years of dullness and torture. School buses still make me shudder sometimes.


SCHOOL

Silence awkward questions
Crush quickening creativity
Heckle and shame
Obliterate individuality
Obfuscate intuition
Lock into place

OctPo Day 10: Anxiety

Today is World Mental Health Day, and our prompt is mental health. How do you take care of your mental health? How does mental illness affect your life? I am grateful that I don't have to deal with clinical depression or bipolar disorder. I do deal with anxiety, and have pretty much all my life. I remember having anxious, obsessive thoughts as a kid. I'm pretty sure my father suffered with it as well. It's exhausting, managing worry and talking yourself down when fear takes hold. 



Not working

This strategy's not working
deep breath and 1, 2, 3

This strategy's not working
cheese puffs and TV

This strategy's not working
repeating "it's okay"

This strategy's not working
tho I do it every day

Meditation
Medication
something's got to
give

To stop this
jeering monkey
mind and
set me free to
live

OctPo Day 9: Because

Today's prompt is about why we continue writing. How appropriate! I so, so did NOT feel like writing today. It happens. In fact, that's how it is pretty much every day. I wonder why oh why did I sign up for this AGAIN?? And every day it's worth it.  When I decided to do OctPo last year on a whim, I unexpectedly reconnected with a source of creativity and inspiration I'd let go without realizing it.

Homecoming

because

I wanted connection

because

I wanted a challenge

because

once I started

it felt like

coming home

to a place

I didn't know

I'd left

OctPo Day 8: Full moon

Today we take our inspiration from the full moon. That serene beauty whose placid light conceals her hands pulling us towards madness, mayhem and delight. If we dare! 

This poem just popped out. I'd intended to try the Shadow Poetry prompt, but I guess the moon madness took me instead.


Tipsy, tricksy moon

A full moon
summer night
passion running
taking flight

Evening hush
stillness waits
creatures stirring
making haste

To spend themselves
in revelry
a kiss, a thrill
perhaps to
kill the

Endless, tiresome
shoulds and
don'ts
that seem to have
us by our throats.

OctPo Day 7: Silence

Today's prompt is silence. I love, love this prompt! And there is no way to do it justice, at least not for me. To me, silence is a state of near perfection, a letting go of the world that brings a profound sense of peace.

I used today's image prompt, and I decided to try one of my favorite forms, haiku. A form I could spend a lifetime trying to master! And one fitting for such a beautiful, timeless subject.


fog resting on leaves

the damp whiteness of the air
devouring sound

OctPo Day 6: Perfection

The prompt for today is perfection! I am no perfectionist, but I have allowed the feeling of not being good enough stop me from achieving what I might have, or of starting at all. In hindsight, I wish I'd just done it, mistakes and all, and risked not being the best. I think that it's the journey toward perfection that ultimately brings satisfaction, rather than the achievement of perfection.

I went for today's suggested Shadow Poetry form, the Naani.


To seek perfection
Inspired to great heights
Or stand frozen
Afraid to step out.

OctPo Day 5: Summer's end

Today's poetry prompt is to "write a poem influenced by your feelings about autumn." Well, I have many feelings about it, mostly positive. I love fall! But I chose instead to say a long goodbye to summer, as here in Northern California summer tries to hang on until Halloween.

Word prompts: chill, changing, harvest


Late summer

Green leaves and
warm days
belie
the subtle chill of
morning
that burns off brightly
with none the
wiser.

Let's ignore
the changing leaves
that fall here
and there,
and still pretend
it's summer.

Too soon
a cold night wind
will blow away
the last of
summer's warmth,
heralding
autumn's harvest
of  squashes, nuts
and red fruits.

OctPo Day 4: Poetry revolution

Today's poetry prompt is revolution! I had a really hard time with this. I've never been a passionate activist, although there are certainly issues I care deeply about. One of those is the economic situation in the United States right now. I'm quite concerned about issues like wage stagnation, a shrinking middle-class, and what seems like a decrease in the number of stable jobs. I'm not sure if we're in a death spiral, or ripe for revolution, or both.

Free fall

there's lots of talk
in the news today

folks might be working
but
barely get paid

nickled and dimed

can hardly get by

are just hanging on

or have 

just 

let 

go

.

.

.

OctPo Day 3: Sweet indulgence

Today's challenge is to find inspiration in sweetness. It can be something sweet like candy, or anything else that feels sweet or like an indulgence. 

I also went for today's Shadow Poetry challenge: the tri-fall. I usually shy away from these because they're hard! But after stating yesterday that I wanted to push the envelope this year, I figured I might as well get started. My rhyming isn't spot on, but I had fun figuring it out.


Afternoon's delight

an afternoon's delight
taking tea
marks the break between day and evening
looking forward to night
to be free
with a sigh fall into dreaming

release the day with ease
letting go
cake or cookies an indulgence
kitty naps on my knees
sipping slow
my mind reviews the day's nonsense

day after day, for years
this sweet time
anticipated regardless
clouds of joy, tides of tears
come what may
to relinquish tea is heartless

OctPo Day 2: Two, Too, To

Today's prompt is the word two. Or too. Or to. I love it when we can mix up words and sounds and make something fun, or clever, or interesting. Or surprising.

I'd kind of like to step out of my comfort zone this OctPo; but not today.



The power of two

Two is better than one
they say.

Is it?
It is?

Of course
It's easy to see,
how can you not see
it?

To double your fun
is
to double your pleasure.

If one is good then
more is better.

And more
and more
to keep the wolf
from the door.

Two
Too often comes
at the price
of
one.

Welcome back, OctPoWriMo!

Hello! It's October, which means OctPoWriMo. I hadn't meant to let this blog languish until OctPo time, but that's how it turned out. 

Well, here goes another round of poetry! Here's hoping I'm up to the challenge, and that I'll be inspired to carry on after it's done. 

Today's word prompts: Chrysalis; Butterfly; Transformation

Chrysalis

Waiting

I'm waiting

Waiting

for some visceral
stirring

Something subtle

perhaps

or

perhaps
something

Seismic.

Every sense straining

for a signal

that

it is time

to

stop

Waiting