Woke up this morning with ‘taters on the brain. Well, more like poetry, but I realized I had not completed a challenge of using “potato” in a poem yet. Not the easiest thing to do unless you write a limerick or humorous poem.
Not wishing to do either with this challenge, I cam up with the following:
Life Paths
Bigger games and small potatoes
Life walks paths, it’s what has made us
The people we stand as today
Dragon dreams – cold reality
Life skips paths, we see alchemy
When we should simply give our thanks
Bigger dreams and small potatoes
Life ends paths, begins us new ones
Shall we stroll simply self-secure?
I wrote three other poems, but you won’t see them on this post! They’ll be uploaded at 8:00am each of the next three days. Hey, it’s a blog and fresh material daily counts, right?
Day 28 in the National Poetry Writing Month Challenge. Technically I’ve already written 28, not counting the following, because I posted two in one day.
I’m writing an iPhone Phollie today. In order to qualify as an iPhone Phollie, I must be out on my bicycle and writing peacefully and openly with my inner muse. Waterfront Park here on florida’s intercostal waterway is a lovely mood setting location.
NaPoWriMo has reminded me that writing takes time (duh). Time to soak into the writing mindset. Time to allow myself to live through my words. Time to craft word selection, even if the words are posted without edit.
As I continue my trek to a positivity infused life, my hope is that the writing will reflect a more hopeful tone. Stepping out of the darkness of negativity may be the most difficult undertaking I’ve ever attempted. What I’ve learned so far is that seeking out positive oriented people is key.
Addressing and identifying negativity is important, as is delivering hope. The insidious nature of negative, controlling people is that often their attacks are subtle, even to the point of their being unaware of what they say.
The only answer to this lies within ourselves. The only way to overcome negativity, control, manipulation, etc, is to be independent of the good opinion of others, love yourself, and develop the strength to walk away. Engagement only brings more strife.
Enough of that. Breathe in the good, exhale the bad, this is the best day you ever had, because, every little cell is alive and well!
The Times of Our Lives
Summer apples, plump and juicy
Dripping off trees like round, edible diamonds
Tingle-skin hide and seek
Spent wishing to be hidden with the fuel behind your rapid heartbeat
Daylight bike tag and the object of your affections
Too beautiful to approach, too painful to leave
Full moon walks with starry-eyed dreams
Love-confusion swirled throughout a topsy turvy heart
Soft caress breezes on a spring day of change
Where life threatens to bloom into self propelled satisfaction
Silence of the rustling world more at peace in its bustle
Than the most languid, gentle electronic entertainment.
These are the times of or lives
Outside the constant critique of others
Where inner discovery trumps all competition
Where inner embrace delivers what the world promises but fails to give
These are the times of our lives
Soft soothing swirling wind cools summer sweat
Intrusions of sighing lungs and hair-whipped smiles
Cherished in their moments
Why may we not grasp these moments forever?
Temporal life befuddles us, for
Sadness and pain dwell easily for lifetimes.
Oppressiveness curls our hearts like an evil viper
While joy and love fly fleet-footed through our days
Wisps of fancy and delight
Sought from the domination a of recalcitrant despair
Stretch for the times of your life.
Strive to retain every smile, every whim, every lift of the soul
For in this life they exist as more treasures than precious metals
As their rarity of persistence places them in the realm of dreams
Embrace the times of your life
As each moment encapsulates a priceless beat of your heart
Apply the knowledge and memory of these times a salve to everyday life
Revive your smile, your joy, your peace…
I write on a site called “750Words.com.” I’ve been writing there a few years now. In the couple years I’ve written on the site, I’ve keyed 497,372 words as of yesterday, April 26, 2013. At my current rate of writing, I will surpass the half million word mark by Monday.
I only place about half, if that, of what I write on 750words.com. Much of my blog, email, book and other writing slips through the word count cracks. I’m positive over the past two years I’ve written well over a million words.
This number sobered me a bit. I did not realize numerically what writing every day means. Writing everyday helps improve your writing as well. I’ve seen that. Confidence levels rise. Tons of great, positive strides come out of writing.
Why bring this up on a poetry blog? Since I took on the challenge of a poem a day for thirty days, I’ve discovered that writing focused on one general genre every day is a challenge unto itself. Prior to this challenge, I allowed my poetic muse to dictate when I wrote poetry. I may return to this as well.
Through this challenge, I now recognize why I find it difficult to write for my business blog every day (which is something I probably should be doing!). I have learned a lot from this, and I would challenge other writers to consider taking on writing outside their comfort zones so as to grow their perspectives and come to understand areas of their writing with which they may be struggling.
How I’m going to turn this into my poem of the day, I have no clue. but I’ve enjoyed the thirty poems in thirty days. Three left (not counting this one). Here goes:
Rhymes tumble like shoes in a dryer
Ideas clank and clunk in dissonant fury
Muses stressed into screaming banshees
Writings slapped around by broken fingers
Flow. Resonance. Connectivity.
Grail search for phraseology
Driving thoughts through heart and hands
Rays of sunshine define perseverance in the written word.
Today’s NaPoWriMo came quickly. What a beautiful full moon we have tonight. I wish I had the energy to stay up, absorb, and wax poetic about all the emotions such a moon conjures. Alas, a busy day must come to a close to the morrow possesses energy enough.
Free Yourself
Shadows plunge – high full moon -
Emotions spellbound by gathering gloom
Callous words and wilted minds
Dole pessimism praise – stilted, unkind.
Escape judges wielding God’s Holy wrath
Loose yourself down a cleaner path
Love, grace, forgiveness and light
Breathe free air in this garden of night.
Men’s souls NEVER ruled by other men
Flee the blasphemy and rudderless helm
Step into your life each day
Revel the sweetness, coax it – stay.
Shadows plunge – high full moon –
Emotions dance away the gathered gloom
Callous words and wilted minds
Touch not the heart independent – kind.
So. What do we write for NaPoWriMo today? No really. I’m asking you! I’m hungry, and I need something quick! Nothing like the need for food to motivate you, eh?
I’ve started and deleted three attempts at today’s poem. Poet’s block. That’s what it is! Hmmm. I teach writers to simply write through writer’s block, so I should simply wax poetic to get through poet’s block. Right?
Here goes…
Stepping Into the Light
Your eyes never caress me like a lover
They stab me like a cornered thief
Days of blue skies and blue heart
Pour into nights of silence. Cold resolve.
Yet every soul who strolls this earth
Chooses where and when their feet may fall
Upon lighter, happier, song-filled times
Stroking back the curtain, revealing sunshine and joy
When things run tough and you struggle to function on basic levels, peace can be quite the elusive beast. The truth, though, stands that the elusiveness is not with “peace” itself, but your perception of peace and how to attain it.
A wise, wise friend told me of peace and joy in some of the most war-torn areas in the world. How can this be unless peace truly comes from within? External factors may affect our views of how to approach a peaceful, joyful life, but the answers appear rooted within our own hearts and souls.
Peace is an Inside Job
Fog-filled days and nights of struggle
Adversaries real and imagined
Woes enough to crush a dozen souls
All fall limp before the heart that pursues inner peace
Circumstances roll beyond our control
Relationships explode in towering agony
Finances crumble like sandcastles to high tides
Yet peace will blanket all when called upon in pure motive
Peace is an inside job
Which calls many to struggle, for their superficial lives are
Unable to reach deep within due to lack of practice,
Until one moment, in one day, they finally “get it.”
Peace is an inside job
No more a mountain than a thought
No more a challenge than a soulful yearning
No more an impossibility than a desire
I sit on a park bench on the intercostal. Soft breezes wend their way through the trees and palmettos and my hair. Dusk settles around me like the inevitable blanket it is, while comfortable relaxation settles nature down into another extended nap.
I’ve written quite a bit this evening. This will be my Daily Poem. People and birds and fish and bugs and the sun have all come and gone. The illusory permanence of my surroundings lend comfort and a sense of freedom. I queried myself on many topics. What follows is but one:
How Do I Learn to Love Myself?
How do I learn to love myself?
Today it’s by walking away from abuse.
Walking away from people making me responsible for their ills.
By relying on myself for fulfillment.
How do I learn to love myself?
Today it’s by spending time with myself.
Stepping into that part of me at its highest best.
By acknowledging I am sufficient to my needs.
How do I learn to love myself?
Today it’s by throwing off the judgments of others.
Enjoying the special gifts I offer this world.
By knowing I am a good person.
How do I learn to love myself?
Today it’s by relaxing into nature’s beauty.
Embracing the wind, the bird songs, the cloud painted sky
And realizing the resilience within…
I write every day anyway, you know? So why is writing a poem a day so challenging? Is it the discipline aspect rearing its creativity-gnarling havoc? I cannot figure it out, but the truth is, poetry does not come “on demand” for me too easily.
At times, I admit, I get on a roll and chuck ‘em out fairly consistent. Then I hit dry spells. I hit one a few days ago, wrote a poem in five minutes after 11pm, and got quite a bit of positive feedback on it. So much for critiquing the muse…
Today is a good day. Today is a great day for differing points of view – literally. Yes, I’ve decided to write a poem off a writing prompt. The prompt is to write a poem on one subject, three ways. I’ll modify that to one subject, three different POV’s (points of view). I will use first person, second person, and third person. Sounds like fun…
First Point of View
Emptiness surrounds my soul from the inside out
Filling, but not filling, as emptiness holds nothing
Yet hollow corpses of victories to be won
Feel heavy as the heart overrun by space.
I flee to writing, children, hope
My inner cadence risen from ashes to plodding beats
Fears tickle and trickle through cavern emotions
Distraction from nothing my impossible task.
I look to my breath, my songs, my loves,
Replete in their truth, their promise, their comfort
I know the trek to smiles and to health
Lie quiet in my heart saying this too shall pass…
Second Point of View
Emptiness surrounds your soul from the inside out
Filling, but not filling, as emptiness holds nothing
Yet hollow corpses of victories to be won
Feel heavy as the heart overrun by space.
You flee to writing, children, hope
Your inner cadence risen from ashes to plodding beats
Fears tickle and trickle through cavern emotions
Distraction from nothing your impossible task.
You look to your breath, your songs, your loves,
Replete in their truth, their promise, their comfort
You know the trek to smiles and to health
Lie quiet in your heart saying this too shall pass…
Third Point of View
Emptiness surrounds his soul from the inside out
Filling, but not filling, as emptiness holds nothing
Yet hollow corpses of victories to be won
Feel heavy as the heart overrun by space.
He flees to writing, children, hope
His inner cadence risen from ashes to plodding beats
Fears tickle and trickle through cavern emotions
Distraction from nothing his impossible task.
He looks to his breath, his songs, his loves,
Replete in their truth, their promise, their comfort
He knows the trek to smiles and to health
Lie quiet in his heart, saying this too shall pass…
So, which POV do you like? None? Get outta here! Seriously, if you have a preference, please note it below. It only took me until 8pm to get this done. I started this morning.
No, I did not sit here for hours trying to write. I went off doing other tasks. This just came to me when I read the prompt. This writing off the cuff thing is quite…invigorating!
This evening I stroll through Positive Land. This may be a land of make believe these days, but I like to think it exists. Surrounding oneself with positive people can be a very challenging experience. Learning how to do this can be a very challenging experience. Simply desiring to do this with all the negativity flowing can be a very challenging experience.
The negative flow of our world is like a tsunami. It carries the masses with it, bouncing them around at its chaotic whim. The really odd thing about all this is that, just like a real-world tsunami, not far away exists a peaceful, unblemished place where all is well. Positive Land.
Sometimes Positive Land exists in only moments, like under a midnight moon, or just before the last eyelid-flutter of sleep, or in a stanza of a song. Positive Land is elusive in our world today. Those who practice finding this special place reap the benefits of being able to skirt the ill opinions of others.
Day Eleven of National Poetry Writing Month and the eleventh of thirty straight days of poems. Whew! I’m searching for a poetic topic with less than two hours before midnight…looks like Positive Land wins, eh?
Positive Land
I remember barefoot days
Dew-dipped grasses and Popsicle smiles
Tree-climbing daredevils
Bike-riding songs and swings to the clouds
Walks at midnight in poetic dreams
Mists in the mountains and a lover’s kiss
Winding country roads, all leading home
Autumn leaves splashing color on a melancholy heart
Surreal thoughts on the verge of sleep
Mystified mind at life’s wandering ways
Giddy elations and waterfall bliss
Playful pastimes with participant winners
Positive Land may elude our days
Hide when we seek, delay our arrival
Until surprise and glee clasps our hands, and
We twirl once more in circles – together again.
Ever wonder why some people appear so locked in on making sure you’re living YOUR life right? I’m sure at some point someone caused you to think along these lines.
You see this mentality in families, marriages, churches, work, just about everywhere people interact. Parental units do own a certain “claim” to needing to enforce this intrusion into how you choose to do and say things. Once you get past parenting, the line becomes quite blurred as to how much of this “control” a person attempts to exert over another is valid.
Personally, I feel that when someone works to correct or “rebuke” me, especially without all the facts and knowledge of my situation, I owe them no explanation. The “guilty until proven innocent” mentality is alive and well in our society today.
Manipulation. Control. Power. Domination. Someone must pay. Someone must suffer for something. This is hyper-prevalent in our churches. I’ve been calling this behavior the “Sin Police.” Arrogant, pseudo-pious folk who go on missions to call people out. The pious determine to rub people’s noses in how they live their own lives. Many times, these people did nothing wrong, at least from their life-view.
I experienced a tremendous chuckle in a conversation yesterday, when I was told that “someone was potty-trained at gunpoint.” Now that’s even better than the term “Sin Police.” Judgementalism and inquisition are not fun topics. But the jocularity of considering the phrase “potty-trained at gunpoint” could conceivably explain these people’s need and/or desire to bully into people’s lives with high-handed criticisms and judgments.
Today presents a great time to poke a little poetic fun at overly judgmental people who apparently want everyone to be as miserable as they’ve been since they were:
Potty-Trained at Gunpoint
It must have put a squelch on your glee
To stare down that barrel if you didn’t go pee.
The trauma caused would ripple effect
As you walked through life a potty-defect.
Somewhere inside there must be some scorn
Sensibilities and emotions rent and torn
Someone else must step up and pay
For you to have been potty-trained that evil way.
You worked hard and studied all of your rules
Excelled through classes in the finest of schools
Learned the law with vigor and grit
All because that gun made you …
Now you’re in power and must wield its fear
No grace is desired unless there’s a tear
Because you reside in your own little kingdom
But all you’ve become is another sad ding dong…
So parents, beware of the trap
Don’t get so wired over all of that crap.
You may have to answer to self-righteous jerks
Don’t breed more, we’ve seen how that works!
Woke up this morning with ‘taters on the brain. Well, more like poetry, but I realized I had not completed a challenge of using “potato” in a poem yet. Not the easiest thing to do unless you write a limerick or humorous poem.
