The Only Problem

cc licensed ( BY ND ) flickr photo by h.koppdelaney: http://flickr.com/photos/h-k-d/4030113126/

To celebrate seven days of NaPoWriMo (and eight written poems), I should have created something festive. Instead, I came up with the darkest poem I have written this week. Sorry, but it's my party and I'll cry if I want to.


He bought a rope.
Then he fixed that fence.
He had been postponing it for a long time.
He tidied the house
and wrote a will.
Then he wrote one more letter.
He took his bills out of the box and checked them.
All paid.
He called his son, who said he was feeling better today 
and even managed to eat.
He hung up, then called his daughter.
She was unavailable.
It was getting late, so he had to hurry.
He took the rope from where it was lying
And slowly walked out.
At the door he stopped and looked at the room.
All nice and tidy.
Then he walked over to the barn.
That was all.
But who will take care of his cat now? 

The Post

cc licensed ( BY NC SA ) flickr photo by cindy47452: http://flickr.com/photos/cindy47452/1796528206/


It was their home.
I don’t know 
What they thought or felt,
If anything, 
But they must have enjoyed
The garden
And the kind autumn sun.
The cold must have killed them.
They say this happens to wasps
When the weather changes.
They also say the queen leaves the nest
And goes into hybernation 
During winter.
I hope she did that.
The nest was still there,
Intact.
The mailbox was full of them.
There was nothing else inside.
Nobody writes letters 
These days.

My NaPoWriMo Day 6 poem. I used the PAD Challenge Day 6 prompt (the word was "post").

A Box Full of Trinkets

cc licensed ( BY ) flickr photo by ahisgett: http://flickr.com/photos/hisgett/504354910/


Just start
And keep going
It will all make sense in the end
The words
A box full of trinkets
That dog
Who loved you
That afternoon
When the sun was hot on your skin
And the cold wind
On that graveyard
Your life
Full of trinkets you don’t need
But can’t throw away
A box
Where every button or a piece of thread
Might be needed
To stitch it all together.

My Day 5 NaPoWriMo poem and the prompt is taken from the April PAD Day 5 challenge (write a plus poem). I got stuck and almost didn't write this one, so I played some sad music in the background, closed my eyes and started typing. Then I just kept adding stuff.

Day 4 - Hold that darkness

cc licensed ( BY NC SA ) flickr photo by lintmachine: http://flickr.com/photos/lintmachine/3652702115/

Two short poems today. The first one is for the PAD Challenge:

Hold That Darkness

Not sleeping

Curled up 

Safe

As long as the darkness remains

On my eyelids.

cc licensed ( BY NC ND ) flickr photo by jef safi \ 'pictosophizing: http://flickr.com/photos/jef_safi/2931277932/

The second one is an answer to the Day 4 NaPoWriMo prompt:

Well I Was in the Neighbourhood

Well I was in the neighbourhood

So I decided to drop by

So I decided to dig a hole

In your rose garden

So I decided to write my name

On your garage door

So I decided to burn your treehouse

On my bonfire

So I decided to give your bed

To my goats.

I Don't Want You to Read My Poetry

cc licensed ( BY NC SA ) flickr photo by Stuck in Customs: http://flickr.com/photos/stuckincustoms/2539913076/


I don’t want you
To read
My poetry.
Stop searching my room.
I will not tell you
Where my poetry is hidden.
You will never find
The loose floorboard,
The buried treasure,
I don’t want your meddling fingers
In that box.
Look.
My room is full
Of beautiful china figurines,
Serene waterfalls,
The sound of dolphins in the background.
This is who I am,
Smiling and composed.
Don’t you dare ask me 
Where my poetry is.


This is my NaPoWriMo Day 3 poem. I used the 2013 April PAD Day 3 prompt (write a tentative poem).

Demotivational Quotes

cc licensed ( BY ) flickr photo by .faramarz: http://flickr.com/photos/fhashemi/97033289/

My NaPoWriMo Day 2 challenge - tell a lie. This is a found poem and what I did was take a bunch of lovely motivational quotes, take the words out of their context, mix them up and create something dark and pessimistic (still trying to participate in the PAD challenge as well and to combine the two daily prompts into one poem). I admit, it was a mean thing to do and it is a mean little poem.



Be miserable.
With the new day comes
Someone else’s plan.
Keep going.
I don’t believe
You can dream it.
Optimism is the faith, 
The will to win.
Always continue the climb.
Be kind
If you’re going through hell.
Even if you fall on your face,
Eat them for breakfast.
After a storm comes
Not much.
Too old.
Do you want to know
Who you are?
Learn from the past,
Expect problems, 
Always do your best.
Act as if what you do
Makes a difference,
Reach the end of your rope.
The day runs you.
It does.

Day 1: The Guest

cc licensed ( BY NC ND ) flickr photo by Kevin Conor Keller: http://flickr.com/photos/conorkeller/4431443614/

Oh, but it is dirty,

His shirt.

His face, smiling,

His cheeks, dimpled,

Covered in soot.

He has no jacket.

Nobody heard him

When he walked in.

Now he sits down quietly

At the table opposite the counter.

He can’t be more than ten.

He shivers slightly,

Then corrects his posture

And puts a cheeky grin on.

He is quite handsome,

Curly hair, and those dimples.

He never takes his eyes off

The barista.

She stares at the floor

As she brings him

A chocolate muffin

And something steaming

In a cup.

They don’t speak,

They have done this

Many times before.

He sits there,

Invisible to everyone,

His manners impeccable

As he eats.

Once finished,

He walks outside

And a gust of wind

Enters the room

Bringing with it

The chill of

A December morning.

This is my post for NaPoWriMo Day 1 (a poem that has the same first line as another poem) and for 2013 April PAD challenge (write a poem about a new arrival). Two birds with one stone. Hope I can keep this up - a poem a day.