On day 27 of the writing challenge I was in the mood to write a pantoum, as I haven't done this in a very long time. And I made full use of my long-standing obsession with faces. Faces Flickering faces So old and worn Can at times be spotted In the winding river. So old …
Not-Quite-Mourning
The prompt for NaPoWriMo today was absolutely brilliant: For today, I challenge you to write an elegy. Classically, an elegy is a poem written in response to someone’s death, a poem of mourning and remembrance. Your elegy can be about a specific person, a group of people, a pet, a plant, even an idea. I …
More of Japanese Forms
A bastardisation of the dodoitsu form for today. Not very creative, but an interesting first, I suppose. Lips One by one, I read the lines Of your lips, in an attempt To find hidden tenderness. Desire smoothed them.
Some for the City
Well, it's late again, but better late than never. It's day 24 of NaPoWriMo and I've just reached the end of one notebook. I'm feeling slightly proud of myself.The CityFaintly, the smell of self-deceptionSeeping through, and the subwayTunnels invite us in to partakeFrom the sacrament of the city.Lighted candles lead the way forThe rats when …
A Gruesome Fairground
So... I'm afraid a gruesome, eerie, unpolished rondeau will have to do for today. That's all I could come up with. Carousel The dancers going round and round, Etched on a carousel of sound; They would unfold their battered skin With every skid and every spin, But to the fairground they are bound. For every …
Feasting on Memories
This comes a bit late, but at least I've managed to write it. Today's NaPoWriMo prompt was In honor of Earth Day, today I’d like you to write a poem about a plant. Flowers, of course, have been the subject of poems since time immemorial, and continue to be a source of much inspiration. But …
A Fine and Private Place
Some of you may noticed I've hijacked the title from one of the fantasy/uncanny masters, Peter Beagle. It originally pertains to one of his most amazing novels, which also remains one of my favourite books to this day. The reason why I've shamelessly signposted this blog update like this is because it's going to be …
Walking Like a Fool
I was inspired to write a poem about journeying today. Dedicated to all wayfarers, but especially to my friend R. (you know who you are!). The Wayfarer I didn't just up and leave on the spur of the moment, you know. I always knew that I was going to run away sooner or later, and …
Short Journeys to Heaven (in Poetic Form)
Going back to my love for condensed poetry form once again, I have decided to write a sequence of lunes today. A lune is an adaptation of the haiku to the English language, and I have tried my hand at both versions of the form, the Robert Kelly (5-3-5) and the Jack Collom (3-5-3). And …
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Fantasy and Myth
Finally, some peace and quiet and a - largely - reliable internet connection. I was actually able to sit down and think about what I was going to write for the first time in 4 days. So for today's NaPoWriMo exercise I prompted myself to write a poem inspired by the Malagasy poetic form, the …
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