Day 23. Windows

Windows seek us, 

sending inscrutable messages -

in flashes of sun code 

Lashes and dashes, 

blazes of light,

hazing our sight.

The window 

across the way

winks at me 

blinks at me

like an eyebrow,

Flirting, luring,

inviting me in to play.

So shiny, so reassuring 

But today I think I’ll pass.

Remember Alice’s looking glass?

Prompt: Write a poem in the style of Kay Ryan, whose poems tend to be short and snappy – with a lot of rhyme and soundplay.

Day 22. Reminiscence

Hush.

Listen to the wind

as it sighs into the silence

of the sun-soaked sky

Don’t ask why.

Hush.

Listen to the laughter 

we tossed like froth into the sea

Before our glee ran dry

Don’t ask why.

Hush

Listen to the lilt

of sea and sky 

that filled us, stilled us

until we slid away, astray

Don’t ask why.

Hush.

Listen  more closely

And you may hear

how we shimmered

amidst spindrift glimmer

before we let it all wash away

Why couldn’t our friendship stay?

Prompt: Write a poem that uses repetition. 

Day 21. Memories

Threads, gossamer, elastic, looped,

stitch together fragments of memory

into whole cloth.

They pull memory taut.

Cotton memories,

soft, faded images of 

Lisa with the long elegant legs

and straight blond hair

doing calculus in her head, 

Soft-voiced, precise in her grammar,

We’d walk and talk about boys, flying, The Little Prince.

She celebrated birthdays backwards

bestowing little gifts on each of us.

Pure Lisa style.

Seersucker memories,

rumpled, cozy.

Swaths of candy pink rosy-ing toddler cheeks

Warm with laughter

Stretched into song and squeals

Preschool circle-time.

We’d celebrate valentines sideways,

drawing names to make bag lunches to order.

Lisa style.

Silken memories, hand-dyed 

saturated with nature’s palette

that sings summer ease.

“Where go the Boats?” illustrated

With lazy blues, hazy yellows, breathing greens.

A child sits in a tree above a curve of river

I become that child

Climbing the willow tree above our creek

To dream, imagination afloat.

I celebrate summer inward

Pure Lisa style.  Where goes the time?

Prompt: Write a poem in which you first recall someone you used to know closely but are no longer in touch with, then a job you used to have but no longer do, and then a piece of art that you saw once and that has stuck with you over time. Finally, close the poem with an unanswerable question.

Day 20. A Snappy Apple Verse (it could be worse)

Apple butter,  apple jelly

apple tart will fill your belly!

I’m crispy, crunchy, juicy, sweet

Smell me, try me, I’m a treat

I admit, I’m ripe with pride

Show me off, don’t make me hide

Polish, shine my crimson peel,

So I may garnish your next meal.

I reign supreme, a queenly fare

so I require the best of care

Respect my flesh, so sweet and white

And I will please with every bite.

I am fragile, so please don’t bruise

If you squash me, I tend to ooze

Should you forget and make me wait 

I’ll turn to mush and slime your plate.

I’m a gem with special appeal 

I hide deliciousness beneath my peel

I am a prize you may adore

Or I may be rotten to the core

Prompt: Write a poem that anthropomorphizes a kind of food.

Day 19. Go Forth and Play (a Sottish Habbie)

Go forth and play away your woes

Shed your shoes, forget your clothes

Squish some mud between your toes

Inhale ripe smell 

of air and earth and sky and rose.

Breathe in the spell.

Make airplane arms and skip and spin

Feel the breeze caress your skin

Open your mouth, let sun slide  in

Taste sweet sky blue 

Laugh aloud, jiggle, giggle, grin

Please, you’re  overdue.

Prompt: Write a poem that starts with a command.

Day 18. Just this: bliss

I

Morning light glazes the window,

honeying the floor molten gold.

Steam, coffee-laced, hazes still air    

Licking the air like an eager tongue 

Sweet anticipation

II

A slip of sun, a splash of water, 

a mere puddle of a pond,

I splash my toe into the aching chill

and send an explosion of sparkling droplets skyward 

slow sweet light pours over me

Delighted participation

III

Lazy, dazed, eyes glazed

I count the raindrops, 

those desultory, aimless drips dimming window panes

I yawn, I stretch, sigh, want to cry

My phone lights up 

My anam cara - my soul friend - phones.

Somehow, she always knows

Connection  

IV

It’s the first time I see him like this,

Unfurling like a flower

As he stands on stage,

shoulder to shoulder, elbow to skinny elbow

in the midst of the teeming kindergarten throng. 

for one brief breath, 

I see the blossom he will become.

Love 

V 

We sprawl, sated, relaxed amid the 

crumbs and clutter of discarded dishes.

Turkey and rosemary scent the air,

the clutter of candles, coats, dog chewies

cozy this family scene

And everything - 

the starlit windows, smiling faces, strewn shoes

Seems to dance in the sound of shared laughter .

Fulfillment 

Prompt: Write your own poem that provides five answers to the same question – without ever specifically identifying the question that is being answered.

Day 17. Our Harry

Harry slept flat,

sprawled like a flokati rug

wafting black fluff with every sigh,

sending little doggy love letters

into the creases of our lives.

Slow, and steadfast,

his only flamboyance was his tail,

semaphoring satisfaction.

He preferred pizza to play,

resting to fetching

He was more pillow than playmate 

Doggy devotion embodied.

Prompt: Think about dogs you have known, seen, or heard about, and then use them as a springboard into wherever they take you.