This is the last day for April Poem A Day. My next blog will probably be going back to talking about writing and authors interviews.
I am going to post all the days left in this blog:
April 26, 2014
Prompt: Write a poem about Water
Water
The rain pours
over all and I
begin to think
of the water
pooling on the
ground
Bringer of life
We grow in it
in the womb
and use it to
replenish our
own liquid.
It can be a helper
or a monster
bringing floods with
deluging rains
or swirling in waves
as a tsunami
Or it can be
a mirrored surface
where you can gaze
and dream and feel
peace
We bathe in it
and cleanse our
skins and we wash
our clothes in it
water splashing in
circles
Water is everything
to us and we are
part of it
We live in each other
Needing and being needed
copyright 2014 by Barbara Ehrentreu
April 27, 2014
Prompt: Write a poem about Monsters
Monsters
When I was a girl there
were movies with monsters
playing on Saturdays in huge
theaters where the smell of
popcorn hit your nostrils as
you walked into the lobbies
But I didn't watch those
for I had my own fears
of monsters hiding in
my closet each night
waiting for me to open
and they would jump
out to get me
So my friends would go
and tell me they had to
hide their eyes when the
monsters like Godzilla,
came on the screen
I thought I would never
see these horror movies,
including the ones with
zombies and vampires,
but somehow they found
me
At summer camp the night
movies with their scratchy
sounds filled the canvas
pull down screen with the
images I most wanted to
never see with the sounds
roaring over me and I a
captive audience needed
to stay and watch
Years later I became
desensitized to monsters
of all kinds with Mystery Science
Theater and suddenly I saw
how phony these monsters
were. I could see the craziness
of these movies without feeling
fear and found the fun that my
friends so long ago had known
Of course, by that time
I no longer believed monsters
lived in closets and knew they
really lived in the real world
where I could not hide from
them and had to pray they
would not visit me
copyright 2014 by Barbara Ehrentreu
April 28, 2014
Prompt: Write about being Settled
A Life Unsettled
I thought my life was settled
A smooth sailing until the end
where eventually all would fade
and fly away, but into this
tranquil scene arrived a storm
No one realized how strong
this storm was
Yet it continued to batter
and smash up his body
Unyielding and relentless
it continued to destroy
Until now the body is
weak and fighting, but
needs life support
for its breath
Nothing is settled
yet and we are in
limbo waiting for
one small body
part to be healed
and go back to
its job of holding
air
copyright 2014 by Barbara Ehrentreu
April 29, 2014
Prompt: Write a Two for Tuesday poem either real of magical or in the style of Gabriel Garcia Marquez.
Magic Universe
I would weave you
a cloak of golden
threads to cover
your shoulders
and heal your
wounds and you
would walk with
your old strength
beyond the hospital
doors and into a
world where we
were floating in
an azure sky
flying and flitting
never setting down
And that golden cloak
woven with the threads
of healing blossoms
colored with the whims
of all dreams
would repel all sickness
and you would be whole
again
copyright 2014 by Barbara Ehrentreu
Cold Reality
The news is harsh
Doctors deliver it in
measured tones as
if they knew more
than they are saying
but they hold onto
some truths
Nurses are the
buffers who slip
in and out ministering
to the patient without
judgement
They keep me whole
for somehow I feel
like an undone jigsaw
with pieces going
every which way
Not even able to find
the corners so I
can begin to put
them back together
copyright 2014 by Barbara Ehrentreu
April 30, 2014
Prompt: Write a poem to Call it a Day
Ode to April
Don't want to call it a day
for April has been a
resurgence of poems
and a refill for my
soul as each day
brought its prompt
I charged into the
words as they came
to me sharing all I
wrote for friends
and yet to be friends
in a secure bubble
of acceptance and
friendly discussion
Never thinking for
a minute that this
wasn't ready for
all to read, though
some might not have
been honed as well
due to the hastiness
in which they were
poemed
But thank you for the
outlet for I feel without
it I might have dissolved
into a gooey mess and
sat alone wondering
how long I could take
this endless illness in
my husband and feeling
sorry for myself like a
petulant teen
With my words flowing onto
the screen my mind
unleashed and all went into
my poems a melange of
pain and discovery, frustration
and rare moments when
I remembered the before times
when life was ebullient and
effortless
When he was a young
dashing man and I a
mere slip of a girl and
we were enclosed in
each other's arms
I am not ready to call it
a day to write a poem
a day for it soothes me
like a warm cup of tea
copyright 2014 by Barbara Ehrentreu
Until the next time thank you again to all who have tweeted and retweeted my poems. I am so happy you found value in them. As you can see in my last poem I am not ready to call it a day and may continue to write and post more occasionally. Meanwhile I am going to copy all these April poems to the Poetry section of this blog. If you missed any you can find them there.:)
only if we care enough
about it to stop the
destructive ways we
have been showing
towards her
will thrive with wildflowers
and the songs of birds
while the sun will bathe
her in its brilliant light
creating the food we
all need to live
from the destroyers who
care only about greed
and not about the delicacy
of a violet rising from the
soil or the smile on the
child’s face who sees it
and we need its bounty
not to be sullied by evil
businesses who want
only profit and don’t care
about the dirty oil that
will spill and cover all
keep this from happening
with the strength of the
truth as we fight and
continue to fight to
preserve the verdant tresses
of our land