Barbara's Meanderings: Poems for April Poem A Day: Days 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22

The days have been so busy and I have had so much to do that I have not posted poems for a whole week!! But here are the latest poems up to Day 22. I can't believe April is almost over and wondering what I will do when I don't have to write a poem a day. Or in my case have to write two poems a day. It has been exhilarating and I have tried new kinds of poetry too.

As usual all of the prompts here come from Robert Brewster's blog: Poetic Asides. I am also writing to prompts from World Poetry Open Mic, but I am not posting them here. After April I will post all of the poems I have written in the Poetry tab on this blog.

Also, I announced it on Facebook, but those who might not have seen it, one of my poems has won an award. It has placed in the Nassau County Poet Laureate's Annual Poetry Contest. I am thrilled of course and looking forward to the ceremony. Also with me at that ceremony will be Pearl Ketover Prilik and Nurit Israel, two fabulous poets who I have known for several years. Thank you to the Nassau County Poet Laureate Society.

So here are all the poems I missed posting:

April 16

Prompt: Write about a restaurant you like

Pony Express

Having a few hours before the movie

and our stomachs growling close to

dinnertime we happened upon this

unassuming place where you order

at the counter and your food is

served on metal trays

yet in the menu above it we saw

homemade buns and all organic

my mother always said when you

don’t know what the food is like

order a cheese sandwich so I

ordered grilled cheese — expecting

the usual soggy, yet dry experience

my surprise came when I was rewarded

with crunchy and creamy on what seemed

like the largest slices of bread ever

toasted to perfection and keeping the

taste of butter in my mouth

along with it the homemade chips

with guacamole and their french fries

crispy and delicious making me wonder

how the tiny space in back of the counter

could possibly bring forth such delicacies

my palate knew we would return

as the riders of the old Pony Express

returned to their place of origin

and did I mention the homemade hot dog buns?

April 17

Prompt: Write a haiku

The full moon rises

a light apricot orb

held by the dark night

soon stars will twinkle

forming a carpet of light

across the black sky

how peaceful nature

can be every night primping

as we view its show

April 18

Prompt: Write an office poem

A Human Office

There is an election this year

to elect someone to fill the

office of President

Why do they call it an office?

does the President have windows

or cubicles or a boss to tell him/her

what to do?

is it because the President has an office?

an office most would dream to have

can you imagine every day walking into

a room appointed especially for you

with the prerogative to shut the door

on all who are on the opposite side?

What is is like to hold the office of President?

our current President’s hair has turned almost

white in only eight years from the strain of this

office pressing on him

why does anyone want to take this office

maybe they feel they will do a better job than

the one who came before them

it’s as if Sisyphus created a job where he could

push his ball of dung up the hill while sitting in

a really posh surrounding and having people wait

on him hand and foot — yet that ball needs pushing

and he must do it himself — others can try but

it is his job and he must persist in this fruitless attempt

so we change the pushers every four or eight years

but that ball still is their major job and it is a dirty

little secret that this is the President’s job

So welcome to the Oval Office to the next elected President

and get ready to start pushing.

April 19

Prompt: Write a poem about cool or uncool

Being Cool

In the fifties and early sixties

being cool was wearing black

and a nifty beret on your head

visiting a dark, dank coffee house

where you listened to very cool

poets expounding on their angst

and you didn’t clap for that wouldn’t

be cool. You snapped your fingers

you were a cool cat — a beatnik

too cool to be seen during the day

appearing only at night in your haunts

In the sixties it was cool to love rock music

and the guitar sounds of the Byrds

Jim Morrison and the Beatles blaring from

the radio in your refinished

convertible Chevrolet

and it was cool to have been to Woodstock

and wallowed in the mud and melody there

swallowing the sweet smoke and digging

the vibes

then it all changed and it was cool to

make money and to move up in the world

to accumulate possessions until you had

to buy more homes to find them a place

never caring for the way you destroyed

everything you touched, including the

ones you supposedly loved

and finally it was cool to eat organic food

care about the environment

cool to be who you were

and poetry became cool too

perhaps it was cool all along

and rediscovered like those

flowers lining the road you only

glance at while driving, but when

you walk along the side of the road

the beauty of these golden daffodils

astounds you.

April 20

Prompt: Write what goes unsaid

The Words Unsaid

People are always telling me secrets

don’t tell this one and don’t tell that one

and I don’t ever, because I lock them away

in a secret place where I hold the things

people tell me in a spot where the unsaid

lives in a bubble inside of my head

when they tell me their faces hold such pain

I feel if I told the words they gave to me

they would dissolve in sorrow

so I hold them close to me

words unsaid

powerful words like bullets in my brain

waiting to pounce if ever the chance arrives

they push and push to be unfettered

but I keep them corralled and left unsaid

though they chafe to be let out of my mouth

would I could regurgitate all of these secrets

vomiting the words unsaid to clean my mind

and yet I know if I do more will replace them

for I can’t say no to: “Can I tell you a secret?”

April 21

Prompt: Write a poem in response to another poem

After: How to Triumph Like A Girl by Ada Limón

http://gulfcoastmag.org/journal/252/how-to-triumph-like-a-girl/

Plunging Ahead

Sure the race is rigged. You're a girl

the rules are warped for you

you must carry the heavy weight

they've handicapped you from the start

your saddle bag is heavier than a male's

but you carry it like a thoroughbred

forging forward through the crowd

aware of your handicap but shouldering it

forging ever forward against the hard wind

of a man's world with your steady gait

and sometimes you fall back as in any race

but the course is straight and you will succeed

and throw that weight in the face of the

males who will still sneer and say never can happen

when there you will be in the winner's circle

April 22

Prompt: Write a poem using the title Star____

Star Light Star Bright

In the brief interlude between sunset and dark

we played a game when I was a girl

watch the sky and find the first star you see

make a wish as soon as you spy this light

and don't tell anyone

I wish I may and I wish I might

have the wish I wish tonight

and I would dream wish for things

a doll, a new dress, to stay up late

but childhood is a blip in time

eons while you are in it,

but gone in a flash like a star's light

and the grown up girl/woman still wished

upon the first star playing the game

and wishing for the impossible

the marriage dream, the children dream

and as each year passed the dreams

became reality yet the game continued

each night as the sun closed down for the day

and darkness overcame the sky

I peered upward for the first star

teaching my children and hearing them

play the game as they wished

for the impossible to come true

but now as the first star's light

shines in the evening sky

and purple turns to black

my only wish on this light

sent from light years away

to shine on me

is to see your face again

and watch you

laugh as I play my silly game

of catching the first star

Until the next time my friends, thank you to any who enjoy my poems and read them and I hope to be more on time for the rest of the month.

My radio show Red River Radio Tales from the Pages is coming up this Thursday, April 28 at 4PM EST - 6PM. My guests are going to be returning guest, esteemed poet and author Phillip Matthew Roberts and novelist Nicholas Maze, who is a first time author on the show. Also we will be hearing from Susan Joyner Stumpf, who is the publisher of Phillip's book, Lost and Found. This looks to be a great show and not to be missed. I know I say that about all of my shows, but this one will be special I am sure. If you miss it at the time it is live you can always listen to the archive. Just click on the link I will be posting on my page and you can hear it at any time.

Hope you are enjoying the spring weather and writing or reading poetry. I will soon have big news about both my book, After, and my new poetry book, Losing My Love, Finding Myself, which will be published very soon.