Today’s prompt is to choose an impossible statement to compose a poem about.
a circle can’t have corners
by ARHuelsenbeck
in a forgotten corner she sits invisible
observing the popular girls
talking laughing
their circle an impenetrable wall
keeping her out uninvited
in first grade they were all friends
in seventh they are not
she is excluded
whispered about
mocked
different
other
Today’s NaPoWriMo prompt is to write a poem that plays with the myth of Narcissus.
Echo
by ARHuelsenbeck
I hear those blasted pipes, pipes
I turn and see Pan, Pan
With his horny head, head
And his hairy legs, legs
With their cloven hooves, hooves
Grotesque, tesque
I turn away and gaze at my love, love
His handsome face mirrored in the water, ter
Why don’t you return my feelings, lings
Your eyes seek only your own face, face
Could it be there’s nothing there, there
Just a shallow reflection, tion
I’m off-prompt today.
Maundy Thursday
by ARHuelsenbeck
The last rays of light barely illuminate the stained glass windows.
It’s not a Sunday; no one is required to attend tonight.
Nevertheless, a crowd of hushed worshippers sit expectantly.
I’m blessed to be among them.
I belong here.
I’ll be ringing in the handbell choir.
The choir will sing.
The sanctuary will peal with praise.
The Good News will be proclaimed.
Six boys will experience the Lord’s Supper for the first time.
At the close of the service, we’ll each light a candle and place it in the holders on the altar.
Our prayers will rise to the throne of God.
Today’s NaPoWriMo prompt is to revise someone else’s poem from the bottom up. I used Mary Oliver’s Rice. I then moved one line to a different place and edited it some more.
Give Thanks for the Rice
by ARHuelsenbeck
Say a blessing that overflows, like mud seeping through your fingers
(Move over so you don’t get any on the tablecloth)
For the rice so recently boiling in shimmering water
Don’t eat until you’re satisfied
Get up from the table
Where the wineglass holds tiger’s blood
Return to the fields with me
The crop is ready to release its sustenance
The kernels feathery among the grasses
So slender and erect
Shaded by wild animals
Product of mud
Today’s prompt is to up-end the words or meaning of a familiar phrase.
Getting your ducks…
by ARHuelsenbeck
From the kitchen doorway I watched
as my three-year-old son
balanced on a chair pulled over to the sink,
squirted dish detergent into the water.
Grabbing a washcloth,
he scrubbed his Tonka truck,
then lovingly polished it with a towel.
Finally, he took a discarded ribbon
from my sewing room,
and tied it round his toy.
When he noticed me, I asked,
Watcha doin’? He answered,
Getting my truck all shined up in a bow.
It’s been a few days since I’ve written a poem but here is my offering for today’s prompt, a haibun (a hybrid form that combines prose with haiku; this is the first time I’ve ever heard of it) about the place where I live (outside Phoenix, Arizona).
Low Desert
by ARHuelsenbeck
Sun beats down relentlessly, and there’s been no measurable rain for nine months, yet somehow, even in the wilderness, the prevailing color is green. Desert leaves are wispy structures shimmering as breezes waft through them like a comb. In populated areas, blossoms riot in showy color.
Rain is a rumor
Sprinklers turn the desert soil
Into oasis
Instead of using the NaPoWriMo prompt, I’m going with an exercise from The Crafty Poet: A Portable Workshop by Diane Lockward.
The assignment is to title the poem with an emotion, then write ten lines in which images convey the emotion.
Bold
By ARHuelsenbeck
Shoulders back
Feet planted hip-distance apart
Hands on waist
I can almost picture
A cape billowing in the breeze
His eyes focus far off
He strides forward
No matter the outcome
No hesitation
Vanishing in the distance
Using the NaPoWriMo prompt of writing a poem that stretches your comfort zone with line breaks.
Take a Break
by ARHuelsenbeck
Productivity experts tell us it’s beneficial to take a periodic
Break.
To leave your work for a few moments is as refreshing as jumping in a
Lake.
A 30-minute power nap will provide renewed focus when you
Wake.
In contrast, thinking about your impending deadline will just make you
Quake.
Reviewing your To Do list will cause you to
Shake.
You may think it counterintuitive, but working straight through without interruption is a
Mistake.
I followed the NoPoWriMo prompt just far enough to select a photograph. It opened my imagination so that I grew impatient looking for a foreign poem to pretend to translate. I just went with the story going on in my head:
Center of the Universe
by ARHuelsenbeck
A circle within a
Circle lined with street lights
Surrounded by grasses
Wreathed by bushes
Edged by a forest
Where dwell the sprites
Tormented by ogres
Come down from the mountains
That ring the sea
Where live the monsters
Who terrorize the pirates
Who dare to maraud
For safety they must
Give up their piracy
Sail to the shore
Scale the mountains to
Find the princess
Brave the dark forest
Hide from the ogres
Befriend the sprites
Who show them the way
All roads lead to…
Me!
Today’s NaPoWriMo prompt is an abstract concept described by concrete nouns.
Ambition
by ARHuelsenbeck
Ambition is like a fire
Growing and consuming everything in its path
As relentless as a great white shark
That tears apart whatever it wants
Ambition is as focused as an eagle’s eye
Honed in on its objective
Deviation is not an option
Ambition is like a trained athlete
Whose mind is on the gold medal
All other indulgences recede as he pledges allegiance to the one true prize
Ambition achieved is like a movie star or a victorious politician
Look at me—I’m king of the world
The world admires the successful
But oh, the price of their coveted adulation
The families neglected
The simple pleasures missed
The ordinary eschewed
