April PAD Challenge + NaPoWriMo 2024 Day 17

 

Image by Shafin Al Asad Protic from Pixabay

Hello, Poetry People. Today, I went for brevity and wrote a Haiku for my April PAD Challenge/NaPoWriMo poem.

https://www.writersdigest.com/write-better-poetry/2024-april-pad-challenge-day-17

The April PAD Challenge prompt asked participants to write a Not Blank poem. I gave my Haiku the title Not In the Mainstream.

https://www.napowrimo.net/day-seventeen-10/

The NaPoWriMo prompt suggests that participants create a poem inspired by a piece of music. For my own part, I chose a timeless classic: the music of nature in the form of the sound of falling rain. 

It's not mainstream pop, to be sure. The unspoken portion of the poem is the fact that it's being written by someone who will never be in the mainstream.

I've learned something about myself that doesn't surprise me in the least. In fact, it explains a lot about my hypersensitivity and how frazzled I feel when my routine is disrupted. It also reinforces my anger and sadness over the way I've been treated like I'm a bad person and/or weak for something that's part of my neurological makeup. I will spend the rest of my life trying to learn not to hate myself and to try and get along in a world that hates people like me. 

Nobody is going to try to understand people like me. I'm used to that. It would be nice, however, if medical professionals were taught to treat all their patients with common decency rather than disdain, even the "difficult" ones. 

I'm not trying to be difficult. It's not like I intentionally decided to have this shit show of a body. Who the hell would choose that? The truth is, I'm fucking terrified of you. I don't want to be here. I can smell the disdain coming off you. You don't try to hide it at all. 

To condense all that, the unspoken message in the Haiku is this:

Working through this shit show of a body and this weirdly wired brain is a soul who loves the sound of rain, just wishes everyone could be happy and live peacefully, and will never be part of the mainstream in any way. I don't want pills, injections, and surgery to force my disobedient body to look like what you have deemed it should look like. (I swear to whatever gods there may be if I type "whould" one more time, I'm gonna cut off my fingers!) 

I don't want pills or shock therapy or surgery to rearrange my brain till I fit into your definition of sane. 

I don't want injections or surgeries or other expensive treatments in a desperate attempt to make myself look younger or closer to what you deem attractive. 

It shouldn't matter if I don't conform to your idea of what the perfect woman looks like or acts like. You should treat me with respect and kindness all the same. You have no idea what I've been through or what it's like to be me.

I'll probably go back to being stoic tomorrow. Today, I felt like this needed to be said. I'm sure all five or six people who read this blog really give a shit anyway.

This was the first day in many months that I woke up without feeling like I was on the verge of a panic attack. Learning what I did recently makes certain things finally make sense.

~Ornery Owl Has Spoken~

Image by c from Pixabay

https://odysee.com/@sayitright77:e/rain-sounds-for-sleeping-13:9?r=GTwnGJ4fFBQfzuJgpHVpfKBKaC9b8B16

I could literally listen to this sort of thing all day.

Poetry Prompts and Inspiration Day 18 April PAD Challenge and NaPoWriMo

 

Image by Hebi B. from Pixabay

Today's NaPoWriMo prompt asks participants to write an abecedarian poem.

https://www.napowrimo.net/day-eighteen-9/

I finally had the selective laser trabeculoplasty procedure done on my left eye today, so I wrote about the intense, out-of-proportion anxiety I had about the procedure. Since I have never had such a procedure before, mild anxiety would be par for the course. It is a brief, painless, minimally invasive procedure. The worst part of it was the lens that had to be placed over the eye so the ophthalmologist could see where to aim the laser. This isn't painful, but it is somewhat uncomfortable. 

I'm one of the 75% of people for whom the procedure seems to have had a positive effect. For about 25% of people, there is no effect. The pressure in my left eye has been sitting at 25 for a little over a year. Even with drops, it wouldn't go lower. Today, after the procedure, it was down to 19. That's a big win. I plan to have the procedure done for my right eye. 

So, why am I writing about this?

My medical anxiety has made my life extremely difficult at times. My ophthalmologist is very patient and understanding. Having someone who doesn't ridicule my fears makes a lot of difference. 

I come from a generation where sneaking up on a kid and sticking them with a needle was par for the course, then scolding them if they cried. I've had far worse than that done to me by doctors. Trusting medical people does not come easy to me.

I'm saving today's April PAD Challenge prompt for tomorrow. I'm going to take it easy for the rest of the evening. 

~Ornery Owl Has Spoken~

Image by Alexa from Pixabay

Okay, you caught me. This owl is obviously not ornery. But it sure is cute!

https://odysee.com/@PeaceofMind:9/magical-fantasy-music-tropical-shell:7?r=GTwnGJ4fFBQfzuJgpHVpfKBKaC9b8B16

Some beautiful Caribbean-inspired music for your listening pleasure.

April PAD Challenge/NaPoWriMo 2022 Day 29

 

Image by Hans Braxmeier from Pixabay

Here's the image I chose to make a Haiga from my Blue Senryu, The Last Worst Thing. The Haiga image won't appear in the chapbook manuscript, only the Senryu

No music again today. I'm still a bit shaky after my excursion to the dentist yesterday. I find dental work traumatic. I think I'll compose an essay for the Women on Writing Creative Nonfiction Essay Contest featuring my thoughts on that topic.

https://wow-womenonwriting.com/contest.php#EssayContest

I've entered this contest several times and have yet to place. Maybe I'm not woman enough or maybe my essays aren't essay enough. Meh. Whatever.

The Last Worst Thing

prompts used

https://www.napowrimo.net/day-twenty-nine-8/

And here’s our prompt (optional, as always). In certain versions of the classic fairytale Sleeping Beauty, various fairies or witches are invited to a princess’s christening, and bring her gifts. One fairy/witch, however, is not invited, and in revenge for the insult, lays a curse on the princess. Today, I’d like to challenge you to write a poem in which you muse on the gifts you received at birth — whether they are actual presents, like a teddy bear, or talents – like a good singing voice – or circumstances – like a kind older brother, as well as a “curse” you’ve lived with (your grandmother’s insistence on giving you a new and completely creepy porcelain doll for every birthday, a bad singing voice, etc.).

https://www.writersdigest.com/write-better-poetry/2022-april-pad-challenge-day-29

Write a "The Last Blank" poem.

I combined the prompts and wrote a blue Senryu of which I'm quite proud. I'm sure nobody else will like it. That's always the way with the things I write. The ones I like best are the ones everyone else hates.

I'm off to make my Haiga now. 

~Ornery Owl Has Spoken~

Free use image by Moonzigg on Pixabay