Sunday, April 14, 2024

April PAD Challenge + NaPoWriMo 2024 Day 13 & 14


Image by Diego Ortiz from Pixabay


I created two suites of poetry over the weekend.

The first is the Living World suite.


The April PAD Challenge prompt called for a living poem.


The NaPoWriMo prompt asks for participants to play with rhyme.

I opted not to write rhyming poems.

Start by creating a “word bank” of ten simple words. They should only have one or two syllables apiece. Five should correspond to each of the five senses (i.e., one word that is a thing you can see, one word that is a type of sound, one word that is a thing you can taste, etc). Three more should be concrete nouns of whatever character you choose (i.e., “bridge,” “sun,” “airplane,” “cat”), and the last two should be verbs. Now, come up with rhymes for each of your ten words.

I didn't do this exactly. I chose ten subjects using prompts from Carpe Diem Haiku and wrote ten poems in Haiku, Senryu, or Tanka style.

Rain

Love

Sadness

Full beaver moon


Jade
Butterfly
Glacier
Flowers
Mist
Heron


Moving on to Sunday, I created my Ekphrastic Gallery of five poems.


You can find the images I used as my inspiration in the above link.


Today's NaPoWriMo prompt asks participants write a poem of at least ten lines in which each line begins with the same word (e.g., “Because,” “Forget,” “Not,” “If”). This technique of beginning multiple lines with the same word or phrase is called anaphora, and has long been used to give poems a driving rhythm and/or a sense of puzzlebox mystery.

The five poems I wrote using this technique are as follows:

Stars
Wounds
Sailing
Screams
Strange Vacation

These are five of my favorite poems because they delve into difficult subject matter and have unexpected patterns. This is the kind of poetry I live to write.

I guess that about does it for this ol' session.

~Ornery Owl Has Spoken~

Image by Desiret Aguado from Pixabay




Friday, April 12, 2024

April PAD Challenge + NaPoWriMo 2024 Day 12

Image by Fantasm from Pixabay

I was initially thinking that I wouldn't submit the poem I created today to Dragon Soul Press for their Soul Ink 2 anthology, but I changed my mind.


Today's April PAD Challenge prompt asks for a funny poem.


Today's NaPoWriMo prompt also leans toward the light-hearted, asking poets to write a poem that plays with the idea of a “tall tale.”

I wrote a story in limerick form detailing the origins of my friends Ghost Town Grover and Cactus Clem. While it may not make it into the Soul Ink 2 anthology, it will always have a place in my heart and on my blog.

~Ornery Owl Has Spoken~

Image by Wolfgang Eckert from Pixabay

"So you wanna hear the story of Ghost Town Grover and Cactus Clem. Well, gather 'round, and I'll tell the tale of that dark and stormy night."


Ghost Town Grover
Free use image by Clker Free Vector Images

"Jest one small quibble, Ornery. The skies was clear that night, 'cept fer maybe a cloud or two, and it wasn't rainin', 'cept maybe fer a little drizzle. It was 114 years ago, so my memory's a little foggy."

Cactus Clem
Free use image from Open Clipart Vectors

"Is this gonna be a scary story, Ornery? 'Cause if it's a scary story, I need my lantern and my teddy bear and a big ole jug of Cuzzin Hildy-Bob and Virgil-Joe's premium moonshine."


Hangry Wyrm
Free use image from Clker Free Vector Images

"I've only got one question. Are snacks included with this story? 'Cause I'd like some popcorn and a big lemonade and some M and M's. Speaking of M and M's, I think your story will be more interesting if you let that guy Eminem rap while you tell it."





Thursday, April 11, 2024

April PAD Challenge + NaPoWriMo 2024 Day 11

 

Image by Goran Horvat from Pixabay

Hey Poetry People! Today's April PAD Challenge asks participants to write a memory poem.


Meanwhile, today's NaPoWriMo prompt asks participants to "honor the ones in the number eleven."


They suggest creating a monostitch (a one-line poem) or making a poem inspired by single lines. I took inspiration from the first line of the poem Lines For the Fortune Cookies.


The first line of this poem is I think you're wonderful and so does everyone else.

I can assure you, this is something no one ever said to me. I more often heard about everything I was doing wrong than anything I was doing right. Apparently, I was doing a whole lot of things wrong. This bothered me quite a bit for most of my life. I'm pretty resigned to it now. In any case, I wrote a Tanka about what a disappointment I was for my parents. They were expecting a sweet, well-behaved, adorable little girl, not the freakish fuckup they ended up with. So it goes. 

Stop by again tomorrow. I may have more poetry and thoughts to share.

~Ornery Owl Has Spoken~

Image by Kay Wille from Pixabay
Ornery Owl Sez:
It's not easy being green. Or ornery.






Wednesday, April 10, 2024

April PAD Challenge + NaPoWriMo 2024: Writing Prompts Day 8, 9, 10

 

Image by Peter Schmidt from Pixabay

I got way off track, Poetry People, but that's all right. Let's get back on the rails.


Today's April PAD Challenge prompt asked us to write about a major event. I chose the eclipse. I wasn't in the path of totality and the sun was behind the clouds anyway.


I combined this prompt with the Day 9 prompt from NaPoWriMo and wrote an ode to the partial eclipse I didn't see.

Image by Chil Vera from Pixabay

For my next trick, I used a form I like to call Six Squared. This is a six-line poem with six syllables per line.


I did a bit of a different take with the Twofer Tuesday format, which asks participants to create a love and/or anti-love poem. I wrote about spirit guides and how much it must suck to try and help corporeal fuckers who ignore every sign you send them. 


My use of the NaPoWriMo prompt in this poem is a bit obscure. The prompt asks participants to write a poem that centers around an encounter or relationship between two people (or things) that shouldn’t really have ever met – whether due to time, space, age, the differences in their nature, or for any other reason.

I've never come to terms with the veil between worlds thing. Without going into details, I've seen some shit and experienced some other shit. This shit is the reason I'm an agnostic rather than a full-on atheist. However, more often than not, the living are just left stranded to be mired in grief when they lose someone who meant the world to them. 

It's a shitty system, and I like it not. However, I can't do anything about it, so I wrote a cheeky poem about it because that's how I roll. Maybe someday, light years from here, some other misfit fucker will read my poem and say to him or herself:

"At last! Another fucker who gets it!"

To that person, I say from my place in your distant past, I salute you!



Today's April PAD Challenge prompt tasks participants with writing a Blank Better poem.


Meanwhile, the NaPoWriMo prompt suggests writing a poem about a news tidbit found on the Yesterday's Print Tumblr. I take it no one is surprised that I chose a story about a cussing parrot.

That's me catching up. Until tomorrow!

~Ornery Owl Has Spoken~

Image by Erik Karits from Pixabay



Sunday, April 7, 2024

April PAD Challenge + NaPoWriMo 2024 Writing Prompts Day 7

 




My dear friend Kamidiox drew these pictures. If you use them, please make sure to give her proper credit. Here is the link to her website.


I wasn't sure how personal I wanted to get with this prompt post, Poetry People. I'm feeling a bit vulnerable and also a bit sick. I woke up at 3 AM feeling like I was going to hurl. 

I guess my 59-year-old innards can no longer handle meals like the spicy southwestern ham and bean soup that I made with scraps from the leftover Easter ham. I also had a side plate of nachos courtesy of the giant bag of tortilla chips and Tostitos queso that we bought at Costco. I need to get it through my thick head that my stomach has aged along with the rest of me.

Enough about my crap digestive system. Here are today's prompts.


The April PAD Challenge prompt asks participants to write a luck poem.

I was very lucky when my special friends came into my life.

I was very unlucky when I lost them. 


Today's NaPoWriMo prompt asks poets to write a Wish You Were Here poem.

Here's the best Wish You Were Here poem ever. 



~Ornery Owl Has Spoken~

Image by Willgard Krause from Pixabay


Saturday, April 6, 2024

April PAD Challenge + NaPoWriMo 2024 Writing Prompts: Day 6

 

Image by Hoa Luu from Pixabay

Happy Saturday, Poetry People! It's a windy one in this neck of the woods. Never mind that; let's get to it.


The April PAD Challenge prompt suggests writing a minimum poem. 


The NaPoWriMo prompt asks participants to write a poem rooted in “weird wisdom,” by which we mean something objectively odd that someone told you once, and that has stuck with you ever since. 

My Tanka (a brief or minimum poetry form) discusses the culinary technique of adding an opposing flavor to enhance a dish or food item. For instance, salted caramel or adding sugar to a sauce to enhance its savory flavor.

Today's post is also comparatively minimal.

I am debating whether to try the coffee cake bread pudding I just made now or wait until after dinner, which is still several hours away.

~Ornery Owl Has Spoken~


Ornery Owl
Free use image from Open Clipart Vectors
"What do you think of my poem, Hangry?"


Hangry Wyrm
Free use image from Clker Free Vector Images
"Forget that moon-June-tune folderol, Ornery! Serve up the dang bread pudding!"




Friday, April 5, 2024

April PAD Challenge and NaPoWriMo 2024: Day 4 and 5

 

Image by bbbeti from Pixabay

Hello, poetry people! It seems to be working out for me to publish a double post every other day. I can't guarantee this format will stick, but let's roll with it for now.

https://www.writersdigest.com/write-better-poetry/2024-april-pad-challenge-day-4

Today's April PAD Challenge prompt asked participants to pen a mistake poem. 


Meanwhile, the NaPoWriMo prompt suggested poets take inspiration from The Strangest Things In The World, a book that shares brief descriptions of oddities. 


"Well, what the heck am I supposed to do with this?" I wondered while marveling at the weird wonders presented in the tome.

Then it came to me like a flash--like a vision! I just wrote it down. I can't share the poem here, but I will reveal the epic title.

My Most Magnificent Monody For My Many Favorite Mistakes.

It's a poem all about love and what it shouldn't feel like. If it feels like what I describe in these verses, it ain't love, it's limerence, and that's not good.

And now, on to Day 5.


Apparently, QuickWrite can't render old women, but the dog is cute, and the tulip is purty. 

I'm an old woman, but I'll do you the favor of not sharing pictures of me, seeing as they would break your computer monitor. Then you'd be mad at me.

And now, on with the show!


The April PAD Challenge prompt asks participants to create a Tell (Blank) poem.


The NaPoWriMo prompt asks us to take inspiration from the poem The Blessing of the Old Woman, The Tulip, and the Dog.


I needed one more element to kickstart my imagination, so I added...


Cicadas???


Okay, sure, why not? 

The linked post contains all sorts of nifty information about the periodical life cycle of cicadas. I have to admit, at first I thought cicadas hadn't been seen in certain areas since 1913. That's a very long nap or gestation period or whatever. 

I hope you gather poetic inspiration from this post. If you do, please be sure to visit the linked blogs and let them know!

If you are inspired by the tremendous forthcoming swarm of cicadas, I suggest letting them know. Perhaps if we pay sufficient tribute to their mighty splendor, they will spare us.

~Ornery Owl Has Spoken~

Image by Erik Karits from Pixabay

I couldn't find any pictures of owls and cicadas, so here's an owl and a glowing butterfly or moth.