If love is blind
Then why can I see
And If love
Takes your breath away
Then why can I breathe
The distance between us
Is too much
But if love makes
The heart grow fonder
Maybe we aren’t far enough
Or are we too far
Why does love
Have to dull
Your senses
Make you blind
And breathless
So weak in the knees
That you can hardly speak
Love does many things
And love is many things
But is this love?
If love is…
Napowrimo #9
Mi Paraiso
I have not yet experienced
I can only speak of
What it is not
Crowded trains
With grimaced faces
Heavy tense shoulders
Carrying something
Or the other
Blank eyes
Dreaming of better times
When there were no
Red striped envelopes
Waiting
Demanding payment
Funds that do not exist
Sky high rents
Minimum wages
Robotic movement
Like worker bees
Going somewhere
To do something
That needs to be done
The palpable stress
And anxiety
Like a ticking bomb
Waiting to implode
The tormenting
What if’s
And how’s
The menacing
I cant’s
The false promises
To self
And looming failure
Waiting patiently
To be acknowledged
This is not mi paraiso
Nor are the crystal blue waters
Or black sand beaches
Mi Paraiso is
A light heart
And a peaceful mind
And the ability to
Go to “Paradise”
If I want to
Napowrimo #8
List all of your old flames. Try to go back as far as your first kiss in the 2nd grade coat closet. Sit with your list. Depending on your mood today, choose the flame with the most sparks, or pin the list on the wall and throw a dart. Whatever your method or mood, write a poem about an old flame.
You were my flame
There used to be fire
You don’t touch me anymore
But it doesn’t matter much
Because I can’t feel you
I wonder
If it’s even worth
Lighting the fuse
To ignite a spark
In hopes of a flame
That might heat things up
And start that fire
That once raged
Between us
Napowrimo #7
Let’s write today about nicknames. Do you have one? Is there something endearing or embarrassing that other people call you now or have in the past? Fess up!
Daddy’s little girl
His butterfly
I’d spread my arms
As if they were wings
But they were torn
Each time
Daddy did horrible things
I tried to fly
But my feet never left the ground
And try as I might
I’ll never forget the sound
Of daddy’s fist
And mommy’s cries
Of all his promises
And all his lies
I can only sit and admire
As the mockingbird sings
Because Daddy left me
With tattered
Broken wings
Napowrimo #6
Image Prompt
This morning
I looked down
And watched my feet
Move along the pavement
And I felt like
A hamster on its wheel
Going nowhere fast
Lots of movement
With no result
No change
No difference
Where am I going
Only where I have been
I stay in this place
Even though it sickens me
Settling
Self doubting
Self sabotaging
Regretting
Day dreaming
About dreams
That have come untrue
Unsure of anything
But sure of one thing
A life
That is passing me by.
Napowrimo #5
Today, sit with your words. Read them out loud. Then, walk away. Close your eyes and try to recall 10-15 from your list. Write them down. These are your “introspection words.”
Think about why these particular words stuck with you. Is it their sound? Their meaning? Free-write on the meaning of these words — to you. Not necessarily their dictionary meaning, but why they resonate for you.
Now, write a poem!
I see you coming
You plow right through me
My chest slit open
My heart exposed
Feeling every pulse
Each time you emerge
I stumble
Your presence does not
Cull
But instead
Intensify
The rapture
You ignite
Within me
You
Dapper and radiant
Me
A creature of circumstance
And I want you
In my situation
My dilemma
Our exquisite interaction
Never cultivates
As far as I’d like
Your words speak
Desire
And my heart
Does not forsake me
If you only knew
The malignant lust
That spreads like wild fire
Each time
You plow right through me
Napowrimo #4
The idea is to find a color or two, write the phrase on a card, and then write down the associations you have with the phrase. Do a five minute free-write, and then turn your musings into a poem.
Electric eel
Evil
In calm blue waters
Lurking
Like a pedophile in a playground
Searching
For prey
A prisoner
In your own skin
Never able
To appreciate
The beauty that surrounds you
Only the thrill
Of the chase
The satisfaction
Of the catch
And
The joy
Of the kill.
Napowrimo #3
The prompt for today is “three in a row.” Write about how “three in a row” means you’ve won something, like a game of tic tac toe or a jackpot from a slot machine. Or write about the superstition about how bad things come in threes: deaths, injuries, failing household appliances. Wonder how a string of three represents both good and bad luck.
Three times I’ve tried
And three times I’ve failed
I felt my heart a flutter
And felt my knees buckle
Each time
Before I fell
Hard
Forever seemed so sure
And I knew I’d never
Love
Anyone more
But
Just like the seasons change
Love came
And went
But where does it go
When it slips away
Perhaps love never does
Maybe it is us
Who slip away from love
What I felt was true
There is no doubt
Now I am just left with
The dreadful thought
Three strikes
And you’re out
Napowrimo: #2
Find five verbs and five nouns from one subject area, and use them to write about another subject.
Kiss Touch Love Hug Caress
Nose Lips Hands Back Neck
Your lips are cold to the touch
I kiss them one last time
I caress your face
Starting at your nose
Down the crevices of your lovely neck
I remember how you’d hug me
And how I’d kiss that spot behind your ear
There’s blood there now
And your hand is speckled with dirt
I can still see my scratches on your back
But they are barely visible
Overwhelmed by the slashes and punctures oozing with
The blood that once pulsed through your veins
I tell them yes
It is you
But it’s not really
Just the protective shell
That once encased
A kind of love
The world was not ready for
Our loss is great
But your love is plenty still
I will see you in the sunset
Search for your in the shimmer of the moonlight
Find you in the stars
Close my eyes
And feel you in the breeze
I will hear you in the birds’ morning love song
Until we meet again my sweet
I will see you in the sunset
You
Not sure what it is with you
Or what it’s ever been
Why you make me feel this way
Or why I think of you
Is it the same for you
Do you think of me too
Do I inspire words
Of confusion
Or thoughts
Of first encounters
I imagine you’d make me bashful
And I’d look to the floor
Hoping you didn’t catch
The look in my eyes
That says
Please
Just kiss me already