If love is…

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?

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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

Life that passes you by. Photographer Pensiero

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