poems and squirrels

poems and squirrels    I’d rather be mapping the behavior of squirrels than write a poem. I’d rather eat breakfast out than write a poem. ok, some oatmeal at home is about the same, a poem equality. I’d rather watch the waves, counting sevens, than write a poem.  easy choice. I’d rather ride the ferry boat [...]

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letter to William Stafford

letter to William Stafford   Dear Bill, How long’s it been?  Sorry I missed you last time around.  Suppose you’re still writing there, just like you always do, granddaughter or not nibbling at your toes, adoring you, eating your attention just like pie.  Funny how she stole herself into the early dawn, you in your writing time, suddenly [...]

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the rules of poems

the rules of poems try to write in english, if that’s who you are. keep in mind the two ends of this thread. count one two three, yet three one two still amuses me. try to be understood even if it means wagging your tale. eat, sleep, feel cold feel heat, wear two shoes because [...]

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the boy who only spoke poems

the boy who only spoke poems raised by decent farm folk but who spoke in dirt & trees & hammers & nails.  orchard talk. he didn’t have much to say. he played with sticks and cats and things that made sense to him. neither rakes nor hoes nor brooms, nor even a mother’s typewriter tongue engaged [...]

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don’t call me poet

don’t call me poet me, is not poet.  me is something other. me is some one one other than name. me is not even not.  spiral tongue. words I use.  you taught me that. these are lingual furnishings. my face not paper. my fingers not ink. shave away whisker history. there me goes down the drain. flows right [...]

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the gentle art of making fire

poem for We Write Poems, prompt #48, the art of making fire the gentle art of making fire rub any two words together. add salts, same as soil does. imagine dance. imagine molecules. imagine no choice.  falling free. whisper desire into ears of wheat. be father like stone.  a seed. be mother like rain.  illuminate. imagine breathing sky. [...]

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Poems on purpose

February 14 prompt, What’s in a name? by jill crammond-wickham Read the full prompt and poem responses by other participants. What title might we give to a yet-to-be-manuscript of our poems. Make that title into a poem now. (Well this is the actual title of this blog, and of the website that proceeded it.) (And [...]

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Hieroglyphs

prompt # 037 Conversational by staff@wwp The idea for this prompt is to write a poem that is a conversation between two people. It can be imaginary… even a one-sided conversation. H i e r o g l y p h s To become a saint you must have performed at least three miracles! Best [...]

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Pony tales

Pony tales Would you love me if I was Chinese? Or one of the Mongol horde fresh from the Steps? Would you love me if I was a November bird plump and ripe? Cranberries, gravy, right? Would you love me if I was a humble-bee trying to land atop your nose? Would you love me [...]

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Do poems burn?

Do poems burn ? Words like to keep me awake. They are not really so polite. They land from the sky the same way bison do. Not wise to divert your gaze. Sometimes they laugh, maybe smirk, sometimes jump right into the pan, bringing their own kindling along. Yet oft only a spoon’s full falls [...]

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Every War Has Two Losers

        in review         A Poet’s Meditation on Peace A film by Haydn Reiss based upon the life, journals and poems of World War II conscientious objector and poet William Stafford (1914-1993). Stafford wrote in his journal, “The question, ‘Wouldn’t you fight for your country?’ begs the real question which is, ‘What is the best way to [...]

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No poet here

No poet here I am a man who writes poems. That’s fair to say, but not much more. I am a man who wakes, goes to work four or five days a week. Usually. Usually Sunday to church. I do chairs. I eat my dinner at my desk. I like eating but it don’t much [...]

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in the beginning there was the word

in the beginning there was the word a man sleeps the man dreams pictures the pictures are people and people are mountains and people who are rivers one who is the sky the man wakes the man writes words the words are poems the poems used to be words used to be dreams pretty sappy, [...]

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@April turns to May

Well, April did step outside the conventional sense of time! Saying farewell to the brilliant community site, Read Write Poems, after an all too brief journey with them. Yet going out in a blaze, as they sponsored their own site group participation for the National Poetry Writing Month (napowrimo). I’d never written with that sustained [...]

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Some hints toward happiness

Some hints toward happiness Open your arms to a dawn Cast your heart into a night See what grows See what follows Spread a few wild seeds Wild knows what to do, You observe Take a breath Now let go, everything dances on fingertips Eat some cake Pleasure is good for you Butter too, cook [...]

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Writing you

read write prompt #113, the therapeutic cleanse – a spa for your writerly being by mary biddinger Getting stuck in a poetic writing rut? That’s the question, then response for this week’s prompt. (Read the RWP prompt for full descriptive details.) (Read other participants responses to this prompt.) Read my second poem prompt response here. [...]

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Poem tales

Poem tales Getting dressed in the morning I put poems on my feet. Poem-pants and poem-shirt. (Then off I go to the word-monger’s shop dressed in white.) (But that’s a poem-lie.) (I wear jet-poem-black.) I wrote a poem and it turned into a daughter-phrase. Good thing there was a spare poem-dress in the drawer. (Whatever [...]

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When desire lands

When desire lands A bowl. An apple I’ll probably not eat. One more thing seeming likely more at first. Two flutes without any wind. Resolved, the finer one given away to better lips. A garden mostly growing well without my hand. Bless the poppies and manzanita. The grape arbor sags beneath its load. Third season [...]

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Interview with a poet

A little play to do, even if I drop the bowl. A small step away from usual. Disclaimer. Any similarity between this poem and anyone real much less a poet is purely coincidentally amusing. Life is nothing if not associative. Interview with a poet Poets mend some words, but only fair because others they’ve broken [...]

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What a window does

read write prompt #107, lighting the way by Andre Tan Write a poem based upon your own response to a photograph. (Read the prompt for full details and the complete photograph.) (Read other participants responses to this prompt.) What a window does Light makes no sense looking like yellow now. Maybe because it’s crashing on [...]

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I am here

read write prompt #106, repeat after me by community member Rethabile Masilo Write a poem using repetition for poetic effect is the prompt for this week. (Read the prompt for full details and examples.) (Read other participants responses to this prompt.) I am here I am here. Ferry boat moves, water slides away. Ocean current [...]

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When you love me like rain

When you love me like rain When you love me like rain, winter comes. Running before the wind is an easy stance. That shadow cast turns warm beneath the sheets. Then turn on an old elbow, an aching arm, rotate that slumbered breath clear around, full face into unspoken storm. How far will this gale [...]

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Winter pebbles

read write prompt #105, borrowed words by Deb Scott Says Deb, This week brings a different kind of Read Write (Word) Prompt. These words are from the first stanza of one of my favorite poet’s work. I’ll tell you who it is, and give you a link to the poem these words are derived from [...]

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Dance hall dimes

I think this is a poem that wants to be something more. But I don’t have the words as yet to allow itself to be revealed. Maybe I’ll come back this way again, however for now, it doesn’t want to wait. Dance hall dimes Dance hall dimes. Where tarnished thoughts are best left inside pockets. [...]

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Simple fruit

  read write prompt #104, The Sex Poem by Nick Carbo Well, you can read for yourself, the intent or desire of this prompt. Try not to be too mundane or too obvious, is part my take on the challenge here (right or wrong). So this response – an old old poem, here rewritten to [...]

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