April Monthly Poetry Competition 2021
This is the fifth April poetry competition I have entered since 2017. The rules are simple: write at least one poem or more per month, and either post them or not. I will base them on NaPoWrMo, Poetry Superhighway, Writing Digest, Writing Com 's Dew Drop Inn prompts and post them here and, on All Poetry, and maybe elsewhere but at least on these sites. I may write a few more but not post them as I need to keep "unpublished" poems for submission.
But this year I will also podcast them using the Anchor program. The podcasts appear a few days later, on Spotify and elsewhere. Look for the World According to Cosmos podcasts or under Jake Cosmos Aller.
I will post the prompt, and the poem and may pick a picture for each poem but maybe not and write a new posting every day (or two).
Enjoy
Oh, not too late in joining in the fun!
Comments welcome, but please keep it civil.
April 1, 2021
Index
Coffee Pot Blues Poetry Superhighway Prompt
Who Is Jake Cosmos Aller? Writer's Digest Prompt
"Good Golly Miss Molly," A Dew-Drop A Day in April, Writing Com
"Sam Adams Wakes Up Dead "Nanowrimo Poetry
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Poetry Superhighway Prompt
Pick an object where you live and write a poem in the voice of that object describing how they spent this last year, during the pandemic. Think about "what I did last summer" type of essays you may have written in school. How did the events of the past year impact this object? Are there any aspects of the past year that the object particularly liked or disliked, and if so why? What does the object think about you, and your behavior over the past year? Feel free to use humor.
Coffee Pot Blues
The coffee pot sighed
He was getting so tired
Of the whole covid lockdown thing
Every morning his master
Would make himself two cups of coffee
Using him to make the coffee
The worst thing about this covid thing
It keeps them home
For almost one and half years
He wanted them to just leave
So, he could have
Some peace
And not have to work
Every damn day
As their mechanical slave
But did they ask for his opinion
They most certainly not
Much to his dismay
If you write a poem from this prompt, post it as a comment underneath the prompt in The Poetry Superhighway Facebook page #napowrimo #poetry
Writer's Digest Prompt
For today's prompt, write an introductory poem. Introduce yourself, introduce a friend, or introduce a stranger. If you don't wish to introduce yourself, consider writing a persona poem (a poem in which you write from someone else's point of view like Emily Dickinson or a bumblebee). Of course, you could also introduce a problem, solution, or just a situation. Have fun with it!
Remember: these prompts are springboards to creativity. Use them to expand your possibilities, not limit them
Who is jake cosmos aller?
You asked me
Who am I?
And thanks for asking me
I am jake cosmos aller
The only
65 years old
Retired from the government service
Living in Korea
Grew up in Berkeley, California
Lived all over the world
Did so many things
And now I am a published writer
But what is more important is this
45 years ago,
I met my love in a dream
She walked out of that dream
Almost 40 years ago
That was the date
I met my fate
And started my life
With the love of my life
Who became my wife?
In the end
That is all that matters
My friends.
Writing com drew drop inn
Here at the dew drop inn, we gather together to write a poem a day in April as a way to celebrate national poetry month.
Writing Com - A Dew-Drop Inn A Day April for National Poetry Month prompt
April 1--folly in rhyme (some kind of folly in some kind of rhyme, subtle or overt)
Good golly,
Miss molly
What a bit of folly
Let's be jolly
Have a tamale
NaPoWrMo POETRY
And without further ado, our daily prompt (optional, as always)! Sometimes, writing poetry is a matter of getting outside of your head, and learning to see the world in a new way. To an extent, you have to "derange" yourself -- make the world strange and see it as a stranger might. To help you do that, I'd like to challenge you to write a poem inspired by this animated version of "seductive fantasy" by Sun Ra and his Orchestra. If you don't feel after watching it a little bit like the top of your head's been taken off, and your thoughts are given a good stir -- well, maybe you are already living in a state of heightened poetic awareness!
Sam Adams Woke Up Dead
Sam Adams woke up dead
He had met a strange man
In a strange bar, in a strange land
The man told him
Beware, today is the date
You will meet your fate
Sam Adams drank too much
Twenty drinks too sober
Drank until he died
Found himself in a huge room
With hundreds of people milling about
The hangover from h ... pounding his head
Sam Adams groans,
Shouting out
Where am I?
"in limbo, my friend, in limbo"
Growled Mr. GR, the grim reaper
Dressed in a sharp, expensive, tailored black suit
Wearing cool Ray Ban Sunglasses
State your name
Sam Adams
Hmm
Oh, there may be a mistake
But what the hey,
The records are never fake
Not yet the date
For you to meet your fate
Go back to your mate
He found himself
Home with his wife
The love of his long life
Wondering until late
If it had happened?
What was his fate?
He asked her
Did I go out last night?
What, no you've been here
He explained what had happened
She said it was just a bad dream
Covid fears had kept them home
The phone rang
It was the man from the bar
Did you have an interesting night?
Oh well, gr comes for us all
Soon you will meet your fate
But not on this date
April 2 Poems
Poetry Superhighway Prompt
Imagine you are plotting a Mars Rover- just as all the other astronauts in your team blast off from the planet Mars leaving you behind (as in the film, "The Martian", what do you see, what do you miss from home? What is your last message?
Sam Adams Stranded on Mars
Sam Adams
Groaned as he realized
Good God I am stranded
Here on the planet Mars
All alone in the universe
What am I going to do?
How will I survive
The long wait for survival?
Sam looked up
Seeing through the dust storm
His shipmates flying off
Leaving him for dead
He got back
and fired off
a message
Hey guys
You left me behind
I am alive
Come get me!
The garbled message
Came back
Sorry we can't return
Someone will get you
In six months
Stay alive until then
We will see you
Back at HQ
Sam groaned
And made his survival plans
Thinking it would make
A great movie
Then realized
Hey, it was already done
But the reality was far worst
Then in the movies
NaPoWrMo
And now, for today's (optional) prompt. In the world of well-known poems, maybe there's no gem quite so hoary as Robert frost's "the road not taken." Today, I'd like to challenge you to write a poem about your road not taken -- about a choice of yours that has "made all the difference," and what might have happened had you made a different choice.
Falling in love with my dream woman
When I was a young man
I dreamt of meeting a woman
For eight years she haunted my dreams
Then I met her in Korea
Where I was teaching
For the U.S. army
After finishing the peace corps
I had a choice
Follow my heart
Seize the moment
Be with her
Or leave Korea
Within a month
To go to graduate school
I decided to postpone
My graduate school
For one year
Got a deferred admission
And joined the woman
Of my dreams
Thinking back
I had no real choice
But I chose to walk
The path of life
With my dream girl
And that has made
All the difference
In the world
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April 2--voila! (remember something in a short lyric burst) drew drop-in writing com
I will always remember that date
In 1982 I meet my fate
When the love of my life
Walked out of my dreams
Becoming my wife
Writer's digest
For today's prompt, I want you to answer the question, "what does the future hold?" then, make your answer the title of your poem and write your poem. Your answer could a general idea about the future like "robots will rule the world" or more personal things like "veggie pizza and sweet tea." even if it's not in your title, I'm hopeful the future holds a lot more poeming.
The future is here
The future is here
They say we live in an SF world
Everyday SF stories become real
AI proliferating
Robots cooks, robot workers,
Soon robot maids, robot drivers
Yet our politics
Fighting the battles
Of the past
With the challenges
Of the future
Overwhelming us all
Where it ends
My friends are anyone guest
All I have are questions
Will the promise
Of technological marvels
Benefiting us all come to past
Or will it lead to a world
Where the powerful
Control the technology
Will a real ai be a god-like figure
Will humanity become nothing
But slaves to the AI supermind
That may be the future
Coming at us
The future is here
I don't know
Whether to fear
The future or embrace it
Monday, April 12, 2021, April 12
Poem with Transgression in Form and Content Writing com Dew Drop-In
Transgressions
Our
transgressions
Ultimately
Religious
Transgressions
Religious
About
No
God
Except
Since
September
In
Our
Nothing words
Something remains hidden
Every Morning Cherita PSH Prompt
This poetry writing prompt submitted by Kath Abela Wilson:
A few years ago, I discovered one of my favorite writing exercises: Try writing a cherita. Cherita is the Malay word for story or tale. It is a little 6 line story.
Try writing a single stanza of a one-line verse
followed by a two-line verse,
and then finishing with a three-line verse
Here is a sample by ai li who created the form in 1997, in memory of her grandparents who were raconteurs extraordinaire.
I find one cloud
in the sky
to describe my loneliness
all this blue
and no one
to share it with
ai li
It can be written solo or with up to three partners. It has the feeling of beginning middle and finale. If you write a one-line beginning, then pass to a friend the write 2 lines development, you can finish with 3 lines.
You can find samples and even a journal you can submit your little stories here:
https://www.thecherita.com/
�·
If you write a poem from this prompt, post it as a comment underneath the prompt in the Poetry Superhighway Facebook Group.
Every Morning Cherita
When I wake up
And see you there
The darkness of the night
Begins to recede
As the sun lights up
Filling me with your love
â??
Letter to Frank Zappa 1975 NaPoWrMo
And now for our (optional) prompt. This is a twist on a prompt offered by Kay Gabriel during a meeting she facilitated at the Poetry Project last year. Today, I'd like to challenge you to write a two-part poem, in the form of an exchange of letters. The first stanza (or part) should be in the form of a letter that you write either to yourself or to a famous fictional or historical person. The second part should be the letter you receive in response. These can be as short or long as you like, in the form of prose poems, or with line breaks -- and of course, the subject matter of the letters is totally up to you.
Letter to Frank Zappa 1975 sent to him
Dear Frank
I love your overnight sensation album
It made my day
It inspired me to write
Some poems which I hope
You can consider using
In a future album
Your friend and number one fan
Jake Cosmos Aller
His Response -- never responded
Dear Cosmos
Love your poems
Love your name
Is that your real name?
Is it because you are from Berkeley?
One of my favorite cities
I will be able to use
Some of these poems
My people will get in touch
With your people
And work out a deal
To use these poems
Great job my friend
Frank Zappa
Your friend for life
â??
Prime Love Writers Digest Prompt
For today's prompt, write a prime number poem. That is, I want you to somehow incorporate a prime number into your poem. You could include a prime number in the title of your poem or use one in the poem itself. Or write a poem that has a prime number of lines per stanza or for the entire poem.
And if you need help with remembering which numbers are prime numbers, I've got you covered (here's a list of prime numbers up to 100: 2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17, 19, 23, 29, 31, 37, 41, 43, 47, 53, 59, 61, 67, 71, 73, 79, 83, 89, 97)
Prime Love
My love
Wakes me up
With love in her heart
I leap out of my dark bed
Eagerly greeting the dawning sunlight
Filling my soul with your deep endless angelic love
Wondering again who you are, why are you here, my angel dear?
As I sit in the morning light, filled with your love, seeing the sunlight
My deep dark nightmares begin to fade with your deep love
I am filled with the light of the dawning sun
I was dreaming of all those years
Then one day you came to life
Walking out of dreams
Reality
My love
Letter to Frank Zappa 1975 NaPoWrMo
And now for our (optional) prompt. This is a twist on a prompt offered by Kay Gabriel during a meeting she facilitated at the Poetry Project last year. Today, I'd like to challenge you to write a two-part poem, in the form of an exchange of letters. The first stanza (or part) should be in the form of a letter that you write either to yourself or to a famous fictional or historical person. The second part should be the letter you receive in response. These can be as short or long as you like, in the form of prose poems, or with line breaks -- and of course, the subject matter of the letters is totally up to you.
Letter to Frank Zappa 1975 sent to him
Dear Frank
I love your overnight sensation album
It made my day
It inspired me to write
Some poems which I hope
You can consider using
In a future album
Your friend and number one fan
Jake Cosmos Aller
His Response -- never responded
Dear Cosmos
Love your poems
Love your name
Is that your real name?
Is it because you are from Berkeley?
One of my favorite cities
I will be able to use
Some of these poems
My people will get in touch
With your people
And work out a deal
To use these poems
Great job my friend
Frank Zappa
Your friend for life
â??
Describe Yourself as Landscape Writing com Dew Drop-In
The Mountains of My Love
--Describe Yourself as Landscape Writing com Dew Drop-In
The Mountains of My Love
I am like a mountain
Growing out of the plains
Rising to a peak
Overlooking the town
Filled with my love
For my wife
I remain a towering inferno
Of fire
Passionate intensity erupting
Whenever I see you
Standing there
â??
Great Dismal Dark Play Sestina Writer's Digest
For today's prompt, write a poem using at least three of the following six words: convict, great, play, race, season, and voice. Extra credit for using all six words. Extra credit for writing a sestina. It's not a race, so I won't convict anyone who can't use all six words, but it is the season to play around and share your great voice. Now!
Great Dismal Dark Play
There is a great dismal dark play
At work in the wild world
There is a Race to the finish line
During this unsettling Season
Millions of people losing their Voice
As thousands die every day
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PSH Write a Comic Book Poem, Superman on His Daily Patrol
Write a poem where you describe each part of it as if in a square of a comic book. Put it in the present tense. Close your eyes (or not) and imagine exactly what is happening in each line, what you want to see or do in your setting. Use simple descriptions, think about materials, shapes, and colors along with what else is there (houses, businesses, parks, transportation, etc.). Other considerations are: What sounds do you hear, what smells do you smell, and how's the weather? In this poem, you can be the hero/heroine or not!
Superman on His Morning Patrol
Superman wakes up
On a beautiful spring morning
Glad to be alive
He drinks his coffee
One of the best things
On his adopted new world
He suited up
Flew out his window
On his morning patrol
Fighting evil
Promoting the American way
He flies about the city
Stopping to eat a hot dog
Chatting with the vendor
About life on earth
Superman thought
Life is good
Visiting the Tower of Babel, NaPoWrMo Prompt
Finally, our prompt (optional, as always). I'm calling this one "Past and Future." This prompt challenges you to write a poem using at least one word/concept/idea from each of two specialty dictionaries: Lempira's Classical Dictionary and the Historical Dictionary of Science Fiction. A hat tip to Cathy Park Hong for a tweet that pointed me to the science fiction dictionary and Hoe for introducing me to the Classical Dictionary.
Visiting the Tower of Babel
A team of SF travelers
Discovered HG Wells secret plans
And construct a time machine
A big debate ensures
Where to go
When to go
Some wanted to back
And witness the crucifixion
Finally, they decide
To go back in time
To the construction
Of the tower of Babel
They set the time machine
To 2,226 BCE
And off they go
They find a large tower
Under construction
Reaching towards the heaven
They stay and watch
The tower's construction
Then the tower falls down
In a lightning strike
Everyone who witnesses
The scene
Is struck with madness
The tower lay in ruins
The people speaking
In tongues
The scientists conclude
That this biblical tale
Was probably true
â??
Coffee Obsession Pensively, --Excess or Obsession Writing com Dew Drop-In
Coffee Obsession Pensively
Sam Adams
Thought about the Difference
Between Love
And obsession
As he drank deeply
Enjoying his coffee obsession
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Wednesday, April 14, 2021
Poetic Version for April 2021 Contest -- Write an Elegy Poem Writing Com
The Wit and Wisdom of Mary Geneva Aldridge Aller -"There's Method in Her Madness" dedicated to my mother who passed on July 31, 2005.
We are here today
To celebrate the life
Of Mary Geneva Aldridge Wilson Aller,
My Mother.
As we are gathered together to mark her passing
On to another, better world,
I thought we should reflect
On her life and its meaning.
Therefore, I have a message
That I hope we all leave here today.
I call this speech,
'The Wit and Wisdom of Mary Geneva Aldridge Wilson Aller,
" There's Method in her Madness."
Which was one of her favorite Shakespeare quotes.
I hope we will see the wisdom
That my mother tried so hard to impart
And what I hope I have learned
From 52 years of watching
The life of my Mother.
What have I have learned?
From Mary's life
And her death
And what we can all learn
From her 85 years of experience
In this mad crazy corner
Of the world, she loved so dearly.
She was a true Berkeley original,
And it is only fitting
That we bury her
Here a few blocks
From where she spent
Much of her life.
What can we learn?
From Mary's life in this world?
Her favorite song from a musical was
"Stop the world.
I want to get off."
And today she gets her final wish
As she leaves this world
And moves on to another world.
My mother grew up
In Arkansas
In what could best be described
As hill country folk.
She was the 8th child of 10 children
Born on a family farm in the 1920s
High up in the Ozark mountains
North of Little Rock, Arkansas.
She graduated from High School
And lit out for the West coast
Just as millions of people
Fled the dust bowl of the late '30s and '40s.
She arrived in the SF area
And settled in Berkeley.
She hated being considered an Oakie
And lost her accent
She cultivated an accent
She learned from
The classical radio deejays.
She then became involved
In labor and democratic politics.
She became a telephone operator union President,
Later was a real estate salesperson,
And became involved with the Save the Bay movement
And the League of Women's voters.
During the 60's she accompanied
My father to Washington DC
When he was Undersecretary of Labor.
She could not wait to get back
To her beloved Berkeley
Because she felt at home
In the zany openness of the Bay area
She once said
"every ten years the world flips
And all the nuts roll downhill
To California
That is how she got there
Part of the Planetary Nut Reconfiguration Program
A little known Federal ABC agency "
She hated DC
As it reminded her why
She left the South so many years before.
In later years she helped my father
In his many political campaigns
And was his business manager for almost 10 years
When he ran an economic consulting business.
When she retired,
She kept her love of reading
Until just a few short years ago
When she finally
Was no longer able to read.
That for me was one
Of the saddest parts of her final years
As she loved to read.
What we all learned from Mary
- Mary's wisdom can be broken
Down into four areas:
Question authority,
Think for ourselves
Read everything there is,
And always do the right thing.
She always told us that we should question authority
And that we should never trust experts.
She said often what is an expert?
Just a guy with a Ph.D.
And we all know what means --
Piled High and Deep.
And she laughed
As she was married to Ph.D.
And hated campus politics.
She hated with disdain
Almost all politicians
Except for Truman and Kennedy
And she had her own Truman story
She thought they were all crooks and liars,
Especially the Southern-bred types.
She believed though in equal opportunity
And hated Republicans as much as Democrats.
No one ever measured
Up to her high standards
Of ethical behavior.
She often told us to do
The right thing.
But she refused to tell us
What would be
As we had to figure
That out on our own.
My final thoughts
Are on reading the lifelong
Love of books
That she gave me and my siblings.
She read an average of three to five books
Per week every week of her life.
We were always trading books
Stocking up books on our visits
To the family library
As I thought of it.
I have taken a part in the library
With me and will treasure all the books
That she shared with me and my siblings.
She always had an opinion
About everything.
One of her and my favorite books
Was the World According to Garp
And there was a "World According to Mary"
Where what you saw was what you got
And if you did not like her opinion,
Then you had best get out of the way
Because Mary,
Was afraid of no one
And always stood her ground no matter what.
With Mary "What you saw was what you got."
But I am happy that she
Let me in the "World According to Mary"
And I have lots of stories
From her life that would make great fiction,
For, in Mary's improbable life,
Life was truly stranger than fiction.
Because my mother grew up in a Christian family,
It would be appropriate to read a bible quote.
My mother was raised as a Baptist
Although she left the Church
After asking the minister,
"If God created the world,
Who created God?"
Here is one of her favorite Bible quotes
Ecclesiastes 12 (King James Version)
Ecclesiastes 12
1Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them.
2While the sun, or the light, or the moon, or the stars, be not darkened, nor the clouds return after the rain:
3In the day when the keepers of the house shall tremble, and the strong men shall bow themselves, and the grinders cease because they are few, and those that look out of the windows be darkened,
4And the doors shall be shut in the streets when the sound of the grinding is low, and he shall rise at the voice of the bird, and all the daughters of music shall be brought low.
5Also when they shall be afraid of that which is high, and fears shall be in the way, and the almond tree shall flourish, and the grasshopper shall be a burden, and desire shall fail: because man goth to his long home and the mourners go about the streets:
7Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.
8Vanity of vanities, saith the preacher; all is vanity.
9And moreover, because the preacher was wise, he still taught the people knowledge; yea, he gave good heed, and sought out, and set in order many proverbs.
10The preacher sought to find out acceptable words: and that which was written was upright, even words of truth.
11The words of the wise are as gods, and as nails fastened by the masters of assemblies, which are given from one shepherd.
12And further, by these, my son, be admonished: of making many books there is no end, and much study is a weariness of the flesh.
13Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.
14For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.
Her minister friend said the short version is " Life is Good. Then we Die and it gets even better."
When Mary was a telephone union president, word came down that she was invited to meet Harry Truman.
She replied
I don't want to meet Harry unless he wants to meet me.
Hearing that quip,
Harry was amused
And sent his advance team to talk
Some sense into that feisty fiery woman
Out in SF, that Mary Aller.
Two government types,
Dressed as I do,
Showed up
Asked her if she was a communist
She responded
Boy, are you stupid?
If I were a communist, would I tell you?
I don't think so.
Where do they get people to like you anyway?
The SF Chronicle captured the moment
With a huge headline,
"Harry Meets Mary."
This sums up my mother's fearless feisty
Stubborn personality and yes,
Truman was one of the few politicians
That got the Mary Aller seal of approval
Now my final Mary story
Sums up her life for me.
In 1974 I was in BHS play,
The Madwomen of Chaillot
Where I played the waiter
Whose line was
"she's not mad.
She's the madwomen of Chaillot."
But Mary was in the audience
And I lost my character
For a moment and said,
"She not's mad,
She's the madwoman of Berkeley, oops I meant Chaillot."
Brought down the house.
I went home thinking I had done it,
Insulted my Mom in front of the whole school.
She laughed
And said that was okay
As she liked the phase.
I said
"well, Mary,
You are my madwoman of Berkeley
And I'll have it no other way.
She laughed
And that was the end of it,
Until now.
When I say,
"Mary, you were one of the most original people
Whoever lived,
And I treasure the fact
That I was your son.
You were at times
Very difficult to deal
With but in the end,
Your good karma
Will outlive you
As you always did the right thing,
And for that
And all the other words
Of wisdom, I learned over the years,
I salute you,
Our beloved Madwomen of Berkeley.
â??
Writer's digest
1. Write a lucky poem and/or...
2. Write an unlucky poem.
Lucky in love, unlucky in cards
There is an adage
That sums up my life so far
One can be lucky in love
But unlucky in cards
That sums it up nicely
I have been lucky in love
Met and married
The girl of my dreams
Dreamed of meeting her
For eight years
Then she came into my life
Became my wife
But I have never been
Lucky in cards
I mean I have played
Poker with friends
But always lost
Won a little bit of gambling
But usually lost more
Then I won
Eventually gave up
Just not fun anymore
Never really had the gambling bug
Just not my cup of tea
It seemed to me
Yet to get a jackpot
But then I think
I hit the jackpot of love
When I met the love
Of my life that date
When I met my fate
And that has made
All the difference
In the world
â??
Visiting the Tower of Babel, NaPoWrMo Prompt
Finally, our prompt (optional, as always). I'm calling this one "Past and Future." This prompt challenges you to write a poem using at least one word/concept/idea from each of two specialty dictionaries: Lempira's Classical Dictionary and the Historical Dictionary of Science Fiction. A hat tip to Cathy Park Hong for a tweet that pointed me to the science fiction dictionary and Hoe for introducing me to the Classical Dictionary.
Visiting the Tower of Babel
A team of SF travelers
Discovered HG Wells secret plans
And construct a time machine
A big debate ensures
Where to go
When to go
Some wanted to back
And witness the crucifixion
Finally, they decide
To go back in time
To the construction
Of the tower of Babel
They set the time machine
To 2,226 BCE
And off they go
They find a large tower
Under construction
Reaching towards the heaven
They stay and watch
The tower's construction
Then the tower falls down
In a lightning strike
Everyone who witnesses
The scene
Is struck with madness
The tower lay in ruins
The people speaking
In tongues
The scientists conclude
That this biblical tale
Was probably true
â??
â??
News Headlines I'd Like to See NaPoWrMo Prompt
And now, on to our (optional) prompt. Today's prompt comes from the Instagram account of sundress publications, which posts a writing prompt every day, all year long. This one is short and sweet: write a poem in the form of a news article you wish would come out tomorrow.
Donald Trump dies of massive heart attack
2.6 infrastructure plan passed with a rare bipartisan vote
North Korea and South Korea enter into unification talks
Us troops come home from Afghanistan and Iraq
Peace breaks out around the world
The covid pandemic is finally over
Thursday, April 15, 2021
â??
April 15--Machines Writing com Dew Drop-In
The robots are coming
They will soon
Take away
More and more jobs
Leaving people free
To do other things
But what will we all do?
When the machines
Do everything
From driving and delivering
To cooking our food
Cleaning our houses
Cleaning our offices
Even doing our lawyering
And our doctoring
What will we do?
When the evil computer overlord
Emerges in the future
And enslave us all
To the robotic overlords?
Just Another Black Dude Pulled Over Driving While Black
The other day
A young black army Lt
Learned a vital lesion
To the average cop
On the street
A black man
Is a suspect
And must be dealt with
With maximum force
Just to teach them
A lesion
You don't mess with the police
You must know your place
And in today's world
You are nothing more
Then just another black man
In the eyes of the law
The Lt.'s crime?
Driving while black
In a small town
The cops saw a black man
Did not care
That he was in uniform
Took offense
When the black man
Refused to comply
And questioned their right
To harass him
They pulled out their guns
Making it a felony arrest
Beat him up for good measure
All for nothing
His crime
Not a crime
But did they care
Not at all
That is justice
In our America
At least
They did not go all
George Floyd on him
Perhaps his uniform
Saved his life
That day
April 15--Machines Writing com Dew Drop-In
The robots are coming
They will soon
Take away
More and more jobs
Leaving people free
To do other things
But what will we all do?
When the machines
Do everything
From driving and delivering
To cooking our food
Cleaning our houses
Cleaning our offices
Even doing our lawyering
And our doctoring
What will we do?
When the evil computer overlord
Emerges in the future
And enslave us all
To the robotic overlords?
Narnia Beckons PSH
1. Use five different colors.
2. Utilize each of the five senses.
3. Write about your hand (what is it? What does it do?) without using the words "hand," "finger/s" or "thumb."
4. Go to an imaginary place that is commonly known, don't name it until the end.
5. What did you do during covid that you wouldn't have done otherwise?
Narnia beckons
Red dawning sun
Blue sky
Yellow flowers
Pink flowers
Golden flowers
By my side
Narnia beckons
During covid lockdown
Reading Narnia in Spanish
â??
My Home Office Writer Digest
For today's prompt, write a poem inspired only by stimulus from where you're sitting (or standing, if you write will standing). In the past, I've written poems about pencils, characters in books I can see, and things I can see out my window when using this prompt. So, consider your immediate surroundings and poem away today.
My Home Office
For several years
I have had a home office
Chaotic, badly designed
Adhoc mess
But now I finally have
A decent home office
With a state of the art desk
That I can raise or lower
As I sit fit
My wife sits next to me
We can finally work together
Managing our real estate
And investments
I do my writing projects
With her at my side
Watching the news
Or listening to music
As we work side by side
In my peaceful home office
Cosmos Aller NaPoWrMo
And last but not least, our (optional) prompt for the day. Today, I'd like to challenge you to write a poem that delves into the meaning of your first or last name. Looking for inspiration? Take a look at this poem by Mark Wunderlich, appropriately titled "Wunderlich."
Cosmos Aller
I Am Jake Cosmos Aller
Born John Cosmos Aller
65 Years Ago in Berkeley, California
I Am the Third Generation Cosmos
The Name Comes from A Translation
Of Our Family Name Aller
The Story Is That My Great Grandfather
Wanted A Middle Name
To Reflect an English Translation
Of the German Word Aller
He Had A Choice
Cosmos or Universe
He Chose Cosmos
Otherwise
I Would Be John Universe Aller
My Grandfather Was the First Cosmos
Curtis Cosmos Aller Sr
My Father Was the Second Cosmos
Curtis Cosmos Aller, Jr
And I Am the Third
John (Jake) Cosmos Aller
Either Way
The Name Cosmos
Is Now My Pen Name
No One Believes
This Story
They All Believe
I Was Called Cosmos
Because I Was Born
In Berkeley
And the Name Cosmos
Seems Appropriate
For A Child Born
In Berkeley
Which Is A Pretty Cosmic City
After All
Unfortunately, I Am the Last Cosmos
In My Family's Line
As I Have No Children
If I Had A Son
He Would Have Been Called
Robert Cosmos Aller
â??
April 16
Caregiving In this Day and Age, writing com Do Drop-in
Caregiving In this Day and Age
--Caring & Caregiving
+ Invitation to library poetry open mic on this theme on April 20 via Zoom, 7-8 p.m. US Central time, register: https://www.normalpl.org/poetry-normal-zoom
Caregiving In this Day and Age
Caregiving in this day and age
Is difficult
As the Coronavirus wreaks havoc
Across the land
Thousands of people still dying
Every single day
As General Corona marches
Across the land
The caregivers are our unseen heroes
Saving lives every day
For very little pay
They do what they must
Providing care to the elderly
The forgotten old people
Living their quiet life
Of despair
â??
Dinosaur Story, Writers digest
For today's prompt, take the phrase "(blank) Story," replace the blank with a word or phrase, make the new phrase the title of your poem, and then, write your poem. Possible titles include: "Toy Story," "Super Long Unusually Strange Story," and/or "Same Old Story." Poem your story, so we can get at the second half of this challenge.
A metal dinosaur
Stands in a park
Deeply dreaming
The dinosaur
Comes to life
Millions of years
Have past
The dinosaur sniffs
Says to himself
Hmm I am back
Life is good
â??
Coffee Cup Dreams PSH
Writing from the point of view of an inanimate object can open the floodgates. We carry things around with us everywhere -- in our pockets, purses, backpacks, vehicles... but how do those objects see the world? This freewriting activity puts your voice to bed, while the object's voice is finally spoken.
Dig through your backpack, purse, bag, junk drawer -- and pull out the first object you touch.
Write a poem from the point of view of that object.
How does the egg timer feel about sitting on top of the stove when the cookies are done baking? What does the Costco Membership Card feel when you pass over it for Sam's Warehouse? How does the maple syrup react when you reach for the honey instead?
My coffee cups
Contains dreams
It dreams every morning
As I pour my coffee
The coffee cups
Comes to life
Filled with delicious coffee
The coffee cup smiles
It loves to provide me
With the pleasure
Of drinking coffee
The coffee cup smiles
His work is done
â??
Coffee Inheritance, NaPoWrMo Prompt
And now for our prompt (optional, as always). Today's prompt comes to us from Juan Martinez. It asks you to think about a small habit you picked up from one of your parents, and then to write a piece that explores an early memory of your parent engaged in that habit, before shifting into writing about yourself engaging in the same habit.
My father and mother
Were big coffee drinkers
They liked it black
My mother said
Coffee should be black
Like her heart
But her heart
Was filled with light
And love
She drank five to six
Cups every day
My father also
Was a big coffee drinker
They both drank coffee
All-day long
Oddly, it did not seem
To keep them from sleeping
Nor did it make them
Jittery
From too much caffeine
My parents did not allow me
To drink coffee
Until I was 18
When I finally join them
And became
A coffee achiever
Now when I drink my daily cup
I think back to my parents
Drinking their coffee
Thinking back
To my coffee inheritance
â??
Caregiving In this Day and Age, writing com Do Drop-in
Caregiving In this Day and Age
--Caring & Caregiving
+ Invitation to library poetry open mic on this theme on April 20 via Zoom, 7-8 p.m. US Central time, register: https://www.normalpl.org/poetry-normal-zoom
Saturday, April 17
April 17--
There is no such place
There is no such place
I often wonder
What would it be like?
If the mythical land of oz
Or Narnia existed
If we could travel
To other whelms
I wonder if
While I alive
If we will colonize
The Moon and Mars
And if I will travel
To the stars
Before my time is done
â??
Sunday, April 18
April 18
--Sounds...
Sounds and sights
Of unknown worlds
Fill my head
I hear the temple bells
I see the sights
Of my dreams
Unfold in my head
Sounds and sights
Of worlds yet to be
Fill my heart
With anticipation
Monday, April 19
April 19
--acting your age (or not!)
65 Years Young
I am now 65
A senior citizen
But in my heart
I still feel
Like I am still
20 years old
People say
I should act my age
But what that means
If I think
I am still 20?
Sunday, April 20
--Tree of Life...(see link for a drawing/journaling exercise)
https://nathanbweller.com/tree-life-simple-exercise-reclaiming-identity-directio...
Tree of Life
In the garden
Of Eden
Adam and Eve
Were forbidden
To eat the fruit
Of the tree of life
Satan sent a snake
To temp them
To eat the forbidden fruit
Of the tree of life
When they did
God knew
And banished them
From the garden of Eden
For their act of cosmic defiance
Morning Rituals PSH
If a stranger were to watch you through your window right now, what would they see and what would they say about it? Paint us a verbal picture. Play around with the point of view. You can be the observer describing what he/she sees in a third-person report, or switch it around to the first or second person
Morning rituals
Sam Adams
Starts his day
The same way
Every day
Gets up
At the crack of dawn
Leaves his sleeping wife
Washes up
Drinks two cups of coffee
Watches the news
While writing down his dreams
And his daily poetry
Thinking about life
Looking out the window
At the dawning sun
Lights up his living room
Thinking about life
He goes to his sleeping wife
Waking her with a kiss
Falling in love yet again
Ode to Berkeley Writers Digest
For today's prompt, write a city poem. You can make the title of your poem the name of a city and write your poem. Or you can mention a city in your poem. And, of course, you can just set your poem in a city without naming which one it is. It's also okay if you're more rurally inclined, to just write a poem about the city slickers. As always, have fun with it.
I grew up in Berkeley
In the late 60s and '70s
A wild magical time
In a magical city
By the bay
Berkeley was the center
Of my universe
For many years
Until I left it
In my early 20s
To wander about the world
Yet Berkeley never left me
I am still in Berkeley
It lives on in my heart
And soul
And someday
I will return home
To reside
Before I finally leave
Berkeley for good
As I die in my homeland
â??
Met My Fate That Date Skeltonic Poem NaPoWrMo Prompt
And last but not least, our (optional) prompt. Because it's Friday, today I'd like you to relax with the rather silly form called Skeltonic, or tumbling, verse. In this form, there's no specific number of syllables per line, but each line should be short and should aim to have two or three stressed syllables. And the lines should rhyme. You just rhyme the same sound until you get tired of it, and then move on to another sound. Here's a short example I came up with.
Met My Fate That Date Skeltonic Poem
I met my fate
That cosmic date
When I first saw my mate
I went to her that date
She walked into my life
Later she became my wife
Acting your age (or not!)
Writing com Drew Drop-in
65 Years Young
Topic: Age, Meaning of Life
I am now 65
A senior citizen
But in my heart
I still feel
Like I am still
20 years old
People say
I should act my age
But what that means
If I think
I am still 20?
â??
Howling with the Dancing Moon, PSH
Topic: Moon
If the moon could tap dance...
(Would it make a sound? What music is it dancing to? Where did it find tap shoes? What effect does it have on you?)
If rivers could wish...
(What would they wish for? Or have they already? Do they ever get tired of being wet? How about when something jumps in, falls in, takes something from them?)
If sunset could tell you...
(A truth beyond the horizon? Is it hard to say goodbye? What does it know that you don't? How has it tried to tell you?)
_____________
A man
Sits drinking late into the night
On the night of the blood-red
Super blue wolf moon
The lunatic light of the moon
Inspires him
As he drinks
In that depraved din of inequity
On the left side of society
Drinking with his buddies
Johnny Walker, Jim Beam
Jack Daniels, Evan, Old Granddad
Drinking one Scotch, one Bourbon
And one beer
Watching the naked woman
Dancing on stage
He finishes drinking
20 drinks too sober
He walks outside
And sees the naked moon
Dancing up a storm
Flying across the sky
Ripping her clothes off
Tap dancing
To the insane disco beat
Of the bar
He gives in
Jumps into the sky
Dancing with the naked moon
Howling with the moon maiden
Like an escaped banshee
From the lunatic bins
Of Hell
Cats are Aliens -Writers Digest Animal Poem
Cats are alien creatures
They are just so weird
So utterly inhuman
In their thoughts
And actions
They must have come
To this world
From another planet
Perhaps they are
The advance team
For the future alien invasion
Cats seem to communicate
Through telepathy
They seem to think
We are their slaves
Perhaps we are
And we do realize
That they are the master race
Anti-vaxers, anti-masks and other covid Idiots Poetic Rants
NaPoWrMo Prompt:
Topic: Corona
And last but not least, our prompt (optional, as always). Today, I'd like to challenge you to write a humorous rant. In this poem, you may excoriate to your heart's content all the things that get on your nerves. Perhaps it's people who tailgate when driving or don't put the caps back on pens after they use them. Or the raccoons who get into your garbage cans. For inspiration, perhaps you might look to this list of Shakespearean insults. Or, for all of you who grew up on cartoons from the 1980s, perhaps this compendium of Skeleton's might provide some insight.
Amid the worst global health pandemic
In over 150 years
The world is filled with COVID idiots
Who denounces any public health measures?
Designed to save lives
As an affront to their rights
To do whatever they please
Regardless of the impact
Their bad behavior may have
These COVID idiots
Refuse to wear masks
Refuse to social distance
Refuse to get a Vaccine
Even refuse
to wash their damn hands
They refuse to believe
That COVID is real
Until they or their relatives
End up in the hospital
Fighting for their life
If only these COVID idiots
Had worn a mask
Gotten a vaccine
They would not have become
Yet another COVID Ghost
â??
