APRIL 20, 2010 POEM A DAY CHALLENGE (WATCHWOMAN)

http://blog.writersdigest.com/poeticasides

Today is a two for Tuesday prompt. Here are the two options:


Write a looking back poem. There are a few ways to tackle this one, I guess. The narrator could be reflecting on the past or literally looking back (like over his or her shoulder).

Write a poem that doesn't look back. This poem would be kind of the opposite, I suppose. Narrator who refuses to look back or who is literally looking forward (or I suppose another option even is that the narrator is blind or something).

Of course, if anyone has an interpretation that falls outside of my suggestions, then feel free to run with them. I always encourage poets to bend the prompts to their will.





Watchwoman

I have sat upon
Kaatskill Falls
For a millennium

My arms searching
Reaching skywards
My roots spreading

I have become gazer
Standing testament
Of long times spent

I have witnessed
The inhales and exhales
Of countless days

I have witnessed
Mankind’s brilliance
In fortitude and defeat

I am the original
Birch Tree who
Extends her reach

I am now a grove
Of Birch Trees
Canopying the falls

I am the Sentry
Watchwoman of Earth
Anticipating my rebirth

In the quiets of
A winter storm
You may hear me

“I open to the North,
I open to the East,
I open to the South,
I open to the West,
Elements complete my circle.”

I stand and wait
Bare and naked
In winter’s storms

For the coming
For my resurrection
For mankind to understand

Peace.

APRIL 6, 2010 POEM A DAY CHALLENGE (WITCHES AND POCAHONTAS) "TWO FOR TUESDAY"

2010-04-06

http://blog.writersdigest.com/poeticasides

Today is the first Tuesday of April, which means it is also the first "Two for Tuesday" prompt of the month. Poets can choose to write one of the prompts, or they can write both. Personally, I usually just choose one.

For this prompt, write an ekphrastic poem. According to John Drury's The Poetry Dictionary, ekphrastic poetry is "Poetry that imitates, describes, critiques, dramatizes, reflects upon, or otherwise responds to a work of nonliterary art, especially the visual." So, I've provided links to two pieces of art, and I want you to pick one (or both) to write an ekphrastic poem. (It would be helpful for you to mention which art you picked.)

1.) Pocahontas, by Annie Leibovitz

2.) Flight of the Witches, by Francisco de Goya



Witches and Pocahontas

I had a dream last night
My sister witches
Levitated above my head
With mother, gone and forgotten
As they ascended
They throw magical dust
Covering me like a blanket
Keeping me safe.
It is not your time yet
There is much to do.

No Sisters are they really
I am no witch.

I am the last female wizard,
Of your magic
Not the same.
But thank you
Your well weaved spells
To send me on ahead.

My spirit is the wind
That caresses Pocahontas raven hair
My touch is being
Barefooted, and as graceful as a doe.
My love is a ship in a harbor
Always safe and warm.
My life is the forest
Tall Green and alive.
Look around
To find all of me.

APRIL 3, 2010 POEM A DAY CHALLENGE (CREATION OF SHAHENDA)

2010-04-03

 For today's prompt, I want you to take the phrase "Partly (blank)," replace the blank with a word or phrase, make that the title of your poem, and then write the poem. For instance, your poem might be titled "Partly Cloudy," "Partly Crazy," "Partly Out of Touch," or whatever.

Creation of Shahenda

I am partly the moon
From the radiance of the sun

I am partly the earth
From the quenching of the rain

I am partly the sun
From the gravitation of the Galaxy

I am partly the water
From the winds of the atmosphere

I am partly the plant
From the photosynthesis of light

I am partly the daughter
From a father unknown

I am partly the sister
From siblings of others

I am partly the wife
From the desires of other

I am partly the maid
From the needs of gaggle

I am partly the chief
From the lust of taste

I am partly the painter
From the scenes that haunt me

I am partly green
From the found object collages created

I am partly the word
From the poetry I weave

I am partly myself
From the world around me

APRIL 1, 2010 POEM A DAY (SHAHENDA'S VOCATION)

2010-04-01

http://blog.writersdigest.com/poeticasides

Today is day one, and for some reason the number one made me think of "One is the Loneliest Number," by Three Dog Night. That's what happens when I create prompts while listening to the oldies music channel, I guess.

As a result, the prompt for day one is to write a lonely poem. The narrator could be lonely. Someone or something in the poem could be lonely. Or the poem itself could try to evoke a feeling of loneliness for the reader. Or, as in challenges past, you could take the poem in a completely unique direction.


Shahenda’s Vocation

She steps onto the balcony, gazing
Far unto the edges of her reign.
Moonlight radiates strands of auburn hair
Eschewing from beneath her night bonnet.

The night is young, as she
What wanting and needing
Stirs within her about him
Knowing not whence he came.

Gently a cool breeze brushes her cheek
She closes her eyes, and cocks her head
Leaning on a palm which is not there
Eyes slit open and she sees her love
She inhales and smells him
Opening her mouth tasting him
Like a snake senses its prey.

The wind blows the echo
Of his whisper
Knowing of her loneliness
For world shall never know
As she stands witness to mankind.

She was born with purpose
Loving all that upon earth
Caretaker of this world.

Duty and honor her birth rights
Chastity and solitude her faith
No Man shall have her, No man to hold
Born Shahenda, “Queen of Queens”
The Watchwoman of time
The last wizard.