2024 NaPM 05 April

[RiverNotch]

Rules: Write a poem for national poetry month on the topic or form described. Each poem should appear as a separate reply to this thread. The goal is to, at the end of the month have written 30 poems for National Poetry Month.

Write a list poem.

[TranquillityBase]

my father 
sold auto parts
and one summer
in Fredricksburg
I was his assistant
as we inventoried
mufflers 
      timing belts 
          water pumps
                  thermostats
                                 hoses
exhaust manifolds…

he was teaching me
what it was like to work.

on another trip
by bus this time to Eagle Pass
to meet him
my seat partner
wore a serape and carried a guitar,
was headed for California
              this was the mid 60s.

I knew at ten
he was headed for 
for something holier than work.

[Mark A Becker]

'round 'n 'round 'n 'round it goes

Around about now,
and just around the bend,
a group of men hang around
waiting, it seems, for someone
to come around. Most are
from around here.

I never see them driving
around- only milling around.
Around about noon
there are around fifty,
maybe more, many times
passing around a bottle.

If the cops come around
they'll briefly disband, only
to come around again,
and again. Might as well
put up a sign saying,
"see you around."

If a truck pulls up, a crowd
will gather around it. Some
will wave their arms around,
and the driver may say,
"need three right now, but
stick around, might need more."

[dukealien]

Thrill Krill


cocktail
popcorn
crawdad
Jambalaya
crawdad
crayfish
sauteed
grilled
blackened
Cajun
fried
boiled
heads-off
tails-off
tails-on
legs-on
heads-on
coconut
jumbo
prawn
Thermidor
Newburg
lobster

whale chow

---

@Mark A. Becker - Oh, yeah, know that corner in Grapevine - need two for lawn work, need five for shingles, ninety dollars a day cash money.  Well done.

[Mark A Becker]

Today’s Report

could be pushy
wind slicing rain
road flooding
big puddle
danger

in and out
sun and less
wetter
later
so brighter

cool enough
to get to it
warm enough
to smile
through it

that's the weather
you got whether
you like it
or
not

[Wjames]

Sunday

a chair rocks on a wooden porch
snow swirls slowly in a soft wind
a cats tail curls in its sleep
an old man sets the paper on his lap and yawns
someone puts a log on the fire
a child rests their head against a van window
rain is white noise on a cabin roof
someone sets a towel down on the beach
a candle melts the last of its wax

[Tiger the Lion]

Sunday

a chair rocks on a wooden porch
snow swirls slowly in a soft wind
a cats tail curls in its sleep
an old man sets the paper on his lap and yawns
someone puts a log on the fire
a child rests their head against a van window
rain is white noise on a cabin roof
someone sets a towel down on the beach
a candle melts the last of its wax

a poet's pencil reduced to a stub

Love this WJ.

[RiverNotch]

You hear certain critics classifying
this or that work, this or that artist
as "Confessional"
but let me one up them by saying
that since the last Sunday I have been able to take
Communion, I have been

irreverent of all the holy things I consider,
mistrustful of Providence,
oversensitive as to the opinions of others,
disobedient to those orders my heart knows are right to obey,
impenitent even of the wrongs I presently recall,
vain and arrogant,

quick to anger and argue,
resentful of the wrongs I endure
and retaliatory against those responsible for them
(including against myself),
covetous insofar as I have to participate
in a society that values covetousness,

prodigal when rich and penurious when poor,
intemperate over food, undisciplined over time,
immodest with my humour, slow to abandon temptation,
slow to work in general, yet quick to be despondent,
and in all this somewhat indifferent
to the suffering of those around me.