Throwing in the Towel on Poem-A-Day Challenge

I was going to catch up yesterday and today on the poems I am missing for the Poem-A-Day Challenge on Writer's Digest, but I decided not to.

I am a Quitter.

I was actually doing really well, and I believe I have posted 16 or 17 poems this month. Not bad for me. I am working on some other short story projects I plan to post later today or tomorrow.

Recently, I have purchased some really cool creative writing books, and I am really excited about getting started on the writing exercises in them. Check out www. InspirationUnderground.com and write with me!

More later!
~2

Open Your Eyes

Day #27 April's PAD Challenge entry:

Open Your Eyes

I am invisible.
It’s not so bad at times,
I can make funny faces or pick my nose,
And you won’t see me.

I am transparent
I am jumping up and down in front of your face,
But you haven’t a clue.

It’s raining and I am opaque.
A misty cloud hovering over your head while
You go about your business oblivious to my existence.

Why won’t you see me!
You can, you know?
You just need to look.
I am right here… in front of you!
100% real girl,
But you want nothing.

~2

This is Day 27 post for the Poem-A-Day Challenge: http://blog.writersdigest.com/poeticasides/
Today's prompt is: poem of longing

Infomercials Changed my Life

Day #26 April's PAD Challenge entry:

Infomercials Changed my Life

19.99 is the magic number
TV has changed my life
My credit card sits by the phone
Seductively smiling at me
Begging me to buy at 19.99
Magic number = AMAZING products
(I really must have a Snuggie today
One for me and one for you)

19.99 makes you popular too
Since you can share with a friend
You can make the best burgers
Have the fanciest closets
Clean up the worst messes
Who doesn’t want greener vegetables
less acne
The ability to repair ANYTHING!

19.99 will make you a better person
It might even save your life

~2

This is Day 26 post for the Poem-A-Day Challenge: http://blog.writersdigest.com/poeticasides/
Today's prompt is: Miscommunication

The Rattlesnake Derby

Day #25 April's PAD Challenge entry:

The Rattlesnake Derby

I like to watch the snakes in the pit,
But I don’t go on the buses and hunt them.
I like to ride the rides in the makeshift carnival,
But I won’t use the porta-potties.
I like to browse the vendors’ goods,
But I refuse to eat the rattlesnake chili.

This is Day 25 post for the Poem-A-Day Challenge: http://blog.writersdigest.com/poeticasides/
Today's prompt is: pick an event and make that event the title of your poem.

Yard Work

Sumission for: The Center of the Earth on Inspiration Underground

It cost five bucks for Mr. Lewis to sharpen my shovel. I didn’t know they did that at the lumber yard until today. It was funny watching him do it; his tongue half hanging out of his mouth, eye brows pinched together, and he didn’t even bother to wear safety goggles. My god, he was probably one hundred years old. I was waiting for him to combust when the sparks started flying.

It didn’t happen.

I needed the shovel to dig out a tree stump. My husband had hired day laborers to cut down and haul off most of the mangled tree in our backyard. It was half dead, half charred from lightening strike, and half blocking my view from the back window of our newly acquired home.

Buying a shovel AND having it sharpened made me feel like some sort of badass; maybe even a superhero. As soon as I got home with my new purchase, I headed to the back and immediately started digging into what was left of my arch nemesis.

“Come on! You know you wanna,” I pleaded as I dug my blade into the crackling timber. Driving it deeper with my foot-to-shovel action, prying away what I could, and tossing it into a pile. “Don’t be so damn stubborn!”

Crack. A large chunk of the rotting trunk wiggled free and I pried below the surface of the yard into a massive root core. I fell onto my knees and began peeling loose wood from the cracks and feeling deeper into the hole now in the place where the ugly tree once stood.

Pushing and pulling, attempting to loosen root, I became entangled. The more I pulled, the more the roots tugged me into them. Before I could event get back onto my feet I was shoulder deep into wet earth with my forehead pressing hard into the splintered remainders of the tortured tree trunk.

Deeper it tugged. Dirt caked in my nose and mouth; I wasn’t breathing. I could feel the wet warmth of the slick mud envelope me as I kept sliding south. I felt large masses gliding on either side of me; pushing and pulling me in different directions. Forcing me into my place among them where I fit like a puzzle piece. Undulating and throbbing as one, like a massive heart circulating earth in the planet’s core.

I woke up, barefoot in my soggy flowerbed. An earthworm rested on the top of my right foot, I kicked it away, and ran back in through my open back door.

We hadn’t had the chance to install the precautionary locks… for my sleepwalking.

Cloud Bursting

Day #24 April's PAD Challenge entry:

Cloud Bursting

It’s a lovely afternoon for cloud bursting
Lying in the grass
Devouring cotton candy clouds
Revealing the bluest of blue sky
I am distracted by the planes passing by
My head hums, teeth rattle, and a plague of goose bumps envelopes me
I wonder if it is your plane that passes this time
My stomach does little somersaults at the image of you
Walking out to the baggage carousel with your pack over your shoulder
Your smile greets me, our eyes lock, and the world moves in slow motion
My daydream bursts open at the seams as another plane passes overhead
I wonder if it is your plane that passes this time

~2

This is Day 24 post for the Poem-A-Day Challenge: http://blog.writersdigest.com/poeticasides/
Today's prompt is: Travel related poem

The Moment

Day #23 April's PAD Challenge entry:

The Moment

I am not going to sit and relive how I have wronged you
I am not going to batter dip myself in guilt and wallow in my mistakes
You know I am sorry; I have told you over and over but
I refuse to relive those moments every day of my life
It happened, it’s over and done… no more regrets
The path we are on now is moving forward and we will make new mistakes tomorrow
Today I am here and so are you
Let’s love and laugh and not linger on the past
Let’s forgive and forget
In a moment, I am going to kiss you, and you’re going to smile at me
Right here and right now is
ALL that matters.


This is Day 23 post for the Poem-A-Day Challenge: http://blog.writersdigest.com/poeticasides/
Today's prompt is: regret

Playing Catch-Up

Day #22 April's PAD Challenge entry:

Playing Catch-Up

Writing, writing, and writing some more
Wringing my brain
Trying to drip every ounce of creative juice
Onto my keyboard
A poem for each day of April
I am not a Poet
I am forever behind
So many projects started and never completed
I will finish this…
If it kills me

~2

This is Day 22 post for the Poem-A-Day Challenge: http://blog.writersdigest.com/poeticasides/
Today's prompt is: work related

Haiku - Day #21 Poem-A-Day Challenge

Day #21 April's PAD Challenge entry:


From yellow to green
riding on butterfly wings
Spring whispers, "hello"
~2


This is Day 21 post for the Poem-A-Day Challenge: http://blog.writersdigest.com/poeticasides/
Today's prompt is: haiku or write about the haiku

All I Want is a Diet Coke

Day #17 April's PAD Challenge entry:

All I want is a Diet Coke

I love Diet Coke
I love the caffeine, the bubbles, and the artificial goodness of it all.

Wanting

Needing

A Diet Coke this early in the morning,
Makes this weird girl do strange things
Post a random jumble of nonsense and pretend it’s a poem
Admit that my brain worms love Diet Coke almost as much as I do
State that I am pretty sure…
Diet Coke will bring about the zombie apocalypse.
My senses tingle at the thought
A Diet Coke

Right here

Right now

Foamy mouth and glassy eyes
I CANNOT function like this!
All I want is a DIET COKE, DAMN IT!!!

~2
running to the store... brb


This is Day 17 post for the Poem-A-Day Challenge: http://blog.writersdigest.com/poeticasides/
Today's prompt is: All I want is ________

Dayglow Yellow

Day #16 April's PAD Challenge entry:

"Dayglow Yellow"

The highlighter presses on

Page after page of my life

Marking important moments
Noting terrible mistakes
Squeaking past happy memories
Lines that shouldn’t be forgotten
Editing in dayglow yellow
(swish swish squeak squeak)
Unintentionally leaving out
The puzzle pieces of my contentment

~2

This is Day 16 post for the Poem-A-Day Challenge: http://blog.writersdigest.com/poeticasides/
Today's prompt is: color (titled with color)

Falling Behind and Catching Up

It's been about a week since I have posted here or posted for the Poem-A-Day Challenge on Writer's Digest. I am not a poet, but I have been enjoying writing the challenges; so I will try to catch up in the next few days (you will notice quite a few posts).

I am jumping ahead and posting for day 14 (even though I should start with Day 7), and I am kinda sorta cheating... the prompt was to either write a love poem or write an anti-love poem. I already have a perfect fit, so I am going to repost it here.

Day #14 April's PAD Challenge entry:


It Would be OH SO Nice

Every time I see your face my stomach turns
My eyes roll and I look away in disgust
That shirt… the way you comb your hair
Makes me want to vomit on your shoes

Every time you open your mouth garbage spews
Rotting flesh and soured milk
I can’t stand the sound of your voice
Your lack of imagination
Your misplaced wit and spoiled integrity
Don’t talk to me

Every time you walk by I grit my teeth
It takes all that I am to bite my tongue and be civil
To not blurt out extreme malevolence
To look away and smile and try to think a happy thought...
A life without you in it

~2

This is Day 14 post for the Poem-A-Day Challenge: http://blog.writersdigest.com/poeticasides/
Today's prompt is: love poem or anti-love poem

So We Decided to Trade the Kids for a Puppy

Day #12 April's PAD Challenge entry:

So we decided to trade the kids for a puppy

There are days when I am so tired
Tired of cleaning up the same mess
Mess made by little kids who laugh
Laugh at me cleaning and cleaning and cleaning some more
More dirty rooms
Rooms littered with laundry
Laundry hiding the toys
Toys covering the floor
Floor speckled with spills
Spill splattered hands and faces
Faces that smirk and resist washing
Washing forever and ever…

So we decided to trade the kids for a puppy*

~2

*I am kidding; no children were exchanged for a pet. They are all accounted for and sniggering as I clean up yet ANOTHER mess.


This is Day 12 post for the Poem-A-Day Challenge: http://blog.writersdigest.com/poeticasides/
Today's prompt is: So We Decided to _______

Oh, Friday

Day #10 April's PAD Challenge entry:

Oh, Friday

Oh Friday, I could kiss you
You have come to my rescue
Again.

Every week I wait it out patiently
The end of the chaos that you so graciously
Wisk me away from.

Together for one GLORIOUS day
Even the fiercest of love cannot make you stay
with me forever.

Six days, I have longed for you to be near
But sadly, you will soon disappear
Leaving only Saturday to console me.

~2


This is Day 10 post for the Poem-A-Day Challenge: http://blog.writersdigest.com/poeticasides/
Today's prompt is: Friday

Flat Tire

Day #8 April's PAD Challenge entry:

Flat Tire

One, two telephone poles
Three, four parked cars
Five, six, seven store fronts
Nine mullets… seriously, nine
Ten blocks and not a single bus stop.

~2


This is Day 8 post for the Poem-A-Day Challenge: http://blog.writersdigest.com/poeticasides/
Today's prompt is: a routine

Till the Water Runs Cold

Day #7 April's PAD Challenge entry:

Till the Water Runs Cold

Several minutes and the water runs hot
Fog devours the bathroom mirror
It cries toothpaste splatter tears
I sit and wait for it to take me too
It doesn’t
I finally step into the stall
Holding my breath
Red, water-colored flesh
Wash, rinse, repeat
Hoping soap will chase my thoughts down the drain
Scrubbing your fingerprints from my chapped skin
Unable to scour them from my mind
Wash, rinse, repeat

~2


This is Day 7 post for the Poem-A-Day Challenge: http://blog.writersdigest.com/poeticasides/
Today's prompt is: clean OR dirty

One Line Plot

I am slowly catching up on last week's posts for Inspiration Underground

This is my submission for One Line Plot where we were to pick 5 books and summarize them in one line.

I have been putting it off and moving other projects in front of it... sorry.

Here's my go:

The Book Thief (Markus Zusak): A young girl learns the power of words, while death tells a tale of another hard days work.

Paper Towns (John Green): Searching for the enigmatic Margo Roth Spiegelman, Quintin follows clues she willingly and unwillingly left behind.

Twilight (Stephenie Meyer): Blossoming love between the unlikeliest pair, the vampire hero saves his beloved damsal in distress but refuses to make her immortal. (*gasp* OH, Edward, MY hero! *gasp*)

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (J.K. Rowling): Surrounded by good friends and dark enemies, a young boy finds acceptance in the foreign world of Magic.

The Graveyard Book (Neil Gaiman): Raised by the dead, young Nobody Owens is safe from the Jack that killed his parents as long as he is disciplined enough to stay within the walls of the graveyard he calls home.


I am going to try to catch up on another submission for Inspiration Underground today. You should play too www.inspirationunderground.com

Not Kutner: A House Haiku

Day #6 April's PAD Challenge entry:


I watched House that night
Kutner died by his own hand
Everyone was sad
(including me)

I read a rumor
Kal Penn heading to D.C.
My heart is broken

I will miss him so
Monday nights won’t be the same
Thank God for reruns

~2



This is Day 6 post for the Poem-A-Day Challenge: http://blog.writersdigest.com/poeticasides/
Today's prompt is: Missing something

Crawdad Creek

Day #5 April's PAD Challenge entry:

The perfect formula for a summer day:
3 pieces of uncooked bacon
2 feet of fishing line… each
1 blue bucket
You and me.

Latch key kids, adventurers, Entrepreneurs
Vigorously shaking bacon tied lines over THE mighty bucket
Never touching those ugly pinchers or twitchy feelers
Stubborn crawdads not wanting to let go of our bait
PLOP!
Drop your line again, I’ll grab the bucket!

~2

This is Day 5 post for the Poem-A-Day Challenge: http://blog.writersdigest.com/poeticasides/
Today's prompt is: A Landmark

A Jar Full of Alex

Day #4 April's PAD Challenge entry:

We had been reading about the unlikeliest of pets,
Kept in a jar, so when a friend suggested a trade
I said yes.
She gave me an egg sac for a glass gallon jar,
We kept it in Gabe’s room, on his chest of drawers.
We waited and waited and waited some more.

Finally!

Many tiny acrobats spinning of strings
It was grossly beautiful… of all the things!
Hatching and hatching I watched on the spot
Falling from a stick all covered with snot
OK, it looked more like cotton, but that didn’t rhyme
As I sat and stared, I lost track of the time.

I peeled myself away from my jar for the day,
Finding it perfectly right for I had forgotten the night.
I needed to sleep and stop thinking of creepy crawlers,
But they possessed my dreams until late in the morning hours.

Skin itching and crawling, I had to take a peek
At the jar full of bugs, I wished were asleep.
They weren’t… ewe.


~2



*Alex was the name of the Mantis Collective.

This photo was taken the day we let the last Alex go *sniff sniff*



This is Day 4 post for the Poem-A-Day Challenge: http://blog.writersdigest.com/poeticasides/
Today's prompt is: an animal

The Problem With Being a Domestic Super Hero

Day #3 April's PAD Challenge entry:


I rather like being a Super Hero.
There is grace in the mastery of the one handed vacuum;
There is eloquence in wielding a toilet brush.
I can have ice cream or cookies for breakfast, yet
I secretly enjoy the children’s fear of green vegetables.
I.Get.To.Use.The.Voice.Of.Doom.
I am an all powerful, dust banishing, grime busting, hard ass!
That’s pretty cool.
The only problem with being a Domestic Super Hero is finding an acceptable sidekick…

Screw that! I prefer to work alone.

~2


This is Day 3 post for the Poem-A-Day Challenge: http://blog.writersdigest.com/poeticasides/
Today's prompt is: The problem with (blank)

ADHD

Day #2 April's PAD Challenge entry:


In second grade,
I was an invited guest to sit by your side and observe.
I watched as you struggled to stay still and not speak out,
As you forced amazing ideals to stay in the back of your mouth.
I watched the teacher become irritated as you veered off task.
I whispered in your ear to please not ask that question…
but you did anyway.

My heart ached
“Angry” and “out of context” bounced off the walls
Slapped me in the face
even though I was invisible.
I could not speak
bound to my miniature chair
I stared at my feet

This bully burned me with laser beam eyes,
As I sat there wearing my “bad parenting” badge;
An outsider drowning in a sea of seven year olds.
Choking on words that should have been said,
I stayed pathetically quiet.

I am sorry.


This is Day 2 post for the Poem-A-Day Challenge: http://blog.writersdigest.com/poeticasides/
Today's prompt is: outsider

Poem-A-Day Challenge #1: "Change"

I posted about this challenge yesterday on Inspiration Underground, but you can find more information HERE

April is National Poetry Month, so I might post a poem on Writer's Digest for fun [to keep me writing]; you should too. The challenge is to post a poem a day in the comments section of: http://blog.writersdigest.com/poeticasides - there will be daily prompts to help you on your way.

Today's Prompt: Origin

"Change"

Magical,
How it gathers in the crevices.
Wonderful,
How it’s always just enough
For a cup of coffee or a chicken burrito.
The origin of spare change mesmerizes me,
As the coins secretly collect under my couch cushions.

~2

*I am going to label/tag these posts "Poem-A-Day" if you wish to come and track my progress