*sticks tent stakes into the dirt and starts setting up camp*
Well hello there camper! This is where I'll be posting my poetry for Camp NaPo. Feel free to comment if you'd like - I don't anticipate sticking to any theme but will try to write at least one poem a day.
alliyah's poetry logbook
12 posts in this topic.
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Poem 1 - For Daily Challenge 1
They say the Spring Exists, I'm not convinced
I am not convinced the spring exists
who knows the sun or heard of it!
A myth, a myth we make believe;
we live through winter in a dream
I once heard a tale that robins are
more than just feathered snowfall.
Could beasts really sing, or dance, or fly?
Oh perhaps it's all the longful soul's echo-cry.
I'm not convinced the spring exists
the grounds too cold, the wind too crisp.
But even if the sun was make believe
I still long for warmth in my dream of dreams. -
Poem 2
I think I left my lungs along the way - DRAFT
I remember drowning as a child
spilled too fast into the pool,
tumble legs kicking, head bobbing, breathe
breathe in - water - breathe in - water
water, water, water, panic, breathe in
air - my mom's arms grabbing, holding,
legs kicking, running, breathe, breathe
I coughed out the entire sea up to my heart
breathe out - water - breathe out - water
breathe, breathe, breathe, and I left my lungs
tangled in the pool's ventilation system
fear is bodily conditioned in the pieces
of ourselves we let lie somewhere else
written into the absences. -
Poem 3 - For Daily Challenge 2
a self-imposed tyranny
For as much as we need air
we don't take much time to breathe
we don't have much time to spare
I suppose, but wouldn't it be daring
to try just one of these mornings
to drink your coffee without checking
your email, see if the world could pause
a moment while you try to live without
an agenda or a task or a deadline
could we hear ourselves think
if we took out the earbuds and listened
to the birds sing, listened to our heartbeat.
But we're not that brave, or we're afraid
of what we might hear. Someone long ago
convinced us we were Atlas, trapped
carrying the world, balanced
across our shoulders. So we live
without breathing, without hearing,
without listening and we imagine this is living.
Author Note: Challenge was to use what was in front of us for inspiration, I had my coffee cup and earbuds in front of me so tried to use those for inspo. -
Poem 4
I have always admired those poets
that can fold the whole world into one breath
but I've never been good at being succinct
it's too few words for what's on my mind
or maybe just too few to hide behind. -
Poem 5 - For Daily Challenge 3
we can never hold the sun
she always held the sun too tight
afraid he'd find some new sky,
another earth to warm.
but you can't hold suns,
they go their way.
where needed
they bring
day.
Author's Note: I did the challenge of writing about Day Light Savings and making each line one syllable shorter than the one before. I actually love how this turned out! -
Poem 6
an acrostic
Forget what he said
it's just ashes in the wind, he won't
return, so don't keep the lights on,
extinguishing flames; easier said than done. -
Hi, @alliyah! Really enjoying your pieces so far. There's a distinct poetic voice and unity between all of them; the imagery in each poem syncs up terrifically, too, especially in your 6th and 7th poems.
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Thanks for your comments @Liminality! It wasn't completely intentional for all of them sort of link up, but I definitely capitalized on a few similar themes and imagery throughout so they ended up being more cohesive.
Poem 8 - Daily Challenge 6
terza rima - camping trip
I learned that camping is not for the weak
that fateful outing we heard a clatter -
found my flashlight and dared to take a peek
ominous, looming beside our campfire
at least 12 feet tall and teeth like lightning
a bear! looting our supplies - food, lighter,
water, tools, and all - gone for the taking.
I resolved nothing could be done by me
returned to my sleeping bag til morning
and that is the last time I go camping!
Author's Note: This is a modified terza rima (had to add a line to the end) - I attempted to use four challenge words in my poem and here's where it ended up. -
reflection I made from EverLight's workshop on the question of the difference between novels & poetry -
Novels must communicate narrative through words organized in a grammatically acceptable structure, often in some sort of linear structure that mimics our lived experience of "story" it most often has characters and conflict and relates some sort of events.
whereas poetry doesn't have to communicate narrative, it doesn't have to obey any structural conventions, it doesn't have to use words it doesn't have to mimic our lives or have characters. It just needs to communicate. period. the sound the water makes against the beach is poetry in the middle of july. the sign that commands me to stop at the end of my street is poetry. the weight of gravity telling the leaves to fall is poetry. poetry is boundless. -
Poem 10
a haiku
my cat's not my friend
I'm not the one to bring food,
rejected I guess? -
Poem 11
I'm convinced you can get a lot done just by making lists.
1.
2.
3.
and so on and so forth. Even if there's not much behind such a list, isn't half of accomplishing something acting as if you have? or intending to do better? or maybe that's just another way to say making lists is an easy way to cover up how we never do what we say we will.
1. I remember asking you what you dreamed of and you told me I was there. If making space for each other isn't falling in love, I don't know why I rearranged my furniture so many times for you to lie.
2. I think we had a lot of mutual-good-intentions, but intentions only go so far. They might name stars, or make plans in maps and dreams, but they don't get much past list-making.
3. We tried and that should have counted for something. At least in theory.
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