As promised in my previous blog post, here is the third set of poems I’ve written for the 14th annual Poem-A-Day Challenge as organized by Writer’s Digest. Even though every day has its own unique prompt, I am focusing on “travel” as an overarching theme because I’ve missed traveling so much this past year.
Day 11 PAD Prompt: Write a poem that incorporates a prime number. 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. 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).
UNDECIDED I can’t say if I have a favorite location, destination, or particular holiday, a moment that outshines any others – the prettiest vista, the grandest day out, a favorite route or footpath to ramble down. To scrutinize, to label, to rank would downplay the brilliance of each visit, all differently nuanced – the time of day, the conversation, the cascade of light on the hills, what flowered in the garden, the big news, the lost tooth – with subtle changes that make every moment its own masterpiece. Poetic Form of Choice: Lines with a syllable count in ascending prime numbers up to 29 (forced formatting may cause the longer lines to overflow) © 2021 F. E. Greene
Day 12 PAD 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.
LUNCHTIME IDLING In the shade of a great cathedral, I sit while children play on its steps in temperatures strangely warm for the season. Ice cream tracks trickle down their chins. Overhead, pigeons race in a gyrating cluster, orbit compressing until they settle around me in conspiratorial fashion. With bobbing heads, they imply – what’s mine is theirs. Do share. Their coos fuse to one voice to convict me of my greed as I refuse to relinquish my sandwich. The children frolic closer. The flock reshuffles, flutters, erupts into flight. Poetic Form of Choice: Free verse in quatrains with assonance and consonance © 2021 F. E. Greene
Day 13 PAD Prompt: For this Two-for-Tuesday, write a lucky poem and/or write an unlucky poem.
LUCK Luck must arrive unbidden Or won’t arrive at all; Like a recalcitrant feline, It scarpers when we call. Luck slinks and skirts, observing With concentrated eyes— Only when we have ceased to look Will it materialize. Poetic Form of Choice: The style of Emily Dickinson © 2021 F. E. Greene
Day 14 PAD Prompt: Write a poem inspired by your immediate surroundings. This can include pencils, characters in books you can see, or things out the window.
DAILY REFRAIN I gaze outside my window on this revalescent day. One year ago, I sat here; since then, not much has changed. But still the world feels altered, foundations cracked and strained, the old routines disrupted, old habits un-sustained. Although my view is looping through the hazy windowpane, collections and deliveries recurring in refrain, I know I’ll leave this room soon to abandon the mundane and the view outside my window on this revalescent day. Poetic Form of Choice: Quatrains with repeating end rhyme © 2021 F. E. Greene
Day 15 PAD 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” and/or “Same Old Story.”
A RAMBLING STORY Golden stalks glimmer beneath alabaster clouds— twilight burnishes the field, hedgerows enshrouded. Charlie rambles down the path; contentedly, I follow. Poetic Form of Choice: Sedoka (six lines with syllable count of 5/7/7/5/7/7) © 2021 F. E. Greene
F. E. Greene 