Today's NaPoWriMo prompt is to write about something big and something small coming together.
The Rhino's Guard
The bond between the rhinoceros
and the oxpecker bird
may seem on the surface
kind of strange, even absurd.
But if you understand
the deeper logic,
you'll see their relationship
is symbiotic.
The oxpecker eats
parasites which
make the rhinoceros
itch and twitch.
The nearsighted rhino
has enemies it may be missing,
so the oxbird warns it
by screaming and hissing.
The oxpecker serves as an alarm
and a pesticide.
In return it gets free meals
as well as a free ride. - Jeff Barnes
Monday, April 9, 2018
Sunday, April 8, 2018
NaPoWriMo, Day 8
Today's NaPoWriMo prompt is to write a poem "in which mysterious and magical things occur."
Black Crow
On the morning of your burial
I stood at your grave
and asked you in my mind
for a sign
that you were okay.
That afternoon a black crow
flew three times around the room
knocked a picture of you
off a bookshelf and flew
out an open window.
More than twenty years later,
whenever I see a black crow
that has alighted on the deck,
or a power line
ahead of where I am driving
I am led to wonder
if you've borrowed its form
and come back
just for a moment
to say hello. - Jeff Barnes
Black Crow
On the morning of your burial
I stood at your grave
and asked you in my mind
for a sign
that you were okay.
That afternoon a black crow
flew three times around the room
knocked a picture of you
off a bookshelf and flew
out an open window.
More than twenty years later,
whenever I see a black crow
that has alighted on the deck,
or a power line
ahead of where I am driving
I am led to wonder
if you've borrowed its form
and come back
just for a moment
to say hello. - Jeff Barnes
Saturday, April 7, 2018
NaPoWriMo, Day 7
Today's NaPoWriMo prompt is to list your layers of identity, then divide them into things that make you feel vulnerable and things that make you feel strong, then select something from each list and have a sort of dialogue between them. I wasn't crazy about this prompt, but I tried to come up with something, so here is a bit of light, silly verse.
The Ugly Poet
I have my weaknesses
but I can compensate.
My teeth are crooked
but my lines are straight.
I may be overweight,
out of shape and flabby,
but people always tell me
my writing's not too shabby.
My hair is thinning
but things could be worse.
My head may look funny
but it is chock full of verse.
I look like a Ferengi
because of my big ears,
but I write poetry
as good as Shakespeare's!
OK, maybe I flatter
myself just a tad.
I'm not as good as Shakespeare
but at least I'm not half bad. - Jeff Barnes
The Ugly Poet
I have my weaknesses
but I can compensate.
My teeth are crooked
but my lines are straight.
I may be overweight,
out of shape and flabby,
but people always tell me
my writing's not too shabby.
My hair is thinning
but things could be worse.
My head may look funny
but it is chock full of verse.
I look like a Ferengi
because of my big ears,
but I write poetry
as good as Shakespeare's!
OK, maybe I flatter
myself just a tad.
I'm not as good as Shakespeare
but at least I'm not half bad. - Jeff Barnes
Friday, April 6, 2018
NaPoWriMo, Day 6
Today's NaPoWriMo prompt: "Today, we’d like to challenge you to write a poem that stretches your comfort zone with line breaks. That could be a poem with very long lines, or very short lines." I went with long lines, and I went completely surreal.
One Fine Day in April
"A shark jumped out of the river and somersaulted over the bridge,"
said the newscaster who was reporting live from inside my fridge.
Suddenly an octopus flew past my house playing eight tambourines.
He said he was going on vacation for a week in the Philippines.
Then a woman knocked on my door and said, "I have something for you,"
and she gave me a white rose that was planted in a dirty shoe.
After she left I shrugged and said, "I don't know what to make of that."
"Just use it as a centerpiece," suggested my tabby cat.
"I guess I could," I said. "I've seen things more absurd,
like the time my faithful goldfish morphed into a bird
then flew away and got married to a vampire bat."
"Yes, I remember when that happened," said my tabby cat.
They sent me a postcard from Scotland, where they went on their honeymoon.
I still think of them whenever I watch the movie "Brigadoon."
An old man looked in my window. He had a sunflower growing out of his head.
"I can't take this anymore!" I said, then pulled down the shade and went back to bed.
I was awakened by an airplane that landed in my yard.
"How'd you do that?" I asked the pilot, and he said, "It wasn't hard."
A naked lady passed by. She played an accordion while riding a unicycle.
She was being followed closely by the archangel Michael.
"Good heavens!" I shouted. "This is something I didn't foresee!"
"Please help me!" said the lady. "Make that angel stop chasing me!"
At that moment a green tentacle came up from the ground.
It wrapped around archangel Michael and disappeared without a sound.
The airplane pilot shook my hand and said, "I really must be going.
I'm flying to Chicago to apply for a job with Boeing."
I wished him good luck and then a moose driving a Cadillac
pulled into my driveway and asked me for directions to Hackensack.
I looked at my road atlas to see which way he should go
when suddenly he was beamed aboard a passing UFO.
I said, "I hope those guys from space will take him to where he wants to be."
Then I went back into the house and made a cup of tea.
My cat was listening to the Chieftains while doing an Irish jig.
I love my cat but he has all the grace of a bow legged, drunken pig.
Just then my phone rang but I didn't want to talk,
so I put on my top hat and I went outside to take a walk.
I walked past the train station and went into a coffee shop.
A pretty waitress smiled at me and then removed her top.
She had a tattoo of George Washington right between her boobs.
She brought me a cup of coffee and a bowl of sugar cubes.
I said, "I think I'm in a time and place where I don't belong."
"Nonsense," she said. "You can stay here and drink coffee all day long.
I have nobody to talk to except for Roscoe, my pet mouse."
I paid the bill and left a tip, then ran all the way back to my house.
When i got home my phone was still ringing. My cat was quite annoyed.
"Go ahead and answer it," he said. "Why are you so paranoid?"
I reluctantly picked up the receiver and I said, "Hello?"
The voice on the other end said, "This is Neil. I'd like to talk to Joe."
"There's no one named Joe here," I said. "You must have dialed the wrong number."
I hung up the phone and made a sandwich of hummus and sliced cucumber,
taco sauce and peanut butter on toasted Italian bread.
And, putting an end to a typical day, I went upstairs to bed. -- Jeff Barnes
One Fine Day in April
"A shark jumped out of the river and somersaulted over the bridge,"
said the newscaster who was reporting live from inside my fridge.
Suddenly an octopus flew past my house playing eight tambourines.
He said he was going on vacation for a week in the Philippines.
Then a woman knocked on my door and said, "I have something for you,"
and she gave me a white rose that was planted in a dirty shoe.
After she left I shrugged and said, "I don't know what to make of that."
"Just use it as a centerpiece," suggested my tabby cat.
"I guess I could," I said. "I've seen things more absurd,
like the time my faithful goldfish morphed into a bird
then flew away and got married to a vampire bat."
"Yes, I remember when that happened," said my tabby cat.
They sent me a postcard from Scotland, where they went on their honeymoon.
I still think of them whenever I watch the movie "Brigadoon."
An old man looked in my window. He had a sunflower growing out of his head.
"I can't take this anymore!" I said, then pulled down the shade and went back to bed.
I was awakened by an airplane that landed in my yard.
"How'd you do that?" I asked the pilot, and he said, "It wasn't hard."
A naked lady passed by. She played an accordion while riding a unicycle.
She was being followed closely by the archangel Michael.
"Good heavens!" I shouted. "This is something I didn't foresee!"
"Please help me!" said the lady. "Make that angel stop chasing me!"
At that moment a green tentacle came up from the ground.
It wrapped around archangel Michael and disappeared without a sound.
The airplane pilot shook my hand and said, "I really must be going.
I'm flying to Chicago to apply for a job with Boeing."
I wished him good luck and then a moose driving a Cadillac
pulled into my driveway and asked me for directions to Hackensack.
I looked at my road atlas to see which way he should go
when suddenly he was beamed aboard a passing UFO.
I said, "I hope those guys from space will take him to where he wants to be."
Then I went back into the house and made a cup of tea.
My cat was listening to the Chieftains while doing an Irish jig.
I love my cat but he has all the grace of a bow legged, drunken pig.
Just then my phone rang but I didn't want to talk,
so I put on my top hat and I went outside to take a walk.
I walked past the train station and went into a coffee shop.
A pretty waitress smiled at me and then removed her top.
She had a tattoo of George Washington right between her boobs.
She brought me a cup of coffee and a bowl of sugar cubes.
I said, "I think I'm in a time and place where I don't belong."
"Nonsense," she said. "You can stay here and drink coffee all day long.
I have nobody to talk to except for Roscoe, my pet mouse."
I paid the bill and left a tip, then ran all the way back to my house.
When i got home my phone was still ringing. My cat was quite annoyed.
"Go ahead and answer it," he said. "Why are you so paranoid?"
I reluctantly picked up the receiver and I said, "Hello?"
The voice on the other end said, "This is Neil. I'd like to talk to Joe."
"There's no one named Joe here," I said. "You must have dialed the wrong number."
I hung up the phone and made a sandwich of hummus and sliced cucumber,
taco sauce and peanut butter on toasted Italian bread.
And, putting an end to a typical day, I went upstairs to bed. -- Jeff Barnes
Thursday, April 5, 2018
NaPoWriMo, Day 5
I started following today's NaPoWriMo prompt, and my poem took on a life of its own.
Feathers Fall, Dancing
Feathers fall, dancing
in the wind like leaves.
The gray sky is crisscrossed
with branches of fruitless trees.
They look like bony fingers
that try to clutch the air.
A crow's caw sounds like nothing
except a useless prayer.
The genius of the universe
is that it never regrets.
Everything is a whirlwind
and nothing ever rests. - Jeff Barnes
Feathers Fall, Dancing
Feathers fall, dancing
in the wind like leaves.
The gray sky is crisscrossed
with branches of fruitless trees.
They look like bony fingers
that try to clutch the air.
A crow's caw sounds like nothing
except a useless prayer.
The genius of the universe
is that it never regrets.
Everything is a whirlwind
and nothing ever rests. - Jeff Barnes
Wednesday, April 4, 2018
NaPoWriMo, Day 4
Today's NaPoWriMo prompt is to write a poem about an abstraction using concrete verbs. I took the concept of a misfit (easy for me) and wrote this.
Misfit
He's a submarine in the desert,
a glob of spinach on an apple pie,
a polar bear in a Florida swamp,
a water buffalo in the sky.
He's a coffee table glued to the ceiling,
a fish behind the wheel of a car,
an octopus at the top of Mount Everest,
a dill pickle in a jelly jar.
He's a bathtub in a dining room,
a bass guitar string on a violin,
a jigsaw piece without a puzzle
wondering where he can possibly fit in. - Jeff Barnes
Misfit
He's a submarine in the desert,
a glob of spinach on an apple pie,
a polar bear in a Florida swamp,
a water buffalo in the sky.
He's a coffee table glued to the ceiling,
a fish behind the wheel of a car,
an octopus at the top of Mount Everest,
a dill pickle in a jelly jar.
He's a bathtub in a dining room,
a bass guitar string on a violin,
a jigsaw piece without a puzzle
wondering where he can possibly fit in. - Jeff Barnes
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