NaPoWriMo - Remember

Today kicks off the National Poetry Month, NaPoWriMo. We are not doing daily prompts for this but we, the volunteers at Poets on the Page, will be sharing some of our poetry with you.

I am struggling with what love means, love as in LOVE. I've started dating again after a two year hiatus. It is a struggle for me. When I find someone that I care about, my heart gets involved pretty quickly. It's all or nothing for me. I think it has to do with being an empath, I tend to feel things quite deeply. Probably why I chose not to date for two years. I will be exploring what love means to me through my poetry this month. Here is my first exploration through loop poetry. I chose loop poetry as it helps me dive deeper into my thoughts.

NaPoWriMo - Remember
Photo by MDragonwillow

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

remember
remember to find that special someone
someone that is the other half of me
me on the inside is being pulled out
out of the dark and into the light
light expanding outward brighter than the sun
sun rises in the morning, shining through the darkness
darkness crushes the internal light of hope
hope springs upward for all to bathe in
in the beginning everything looks bright
bright like a shining star that died a millennium ago and
and you snuffed out the light as that star dies
dies to the possibilities of you and me together
together will never be today or tomorrow
tomorrow there may be hope if I allow myself to bloom
bloom like the flower seeds that are buried in the earth
earth walking toward my inner being
being myself is the only way to find happiness
happiness is possible if I remember who I am
I am a spark of divine creation
creation is the ultimate of being here now
now is bright with possibilities if I allow myself to remember
remember

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My heart aches but maybe writing about love through poetry I'll be able to transform how I'm feeling now into glowing from the inside out with my own inner love and light. How are you using poetry this month? Are you reading poetry as well?

What I'm reading: 

If you write a poem on your blog for NaPoWriMo and would like to share it with us, place your link in the comments here and/or on the posts with our poems. We look forward to reading your poems.


Peace,
Morgan Dragonwillow
Read, Dance, Write, Repeat.

Morgan Dragonwillow, author of Wild Woman Waking & Dancing within Shadow, is a writing rebel, foodie, urban gardener, recovering perfectionist, facilitator of magical circles and poet who (mostly) doesn't let her fears get in the way of her passion for writing and creating. When she isn't working with clients, writing or dancing, you can find her encouraging and supporting her writing community at @StoryDam, #OctPoWriMo, #PoetsonthePage, and  Playing with Words on her blog.

Yes she is on Google+ too!

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Status Symbolism

Photo by Shehan Peruma / CC BY 

Emotions.

Anger, frustration, sadness, joy. Before you log on to Facebook and pour your feelings out onto your status update, think about how you could channel them into a poem that can be preserved as an artistic expression with perhaps a more timeless appeal than "this is how pissed I was on Tuesday". You could even throw in a little poetic symbolism for good measure.

Believe me, it's something I want to do regularly. And it doesn't take too much more thought than it would to put it out there on Facebook. In fact, wouldn't it be cool if more of us took a more poetic approach to our status updates? Fun, right?

The doctor's office, 8am

I'm right on time, but he's late again

Why does the receptionist admonish when I'm running behind?

It's as if they only value their precious time 

It's about adding a little flair to the same old recitation of "Waited in the doctor's office for 45 minutes. Again. How come it's okay for them to be late, but not me? 

I think I'll try it today. 

Take THAT, Zuckerberg! 

Linda Roy is a writer, singer/songwriter/musician whose humor blog elleroy was here mixes funny with a soundtrack. She is the founder and lead singer of the Indie/Americana band Jehova Waitresses and her writing has been featured at The Huffington Post, Scary Mommy, Erma Bombeck Writer's Workshop, Humor Outcasts and In the Powder Room, among others. She is a 2014 BlogHer Voice of the Year recipient and has contributed to several anthologies, including the third book of the New York Times best selling "Pee Alone" series, I Still Just Want To Pee Alone. Connect with her on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram.

D is for Dreams.

Welcome to the A-Z Poetry Challenge. I'm sorry about the lack of a picture but due to my chronic lack of technical expertise, I just can't figure out how to put one in. I tried about six times to do it and then had to give up. However, today's prompt is about dreams. What do you dream about? Daydream or dreaming while asleep? There are no rights or wrongs here. Did you dream something in the past that you no longer dream about? How have your dreams changed? You can write a very structured poem, perhaps a sonnet? Or you can do a stream of consciousness free flowing poem? No-one here is going to mark you down. It's your dream; go for it!

Poetry Prompt: Transforming the Winter Blues

This winter has gone on forever. It's cold, sometimes dark and it can drain our energy and motivation.  So what can we do to summon creativity and joy during a time of intense bleakness? When we're stuck indoors with cabin fever instead of interacting with others as much as we usually do? What about those of us who suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder? I'm just glad I don't live in Sweden. Can you imagine entire days of darkness? 

Have I depressed you yet? Sorry! There is a point to all of this! For this week's poetry prompt, let's turn our winter frowns upside down with poetry.  Let's find a way to transform the winter blues into a beautiful flower. 

Writing Prompt: Start out with your feelings about the long, cold winter; your observations. And then, over the course of your poem, transform your words and outlook into a beautiful early Spring flower. Let's paint imagery that takes us from bleak to beautiful! 

Poetry Link Up: Thankful

Monday's prompt is about being thankful: 

Writing Prompt: Tell us what you are thankful for or how you are thankful. Or both. You can do this in list form, story form - however you choose. Let us celebrate the season and the spirit of giving thanks through the beauty of poetry.

I'm thankful for all the wonderful poetry I know you'll come up with! Thanks for linking up.

Link Up! 

OctPoWriMo Day 29: Epitaph Poems

Halloween is lurking and we are also reaching the end...of OctPoWriMo 2013 that is.
In honor of the ghoulish holiday and the impending demise of our month of poetry...mwahaha...(maniacally creepy laugh is not optional) the prompt for today is to write an Epitaph Poem. 

An epitaph poem is a tasteful summarization of the life of a person. A kind of poetic eulogy if you will. The idea is to emphasize the positive aspects of the deceased. Epitaph poems can be humorous, dark, brooding, maudlin, serious, whatever you like. Some begin with "Here lies..." followed by thoughts about the deceased.  Prompt: Write an epitaph poem.  It can rhyme or not. It can be funny if you'd like. It can be about a fictional character or a well known person who has passed. You can choose to write about a beloved pet or a loved one you wish to pay tribute to or you can simply make it spooky for Halloween.  And if spooky is where you're headed...a little tip: imagine it being read by Vincent Price or Christopher Walken. I think that's a pretty good litmus test. Have a ghoulish good time!

OctPoWriMo Writing Prompt: Day 22 - A Picture Paints a Thousand Poems

If a picture paints a thousand words, then why can't it paint poems? A photograph tells a story and that story is usually pretty open to interpretation. Using the images that surround us is another way to find inspiration for poetry. What does it make you feel? What is your experience with the image? Or what do you think the subject is thinking, feeling and experiencing? Does the photograph make a statement about the world? Is it whimsical and surreal? Can it be funny, serious? Tragic? 

Writing Prompt: Choose one of the photos below and use it as inspiration for your poetry. You can tell us a story with your prose or mention the photograph within the body of the poem.  Have fun with it! There's no limit to where your imagination can take you. 

photo by Stephen Hernandez

photo by Robert Rauschenberg 

photo by Rodney Smith 

photo by Ben Heine 

OctPoWriMo: Day 15 - Making News Your Muse

In September I wrote about using what you find in the news as inspiration for poetry.  Whether it be a headline that jumps out at you or the story itself; perhaps a line from the story - any of these things can serve as inspiration for the beginnings of a poem.  For instance, a phrase might pop out at you - you see a line like 'China slams debt crisis, calling for new world order', which sparks an idea for prose using the words 'new world' or 'new world order'.

The example that most comes to mind is John Lennon's lyric from the iconic song 'A Day In the Life', which he took parts of almost verbatim from the newspaper, adding poetic touches to it to create a more artful vision of the events.

'I read the news today oh boy...about a lucky man who made the grade...and though the new was rather sad...well i just had to laugh...I saw the photograph..." 


'He blew his mind out in a car...he didn't notice that the lights had changed...a crowd of people stood and stared...they'd seen his face before, nobody was really sure if he was from the house of lords..." 

The Prompt: Regardless of where you get your news from, be it newspaper, online or television news, choose a headline, phrase, line or the story itself and craft it into the framework of a poem. Your poem needn't be a piece of news, the piece you choose is merely a springboard for the bigger picture. But if you choose to write about the event itself, that can make for a powerful poetic statement. See where it takes you and have fun. It can be about anything - not necessarily a serious piece of world news. Even something pulled from the funnies can make for good material.

Poetry Prompt Day 9: Lyrical Poetry

In September I shared some insights on thinking lyrically when writing poetry.  So let's take it a step further and try writing a poem with a lyrical feel in mind. 

Writing Prompt: Choose a musical style that you enjoy that fits what you'd like to write about and think in that style as you craft your poem. Think about *scansion in relation to that musical style and write your poem as a song. It can be short, long, a story song - anything you feel. Let go of any preconceptions you may have about prose and write what you feel musically. 

*scan·sion

ˈskanSHən/

noun

1. 1.

   the action of scanning a line of verse to determine its rhythm.

Take inspiration from some of your favorite artists and think about some of the lines that you find particularly poetic and pay attention to how they get the message across. Are they compact, little bites of deliciousness or are they lavish and intricate?  It can rhyme, but it doesn't have to. 

"whisper words of wisdom...let it be" - paul mccartney 

"life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans" - john lennon 

"What I am is what I am, are you what you are, or what?" - edie brick ell

"we're one...but we're not the same...we get to carry each other, carry each other..." - bono

"i wanna knit you a sweater, i wanna write you a love letter, i wanna make you feel better, i wanna make you feel...free..." -joni mitchell

Write a poem that could be set to music! Have fun!