Brickyard

Black and white checkerboard flags

Flap in the breeze,

Decorating every street

In the month of May.

The Brickyard is alive.

Race cars roar around the track.

We hear the long whine of the engines

As drivers whiz down the straightaway,

Throttling down for each curve of the oval.

Names like Foyt, Andretti and Unser

Were celebrated in our city,

Like war heroes returning from battle.

Every Memorial Day

The soundtrack for our picnic

Was the Indy 500 announcer

Calling the race.

Today's prompt:  write an origin story.

Downpour

It’s been a real

Gully washer

Of a winter.

The pond’s overflowed

A dozen times.

(Will the dam hold?)

River so far out of its banks

It made the news,

And made some messes

That are still a mess.

It’s been a real

Frog-stranglin’

Kind of winter.

Downpours that have

Wreaked havoc

In our little town.

But spring has sprung,

And things are being made new.

Life has won;

The frogs have sung it so.

Today's prompt: write a poem that starts from a regional phrase, particularly one to describe a weather phenomenon.

Clouds I've Seen

Gossamer feathers streaking the blue sky

Wispy snakey forms slinking across the valley

Dull puffs, silhouetted with silvery sunbeams

Clutching claws reaching through the atmosphere

Nebulous disembodied wings flying from west to east

Pink cotton-candy puffs lit by the setting sun

Fog marching down the mountainside,

            A line drawn, not to pass

Great misty boats sailing calm seas

Black wall rising from the horizon, threatening

Today's prompt:  write a poem that is a list.

Phoenix

An expert eye sees more than scraps,

More than firewood;

He sees the grain, so straight and true,

And saves it from burning.

Patiently he seasons the wood,

No warps or bows will do,

Time and heat are what it takes

To make the wood of use.

With steady hands he cuts the piece,

A perfect jig to follow;

Dovetails or splines join the sides

To make it strong and sturdy.

Not proud or shy, a perfect match,

Each corner square and true.

Finished to perfection, 

A coat of oil applied,

A work of art emerges,

A phoenix of a sort.

Today's prompt: think about the jargon of a particular job or profession, and see how you can incorporate it into a metaphor that governs or drives your poem.

The Stuffed Lion

You held your stuffed lion

Close to my face

And ROOAARRed.

When I fell over with feigned fear

Your face lit up with delight.

The attack was on

As you climbed all over my back

And let your lion “bite” me

Over and over again.

A fit of giggles from you

(to have a grown-up

join with abandon

into your imagined world).

Uncontrollable laughter from me

(to play with you

in such a way—

pure joy).

Today's prompt: to write a poem of gifts and joy.

This incident happened this week.  Writing this poem reminded my that one of the greatest gifts I have been given is to play with children through story and acting, to join them in pretending.  I have loved every minute of this.

What If...

Today's poem is inspired by this tea towel I bought last year.

If I could be more daring,

Bold and unafraid,

What things would I accomplish?

What things would I evade?

Would I wrestle an alligator?

Would I face a bear?

Would I hunt a tiger?

Would I enter its lair?

Would I climb a mountain?

Would I take a dive

From the highest cliff

To show I could survive?

Would I challenge a giant?

Would I face a foe?

Would I walk on water

Though the fierce winds blow?

Would I build a castle?

Would I chase a dream?

What would I imagine?

What would I scheme?

Would I love more fiercely?

Would I let it show?

What places would I visit?

Where would I go?

How would I spend a day?

What would I buy?

What would I give away?

How would I die?

Today’s prompt:  write a poem that emphasizes the power of “if,” of the woulds and coulds and shoulds of the world. Focus not on what has happened, or what will happen, but on what might happen if the conditions are right.

The Best Advice I Ever Got

The Best Advice I Ever Got

The best advice I ever got,

From songs I’ve loved and learned by heart,

Helps me live the way I ought.

Climb every mountain, ford every stream,

Follow every rainbow till you find your dream.

The best advice I ever got.

Just keep swimmin’, just keep swimmin’,

You better get to livin’.

Helps me live the way I ought.

Let’s go fly a kite,

Up to the highest height.

The best advice I ever got.

The cover is not the book

So open it up and take a look.

Helps me live the way I ought.

But if you walk the footsteps of a stranger,

You’ll learn thing you never knew you never knew.

The best advice I ever got.

Be our guest, be our guest,

Get your worries off your chest.

Helps me live the way I ought.

I’ll walk down the lane, with a happy refrain,

Just singin’, singin’ in the rain.

The best advice I ever got.

Make believe you're brave and the trick will take you far. 

You may be as brave as you make believe you are.

Helps me live the way I ought.

Songs both old and new

Hold lines that get me through. 

The best advice I ever got

Helps me live the way I ought.

Today's prompt: (1) the villanelle form, (2) lines taken from an outside text, and/or (3) phrases that oppose each other in some way. If you can use two elements, great – and if you can do all three, wow!

(I followed the villanelle form [sort of] and used lines from musicals that I have loved along the way.  I'm sure you can identify most of them.  I challenge you to identify all of them.)