Welcome to “Writober,” a challenge hosted by Maria at Experience Writing.

Today’s chosen prompt: Parasites/Microscopic Monsters. “Write a poem about something that becomes part of something else, like a river becomes part of the ocean, or a parasite becomes part of its host.”

Skyscrapers pour
shadows across streets
blend into night

Welcome to “Writober,” a challenge hosted by Maria at Experience Writing.

Today’s chosen prompt: Snakes/Gorgons. “

Who are the monsters in your neighborhood? The monsters that you meet, while you’re walking down the street each day? What mundane things might these monsters do, or ask you for?”

I know their faces,
blurred, hooded
in darkness of night.
They think they know
me, but I can hide
in shadows as well,
the sun is my enemy also.
I see their outlines
behind shades in apartments,
homes of those who prey
on the helpless, watching,
waiting, until twilight beckons
them to the hunt. I hunt too.
Stakes in hand, my scent masked,
I creep behind to end
their sport, until the day
they end mine.

Welcome to “Writober,” a challenge hosted by Maria at Experience Writing.

Today’s chosen prompt: Fear of Robots and Tech. “Write a poem arguing that a common saying is a lie, or that the way a new technology has been sold to the public was a lie.”

It’s Ok to Sleep In

They say
”The early bird
gets the worm.”

But why should I care?
Early or not,
worms will rise

to the surface
when ready
and not before.

Welcome to “Writober,” a challenge hosted by Maria at Experience Writing.

Today’s chosen prompt: Evil and Possession. “Write a poem about the contradictory nature of human behavior. Even without possession, the battle of good and evil rages within each one of us. Like the example poem, use anaphora (repetition of the first word of the line) to show patterns in these contradictions.“

Invitation

You only come out
after sundown
bang on my door
demanding I open, saying

let me in out of the cold
let me in I can fix you supper
let me in I need to see you
let me in so I can look you in the eyes

I know what you are, demanding
entry. Gaze into my eyes, next
thing I know I am dinner
when all I want is to live forever.

Welcome to “Writober,” a challenge hosted by Maria at Experience Writing.

Today’s chosen prompt: Inanimate Objects Coming to Life. “Write a poem about the life of an inanimate object. You could write from the objects point of view, or use the cube exercise to explore the object from many different points of view.”

Mug

I sit on cupboard shelf,
morning chill running
down my smooth surfaces.
I wait to be pulled
from my rest, hand grasping
with desperation, urgent
need for waking warmth.
Every day I am
filled with comfort,
my lot in life hoping never
to be shattered on
cold tile floors.

Welcome to “Writober,” a challenge hosted by Maria at Experience Writing.

Today’s chosen prompt:Skeletons. “In poetry, the skeleton of your poem can be its poetic form or shape on the page. It can be the through line of the poem: a mood, a color, a theme, or extended metaphor. It can also be an emotional arc and/or a narrative structure.”

Catching up on these prompts today…bear with me.

Home

I sit in its chest, rib cages
of hardwood floors flexing

through seasons. Breathing
in ways we forget until we remember

“Oh, I am breathing.”

Left to itself, it dissolves like bone
buried in dirt and lime. Until one day

we return to find only fields, dimpled
with mounds under which it lies

arms over chest in silent repose,
unable to scream.

Welcome to “Writober,” a challenge hosted by Maria at Experience Writing.

Today’s chosen prompt: Psychic Powers. “How can we use our sixth sense in our poetry? Many great poems start in one place, with one question, statement or idea, but through the writing of the poem, the poet ends up in another place. Follow those instincts. Let your poem leap, following free associations that may not seem to connect at first. Let those gut feelings guide you. We can also connect dream imagery with specific sensory details in the present, using dream symbols to inform our understanding of our poetic themes.”

I wish I could read minds, to understand, to pull apart reasons like pulling out batteries in a remote control so we can change channels again. To replace excuses, opinions, beliefs, with facts and reasoning, so when we press “on” we can get on with our lives, free to agree or disagree without being right, to settle in on comfy couches in front of blazing fires and clink glasses in a toast even if we don’t all like the movie.