Creative Friday

Big sigh of relief - I’ve completed the poetry challenge.

As I’ve said before, some days were more challenging than others, but all in all I enjoyed the challenge. It let me flex my poetry muscles and it rejuvenated my creativity. I don’t envy Robert Brewer the challenge of having to choose the winners for each day.

Some industrious soul created a tool that can be used to track your poems, but unfortunately all I was able to get it to do for me was tell me I had 29 poems posted, which in retrospect didn’t surprise me because some days it took several attempts to get a poem to post. But it meant, you guessed it, I had to go through each and every day to make sure my poem was there.

I spent seven (7!) hours scrolling through each day’s poems. All my poems were there. The only good thing about it was catching the odd flattering comment about one of my poems. If I take the challenge next year, I will not only save each day’s poem, I will record the day and time I posted it as well so it’s easier to check.

And now, a selection of my remaining PAD poems.

Day Twenty-two we were to write a work related poem:

Laid Off

I owe, I owe, it’s off to work I go.
I’ve heard this many times you know.
But right now I am unemployed
which really makes me quite annoyed.
The bills are piling super fast,
it’s crazy how much debt’s amassed.
My unemployment cheque’s a joke
I’m teetering on the edge of broke.
Jobs are scarce, so what to do?
Looks like I’m going back to school
and when I’m done I’ll find some work,
I hope a job with lots of perks.

Day Twenty-five the challenge was to write about an event. I chose the event I look forward to every year. Once which, coincidentally, is today. ;-)

Saint Peter’s Book Sale

I wait through winter dark
anticipating spring
I watch the ice recede,
leftover snow melting.
The days extend their length
the sun stays in the sky
the wind warms up the air
we bid the cold goodbye.
But for me the greatest sign
of spring is without fail
the lawn sign that proclaims
Saint Peter’s Book Sale.

Day twenty-eight (as I've already whined about) was the sestina.

Drinking Down the Moon

the night wind holds my spirit
as I drink down the moon
bathed in shards of light
with memory and dream
unleashing deep desires
of perfect inner silence

I revel in the silence
of a buoyancy of spirit
while fire burns my desires
still haunted by the moon
deep within a dream
becoming purest light

splinters, fragmented light
shivers in the silence
waking from the dream
with a longing of the spirit
worshiping the moon
as destiny desires

I follow my desires
they lead me to the light
in the shadow of the moon
where everything is silence
and hollow is the spirit
within the waking dream

embrace the way, the dream
fulfilling all desires
unfettering the spirit
and encompassing the light
where all around is silence
at peace to seek the moon

the dark night of the moon
illuminates the dream
while a symphony of silence
suppresses dark desires
with strands of silver light
spilling into spirit

I call the spirit of the moon
drenched in the light of a dream
suppressed desires wake in silence


And last but not least, Day Thirty, which was a poem about a farewell. An image popped into my head when I read this prompt. It was the final scene from a movie and since I couldn't shake it I decided to write a poem about it. See if you can guess which movie it was and you can win a copy of the anthology Hotter Than Hell, edited by Kim Harrison. Twelve stories of the paranormal featuring such authors as Kerri Arthur, L.A. Banks, Susan Krinard, and Marjorie M. Lui. Post your guess in a comment or shoot me off an e-mail. I'll leave the contest open until I go back to school on the 18th.

I'll even give you a hint. It's a science fiction movie.

Ending

I faced my mortality
with no prospect of
a future.

I sought the answer
to the question
no one asks.

I tried to escape
my destiny
in dreams.

I ran from the truth
until exhaustion
claimed me.

I let fate embrace me
because it was my
time to die.


Hope everyone has a great weekend! I can tell you the one thing I won't be doing, and that's reading poetry!