Author Archives: kd0602
I Sing: Writer NPM22 Day 30
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On this last day of April, Sarah over at Ethical ELA has invited us to claim the title writer or poet modeled on the poetry collection I Sing: The Body edited by René Saldaña, Jr. The collection of poems thread struggle and celebration within what we are told and what we believe about ourselves. The poems uncover memory and anger and hope. I decided to explore the identity of writer in today’s poem.
I Sing: Writer
As a child I played with words
tossing them
bouncing them against each other
sharing them
experimenting without fear
I learned later
words could be weapons
sharpened to aim
or twisted back
piercing the heart
silencing the tongue
Today I wield my words
with care
gently guiding them
squeezing them together
splaying them wide
freeing them to find their own rhythm
testing both friction
and
space
redefining myself
as I write
@kd0602
What a Poem Can Do: NPM22 Day 29
Who doesn’t love a poem about a poem? Today’s #verselove prompt at Ethical ELA was presented by Glenda who also shared a mentor poem and video by Darius V. Daughtry, what can a poem do? Daughtry’s poem begins with a series of explanations of what poems don’t do, then pivots to what poems can do. For my own poem, I decided to focus on what poems can do without the examination of what they can’t or don’t do.
What a Poem Can Do
A poem can peel back skin
revealing he heart
beat
beat
beating
A single word
can taste like childhood
licking up
soft-serve
in the swirl of memory
Leave
space
to breathe in
space
to breathe out
tapping the melody of
today
against the rhythms
of all the yesterdays
A poem can paint the world
in every shade of blue
until color
explodes
in new opportunities to see
@kd0602
Self Love: NPM22 Day 28
Today’s #verselove prompt at Ethical ELA is just the kind of challenge I tend to resist with poetry: a formula and rhyme. But I pushed myself to give it a try anyway…and maybe learned some things about myself in the process.
When I’m by myself
and I close my eyes
I’m breathing in the quiet
looking for the perfect pic
walking miles and miles
thinking all the while
playing with words
trying to make myself heard
hitting my pace
making peace with this place
I’m here and now
still learning how
to be
and when I open my eyes
what I care to see
is me
@kd0602
Beach Re-Encountered: NPM22 Day 27
Today’s #verselove prompt, hosted by Shaun over at Ethical ELA invites poets to “re-encounter the familiar.” I’m guessing it will surprise no one that I chose to re-encounter the beach. Yesterday was a beautiful, sunny spring day…until I got to about 2 blocks from the beach. There, a heavy, dense, thick fog stretched along the coastline, nestled next to the blue sky, so close…but also so far away.
Beach Re-Encountered
Revealing itself one step at a time
under a veil misty wet, thicker than it seems
bare feet navigate water’s edge
air like a shower without drops
swirling, coating every surface
turning technicolor to monochrome
Landscape etched in pencil
blurred in the distance
the world slows
tunnels
forces focus
stay in the moment
Breathe in the quiet
punctuated by waves
ebbing, flowing
wash away the day
let bare feet lead the way
@kd0602
