Poem-A-Day Chapbook Challenge 2012

It’s time again for the Annual Writer’s Digest Poem-A-Day (PAD) Chapbook Challenge hosted by Robert Lee Brewer on the Poetic Asides blog at http://www.writersdigest.com/editor-blogs/poetic-asides.   Last year I completed the poeming part, but took waaaaaay too long in figuring out which poems I wanted to include in the chapbook, letting the deadline for submission pass me by.  Hopefully, this year, I’ll get the poems and the chapbook completed and submitted.

 

I’ve mentioned before [in previous posts] that I find myself to be more creative when I focus my energies on creating ‘formed’ poems.  For instance, the summary of my poems from this years PAD challenge back in April yielded the following stats:

Forms Used

Fibonacci: 1
haiku: 1
lune: 10
shadorma: 15
tanka: 5 (+2)
triolet: 2
unformed/free verse: 4

It will be interesting to see how the stats for the two PAD challenges in 2012 compare.  Game on!  Time to get poeming…

 

Poem: Fades

Poem created in response to Robert Lee Brewer’s 2012 April PAD Challenge: Day 30, 30 Apr 2012, topic:  fading away

(form: shadorma)

Fades

Barely there,
the leftover shades
of bright stars
burned out. Fades;
alive, but not quite living;
gone from memory…

Poem: Gazing in Awe

Poem created in response to Robert Lee Brewer’s 2012 April PAD Challenge: Day 29, 29 Apr 2012, topic:  recycle a line or image from a previous PAD 2012 poem

(form: tanka)

Gazing in Awe

I sit beside you.
You’re so peaceful in repose.
After fifteen years,
I’m still awed by your beauty.
Roused from sleep, I watch you wake.

Poems: Not a Carpenter & I’m a Sucker

Poem created in response to Robert Lee Brewer’s 2012 April PAD Challenge: Day 28, 28 Apr 2012, topic:  problem

(form: shadorma)

Not a Carpenter

No matter
how many times I
measure, check
and recheck,
somehow, when I make the cut,
the length is not right.

(form: shadorma)

I’m a Sucker

We bought one

puppy, but when we

picked it up,

like magic,

that one puppy became two.

I’m such a sucker

Poem: The Trouble Is…

Poem created in response to Robert Lee Brewer’s 2012 April PAD Challenge: Day 26, 26 Apr 2012, topic:  The Trouble Is <blank>

(form: fibonacci)

The Trouble Is

that
lies
start out
small and then
snowball, get bigger
and bigger until the wee fib
ends up becoming a ginormous web of deceit
so unmanageable that the liar can’t recall what is truth and what is a lie

Poem: Weenie haiku & Lune-y Penguin

Poem created in response to Robert Lee Brewer’s 2012 April PAD Challenge: Day 26, 26 Apr 2012, topic:  animal

(form: haiku)

Weenie haiku

poor Mr. Weenie
cannot control his licker;
wet spots on the couch

 

(form: lune)

Lune-y Penguin

Dressed for the gala
the Penguin
taps his happy feet

Poem: Chelsea Beats Barcelona to Advance!

Poem created in response to Robert Lee Brewer’s 2012 April PAD Challenge: Day 25, 25 Apr 2012, topic:  sports

(form: shadorma)

Chelsea Beats Barcelona to Advance!

Down a man,
behind by two goals
Chelsea fought
back, drawing
even, sending Barca home.
…on to the finals!

Poems: More Than Just A Story & Love Does Not Live Here

Poem created in response to Robert Lee Brewer’s 2012 April PAD Challenge: Day 24, 24 Apr 2012, topics:  Two for Tuesday–  love and anti-love

(form: shadorma)

More Than Just A Story

“Much is to be gained by eBooks: ease, convenience, portability. But something is definitely lost: tradition, a sensual experience, the comfort of thingy-ness — a little bit of humanity.” -Chip Kidd, book cover designer

That first crack
of the spine, the smell,
the texture,
the weight…books
are more than just a story.
I simply love books!

 

(form:  shadorma)

 Love Does Not Live Here

That first crack
of the whip, the welts,
the whimpers,
the power…
love does not live here, only
lust’s broken souls do

Poem: BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU!

Poem created in response to Robert Lee Brewer’s 2012 April PAD Challenge: Day 21, 21 Apr 2012, topic:  under the microscope

(form: shadorma)

BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU!

“I always feel like, somebody’s watching me (and I have no privacy)” –from Rockwell’s “Somebody’s Watching Me”

Traffic light

and street corner cameras,

black boxes

in your car…

how long until we all have

THE mirror at home?

Poem: Sunrise

Poem created in response to Robert Lee Brewer’s 2012 April PAD Challenge: Day 23, 23 Apr 2012, topic:  morning

(form: shadorma)

Sunrise

 The rain pours

steadily down. Clouds

darken the

morning sky.

Roused from sleep, I watch you wake.

You are my sunshine.