“I kept always two books in my pocket, one to read, one to write in.” —Robert Louis Stevenson
I hope you enjoyed National Poetry Month, read some extra poetry, perhaps attended more than a couple poetry readings, wrote some poems to various prompts and found yourself writing some things you would not have written otherwise. You might have even developed a habit of writing every day.
“A word after a word after a word is power.”—Margaret Atwood
My schedule is very busy these days with owning, managing a bookstore and all the marketing, scheduling, ordering, etc that it entails. (Remember to support your friendly neighborhood independent bookstore. (BookTree on Facebook is here) BookTree will have an evening with Tess Gallagher on May 14th! Our Third Saturday writing workshop followed by our PoetryIsEverything Poetry Night on May 18th features Matthew Brouwer and Jed Myers and an open mic. Hope you can be part of it!
Most of the poems I wrote this month were done in less than 20 minutes and then quickly edited in about 5 minutes as I was posting them. I did think about some of the prompts as I was doing other things. About ten poems are decent and maybe three or four with some work are worth publishing. A couple were awful I know and that’s part of the NaPoWriMo challenge too.
“Tears are words that need to be written.” —Paulo Coelho
After my poems you’ll find some Bonus Prompts.
Prompt 29 Countdown poem (mine started with 10 words decreasing to 1)
Indie Bookstore Day
by Christopher J. Jarmick
This year’s 11 hours of independent bookstore day at BookTree
began by letting in two dozen people waiting outside.
By hour three more than 500 had visited
getting passports stamped, some touring the store,
others buying books, many rushing fast.
21 store visits required for
discount card, bragging rites.
Busy, memorable, fun,
10 hour
day.
Prompt 30 Go through what you have written the last 29 days and pick out 4 lines or more to incorporate in the body of a new poem.
What Me Worry?
By Christopher J. Jarmick
Not going to worry about a thing
like the song said
even if the maze of anxiety
isn’t as much fun as I would imagine
a Coney Island of the Mind ought to be.
I could care less if I dash out into a vandlop
or how insecure I feel four layers in.
My knees will inhale courage
and I’ll imagine everyone in their worst
pair of underwear rubberizing their faces
with makeup smiles.
Gonna be alright.
Not going to worry about a thing.
XTRA –
Poem Starter 1429
By Christopher J. Jarmick
There’s no ‘I’ in
meat, mate or tame,
and you can’t spell team
without meta.
Poem Starter 1950
By Christopher J. Jarmick
During the intermission
a billion dollars
was redacted.
Poem Starter 1501
By Christopher J. Jarmick
Will I know
which poem is good
which a worthwhile failure?
EXTRA PROMPTS!!!!
Need some extra prompts for the days ahead?
Here’s 7 more I almost used including several from Brendan McBreen too:
Prompt A
whats your sign?
write a poem which predicts the future
think daily horoscope
Prompt B
garden poem
you’ve heard of a green thumb
write a poem comparing different body parts to different plants or plant parts
Prompt C
Judge a book cover
Write an ekphrastic poem but use the art work
on a cover of a book to inspire you.
Prompt D
poker face
write a poem
without letting the reader know what you are writing about
just hint at the subject
Prompt E
Put a Tiger in your tank!
Write a poem that includes three or four (or more) places
you vividly remember from your childhood.
Prompt F
30 days has Remember, Poetry, Soon and November
all the rest have thirty-one, except for February alone.
Make up two to three names for calendar months ( yes, you could
create a new day name too) and use them in your poem today.
Prompt G
snap! snap!
it’s the Addams Family!
write a nice gloomy macabre poem
about one of your relatives (fictional or real) who is probably a distant relation to the Addams’s
be sure to include some rhymes
Prompt H
the end of endings
write a to do list for the day of the apocalypse
its going to be a busy day after all
“Always be a poet, even in prose.” —Charles Baudelaire
A few months ago, the wonderful, talented, writer, publisher, editor, poet Lana Ayers did an interview with me and creatively posted the results. You might enjoy it. Thoughts on Writing and Dealing with Inner Darkness.
Thank you!
Keep Writing!