NaPoWriMo 16 and 17: "Twenty Questions for My Son" and "Thirty Days and Counting"
My poems today are based on two poetry prompts from Wild Violet. The first one (NAPOWRIMO 2020 - Prompt 16 is a "Twenty Questions" poem, or a poem written completely in questions.
A chalk mosaic in pink, blue, orange and yellow
Twenty Questions for My Son
What should we do today? Should we
explore the creek, home to returning geese?
Should we play with bat and ball, providing
our own commentary? Or draw chalk butterflies,
mosaics, and spaceships? Do you want to try
the Frisbee again, flinging arms out straight?
Or strive to hit the tree with your soccer ball?
Or fling beanbags into a rope loop, tied
with your scouting skills? Are you tired
of me yet? Do you long for playground friends
and wild kid games? When I make you laugh,
does it help? Do you think about the weeks
and months ahead? Do you wonder
how long you'll be trapped at home? When you
think of this, years from now, what will you remember?
If I stepped inside your dreams, what would I see?
Are they filled with vivid landscapes, peaceful critters?
Or shadowy clouds of uncertainty? Do you waste time
thinking about past and future? Or do you live
always in the present, like I should? Do you wonder,
ever, about how we got here? Today,
tomorrow, what should we do?
- April 17, 2020
The second poem is a poem about the week, in response to the following Wild Violet prompt: NAPOWRIMO 2020 - Prompt 17.
Thirty Days & Counting
Easy to overlook, this ending
to the week. When days ooze
like syrup, why
count? Our days
are checkmarks
on a dry-erase board:
Saturday, Sunday, Monday,
Tuesday, Wednesday,
Thursday, Friday.
A tick mark to distinguish
the indeterminate
minutes. Snooze,
learn, watch, create,
discuss, laugh. Look
out the sliding glass
door, where rose-colored
tree blooms daub mute color
in the gray. Each week,
begin again by erasing
what came before.
- April 17, 2020
A chalk mosaic in pink, blue, orange and yellow
Twenty Questions for My Son
What should we do today? Should we
explore the creek, home to returning geese?
Should we play with bat and ball, providing
our own commentary? Or draw chalk butterflies,
mosaics, and spaceships? Do you want to try
the Frisbee again, flinging arms out straight?
Or strive to hit the tree with your soccer ball?
Or fling beanbags into a rope loop, tied
with your scouting skills? Are you tired
of me yet? Do you long for playground friends
and wild kid games? When I make you laugh,
does it help? Do you think about the weeks
and months ahead? Do you wonder
how long you'll be trapped at home? When you
think of this, years from now, what will you remember?
If I stepped inside your dreams, what would I see?
Are they filled with vivid landscapes, peaceful critters?
Or shadowy clouds of uncertainty? Do you waste time
thinking about past and future? Or do you live
always in the present, like I should? Do you wonder,
ever, about how we got here? Today,
tomorrow, what should we do?
- April 17, 2020
The second poem is a poem about the week, in response to the following Wild Violet prompt: NAPOWRIMO 2020 - Prompt 17.
Thirty Days & Counting
Easy to overlook, this ending
to the week. When days ooze
like syrup, why
count? Our days
are checkmarks
on a dry-erase board:
Saturday, Sunday, Monday,
Tuesday, Wednesday,
Thursday, Friday.
A tick mark to distinguish
the indeterminate
minutes. Snooze,
learn, watch, create,
discuss, laugh. Look
out the sliding glass
door, where rose-colored
tree blooms daub mute color
in the gray. Each week,
begin again by erasing
what came before.
- April 17, 2020