A couple PAD poems

I’m knee deep into poem writing these days. Here’s a couple from the first four days of the November 2015 poem a day – PAD – chapbook challenge. I haven’t done a careful edit of these yet, but you’ll get the idea what I was up against given the prompts. I always enjoy Robert Lee Brewer’s prompts. They are designed to stretch our skills and give us a topic we can have fun with – or not.

Day 2

Write a surrender poem. A person can surrender to the authorities or a mob, but people can also surrender to a feeling or to music. Or leftover Halloween candy (at least, my friend has had that problem). I hope you surrender to your poetic impulse.

It was almost 11 pm when he arrived
at Grand Central.
Tall, lean, perfectly quaffed
in a hand-tailored sports jacket.
But not to look too stuffy
he wore it with jeans,
an open collared blue shirt,
polished tan wing tips,
and carried a scuffed old briefcase.

He walked through the station
without looking side to side,
with an air of confidence
and no remorse.
He already knew what he would
tell his wife
when he got home
about the new girl at the office
he couldn’t help surrendering to.

Day 4

Take the phrase Once Upon a (blank), replace the blank with a word or phrase, make the new phrase the title of your poem, and then, write your poem. Possible titles might include: Once Upon a Time, Once Upon a Pedestal, or Once Upon a Diet. As usual, have fun with it.

Once Upon a Time
when I was young
and had oodles of years
to go anywhere and everywhere
and a wealth of good health
and feelings I was so immortal
and invincible
that I had time for everything.
And now I look back at that time
and wonder where it all went.
At age 75 I have finite time
to finish my bucket list especially
the parts where I need physical prowess
like hiking down the Grand Canyon
and living in Italy,
and the mental agility
to write my daily poems
and finish my novel,
get it published,
and market it around.
So I’m hurrying to schedule those things
and maybe after
I’ve accomplished all that
I can sit back and relax
and let whatever time
I have left slip by.

I hope all of you are trying your hand at poeming this month. Remember it’s for fun and great writing practice. You’ll have plenty of time to revise your work before submitting your chapbooks for Brewer’s review.