2012 November PAD Chapbook Challenge: Day 30 | Milk Poem | WritersDigest.com

Today is the last day of the Poem a Day Challenge. I did not finish my NaNoWriMo goal, but I did write a poem every day. Now, it’s time to go through them and choose between 10 and 20 for the chapbook competition. You can enter too, even if you didn’t post. Today’s link leads to the final prompt, a “milk” poem, and the community’s responses.  There you will also find a link to the submission rules. Revision is allowed, and so are some poems not written during the competition, but most should have been created for the PAD challenge. You have until January to submit. (I get involved in other things and forget, so I will probably put mine together much sooner.)

This has been a wonderful experience, and I know that my efforts have been read by more people than would have seen most printed journals. I’ve met some wonderful new poets. I plan to keep posting my own warm-ups here, but other challenges loom and it might not be daily. Thanks for following and I hope you had fun, too.

2012 November PAD Chapbook Challenge: Day 30 | Milk Poem | WritersDigest.com.

Milk

White as

winter, poured

icy from

the refrigerator

 

White as

Grandmother’s

sheets.

delivered to the doorstep

 

White as

summer clouds

in my

first cup

 

White as

cream

for Dad’s coffee

from the top

 

White as

light

through the morning

window.

 

White as

simple

beginnings:

milk.

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Write a Poem About Birth

We are nearing the end of the Poem a Day challenge on Robert Lee Brewer’s blog. It has been an interesting experience. I will either continue with my own prompts or find another community. You are certainly welcome to join me by posting in the comments.

Today’s prompt at PAD is to write a poem about giving birth. Click on the link to add your own. You can join in any time.

2012 November PAD Chapbook Challenge: Day 29 | Birth Poem | Experience | WritersDigest.com.

Here’s mine:

I kept telling

myself that

the Queens of England

did this

as I lay on the table

under blazing lights

coming undone

the most

private places

in full view

of strangers,

And then, the doctor

said, “He’s going

to be smart.”

A nurse said,

“What a pretty

little face.”

It was like

the blessing

in a fairy tale,

especially when

eyes still blue

as heaven

cast their

virgin gaze

on me.

Linda Armstrong, 11/29/2012, All rights reserved.

2012 November PAD Chapbook Challenge: Day 28 | Workplace Adversity Poem | WritersDigest.com

I almost skipped today’s assignment. It is to write a poem about how it feels to stand up for what is right in the face of adversity in the workplace. In this case, since opinions always differ about what is “right,” actual issues and situations can get in the way of the point–the experience of standing alone.

I chose to focus on the aftermath of a workplace stand, an experience which, I think, nearly everyone has had at one time or another. Other poets posting to the blog have told a more specific story. Read them all and then, if you feel so moved, try one yourself. If you choose not to do this one, I don’t blame you. It isn’t my favorite. Writing to a prompt every day, though, has been very good for me. Not every work is going to be good.

2012 November PAD Chapbook Challenge: Day 28 | Workplace Adversity Poem | WritersDigest.com.

The Morning After

Down the hall

two women

whisper. Then

they glance

up and dart

off like birds

in different

directions.

In the break

room, everyone

suddenly

remembers

an urgent

assignment

somewhere else.

In your office,

the coffee

is cold.

2012 November PAD Chapbook Challenge: Day 27 | Hero Poem | Villain | WritersDigest.com

Today, participants in this year’s Poem a Day Challenge are writing a hero poem or a villain poem. Click on the link below to join the fun.

2012 November PAD Chapbook Challenge: Day 27 | Hero Poem | Villain | WritersDigest.com.

The Villain

It doesn’t wear black

or lurk in alleys.

It doesn’t dwell

in putrid swamps

or waylay travelers.

It doesn’t creep

around in the dark

or carry knives.

It loathes all

drama.

It resists all

change.

It has no conception

of better.

It wants everything

to stay

the same.

Child of long

evolution,

Advocate of

unconditional survival,

it does not

trust aspiration.

It does not suffer

dreams. It keeps

me heavy and silent.

It cautions me

to remain safe

inside.

Linda Armstrong 11/27/12 �All rights reserved.

via 2012 November PAD Chapbook Challenge: Day 27 | Hero Poem | Villain | WritersDigest.com.

Make a Story Map to Unearth Buried Memories

Click on the link below for a terrific method to generate story ideas. It works best for children’s books, but it could work for adult trade authors too. It’s simple, fun, and very effective! I encountered it on the Picture Book Idea Month Facebook page.

News.

2012 November PAD Chapbook Challenge: Day 26 | Collection Poem | WritersDigest.com

Today’s challenge is to write a collection poem. Not everyone collects things, but a glance around our house would tell you that my husband and I do. He does it in a more organized way. My gatherings are distinctly haphazard.

Click on the link to go to Robert Lee Brewer’s blog and read the contributions of others. Then, add your own.

2012 November PAD Chapbook Challenge: Day 26 | Collection Poem | WritersDigest.com.

Here’s mine:

JPEGs

They fill

the silvery

surfaces of

computer disks,

the hidden

resources

of external

drives, cloud-tops

from long flights,

footprints in snow,

drifting gold

leaves, glinting

sun on summer

lakes, blossoms

in spring orchards,

baby faces,

smiling friends,

all of them

held in virtual

memory, formatted

in universal jpeg.

Like Midas, I run

them through

my fingers,

longing to

hold on.

Linda Armstrong, 11/26/2012. All rights reserved.

Looking Back at the PAD Challenge and a Matches Poem

The very first prompt this month on Robert Lee Brewer’s blog was to write a Matches poem.  I was looking back because today’s assignment is to write an Opposite poem using a previous challenge entry. I realized that I have not linked to the first few poems and this could be a problem because I want a convenient way to gather them to submit for chapbook consideration.

You can enter the competition, too, even if you haven’t been posting or writing every day. Just choose your 20 favorite prompts from the month and write to them. Then watch for submission information early next month.

2012 November PAD Chapbook Challenge: Day 1 | Matches Poem | WritersDigest.com.

Here’s my “Matches” poem.

We’re a match,

the two of us,

you with your

temper and me

too tempered

you with your

careful pacing

and me

with my wild

last minute

dashes.

We’re a match

of seeming

opposites, seamed

so closely together

that sometimes

there is no space

between us

like sky

and sea at

sunset on the

Pacific.

Write a “The Truth About ________” Poem (Day 24 PAD Challenge)

For today, the prompt is provocative. Fill in the blank to create your title: The Truth About ____________.

Click on the link to read all the responses and then add your own.

2012 November PAD Chapbook Challenge: Day 24 | The Truth About Poetry | WritersDigest.com.

Here’s mine:

The Truth About Art

It is a field

without a road

a forest

without a path

the vastness

of a rolling

sea. Though

many have gone

this way before,

none has passed

this particular

way. Though

many can help

with packing

and advice

none can come

along all

the way.

It is a journey

without an

end, a quest

for a cup

that can never

be held

in a hand.

2012 November PAD Chapbook Challenge: Day 23 | Deep Poem | WritersDigest.com

Yesterday we were lazy and I got caught up in creating a special Christmas gift for my husband on Zazzle, so I am catching up on my poems this morning. The Day 23 poem is deceptively simple, but absolutely lovely. Write a “deep” poem. It can be anything deep. Click on the link to read the responses on the Poetic Asides blog.

2012 November PAD Chapbook Challenge: Day 23 | Deep Poem | WritersDigest.com.

Here’s mine:

Deep Space

 

Hurtling

past the last

clumps of ice

gas, rock,

and God only

knows what

else at the fringe

of the solar system,

Voyager, a

miracle wonder

of my younger

days, swings

out into the

more thinly

populated reaches

of deep space,

just as each day

I dive further

within.

Linda Armstrong, 11/24/2012. All rights reserved.

 

 

Write a Letting Go Poem

Here’s a second poem for Two-fer Tuesday on the Poetic Asides blog. This one is about letting go. Forgiveness is the true ticket to freedom.

2012 November PAD Chapbook Challenge: Day 20 | Gathering Poem | Letting Go | WritersDigest.com.

Letting Go

What she meant

to do

to me

when she did it

I don’t

really know

but I really suspect.

The intent

to hurt

was worse than the deed,

since I

never meant

any harm to her.

In the end,

however,

It doesn’t matter.

To carry

her farther

would do me no good.

Though she’ll

never know,

I now forgive her.

Like a balloon

released

I am let go.

via 2012 November PAD Chapbook Challenge: Day 20 | Gathering Poem | Letting Go | WritersDigest.com.