Day 351 - Roller-coaster

 ROLLER-COASTER

Prompt - Roller-Coaster : Write about the ups and downs of life

Holding pace, plenty space

Cruising smoothly along

The tarmac unwinds as you wish

The journey's like a song

But motorways have crashes too

Pile ups, jams and crazies

Fog and rain and ice and snow

Can have you pushing daisies

And life's not like a motorway

It's filled with turn and twist

At times you follow signs for roads

That don't even exist

Sometimes you climb up to the top

Then the road will fall and bend

And when you reach the valley's depth

It's not easy to ascend

But there is always some way up

And you learn to be a goat

You take whatever route you can

When life's got you by the throat

Accept that that this is no smooth ride

Enjoy the bits you can

And there's another view atop that hill

That wasn't on the plan

Even dirt tracks have their place

For you don't know what you'll find

Take the road that falls to you

And to yourself be kind

Day 338 - Word of the Day

 WORD OF THE DAY

Prompt - Word of the Day : Got to a dictionary website that has a word of the day and use it in a poem, story or journal entry you write

Collins Word of the Day - Snuggies : exceptionally warm underwear

Three Finns returned to their village

In February's darkest hours

To their wives so keen to see them

To open up like flowers

The first was disappointed

She had no luck at all

Because her husband's penis

Remained so incredibly small

Number two had no more luck

Her man refused to fizz and pop

Too long out in the cold

Meant his bawbag wouldn't drop

But number three was smiling

Her lover true to form

He'd been wearing his snuggies

Which kept his crown jewels warm

Day 336 - Distractions

 DISTRACTIONS

Prompt - Distractions : Write about how it feels when you can't focus

I'll concentrate and get this done

This time I really mean it

But first the cat that's throwing stuff

On Facebook, have you seen it?

This task's in hand and getting done

I will not take a break

But first I'll just check Twitter

What difference can it make?

Two verses done and sounding good

What could now go wrong?

Oh, there's an email telling me

Kris posted a new song

I'll have a wee bit listen

Then I'll be back writing

But I sit through fourteen videos

Including three drunks fighting

Maybe sticking to the job

Will never be my thing

But at least I always manage

To find the perfect rhyme

Day 328 - The Windows of the Soul

 THE WINDOWS OF THE SOUL

Prompt - The Windows of the Soul : Write a poem about the story that is told through someone's eyes

Mouths masked, muffled voices

These half faced strangers in our shops

On the buses, on the trains

In the cafes, on the streets

Covid leaves the eyes exposed

Pandemic communicators

Exercise them well, for they will tell

Of happy and sad and tired and strained

Of the life we now live

Of the person within

Let them shine, sparkle

Let them share good cheer

Let them inspire joy in others

Let them life another's day

They are the two way mirrors of question

They are the storywriters of our days

Day 320 - Instrumental Inspiration

 INSTRUMENTAL INSPIRATION

Prompt - Instrumental Inspiration : Listen to some instrumental music and write a poem that matches the mood, beat and style of the music

PACO DE LUCIA AND OSCAR LOPEZ - GYPSY PASSION - FIRST THOUGHT NOTES

In Spain.  It's hot, there are dancers, in their traditional tight costumes, waiting to strut.  But first the slow build up, as befits the heat.  Ripples of sound to get the attention, then the rhythm being established, the bass notes, giving the framework against which the virtuoso, proud and assured, plays the flying notes.  With increasing complexity.  With increasing impatience.  But it slows, allows a casual interplay of teasing differences.  The stolid man allows the woman to fly. There is love in the music, and desire.  A build towards climax.  There will be shouting.

Now the clapping joins in, and the sounds of feet.  While the guitarist improvises, describing movements he can see in his mind.   And plays so fast the feet couldn't keep up, but such is passion.  And then it fades away, still full bodied, but spent...

POEM

Under a bright blue sheet, in dazzling light

There are fingers and feet to match

Dancers await, their time will come

Taut, tight elegance softened by frills and haze

They come alert to the first, clear notes

The ripples that resound in the ear

Pull all eyes to those long lithe fingers

And the rhythm begins, listeners move

Bass orders passive toes and fingers to join

A frame is built before your ears

Our virtuoso sits proud, assured, deft

Waterfalls and merry go rounds and glasses coming together

Interplay, moments of simplicity entwined with thrilling speed

The sound of love, of desire, of passion

Hands clap, feet stomp, the earth moves

Building, building to climax, improvising with light touch

So fast, so fast, the feet can't keep up

And fading, fading to a satisfying close

Time to dance

Day 312 - Idiom

 IDIOM

Prompt - Idiom : Choose from a list of idioms one that speaks to you and create a poem around that phrase or saying

"Yesterday's Man"

I could stay home, I could vegetate

But that's not part of the plan

I'll walk, I'll ride, I'll explore this world

I won't be yesterday's man

I've more to give, there's people to help

I'll finish what I began

I've experience people can value

I won't be yesterday's man

There are gigs and plays and films to see

And clapping to Darcy's cancan

Backing creatives all doing their thing

I won't be yesterday's man

I sit at the keyboard writing my words

Once slow, now time that I ran

There are stories that I need to get out

I won't be yesterday's man

Sitting it out and just getting old?

Not part of my pension plan

Life is there to be lived every day

I won't be yesterday's man

Day 307 - Glasses

 GLASSES

Prompt - Glasses : Write about a pair of eyeglasses, or someone wearing glasses

The police are seeking a guy

Who's conning old ladies with charm

Taking their money with stories

But without them coming to harm

Mrs Smith said he was casual

In unremarkable clothes

But he'd big blue Joe 90 glasses

Sat on the bridge of his nose

Mrs Jones said he looked boring

In unremarkable clothes

Other than shocking pink glasses

Perched on the end of his nose

Mrs Green said he looked so bland

In unremarkable clothes

But she remembered his John Lennon glasses

Sitting up high on his nose

They'll never identify me

I'll keep on taking my haul

It's only approaching their doorsteps

That I ever wear glasses at all

Day 305 - Fruit

 FRUIT

Prompt - Fruit : Write an ode to your favourite fruit

Oh glorious bundle of globules from the Perthshire fields

Such a unique shade of red gone pink you have given your name

To the colour of our sofa, of the soft silk suit my wife once wore,

And, strangely, to the sound of a ripping fart.

I love how you leave your heart behind when picked

Sliding from your inner cone into my waiting fingers

Giving your life for mine, as if you wished to be a martyr

And serving the purpose of your life

You can be popped straight into the mouth, exploding with flavour

Or taken home to transform yourself into jams and desserts and cakes

Or mixed with your fellow fruit into a glorious bedlam of colour and taste

Where you reign supreme, both sweet and gloriously wersh

Bring on the summer, bring your freshness back, I await your return

For now, as Autumn hints at winter, you have such short shelf life

As not to be what you once were, temptation no longer oozing out

But you will be back again, and soon

Day 293 - Get Well

 GET WELL

Prompt - Get Well : Write a poem that will help someone who is sick feel better quick!

Was it all that pasta

That's giving you post-op vim?

Or is it just because

You're young and fit and slim?

Your progress is incredible

And it's a joy to see

That very soon they'll let you

Be coming home with me

Day 290 - Birthday Poem

 BIRTHDAY POEM

Prompt - Birthday Poem : Write a poem inspired by birthdays

I would count the days, passing so slowly

Wondering over and over what would be

In the pile of presents on the day

As a child that's what my birthdays were to me

They came round with ever greater speed

Excuses to be someone else and I'd see

What food to eat, drink to get drunk on

As a man that's what my birthdays were to me

Now I will ignore those random days

Take long walks on sunny streets and by the sea

Forget reminders of time going past 

I'm old now - that's what birthdays are to me

Day 289 - Imperfection

 IMPERFECTION

Prompt - Imperfection : Create a poem that highlights the beauty in being flawed

Art Deco frontage it might be,

But old and tired and faded

It got worse when you'd go inside

The fittings all degraded

Seats were hard and often broke

The toilets best bypassed

Cafe and bar were past their best

Stuck firmly in the past

Freezerfield, the Fridge of Dreams,

As cold as being outside,

But it was once our second home, 

A place we went with pride

Day 283 - Brick Wall

 BRICK WALL

Prompt - Brick Wall : Write a poem that is about a brick wall -whether literal or figurative

There is a brick wall across my path

My journey has come to a halt  

I will wait right here

Hoping someone will turn up

Who can help me find a way

To go on with my wander

Something will turn up

There is a brick wall across my path

My journey has come to a halt  

I will turn around

Go home to where I came from

I may choose to remain there

Or look for a road elsewhere

This is not my path

There is a brick wall across my path

My journey has come to a halt  

I will search the land

Looking for means to break through

Is there a bulldozer near?

A place to buy explosives?

I will smash my way

There is a brick wall across my path

My journey has come to a halt  

I will look all ways

To go round, over, under

Any which way I can find 

Whatever it takes to pass

I will travel on

There is a brick wall across my path

My journey has come to a halt  

I will take my paints

Maybe without the talent

Of Banksy or Da Vinci

Yet I will make my mark here

I will create art

Day 256 - Write for a Cause

 WRITE FOR A CAUSE

Prompt - Write for a Cause : Write a poem or essay that raises awareness for a cause you support

Scotland's had enough dependence

On Westminster's tedious superintendence

Needs a moment of transcendence

Again a nation of resplendence

Celebrating the impendence

Of our long sought independence

Day 252 - Alliteration

ALLITERATION

Prompt - Alliteration : Use alliteration in your poem or in a sentence in a story

Arthur 'ad 'is 'am

Between some big brown bread

Cassia consumed carrots

Don devoured Dairylea spread

Enid's eaten eel pies

Freddie's forked up fish

Gary's gone for a grill

Holly has hake in a dish

It's an interesting indication

Just how this jingle jumps

Keeping up the cadence

Leave a poem with loads of lumps

Day 250 - Should, Would And Could

 SHOULD, WOULD AND COULD

Prompt - Should, Would And Could : Write a poem or story using the words should, would and could

I should have been a better husband

The one you always wanted

But I'm a creature full of flaws

Yet you took me on undaunted

I would have been a better husband

If I wasn't made this way

Dogmatic, idle, tired and dull

But need to have my say

I could have been a better husband

But it's obvious I'm not

You cannot have a different me

Please keep loving the one you've got!

Day 249 - Sonnet

 SONNET

Prompt - Sonnet : Write a sonnet today

I found you, I lost you, found you again

The finding brought the hope I had missed

The first time we talked, the first time we kissed

The losing you was an epoch of pain

One look and you were forever in my brain

Once we'd connected I could not resist

Without you I'd feel I didn't exist

In my life's ballot I couldn't abstain

It took many years but all ended well

You risked it all to bring us together 

Knowing that the passing of time would tell

If the trouble and storms we would weather

I look back now and can see that I knew

The struggle was worthwhile to share life with you

Day 243 - Sestina

 SESTINA 

Prompt - Sestina : Give a try to writing a sestina poem

I am a product of this Land

But understanding's Hard

What can tell you where to Look?

Does anyone really Know?

All I really want is Hope

Amidst the random Noise

I'll add my voice to all that Noise

In the debate across the Land

Can I give some added Hope?

But giving hope is Hard

When could you ever Know

If people take a Look?

It doesn't matter how I Look

What matters now is Noise

To say, to hear, to Know

Being cleared to sagely Land

On ground that shows up Hard

And resonates with Hope

How to unlock that Hope?

Where do the people Look?

When they try so Hard

To hear beyond the empty Noise

That blares across the Land

But why they do not Know

What is there now to Know

Except that we need Hope

Like catching sight of Land

From the crow's nest's clear eyed Look

Push beyond the ocean's Noise

The landing hits us Hard

The bed we've made is Hard

The life we've come to Know

We all must make our Noise

We all must marry Hope

We all must clearly Look

Upon the silence of the Land

It's always Hard to find real Hope

To Know where one should Look

With so much Noise across the Land

Day 240 - Alphabetical

 ALPHABETICAL

Prompt - Alphabetical : Write a poem that has every letter of the alphabet in it

A zebra going off for a walk with a fox?

Is this a joke that you're telling?

Did anything come of their puzzling talks,

For in nature it looks like rebelling.

I've so many questions to ask of this pair

For they make such an unlikely brace

Like where did they meet and what did they wear,

And did they decide on a race?

But maybe we've followed the wrong lines

Because nobody knows where this ends

Let us accept all these positive signs

That a zebra and fox can be friends

Day 239 - Cinquain

 CINQUAIN

Prompt - Cinquain : Write a cinquain poem, which consists of 5 lines which do not rhyme.

(Note- The original cinquain had a very specific format, and I have tried to stick to that.)

Clothing

Warm, dry

Colouring, hiding, enhancing

Show who I am

Identity

Words

Powerful, necessary

Writing, talking, absorbing

Give meaning to life

Communication

Phone

Handy, constant

Enticing, absorbing, demanding

I don't see life

Trap

Book

Knowledge, stories

Entertaining, informing, educating

Can't leave home without

Essential

Breakfast

Fruity, oaty

Awakening, satisfying, sustaining

Start to the day

Food

Day 231 - Rhyme & No Reason

 RHYME AND NO REASON

Prompt - Rhyme & No Reason : Make up a silly rhyming poem using made up words

On a gert and vaffy grasm

Gerwil streels his cliebour

Runding bengeful coledums

Up to his qandol piedor

Lyrtal in the bassmeuz

He streels larul, larul

Hippling asker namgreep

Lengrit in his mrool

Gerwil lanz e kperdol

Cluns grafty to the wence

Seefs the nesh won Crasbar

Whol jeels the yoplled vens

Vvealuf mu cradaffer

Arsel wostantac

Gerwil nussin cliebour

Ee frelim gosstun dak!