Good Evening 😉

The prompt for Day 6 resulted in me again poking at the idea of ‘identity’. I was nudged to:

“…write a poem rooted in “weird wisdom,” by which we mean something objectively odd that someone told you once, and that has stuck with you ever since” [from here]

“People who ask don’t get!” they said

To small (sweet-addict) me.

I fixed my eyes on them and tried

Some loud telepathy.

I soon found versions of that phrase

Would pile up at my door;

My label of ‘too much’ was borne

(I tried to suppress more…).

I smiled, and people-pleased a lot,

And hoped they’d understand

That I was worthy of the things

I secretly had planned.

I felt the sting when others weren’t

Mind-readers – but I tried

To stifle all beseeching and

Just keep my hopes inside.

Until I finally was DONE,

And started giving voice

To all my needs and wants alike

(Cos adults have that choice)

I take up space, I stand up proud,

Even when I’m afraid!

(I recognise my folly, back

When I longed for their praise).

Can any of my readers relate?!

Take care, and do come back and visit tomorrow 😉

Monty X

[Image by -Rita-👩‍🍳 und 📷 mit ❤ from Pixabay]

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Greetings!

Here we are on Day 5 of this year’s NaPo!

Maureen’s prompt said:

“Today, we’d like you to start by taking a look at Alicia Ostriker’s poem, “The Blessing of the Old Woman, the Tulip, and the Dog.” Now try your hand at writing your own poem about how a pair or trio of very different things would perceive of a blessing or, alternatively, how these very different things would think of something else (luck, grief, happiness, etc).” [from here]

“A mug, you see’s,

Happiest when he

(Or she) is seen,

Treated carefully.

That rough machine

Just dulls my sheen –

Efficiency’s

Not kind to me:

My print gets worn,

My paint forlorn:

Identity

Stripped thoroughly.

I squeak and gleam –

But all that means…?

Conformity

Is leaching ‘ME’!”

The woman nodded, stepping back,

She knew too well that cruel attack!

“Arundel tomb” she whispered, (thinking:

Larkin’s oft-viewed couple’s linking!)

Her own bones squeaked and creaked, were ‘weird’

From too much grinding in ‘their’ gears;

Attempted washing of her mind

Had dulled her pure, creative line.

Her ‘handle’, too, felt weak and wrest,

Escape seemed fantastic at best…

“I’m sorry” said she, to the mug,

“I shall not place you in that fug,

I shall not throw you in the dark

And close the door.  Machines embark

On sanitising all your quirks,

Making you feel like you held dirt

Inside your vessel.  So, indeed!

I will, from now on, pay more heed

To how I treat you, unique clay.

I’ve learned a lesson, here, today.”

The mug sighed deep,

A tear did seep,

But uttered he nary a peep;

Just gestured to the waiting kettle

So he and she could both then settle.

Maybe the above is not quite what the prompt asked for, but it was at least inspired by it 😉

My poem went through a few incarnations, and I always seem to have the poems I studied at school and Uni bubbling up.  The one I referred to today is here:

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/47594/an-arundel-tomb

and it was Larkin’s “washing at their identity” line, and the idea that what others see or remember won’t necessarily be who you are/were (as it is (usually) not you who ultimately gets to tell your story) that made me include it.  I do think that Larkin’s conclusion is more upbeat than the way one may take the end of my poem, however!

But, dear reader, I’ll away – and leave this for posterity… 😉

Take care, and I’ll hopefully ‘see’ you back here tomorrow.

Monty X

[Image by Tomasz Mikołajczyk from Pixabay]

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Please do not use any of my content (posts, pictures, poetry etc) without my permission, but feel free to link back to my blog if something catches your eye. Thank you!

Hello!!

How are you all? 🙂

The link for today’s prompt on the NaPoWriMo site has my most seen lucky number in it! The number 412 follows me around and, according to the internet, it means my angels are watching over me and encouraging me to forge ahead with my dreams – and I’m to trust my instincts 😉 I have wanted to be a writer for 40 years now…sooo…!!

Speaking of weird facts:

“Our (optional) prompt for the day challenges you to write a poem in which you take your title or some language/ideas from The Strangest Things in the World. First published in 1958, the book gives shortish descriptions of odd natural phenomena, and is notable for both its author’s turn of phrase and intermittently dubious facts” [from: https://www.napowrimo.net/day-four-12/]

I scrolled down this curiosity, and read the part on ‘Frog Versatility’ that tells us about the different noises from,  and diversity of, Brazilian frogs. The below, sung to the tune of “Skip To My Loo”, popped into my head:

Frogs, frogs:

Swarming in a tree;

Frogs, frogs:

Singing to me;

Frogs, frogs:

Brazil’s cuties –

Like: Hy-la-bypunc-ta-ta

LOL, as they say!! (People that is, not frogs…though maybe we just haven’t discovered ‘lol frogs’ yet?!)

And ooooonwaaards to Day 5!

Monty X

[Image by 17128499 from Pixabay]

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Please do not use any of my content (posts, pictures, poetry etc) without my permission, but feel free to link back to my blog if something catches your eye. Thank you!

Hiya 😉

Day three of #NaPoWriMo24 already!

The prompt said…

“Today, we’d like to challenge you to write a surreal prose poem. For inspiration, check out Franz Kafka’s collection of short parables (my favorite is “The Green Dragon”).  [from here]

So, I wrote:

I watched a YouTube clip about a crow. A crow who had befriended a boy of about two. I was in duel minds, the poles divided between awe and bird-flu ‘risks’ (not to mention a sharp beak in eye sockets, or the sampling of succulent little digits, as if they were worms). Rambunctious toddler with a raucous Corvid, cawing and hopping, both looking happier than a fictitious Larry.

I soon started to smile.

The comments gave me other stories of crow companionship; crow-operation, if you will. My polarised mind started meeting once more, safe in the knowledge this new information would soon fall (in formation) into a conversation; accruing a crowing of my own.

I took my inspiration from the cuteness in this here short.

Caw-tch you guys later, for Day 4! 😉

Monty X

[Image by Angela from Pixabay]

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Please do not use any of my content (posts, pictures, poetry etc) without my permission, but feel free to link back to my blog if something catches your eye. Thank you!

Good Day to you!

The second prompt of the month has been posted on the NaPoWriMo site to whet my noodled noggin:

“Today, we’d like to challenge you to write a platonic love poem. In other words, a poem not about a romantic partner, but some other kind of love – your love for your sister, or a friend, or even your love for a really good Chicago deep dish pizza. The poem should be written directly to the object of your affections (like a letter is written to “you”), and should describe at least three memories of you engaging with that person/thing.”

There are so many people…but an item of software stood on the desk of my mind and flung its hand the highest…

*shrugs*

An essay of three thousand words

starts with

a single forehead struck ‘gainst random keys.

Your cursoring can blink out whole thought-streams

ripe for the tweaking;

or freeze a hot love scene

indefinitely.

Wooooord, man!

How many nights have we wrapped ourselves in prayer,

and faced down a deadline –

as if hope alone

can skitter ‘cross the ‘board?

“Wrought writing: righting wrongs of the wright writer…”

(This wood pulp bends to thy print)

The whistles and grunts as you birthed dissertation reams,

The fun we’ve had…!

High-fiving each other as each Wonky 1k becomes shared history.

The way you’ve grown from bulky displays

to happily nestling in my trusting palm –

The overcast days you’ve been the only light in my eyes,

Beckoning forth my waning resolve.

You underlined my misspelt youth,

and continue to correct my courses to this day.

You hold the fonts to much knowledge,

and show affection writ large.

Yes, that’s correct: I know it has its annoying traits (as we all do) and its yearly fees are extortionate now, but I’ve had a fondness for Microsoft Word as a study/writing companion since Windows ’95 days 😉

How do you other writers out there organise your thoughts when you want to upgrade from the off-line scribblings, and make things more…legible?  Have you a different digital tool that you find works best for you?  Let me know in the comments!

Catch you tomorrow!

Monty X

[pic is from Pixabay, here]

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Please do not use any of my content (posts, pictures, poetry etc) without my permission, but feel free to link back to my blog if something catches your eye. Thank you!

Hellooooo there, my lovely readers!!

Another April has dawned: busy and  in the school holidays… 😉 so I’ll jump right in with Maureen’s prompt from the NaPoWriMo site:

“Today, we’d like to challenge you to write – without consulting the book – a poem that recounts the plot, or some portion of the plot, of a novel that you remember having liked but that you haven’t read in a long time.”

One immediately sprang to mind, and said mind conjured a lot of images with it…I had flashes of the stairwell, for some reason, so I wonder if this book was made into a film I have watched, too? Or if the cover had a good picture on it…?  Phrases and scenes also came back to me quickly… I really should re-read it!

As I give away the plot here, I will put the name of the book muuuuch further down, so only those who don’t mind spoilers can see it (and those who think they recognise it from my descriptions can check if they’re right!)

Making unlikely friends,

With soap-coping around bed bugs,

I live in a letter.

Cradling my growing belly

And my secrets;

Turning from the white coat death

Toward bravery.

No man can truly claim me.

These friends fortify –

I gather my offspring

(And my hope-spring)

To my heart.

All due to shared stories,

And trust forged through walls:

Je suis retournée chez mes parents

Who knew how this missive should end?

Sound familiar at all?!

Take care, and I’ll catch you tomorrow!

Monty X

[pic is from Pixabay, here]

Come visit the Facebook page and follow @ComfyRestless on Twitter

Copyright © 2024  Montaffera All Rights Reserved

Please do not use any of my content (posts, pictures, poetry etc) without my permission, but feel free to link back to my blog if something catches your eye. Thank you!

[Book: The L-shaped Room by Lynn Reid Banks]