In Case of Writer’s Block, Break This Poem

Word Help by Anna Langova

I collect words,
abandoned syllables
of overheard conversations
tucked away for a rainy day,
stashing “itinerant” and “furtive”
in empty pickle jars in the pantry,
“mercurial” carefully folded and slid
between boxes of winter clothes
in the top of my closet
next to “pedantic” and “demeanor,”
“serendipity” carried in my pockets
until threadbare and tatty,
files and notebooks overflowing until the day
I recycle those collected words into poetry,
something to touch the dreams of another’s soul
by exposing my own.


Written for the Poetic Asides Poem a Day Challenge Day 11 prompt, to write a poem with “In Case of (blank)” as the title.  Also written for the prompt from Poetry Jam asking about the contents of our pockets.

The Bells of Newtown

Bell Tower in Winter by Jana Illnerova

I heard the bells ring in the wintry air
And my thoughts trailed off,
Not to holiday cheer
But to innocence stolen
In a blizzard of bullets,
The carefully picked presents
Wrapped in red and green
Tucked away in closets
Never to be opened,
And the families who seek
Some semblance of comfort and joy
From angels who rest
Not atop the Christmas tree
But in the loving arms of God.


Written for the Poetic Asides Poem a Day Challenge Day 10 prompt, which asked us to write a suffering poem.

In Concrete

Photograph by Mary B. Mansfield

Looking back

On memories paved

In concrete,

Your footprints

Will always be found next to

The fragments of my heart.

Written for the Poetic Asides Poem a Day Challenge, Day 10 prompt of writing a suffering poem.

Waiting

Coffee Cup by Peter Griffin

Coffee and cigarettes 

Rest by my dormant keyboard 

As I await the arrival 

Of a long-overdue muse

To help blow the dust 

Off of my soul.

Written for the Poetic Asides Poem a Day challenge, day 1 prompt of “arrival.”