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Saturday 30 April 2016

Day Thirty

NaPoWriMo 2016

Day Thirty

TOENAILS BLUE
You know
I know that - you’re playing a game
You tell me you paint your toenails blue
You mess with my head - but you stay the same
All night you talk to…? I haven’t a clue

You know
I know that - there is only you
Behind your grin and bear it persona
Sparkling and dizzy - and heady just you
Fizzy like Tizer pop and Corona

You know
I know that - you figured me out
You’ve got to stop sending – post cards in code
Stop listening to the monsters that shout
And mail me a letter to my abode

You know
I know that - the other and this
You know
I know that - it’s you that I miss

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Friday 29 April 2016

Day Twenty Nine


Day Twenty Nine

The prompt at NaPoWriMo today was to
write a poem based on things you remember.

Here’s mine:

MEMORIES
Monday we said we would always be bold  
My very first kiss – sixteen – seconds old
Falling back to earth in a lead balloon
She thought that she was flying to the moon

Memories can flatter and sometimes please
Dib dib dib - Dob dob dob - all of those d’s
Falling off the pier she soon learnt to swim
Remember the day of the world cup win

Akela – the sex pest – we’ll do our best
She tried to tempt me did I pass the test
Remember the cold November the fifth
Tuesday was colder she told me forthwith

I’m always wrong so she won’t let me stay
Monday through Tuesday - to half day Wednesday

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Thursday 28 April 2016

Day Twenty Eight


Day Twenty Eight

The prompt at NaPoWriMo today was to write a poem
that tells a story backwards, therefore, the first line should
say what happened last.

Here’s mine:

SHE HATED
Finally she pulled the trigger and walked away  
She hated them all with a vengeance
The alley cats that rooted through trash cans like bin dogs
The fat cats that came over her neighbour’s wall
The wild cats in the shed at the bottom of her garden
Anything to do with cats she hated
But only because they made a lot of noise
Of course she hated children more than adults
In reality Betty was the archetypal curtain twitcher
To protect the innocent or so she said
On her home computer she would change all the names
She would type it up from the shorthand later
Everything went into her reporter’s notebook
She had to write everything down
She couldn’t help herself
She wrote things on a postcard sometimes

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Wednesday 27 April 2016

Day Twenty Seven


   Day Twenty Seven

   HER MADE UP WORLD
   Her made up world of shopping for shoes/ Under the bed she has continents of them/ Amazonian rain forests full of knee high boots/ Islands the size of Timbuktu stuffed with carrier bags/ And receipts for stiletto’s that she’ll never wear/ I went to visit her once and she took an hour to find an odd shoe/ It was under the bed after all she said when I asked/ I spent the day with her and she changed her shoes nine times/ Under the mattress her high heels peep up like Nepalese peaks/ Lower down in the Antarctic of her dreams beneath the floorboards/ And the permafrost the pure lake water is double maybe triple distilled/ For people like me who always thought shoes were just for walking/ She says No, shoes are for wearing sometimes, but mainly for keeping for life/ If you don’t believe me ask Imelda Marcos just don’t let the termites flood in/ 270416

  The prompt at NaPoWriMo today was to write a poem with longer lines than usual.


Tuesday 26 April 2016

Day Twenty Six

NaPoWriMo 2016

Day Twenty Six

APRIL
What about April
Even weeds are weedier
What happened to spring

More showers this year than last
And today the snow came back  

In Piccadilly
The man with the feeding tray
Waiting for the birds

The grass is always astro
Dream on you know you can’t play

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Monday 25 April 2016

Day Twenty Five



Day Twenty Five


PHOTOGRAPHY
From time to time
We travel by photography
From one time frame to another
From the present to the past
And from the past into the future
Through the same eyes
We see things in different ways
As if for the very first time
Light is thrown upon the Darkness
Illuminating our minds for ever
We wonder if those shadowy figures knew
That we would still be able to see them
One hundred years after they had gone
Like we know that those that follow us
Will be able to see what we have done
How we lived and the contribution
We made to their lives or perhaps not
From time to time
We travel by photography
From one time frame to another
From the present to the past
And from the past into the future

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Sunday 24 April 2016

Day Twenty Four


Day Twenty Four

MANET POSES
She’s kickin’ mad for it like Baudelaire
Done time in prison and she doesn’t care
The painted canvas of her portrait cries
Up in the gallery despite her lies
If I don’t tell her she won’t know the truth
She set herself apart she’s so aloof
As fleeting as modernity methinks
Art Nouveau rings another round of drinks
A gin and tonic and she waves goodbye
As plastic dingle dangles from her eye
The evil flowers that destroyed her soul
Cemeteries that couldn’t make her whole
Roadside crosses planted with red roses
She paints her toes doing Manet poses
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Friday 22 April 2016

Day Twenty Two


Day Twenty Two

ITZY BITZY 
When the sun is shining right through
Rough as you are and feeling blue
Phew Itzy Bitzy Timbucktoo
Choose to be there I want you too

Phew relief that you came back home
Rome is no place for one so young
So young Itzy Bitzy like you
Bleu as they say you are en France

Dancing cool to the latest dance
Romance like Venice and Paris
Marry in the Blacksmith’s workshop
Hop on a train to Gretna Green 

Seen scene everybody’s seen you
You know it’s Earth Day when the sun …

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Thursday 21 April 2016

Day Twenty One


Day Twenty One

FIGHTING FOR LIFE
Standing still revolving at the same time
Itemise this and that throw the other
Her blanket keeps her warm on the dry nights
Nights when it rains she sleeps under the arch

The arches where all the addicted go
Going there is the worst thing that she hates
She hates it more than queuing up for food
Food that she gets once a day God bless her

Her and a million like her sleep outside
Outside in all weathers fighting for life
File this that and the other sling your hook
Cook some soup take it down to the kitchen

The kitchen where the fire is always hot
Shot to bits on a Saturday so what
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I didn’t do the prompt at NaPoWriMo today.

Wednesday 20 April 2016

Day Twenty


Week 476

Pacify
Rage
Scarce


Day Twenty

Here’s mine:

Flash Fiction in 51 Syllables

ONLY A GAME
After losing the big game, Dawn tries to pacify her Pet Robot. However scarce it may be for a Robot, he flies into a rage. Dave can’t see what all the fuss is about ‘it’s only a game’, he says.

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Tuesday 19 April 2016

Day Nineteen

NaPoWriMo 2016                                             

Day Nineteen

HOW TO TAME A TROGLODYTE
Is life a competition or a game
Pray tell me soon my all creative one
Ask your troglodyte to discuss his name
He’ll grunt and groan ignoring you for fun
Club you to kingdom come if you let him
You need to exercise control all day
Bind him tightly and whip him till he’s thin
Feed him minute amounts and make him pay
For sins of generations on his back
Exact his breath with boiling lemonade
Kick his wisdom teeth into a black sack
When he’s ready send him out on a raid
Buy ‘How to Tame a Troglodyte’ the book
Make sure the author signs it take a look
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The prompt at NaPoWriMo today was to write a ‘How To’ poem


Monday 18 April 2016

Day Eighteen

NaPoWriMo 2016

Day Eighteen

THE ROOKIE
The conjurer tried to conceal
an ace up his sleeve but no deal
for the audience saw
that the rookie was raw
and the magical deal wasn’t real
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I did the Madeleine Begun Kane Limerick prompt today. The idea was to use the rhyming word conceal or seal in the challenge.

Sunday 17 April 2016

Day Seventeen

NaPoWriMo 2016

Day Seventeen

The prompt at NaPoWriMo today was to
write a poem incorporating at least ten words
from a specialized dictionary - I chose my words
from 'Woodwork for Winemakers' by C.J. Dart
& D.A. Smith.

My Words were:

Plonker
Carboy trolley
Bottle rack
Mobile bar
Pulper
Bottle carrier
Malt grain crusher
Cork flogger
Floating syphon
Pulp squeezer

And this is what I wrote:

BACK TO BRIGHTON
Who’s the dolly with the carboy trolley?
Bonkers about the bottle rack plonker
It’s Holly and she’s looking for lolly
Dish the dosh and hit her with a conker
I think she’s got a crush on the crusher
It used to be the bottle carrier
Had her eye on the winery brusher
Before that it was the dray farrier
South America would not be too far
Then there was Python the floating syphon
And the malt grain man at the mobile bar
If only she could go back to Brighton
I caught her kissing the pulper geezer
Was the cork flogger a better snogger?
In the back kitchen behind the freezer
Or was it the Canadian logger
She told me the pulp squeezer was better
She just hoped that he would not forget her

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Saturday 16 April 2016

Day Sixteen

NaPoWriMo 2016

Day Sixteen


CHINA TOWN
MANCHESTER
Welcome to Manchester
Or should that read
Greetings from Manchester
Or perhaps
Welcome to China Town
Or maybe that could say
China Town Manchester
Whatever the weather the
Umbrellas are out shielding
And shading us from the sun
Parasol City this is not
Welcome to The Rainy City
on a sunny day perhaps?

160416

They had an Almanac Questionnaire as today's
prompt at NaPoWriMo. I chose 'Picture on your
City's Postcard' from the extensive topic list.

Friday 15 April 2016

Day Fifteen

NaPoWriMo 2016

Day Fifteen

MONKEY
Trouble don’t come so easy these days
You need to take a broom and brush it
Push it to the limit if you can
The bin dogs and alley cats know these things
And the garbage man
I’ve been waiting all day for you to come home
The wife said to the monkey
Double trouble hubby bubble
The wife said to the monkey
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The prompt at NaPoWriMo today was to write
a poem that incorporates the idea of doubles.

Thursday 14 April 2016

Day Fourteen

NaPoWriMo 2016

Day Fourteen

The prompt at NaPoWriMo today was to write a San San Poem.

Here's mine:

FREEZE
She looks at me etcetera
Pulling a mean and bitey face
I hide her cone shade but stay close
Wishing I had gone to Petra
The rose red city would be ace
She lifts her gun and starts to squeeze
Squirting water towards my nose
I pick my hose up and shout Freeze!

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Wednesday 13 April 2016

Day Thirteen


Melancholy
Nimble
Opaque

AFTER THE CRASH
Sometime after the crash, Dave had a touch of melancholy madness.
Dawn tried to console him, saying, ‘the windscreen was virtually opaque’.
The nimble pet robot had been behind the wheel, still Dave blamed himself.

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The prompt at NaPoWriMo today was a bit cookie, 
so I did the Wednesday thing at 3ww.

Tuesday 12 April 2016

Day Twelve

NaPoWriMo 2016

Day Twelve

The prompt at NaPoWriMo today was to write an Index Poem.

Here's my attempt:

AN INDEX POEM
Acid heads are as bad as those that are
Alcohol fuelled filled to overflowing
Aluminium cans get kicked down the street
Ammunition can be so explosive

Batteries can power her motor and
Bleach can be used to clean her kitchen sink
Bombs can explode at unexpected times
Brown can be seen as a colour or not 

Calcium’s out there in rocks and in chalk
Carbon can be found in the sun and stars
Charcoal can be kicked about the back yard
Chrome she cleans with aluminium foil

Detonate the bombs and ammunition
Dimes cents dollars and yen can’t compensate

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Monday 11 April 2016

Day Eleven

NaPoWriMo 2016

Day Eleven

WATCHING
WASHING
Watching it intrudes into my
Life it takes up a huge amount
Of room in my living space
I watch it sometimes
But sometimes not
It talks to me informs me
Sometimes it tries to sell
Things to me products and
Ideas that I don’t need  
Sitting on a table by my sofa
It is wider than it is high and
These days it has a flat screen
It has preset channels to receive  
Television and radio broadcasts
And a wireless remote control
I drape the washing over it to dry

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I didn't really stick to the prompt today, but I tried to give it a surprise ending.

Today's challenge at NaPoWriMo was to write a poem in which you closely describe an object or place, and then end with a much more abstract line that doesn’t seemingly have anything to do with that object or place, but which, of course, really does. I think of the “surprise” ending to this James Wright Poem as a model for the effect I’m hoping you’ll achieve. An abstract, philosophical kind of statement closing out a poem that is otherwise intensely focused on physical, sensory details. Happy writing!


Sunday 10 April 2016

Day Ten

NaPoWriMo 2016

Day Ten

The prompt at NaPoWriMo today was
to write a book spine poem. I chose five
books from my bookcase and wrote the following:

UP ON THE BOOKCASE
Up on the bookcase she’s still writing plays
Adventures melt titles leap off the shelf
Ben Okri – An African Elegy
Books with a bit of wear and tear like Skin

Ten Short Plays – Nicola Batty & co
Memories of places we used to go
Guide to the Musée d’Orsay - in Paris
Modigliani on the hotel wall

The Weirdstone Of Brisingamen – Garner
The very last book that she ever bought
Debut On Two – a BBC Books book
Up on the bookcase with her play inside

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Saturday 9 April 2016

Day Nine

NaPoWriMo 2016

Day Nine

I couldn't understand the prompt at NaPoWriMo
today so I wrote a FlameThrower.

BABIES KNOW
Happy don’t come easy sideways
Sway the boat don’t rock it baby
Babies know much more than we think
Inking forearms is forbidden

Denton is on another plane
Lane after country lane we drive
Arriving home before midnight
Night turns into daytime too soon

On the day God created man
Manchester was what He wanted
Granted it took some time to do
Don’t things always look so upbeat?

Eat yourself stupid they won’t care
Are you mad or really happy?
090416

Friday 8 April 2016

Day Eight

NaPoWriMo 2016

Day Eight

The prompt at NaPoWriMo today was to write about flowers.

Here's mine:

FLOWERS
All covered in bangles
Done up like Beau Jangles
So cosy
Like poesy
Red roses sans mangles

Cream cheese and hot bagels
Laid out on long tables
Like plastic
Fantastic
Red roses green stables

Red damaged and tangled
Green droopy bits dangled
Red rosy
Girl’s posy
Plastic flowers mangled

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Thursday 7 April 2016

Day Seven

NaPoWriMo 2016

Day Seven

The prompt at NaPoWriMo today was to write a Tritina

Here's mine:

POOR CANDLESTICK MAKER
He might love her but she loves the Butcher
Next time I think he will try the Baker
Butcher Baker or Candyfloss Maker

He even asked out the Cocktail Shaker
Still no joy for she too loves the Butcher
Cake in hand he’s waiting for the Baker

She was late coming out of the Bakers
When she did he said Hey Miss Cake Maker
She said what? And went into the Butchers

Butcher Baker poor Candlestick Maker

070416 

Wednesday 6 April 2016

Day Six

NaPoWriMo 2016

Day Six

The prompt at NaPoWriMo today was to write about food.

Here's mine:

EVER EXPANDING ANDY
Since bread and cheese with herbs became his dream
The cabbage soup diet would not suit him
Eating himself to death with cakes and cream
I don’t think that he will ever be slim

Shedding a few pounds would be a riot
Of course that’s not as easy as it seems
Lose the weight first then go on the diet
Ever expanding Andy – burst the seams

He needs something that’s carbohydrate free
To cut out fizzy plonk and all that beer
He don’t want to go bark up the wrong tree
Or partake of something that he can’t cheer

One of these days he’s going to be slim
Ever Expanding Andy roll on Jim

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Tuesday 5 April 2016

Day Five

NaPoWriMo 2016

Day Five

The prompt at NaPoWriMo hadn't been posted when
I went out this morning, so I wrote a little rhyme
for my Hello Baby collection.

CHOCOLATE
WHISKERS
Lily kitten pussycat
Nimble as an acrobat
With her chocolate whiskers sat
On a thimble Lily cat

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Monday 4 April 2016

Day Four

NaPoWriMo 2016

Day Four

The prompt at NaPoWriMo today was: In his poem “The Wasteland,” T.S. Eliot famously declared that “April is the cruelest month.” But is it? I’d have thought February. Today I challenge you to write a poem in which you explore what you think is the cruelest month, and why.

Here’s mine:

NEVER KNOWING KNOWINGLY
Sitting there looking - bored forever
Never knowing knowingly - owing me
Ring me - bring me - sing me a song
A long, long - long lost song

Why pay rent on a concrete tent
When you can drive a Winnebago
He sings the jingle over in his head
Like a metronome windscreen wiper

If any month was heaven sent
It must be March or May
But the cruelest month that ever was
Was the one when we couldn’t pay

Sitting there looking - bored forever
Never knowing knowingly - owing me
Ring me - bring me - sing me a song
A long, long - long lost song

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Sunday 3 April 2016

Day Three

NaPoWriMo 2016

Day Three
Today’s prompt at NaPoWriMo says: Let’s turn our vision outward, and write fan letters. I challenge you to write a poem in the form of a fan letter to a celebrity. Now, this could be a celebrity from long ago, and needn’t be an actor or singer (though it could be). You could write to George Washington or Dorothy Dandridge, Marie Curie or The Weekend. Happy writing!

Here’s mine:

WHACK! AND WHAM!
Dear Batman, I’m your biggest fan
Robin’s bobbins compared to you
You’re greater than the also rans
Superman, and Spiderman too

You’re the best of the very best
They just don’t measure up like you
And I’m not talking Adam West
The Riddler can’t out riddle you

Love the way you Zapped! The Joker
Kerplop! Thunk! Blam! One thump, Pow! Swish!
When you hit him with that poker
And Catwoman is such a dish

So, Batman I’m your biggest fan
I love the way you Whack! And Wham!
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Here's another Batman piece I wrote in 2010 clink~da~link

Saturday 2 April 2016

Day Two 2016


Day Two
Today’s challenge at NaPoWriMo is to write a poem that takes the form of a family portrait. You could write, for example, a stanza for each member of your family. You could also find an actual snapshot of your family and write a poem about it, spending a little bit of time on each person in the picture. You don’t need to observe any particular form or meter. Happy writing!

Here’s Mine:

MY ROBOTIC FAMILY
Photogenic not photosynthesis
I swear the picture’s looking back at me
A million years ago in days of bliss
Of me and my robotic family

Such artistic vision encapsulates
And mirrors my eternal entity
This very soul of mine which can’t escape
Then in my mind I truly would be free

They say you only reap the things you sow
My hair is purple blue and red aflame
My eyes are whiter than the driven snow
Looking back my portrait is still the same

I used to cry each time they sold my clone
As time progressed I valued being alone

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Friday 1 April 2016

Day One 2016

Happy NaPoWriMo

NaPoWriMo

Day One
Today’s challenge at NaPoWriMo is to write a lune. This is a sort of English-language haiku. While the haiku is a three-line poem with a 5-7-5 syllable count, the lune is a three-line poem with a 5-3-5 syllable count. You can write a one-lune poem, or write a poem consisting of multiple stanzas of lunes. Happy writing! 

Here's mine:

BETWIXT
AND
BETWEEN
Betwixt and between
Still raining
Waiting for summer

Clouds threaten
Waiting for summer
Shorts and tee

Umbrella
Betwixt and between
Rivers flood

Still raining
Waiting still hoping
Raining still

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