50PoWriMo - XXVIII

i had a lot of time for introspection because i forgot my keys and had to wander the streets



there's nothing like doing something stupid
to focus the mind on all the stupid things you did
no matter what achievement may balance the scale, you're
only able to dwell on the failures

Stats - Day 17

poems written = 27

poems written per day = 1.5882
poems remaining = 23
required poems per day = 1.7692

50PoWriMo - XXVII

just some of the many reasons why i have never been successful



i've never had a goal defined with any sense of clarity
i've never worked out how to make motivation
i've never reckoned anything is due to me
i've never shot for things above my station
i've never really not been cruising comfortably
i've never had the courage to commit

i've never mistaken dreaming for reality
i've never worked hard enough for it

50PoWriMo - XXVI

the poet or the marketeer



she would rather date
a successful french poet
than a man who works
in marketing
a reasonable mandate
i thought although it's
not knowledge based, just her
gut feeling

Stats - Day 16

poems written = 25

poems written per day = 1.5625
poems remaining = 25

required poems per day = 1.7857

so that's the half-way mark reached, and only a day behind schedule. i am running very low on ideas and inspiration, however.

50PoWriMo - XXV

the russian czar and the aztec goddess



she kept a list of all her lovers
carefully created curlicued calligraphy
in gold glitter gel pen
writ bold on her bedroom wall
a timeline of trysts
a chronology of consorts
a history of hookups
a lineage of liaisons
she never knew the name of number one
nor several of his successors
and most of the monikers were missing from her memory
but she never forgot a face
or a quirk
or a characteristic
or a body
so she knew noone was missed from her list
her suite of suitors sobriquets
starting with "the silent shadow"
(a teenage trembler
at a party she should never have attended)
who she had climbed on a cupboard
to inscribe close to the cornice in the corner
she liked to lie and let her eyes
rest on members of the castlist of her memories
each nickname an episode title
in the show she wished she was making
some were classics like "the impossible dreamer"
"lullaby" or "all the invisible things"
relationships that had ebbed and flowed
story arcs that delineated chunks of her past
some still gave her chills just to think of them
like "ironman", "the perfect flaw" or "constant gift"
she still got a laugh from that time
starting at about the middle of column two
where she was choosing partners
so their names fitted with their predecessors
"new man" and "bad eel"
"the black saint" and "the sinner lady"
"vodka" "lime" and "soda"
"benji" "zax" and "the alien prince"

it's a cliche about regret
but she never regretted anything she had done
there were two names on the wall, however
that she only saw with sorrow
the lovers she should never have let leave

"the russian czar"
she met in a bar
drinking vodka and kahlua
he had perfect hair
and a regal air
she wanted to topple him then and there
he was the biggest of shots
and she knew that she ought
to barely have given him a second thought
but she wanted to please him
nearly did her knees in
working hard to thaw his heart that was freezing
til he left one october
without word it was over
and it was after new year's before she was sober

"the aztec goddess" was one quarter mexican
didn't speak much spanish - except bedroom lexicon
like tlazolteotl she brought purification
and a sense their relationship brought recreation
each one redefined in reference to the other
intimately intertwined living as lovers
closer than they ever could have imagined being to a person
one coin with two sides, two different versions
of the same earth-child entity
but that was only their private identity
they hated each other's family and friends
the real world conspired their inevitable end


back in her boudoir bedecked with gold letters
as she takes up her pen to chalk up her new lover
there's always a pause to think "would it be better
if the list was just those two and i forgot the others?"





many thanks to the lovely @Heilewelt who suggested the title to me on the twitter - not convinced this rambling mess does her justice, but at least it's not for lack of effort.

50PoWriMo - XXIV

impossible



you can't have a quagga as a pet
they haven't unextinctioned it yet
you'll want one when they do, of course
it's so much cooler than a horse

Stats - Day 15

poems written = 23

poems written per day = 1.5333
poems remaining = 27

required poems per day = 1.8

50PoWriMo - XXIII

herschel's birthday



he discovered uranus
which is nothing to be sniffed at
he discovered infrared radiation
which is less frequent than you can see
he discovered that coral is an animal
and passed it on

but most of all he was a musician
a composer and orchestra director
a professional artist and a scientist for fun

and he didn't live to be two hundred and seventy-two
so he doesn't have to read this

50PoWriMo - XXII

job satisfaction



anyone who says they love their job
is lying
a universal truth we work hard at
denying
think about it too long you won't keep yourself
from crying
on the days i like it most i might describe mine as
stultifying
the rest of the time it's just a slow method
of dying

Stats - Day 14

poems written = 21

poems written per day = 1.5
poems remaining = 29

required poems per day = 1.8125

50PoWriMo - XXI

silent prayer



give me calm
give me peace
give me patience
give me skill
give me confidence
give me sensitivity
give me wisdom
give me humility
give me help
give me focus
give me time
give me fortitude
give me perseverance

take all i have

Stats - Day 13

poems written = 20

poems written per day = 1.5385
poems remaining = 30

required poems per day = 1.7647

50PoWriMo - XX

i dreamt i worked in faerie hr



these are tough times in our industry
the melodramatic might call it tragic
but a greater dependence on technology
has led to less demand for magic
factor in the global recession
and days lost last year to snow
these are tough times in our profession
we're going to have to let some of you go
many of you highly skilled faerie
each of you a faithful servant
many of you have young families
i wish i didn't have to make you redundant

but there are some wishes
it's not within our power
to grant

Stats - Day 12

poems written = 19

poems written per day = 1.5833
poems remaining = 31

required poems per day = 1.7222

50PoWriMo - XIX

paul chambers




he wrote
one joke
to his friends
and it ends
up with a long and bitter fight for justice
let's go up
and blow up
with indignation
at misinformation
used to convict him - the fight's not just his
anyone
could have done
one tweet
whose conceit
and comedic mores
were ignored
perverted
misinterpreted
made an example
systematically trampled
we should never have needed to have discussed this

Stats - Day 11

poems written = 18

poems written per day = 1.6364
poems remaining = 32

required poems per day = 1.6842

50PoWriMo - XVIII

free




ten spare minutes
a horn in my hand
and noone in the house?

noodle a scale

then a couple more
and hold

               that top note
til it starts to swirl
and bend it to my will
and the lip-slurred harmonics
leaping like the sparks in a plasma ball
and them i'm away
tearing into the instrument
a flurry of fingers
a confection of notes and noises
an essential scream
responding to my every nuance as my thoughts and fears and joys and things for which there are no words come pouring through like the deluge after a dam is destroyed and each honk and squeal and lick rolls over the end of the last
and i'm dancing
and my feet make their own music
and my lungs are at their limits
and my heart is pounding
and my tongue is a blur
and i ...
      and i ...
            and i ...
                  and i ...
                        and i ...
and i get interrupted by a knock at the door

i would hate to have been my neighbours
but for ten brief minutes
it was great being me

50PoWriMo - XVII

george the parrot



stanley misses you
he put up all those posters
taped round every tree and lamppost
was that really the best photo of you?
(like the missing people on tv
who would hate that they were famous
in badly cropped facebook shots
if they didn't have deeper concerns)
your reflection in the background
seems to have captured you most malevolent side
and yet
the strangely specific time of loss
makes me wonder what happened at the time
i hope you aren't missing
so much as free



http://tumblr.com/xh2p249yg

Stats - Day 10

poems written = 16

poems written per day = 1.6
poems remaining = 34

required poems per day = 1.7