Overheard In The Ladies Room

NaPoWiMo – Day 19 - Conversation is grist for the poetry mill: overheard conversation especially: Today’s challenge is to write a poem inspired by something you’ve overheard. Maybe it’s some phrase your mother uses a lot. Maybe it’s what the bus conductor said this morning over his loudspeaker

Overheard in the Ladies Room

He has a voice,

you know, that kind of voice

that makes a lady say,

I could do, would do

anything, willingly,

as long as he would talk to me.

He has a face,

you know, the kind of face

that makes a woman say,

I'd shave my legs -

most everyday

up all the way

If only he would...

And smile

he has a smile

that lights his eyes and

makes a body realize

he has been, could be, may be,

up to something you might do

if only he would smile at you.

Red Is My Song

NaPoWiMo - Day 18 - Today’s prompt is an incantatory color poem. Pick a color – something you like, something important to you. Red, yellow, whatever. Now, write a poem that uses the color in every or nearly every line: a hypnotic invocation of the color.

Red Is My Song

Red calls me into morning,

promises sunrise surprise.

Red rocks me into evening

sensual sunset sensations.

Red it the longest wavelength of light

discernible by the human eye.

Red is anger, blood, guilt,

pain, passion, sin.

Red colors my life

lifting upward the pleasure of red.

Red centers my wardrobe

winds me forward always.

Red breakfast and song.

Red movement, music and moments.

Amaranth, auburn,

cardinal, crimson, camelain,

fuchsia, lava,

magenta, maroon, persimmon,

raspberry rose, ruby,

sangria, scarlet,

vermillion and venetian.

Red is my song.

Luzon Bill

NaPoWiMo - Day 17 - Write a portrait poem. Your poetic portrait can be of anyone: and it doesn’t have to cover the whole of someone’s life or try to wrap them up with a bow. It just has to try to give a sense of that person. Any form, any style. On your mark, get set, go!

Luzon Bill

His uniforms were always tailored

and he looked so good on leave,

in a small rural community,

they would sell him bananas without a ration card.

One hundred thirty pounds when he came home,

and no one ever questioned his authority,

yet he never raised his voice.

He cared for both his wife and mother

like it was an honor.

He knew how to treat a woman

and how to raise his girls,

with courage, confidence and poise.

In 1964 he almost won the Abe Lincoln

look-alike contest.

It was the only time anyone ever saw him

without a clean shaven face.

He was a stickler about shoes,

always clean and polished.

Could make a bed better than his wife.

Finished everything he started.

Could fix anything anytime,

cars, motorcycles, wheelbarrows,

a sticky door, a broken heart,

except the ones he left when he died.