NaPM April 16 2015

[milo]

Rules: Write a poem for national poetry month on the topic or form described. Each poem should appear as a separate reply to this thread. The goal is to, at the end of the month have written 30 poems for National Poetry Month. 








Topic 16: Write a poem inspired by wanting something you cannot have.
Form : any
Line requirements: 8 lines or more

Questions?

[just mercedes]

I used to watch as little boys
played soccer down the halls
and celebrated scoring goals -
I wish I had some balls.
 
I know I’d take good care of them.
It’s not a lot I’m askin’
just let me once see how it feels -
I’d even keep the foreskin.
 
We squat alone in cubicles
so none can say they’ve seen us
but men compare and stand up straight.
I wish I had a penis.
 

[billy]

play your cards right and you can have mine

loved it jm

I used to watch as little boys
played soccer down the halls
and celebrated scoring goals -
I wish I had some balls.
 
I know I’d take good care of them.
It’s not a lot I’m askin’
just let me once see how it feels -
I’d even keep the foreskin.
 
We squat alone in cubicles
so none can say they’ve seen us
but men compare and stand up straight.
I wish I had a penis.
 

[bena]

wow merc...so funny! (It'll be hard to beat your penis...poem)

[Todd]

There Are No Phone Booths Anymore

I would take off imaginary glasses,
unstrap leg braces, and try
to cast off this secret identity.
Escape was not a door
that opened to a golden ticket,
the conjurer’s trick of the vanishing
lady. Instead lady becomes tiger, and escape
becomes the magic of the caterpillar.

[Tiger the Lion]

Mi amiga

Nunca voy a tener la oportunidad de
a contar todo.

Mi español no es fuerte
suficiente para construir hermosos poemas

o cantar una canción feliz
cuando se necesita para escuchar la música.

Yo podría cantar yo te quiero todo el día
pero nunca se podrá escuchar la melodía
exactamente
cómo lo escuché en mi mente.

----------

My Friend

I'll never have the opportunity 
to tell you everything.

My Spanish is not strong
enough to build beautiful poems

or sing a happy song
when you need to hear the music.

I could sing I love you all day long
but you will never hear the melody
exactly
how I heard it in my mind.

[Erthona]

Faded Fog

Chasing the fog that rolled
out behind the big truck,
there was "nutting funner".
Fog that led to not having
to worry about mosquitoes
when we played outside at night:
nights when the sky was clear enough
to see the fuzzy band that is the Milky Way.
Of course there was a penalty
for such overweening hubris.
The deadly fog which we
loved to ride through on our bikes
killed the great horned toad,
although we just called them
horny toad, too young to realize
the double meaning.
The collective minds of the
of small town think,
in their small minded unthinking way,
left open the door for the
persistent invasion of fire ants
and although horny toads have started
to come back, I still miss the fog.  


Erthona


©2015

[milo]

Possessed


Today, so many people haunted
by the things they've never had.
New cars, big houses, watches flaunted
today. So many people haunted
while I have much I've never wanted
if only grief for you became a fad.
Today, so many people haunted
by the things they've never had.

[rayheinrich]

                               
                                        < evenings lost >
                                 
                                  you pretended it was spring
                                  even when it was
                                  those evenings when the sun went down
                                  just
                                  as the moon came up
                                 
                                  you practiced this
                                  holding an orange in one hand
                                  and a pear in the other
                                  lifting the pear
                                  and letting the orange fall
                                  past the wash of beach
                                  between your thigh and breast
                                   
                                                - - -
                                 

[cidermaid]

The mirror in the hall,
has never lied (or even tried to hide)
the truth about my size.

Not once has it drawn
me into a magical place,
to once upon a time be Ally again.

So I’m going to the pawn shop,
to do a deal with Mr Gold;
regain the fairytale I was sold.

[bena]

she comes in late but makes a bee line to the head of the pack....

[jasmine.m.wardiya]

There's never enough
time to do it all
but it's also never any use
wanting more.

Time doesn't slow
unless it's something incredibly dull -
and such a waste as well.
There's only about a thousand
other things I want to do.
I don't have time for them all
and it's - just such a shame
to have to stay with those boring,
useless stuff, waiting,
watching the clock tick on
an endless chime

But that's just how time is.
When I've got things to do it flies.
There's never enough of it
to go round.

[bena]

I always wanted a girl

so I could teach her bravery,
strength tempered with sensitivity,
music, poetry, and art.

Instead I was blessed with two
heathen boys--
dirty and foul beasts with minds of their own.

As they grew I realized
they were strong-willed and empathetic,
musically inspirational,
and two of the best poets I know.

Neither one will let me
paint their toenails pink.

[Keith]

What I'd do if I could travel

Thursdays Enterprise-Journal
read October 20th 1977
It was a glorious morning
and most importantly
it was still morning.
Taxi !
Take me to Greenville airport
please, and hurry if you can.
I enter the departures lounge
and approached the security desk.
Excuse me Sir,
I have just been drinking
in a local hotel bar
with two of the airports pilots,
they were both taking cocaine
and drinking heavily,
they said they were flying
a Convair 240
down to Baton Rouge,
any way I didn't
think they should be allowed
to pilot a plane in that condition.

It was a cold New York night
December 8th 1980
I had arrived too early and spent
the day in central park
and waited in the dark until 10:00pm.
Excuse me officer,
I have just walked past the entrance
to the Dakota hotel
and saw a man standing in the archway
he was holding pistol
and threatened me as I past.

I made it down to Dallas
the day before I was born
November 1963
Excuse me sir are you with security?
I have just overheard three men discussing
how they are going to assassinate the
president, they said it would be done
with a sniper riffle
from up there on the sixth floor,
yes, the school book depository.
Perhaps you should stop
the car coming through.

[ellajam]

^^^pretty heroic, , a fun read with a tragic undertone.

[rayheinrich]

Cool, loved it.
But this line:
"I have just overheard two men discussing."

For verisimilitude, not that it couldn't have been two of the three,
you should make it three; or, alternately, one man talking to himself.
(The latter, by the way, supports two of my four theories.)

[Keith]

^^^pretty heroic,  , a fun read with a tragic undertone.

Thanks ella there's so much you could do.........if only

---

Cool, loved it.
But this line:
"I have just overheard two men discussing."

For verisimilitude, not that it couldn't have been two of the three,
you should make it three; or, alternately, one man talking to himself.
(The latter, by the way, supports two of my four theories.)

I had to google verisimilitude and yes you are correct, I went with three. thanks Ray

[rayheinrich]

You're welcome. Got to get these Amerikan conspiracy theories right, no telling who's watching.