31 Days Poetry Challenge
In the July heatwave I decided I needed some mental stimulation!
So, I set myself a poetry challenge, using prompts from the internet and wrote a poem a day, some good, some not so good but this is the result.......
1) First
My first child , born in a bubble of joy
A tiny, scrawny loved baby boy
Then the bubble burst.
Worry, fear, happiness, dismay
Passed through our lives each and every day
Then the bubble re-formed.
Baby grew to boy and fellow
A man with goals; thoughtful and mellow
Now the bubble is iridescent.
The shimmering bubble floats free into a clear blue sky.
2) About Me
A daughter, mother and a spouse
Life shaped and moulded, but once a mouse.
Nurse and child-shaper in job and home
Now with longings to explore and roam.
Quiet but endurance weathered
Valued, loved and with luck, treasured.
3) A Freaking Sonnet
Today I must write a freaking sonnet
But I am not a William Shakespeare
“Shall I compare thee,” I have no comment
My skills at poetry are now made clear.
Count the syllables and make sure it rhymes
Rack my brain for a suitable topic
I have read this now a million times
This challenge feels almost endoscopic.
The torture continues as it confounds
I sit and stare at my screen, much like Will
I need help as the bend I go around
My brain implodes as I seek an Advil.
I am here, finally I’m at the end
How Shakespeare did it I can’t comprehend.
4) Being Alone
Being alone is not so bad
There’s no-one around to make you mad
The conversation can amuse
When tired you can take a snooze
But sometimes you can become a bore
The thoughts in your head don’t amuse anymore
That’s when you must seek a friend
Before to lunacy you descend.
5) Blue
Why when sad do we say blue
There’s a whole range of colors to look to
We could be mauve, or beige, or grey
They could also represent dismay.
Blue is the color of a swallow-filled sky
The iridescent wing of a butterfly
An ocean that laps around bare toes
A silky petal on a flower that grows.
So when you are sad say I am grey
The color of a rain-filled day
Or beige, or mauve like a painful bruise
Let us together rename “the blues.”
6) A process (a haiku)
Grief is a process
A roller-coaster journey
Filled with memories
7) Inspired by.....Shel Silverstein
Butterfly
Papillon, vlinder, schmetterling
All different names for a wonderful thing
In Italy a farfalle flutters
In English, it’s said, a butterfly butters
But in my garden it dips and flits
And once it’s tired on my knee it sits.
8) Life
Life is a book with multiple chapters
Some fun, some scary, some full of what matters
As you turn each page you never know what
Will happen, good, bad, like it or not
New chapters are best, as you start a new story
Wishing for adventure, or love or just glory
The thing about reading a good book, as you know
You never regret it if you use it to grow.
9) A Story….. of Pirate Dan
Let me tell you the tale of Pirate Dan
Who made his ship from a baked bean can.
He found his crew on a Facebook post
His parrot he swapped for piece of toast.
He sailed the ocean near and far
A compass trained on the brightest star
His pirate crew did swab the decks
But badly, as they needed specs.
Then one day his mother called
On the satellite phone he had installed
It was dinnertime she told him clearly
So home he went… he loved her dearly.
10) Summer
Sun kissed shoulders, lemonade
Children laughing on the sand
Colorful parasols for some shade
Cold beer bottle in my hand.
Bee filled garden, vibrant flowers
Slumbering cat soaks up the sun
Swallows swooping, cleansing showers
Sunset watching with loved one.
The bliss of bare feet in the brook
Rosé wine in a tall chilled glass
A welcome read in a shady nook
The hum as someone mows the grass
These things are summer, all in a bundle
In blue and green with a red poppy bow
A time for joy before winter grumbles
Sun kissed smiles and faces aglow.
11) Night
The bat relishes the summer night
His swooping dance a great delight
The nocturnal bugs abscond in fright
He devours for hours until first light.
12) Change
Change from my pocket goes into the pot
I haven’t been collecting long but hope to buy a yacht.
Or maybe buy a house on a distant isle
Or perhaps a car for Martin, that would make him smile.
Helicopter lessons or a house in Tuscany
A different location would suit me wondrously.
Sorry? What’s that you say? You need to borrow cash?
I guess my dreams can wait awhile, they were a little rash.
13) I Wish I Could….
I wish I could speak Dutch but I think it is too late
The years I have lived here amount almost to eight.
My tongue doesn’t like it, the sounds are unpleasant
Conversations leave me needing an antidepressant.
Let me learn Italian, a melodious language
Or French, I can order a croissant and sandwich.
Maybe Spanish, but I’ll have to speak fast
German may be too big a contrast.
Let’s be honest, it won’t come to pass
I’m an English speaking lazy ass.
14) Something Beginning With T
Teddy Bear
I have an old friend who sits on my chair
He’s 86 and going bald, with very little hair
His nose has a hole, he has a broken paw
His ears are all floppy but he cares not at all.
I don’t know his name, I think it’s just Bear
He seems fine with that title and shows not a care
He loved my mum, and she him all her days
So to thank him I honor his service with praise.
15) Love
How to recognize love?
It’s in the eyes of a new mother
The trust in a dog’s gaze
The smile of a loved grandmother
The face of a groom on that most important of days.
Love is in in the face of a child
The purr of a lap-sitting kitten
The look of a boy as he is beguiled
And the glance of a girl who is smitten.
16) Confidence
“I have confidence,” sang Maria von Trapp
If only poise would come gift wrapped.
I sing the song and search inside
But my confidence gene will often hide.
“You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take”
So I lift the stick and still the quake.
17) A Friend
A friend can be duct tape and hold you together
Repairing the cracks, whatever the weather.
Attached together like two sticky rolls
In the toolbox of life, two like minded souls.
A Friend #2
My friends are all scattered, like seeds round the planet
Planted and growing, our friendship organic.
Crisis or sadness, or sharing delights
If needed, I know they’d be on the next flight.
I’m blessed with so many, more than my share
A box full of flowers, petals of friendship laid bare.
18) Music
Choral music makes my heart soar
Jazz makes my feet tap on the floor
Coldplay reminds me of concert fun had.
Classic music reminds me of Dad.
19) Family
The Three Ages Of Family
Family is parents and sisters that frame you
The safety of a story, as you snuggle in bed
The love that is encased in the hug you curl into
A golden imaginary thread.
Family is your children and partner in living
A bond that is made with new love
Scary, demanding but always life-giving
Gold strand draped below and above.
Family is grandchildren, the passing of time
The chance to replay the delight
Watching your children retell the rhyme
Your family enfolded in gold light.
20) Nature
You don’t need to watch Planet Earth on tv
To see nature, it’s out there in your yard
A bee in the flowers, or small bird in a tree
It takes patience, but it’s not too hard.
21) Your Inspiration
The Best Of Myself
Who inspires me to find the best in me?
Sometimes it’s my children and sometimes nobody
Often it’s the little voice I hear inside my head
Occasionally it’s Martin or a book that I have read
A friend that paints a picture or the one that does good stuff
One that travels round the world, the cancer-fighting friend who’s tough
My life is full of muses, I draw from each and every one
They all help shape this person but I’ve only just begun.
22)Pink
Pink is the sun as it touches the evening sky
The bonnet of a baby as it curls up with a sigh
The taste of strawberry ice cream, as it trickles down the cone
Or the petal of a sweet pea, in your garden grown.
It’s the color of a scar on a child’s knee
Or the shade of the coral beneath a deep blue sea.
The blush of a cheek after it’s first kiss
Pink is the color of everything that’s bliss.
23) Beauty
It’s in the eye of the beholder so they say
My eye sees beauty in a wild flower bouquet
In the face of a fledging bird as it learns to fly
In a seashell on a beach as I walk by
The array of cakes in a window spread
The tousled hair of my child in bed
The look of my cat as it whirrs and purrs
The wrinkles on a face that has lived for years
In a golden field after it’s crop is shorn
In the clasp of hands that are old and worn
To see beauty just look around
It’s not just in art that it can be found.
24) Strength
Strength is not always about being robust
I see strength in my daughter each day
She takes on a challenge, her fears cast way
Though in herself she must trust.
She takes a deep breath and upward she rises
Fighting the monsters and winning the prizes.
25) Feelings
Anguish and happiness are two that I know well
Fearfulness and dejection ring loud alarm bells
I want to fill my life with feelings like peacefulness and joy
So plan to reject the feelings that really do annoy.
So come on down energetic, high five free and easy
Let’s say hi to optimistic and keep life up and breezy.
26) Dreams
I dream of a house that overlooks a beach
Of growing old with Martin, of grandchildren to teach
The option to meet my friends for coffee or for lunch
A dog to walk, a donkey and a field where he can munch
The chance to see my kids more often, this would be the best
The last dream is the most important, then I would feel blessed.
27) Childhood
I can hear my childhood in the ticking of a clock
The sound of shuffling footsteps in the hall
The giggles of children as the dog secured his flock
The summer sounding thwack of a cricket ball.
I can taste my childhood in a fresh baked slice of cake
In the tang of chlorinated water from the pool
The glass of lemonade that my nana used to make
The chill on my tongue of the Fab that kept me cool.
I can smell my childhood when I play with Plasticine
In the scent of face powder from a compact
The aroma of pipe tobacco, its smokers face serene
Soap on a grandma of Lavender extract.
28) A Job
Dream Job
I’m thinking of my dream job but I’m not sure what that is?
A job with style and interest, with lots of sparkle & fizz.
An elephant foster mother, a trunk snuggle collector
A tapas taster, or a Belgian chocolate inspector?
Maybe a puppy and kitten cuddler, a job full of joy and soft fur
A champagne specialist, or a beer connoisseur.
Maybe my ultimate dream job has already occurred
Motherhood really was the job I preferred.
29) Food
Seasonal Foodie Delights
Winter ~ A bowl full of goodness, steaming and hot
Chicken and vegetables, soup in a pot
My spoon at the ready, the bread to the side
The aroma surrounds me, my “blues” cast aside.
Spring ~ Rhubarb stalks of softest pink enclosed in piecrust neat
A blanket of golden brown pastry crust, hiding a tasty treat
Draped in a shawl of perfect whipped cream, grandma’s recipe
An edible sunset in a dish, tasting heavenly.
Summer ~ Joyous red tomatoes with basil leaves mingling
Olive oil, its taste clean and tingling
Creamy white mozzarella sitting on the plate
Oh hurry, I’m hungry, I really cannot wait.
Fall ~ A basket of blackberries, freshly picked gems
The countryside walk gives a gift to a friend
Mixed in with fresh apples, a crumbly pleasure
An autumn delight to savour and treasure.
30) Stars… (a haiku)
Shimmering star light
On a deep blue velvet sky
Wrapped up in the night.
31) Last
At last, finally, this challenge is done
At times I wished I had never begun
My brain is quite frazzled, it’s empty and flat
I’m finding it hard to talk and to chat
My brain likes to rhyme and to search for a word
My conversations are becoming absurd
So enough of these poems, I’m out, I am done
No more rhyming for me…I’m signing OFF.
All written by Jackie Harding July 2018
