PROMPT #431 – HARBINGERS OF SPRING (AND WHATNOT)

The weather may not realize it quite yet, but we are of a mind for spring. After this harsh winter, it was a long time coming. I know we may not be quite done, but it won’t hurt to get our minds right. There are signs all around us. The birds are starting to return, the buds on the trees and crocuses are beginning to show. A week has passed and we have surely been inspired by the sights, sounds and smells of spring. Spring ahead with your best seasonal poems celebrating the demise of the winter doldrums.

WALT’S SAMPLE:

NO SIGN OF SPRING

Winter holds animus,
She refuses to depart
to allow Spring to start.

We languish in her grip,
slipping on her icy floor
& more snow than we’ve needed.

We’ve pleaded for an end,
offering to send her
on the vacation of choice.

But inside our heads, her voice;
a sinister laugh and taunt
and howling winds that haunt

and toss us, to boss us
into cowering here
where it should be flowering.

There's no sign of Spring.
Come prove you don’t hate us
and end your hiatus.

© Copyright Walter J Wojtanik 

PROMPT #430 – FOR OR AGAINST

As we know, you can be for something or against something. The stuff of confrontation. We won’t go there. This is a soothing place. The poems we write are either “For” poems (For The Love Of Pete, For Your Own Good…) or “Against” poems (Against All Odds, Against The Clock…). Keep the peace and write your piece, for or against, it’s all good.

WALT’S CHOICE:

AGAINST ALL KNOWLEDGE

We think the thoughts we think
wondering if we really know
that of which we speak.
At the peak of our knowing
we realize that we really don't
know what we think we do,
and it's true. We flow contrary
to the facts that show,
against all knowledge.

(c) Walter J Wojtanik - 2023

PROMPT #429 – SHHHH!

This week, we venture into a writer’s sacred space – the library. Been spending time researching (and seeking a quiet place to fill my days). Head to the stacks and write of something associated with a library. Be it the shelves of books, the silence, a specific section or the atmosphere. It’s an inspiring place and not used nearly as much as it used to be or should be.

WALT’S PEACE:

CHARACTER SKETCH

I find a table in the back room,
across the way a woman waits,
studious and refined. Exchanged
smiles and a nod, a recognition
of each other's condition.
Both on a mission to discover
and uncover our truths.
I delve into my notes, random lines
and quotes of poetic potential,
a vocabulary as a credential.
She primps and organizes,
text books and journals, pages
put forth by sages of knowledge 
and education, her trained station.
Shortly she is joined by her charge,
a student of adult age, unsure 
and uncertain, shrouded by a curtain
of doubt, out to prove detractors wrong.
Treading on trepidatious feet
he meets the one who will guide him,
a black man wanting a better life,
an understanding in undemanding tones.
Grasping small bits of truth far from
the youth of his days, he plays slowly 
with words a struggle undertaken.
He battles the language valiantly, 
stepping cautiously from word to word.
Yearning for a chance to better himself, 
willing to learn what she offers.
I look over again and we all smile and nod.

(C) Walter J Wojtanik - 2023

PROMPT #428 – AGAIN AND AGAIN

I don’t like to repeat myself, but this prompt is very different. We will work with alliteration this week.Come up with an alliterative title and use the function throughout the poem.Be it a Westward Wing or a poem about Bad Bologna, the repetitiveness will get you noticed.

A good form to try is the Aliterisen https://poeticbloomings2.wordpress.com/2012/05/30/in-form-poet-the-alliterisen/

WALT’S COMEBACK:

CRASH COURSE

Her kisses peck greatly, gently,
neatly nipping and sipping sweetly.
Smacking of honey and dripping
with the love of long lost years.
Tears left streaming, seeping, teeming
down rosy cheeks, streaks
of mascara marking. Sparks
in lightning striking, stars aligning,
hearts beating, thumps and
bumps, booms and bumps
rhythmically tapping and rapping;
her chest enmeshed against mine. I find
her wave saves me at every roll.
Taking her toll, crash into me!

(c) Walter J Wojtanik