NaPoWriMo (Day 16): Protest against the rapes in Ukraine

 
For the month of April, I’m writing a poem a day from prompts on https://www.napowrimo.net. You can click on the headlines (Day One, etc) to view/add comments. There’s also a list of participants’ sites below the site header.

Day 16

And now for our prompt (optional, as always). Today, I’d like to challenge you to write a curtal sonnet. This is a variation on the classic 14-line sonnet. The curtal sonnet form was developed by Gerard Manley Hopkins, and he used it for what is probably his most famous poem, Pied Beauty. A curtal sonnet has eleven lines, instead of the usual fourteen, and the last line is shorter than the ten that precede it. Here are two other examples of Hopkins’ curtal sonnets: Ash Boughs and Peace.

 
This poem is about a protest in Tallinn against the rapes happening in Ukraine.

Today, I read about a protest against rape in the Ukraine war in front of the Russian Embassy in Tallinn (April 13). The message of the organisers was: “Russian soldiers are raping and murdering innocent women and children in Ukraine. People who support this war also support war crimes, jarring murders to which they are accomplices. That is our message to the supporters of the Putin regime.”

 
Protest against the rapes in Ukraine
 
Hands tied, folded behind their backs
they stand dead still in a line straight,
half-naked, flesh exposed to the cold,
heads submerged in black plastic sacks,
because in war this is some women’s fate,
and their horrific stories must be told.
 
In Tallinn outside the Russian embassy,
they show silent solidarity. They wait,
thinking of the women of Ukraine, so bold.
They protest the rapes we hear of on TV,
women murdered. Stone-cold.
 
Copyright Vickie Johnstone, April 16, 2022

Image: Tallinn demonstration against rape. Credit: Priit Murk-ERR.

Article link: https://news.err.ee/1608563656/rapes-in-ukraine-prompt-protest-in-front-of-tallinn-s-russian-embassy

NaPoWriMo (Day 15): Balls

 
For the month of April, I’m writing a poem a day from prompts on https://www.napowrimo.net. You can click on the headlines (Day One, etc) to view/add comments. There’s also a list of participants’ sites below the site header.

Day 15
 
Finally, here’s our daily (optional) prompt. This one may seem counter-intuitive, but today I’d like to challenge you to write a poem about something you have absolutely no interest in. This isn’t quite the same, I think, as something you’re indifferent to. For example, I have absolutely no interest in investment strategy. Anytime anyone tries to tell me about it, I want to put my fingers in my ears and go “lalalalalala”. My brain tries to shut down! This is honestly kind of funny, and I think this prompt has value precisely because it invites you to investigate some of the “why” behind resolutely not giving two hoots about something.

 
Balls
 
So your team lost on Thursday night,
and one fell over and cried
after a hard tackle,
and he missed the ball,
 
and some other guy whipped it
straight into the net instead,
and then another tripped on his laces,
fell splayed across the field,
 
while the crowd simply groaned,
and someone got red carded
and another fella got a yellow,
but he wasn’t disappointed.
 
It wasn’t his favourite colour,
but it suited him better.
Apparently, the ref was nuts
and needs a new pair of glasses,
 
and Old Man Whittel’s language
needs a good scrubbing out with soap,
but I can’t see how a fun time
was had by all.
 
You’re wringing your hands
and swearing at the heavens,
and cursing this team
you’ll never watch again…
 
Until next week.
 
And you know what?
I don’t have a care,
cos I really don’t like
this ‘beautiful game’.
 
Copyright Vickie Johnstone, April 15, 2022

NaPoWriMo (Day 14): The rush

 
Finally got around to this at 9.24pm, after work and an exercise class. So, currently doing some very heavy breathing, which fits in quite well with writing about the opening scene of the movie of your life. It should begin with childbirth, but I’m going to excuse you that. I’m not sure if this poem fits the prompt, but it’s the first thing that came into my head. There’s something about a great gig, so here we go.
 
For the month of April, I’m writing a poem a day from prompts on https://www.napowrimo.net. You can click on the headlines (Day One, etc) to view/add comments. There’s also a list of participants’ sites below the site header.

Day 14

Today’s challenge is a fun one: write a poem that takes the form of the opening scene of the movie of your life. Does it open with a car chase? A musical number? A long scene panning across a verdant plain? You’re the director (and also the producer, the actors, the set designer, the cinematographer, and the lowly assistant that buys doughnuts for the crew) – so it’s all up to you!
 

The rush

There’s a guitar solo
whipping through the crowd,
and a drum roll
as a zillion heads are bobbing
like an endless sea of hair.
 
The lead man’s singing
in his denim, big boots,
leather waistcoat open,
microphone gripped like a lolly-pop.
 
I can’t fathom what he’s singing,
but I know it’s gotta be good.
 
I’m so far back
he could be talking French,
but there’s a rush in the air,
an electricity,
and it’s building,
building…
 
everyone can feel it,
this gathering of sound;
the bass guitarist
is taking centre-stage,
snaking,
and he’s on fire.
 
Copyright Vickie Johnstone, April 14, 2022

NaPoWriMo (Day 13): Under sun

 
For the month of April, I’m writing a poem a day from prompts on https://www.napowrimo.net. You can click on the headlines (Day One, etc) to view/add comments. There’s also a list of participants’ sites below the site header.

Day 13

Today, in honour of the potential luckiness of the number 13, I’d like to challenge you to write a poem that, like the example poem here, joyfully states that “Everything is Going to Be Amazing.” Sometimes, good fortune can seem impossibly distant, but even if you can’t drum up the enthusiasm to write yourself a riotous pep-talk, perhaps you can muse on the possibility of good things coming down the track. As they say, “the sun will come up tomorrow,” and if nothing else, this world offers us the persistent possibility of surprise.

 
Under sun 

Joy is a rosebud.
We are eager for it to open,
revealing its silken truth,
the pollen at its heart,
holding promise
like a rainbow.
 
Copyright Vickie Johnstone, April 13, 2022

NaPoWriMo (Day 12): All the small things

 
For the month of April, I’m writing a poem a day from prompts on https://www.napowrimo.net. You can click on the headlines (Day One, etc) to view/add comments. There’s also a list of participants’ sites below the site header.

Day 12

Today’s prompt (optional, as always) should come as no surprise. Yesterday, I challenged you to write a poem about a very large thing. Today, I’d like you to invert your inspiration, and write a poem about a very small thing. Whether it’s an atom, a button, a hummingbird’s egg, dollhouse furniture, or the mythical world’s smallest violin, I hope you enjoy your poetic adventures into the microscopic.

All the small things
 
What is small?
The opposite of big.
The whimsical imaginable
enclosed in the miniscule.
 
A raindrop sliding off a petal
to take its final plunge into the void,
the fluff of a honey bee’s bum
as it dives into a trumpet of pollen,
a pea as it pops its green pod,
the cry of a newborn kitten,
tiny flowers on a sunflower’s head,
a leaf-cutter ant balancing his load.
 
A crumb,
a wisp of air,
a snapped twig,
an empty gesture,
a farewell lost on the wind,
flecks of sand blown on your cheek,
the salt of the sea tickling your lip,
a strand of silken hair.
 
But the very smallest thing
in this whole universe is a
quark. And it might be made of
nothing at all.
 
Copyright Vickie Johnstone, April 12, 2022
 
 

NaPoWriMo (Day 11): Hope

For the month of April, I’m writing a poem a day from prompts on https://www.napowrimo.net. You can click on the headlines (Day One, etc) to view/add comments. There’s also a list of participants’ sites below the site header.

Day 11
 
And now for our (optional) prompt. Following up on yesterday’s love poem, I have for you another deceptively simple challenge. Today, I’d like to challenge you to write a poem about a very large thing. It could be a mountain or a blue whale or a skyscraper or a planet or the various contenders for the honour of being the Biggest Ball of Twine.
 
 
Hope
 
It’s a deceptively large word,
a small thought grown from humble beginnings.
See a child’s hand stretch up to the heavens
to ask the question of the day.
 
If we ever find ourselves in darkness
or lost in unfathomable labyrinths,
sprung up by life or created by others,
we can reach out also,
search with our hearts for what’s inside,
embracing faith and love,
and the simple things we take for given.
 
In endless gratitude
for the sky, the seas and the stars,
we count on hope.
 
Copyright Vickie Johnstone, April 11, 2022
 

NaPoWriMo (Day 10): Surfacing

 
For the month of April, I’m writing a poem a day from prompts on https://www.napowrimo.net. You can click on the headlines (Day One, etc) to view/add comments. There’s also a list of participants’ sites below the site header.

Day 10 

Today’s (optional) prompt is pretty simple – a love poem! If you’re having trouble getting into the right mood for a love poem, maybe you’ll find inspiration in one of my favourites, June Jordan’s Poem for Haruko.

 
Surfacing
 
We dip our toes in,
dive in, exhilarated,
without looking back.
 
A fast momentum
tilts us in this direction,
pushing thought aside.
 
We set out our sails
on our emotions, hanging
them in public view.
 
Hearts on sleeves, we feel
too much, luxuriating
in this bath of bliss.
 
Copyright Vickie Johnstone, April 10, 2022
 
 

NaPoWriMo (Day 9): Out to sea (a nonet) – and more

 
For the month of April, I’m writing a poem a day from prompts on https://www.napowrimo.net. You can click on the headlines (Day One, etc) to view/add comments. There’s also a list of participants’ sites below the site header.

Day 9

Because it’s a Saturday, I thought I’d try a prompt that asks you to write in a specific form – the nonet! A nonet has nine lines. The first line has nine syllables, the second has eight, and so on until you get to the last line, which has just one syllable.
 

Out to sea

We set sail in the chill, sinking rain,
under lightning rays of pure white,
our small boat unfit for storm.
Silver stars blink and wake –
they echo our dreams.
The moon is dressed,
crossing the air
without a
care.

And some poems inspired by famous paintings... 

The scream

A single scream kidnaps blank space,
tears the middle out of the blue
of the sea writhing below,
cuts through sheer atmosphere,
here on this wood bridge,
the planks heaving
with the weight
of this
cry.
 
 
Starry night over the Rhone
 
Stars gather, coast across the night sky,
drifting on strings invisible,
shed yellow tears, drip, drip down.
Candles burn in windows,
on waves shimmer,
dance far out,
seeking
truth.
 
 
Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I
 
Adele rises from the earth in gold,
a patchwork of luminescence.
Her pale face invites us in.
The black eyes in her frock
blink questions at us.
Beauty stays true,
glistening,
brings us
calm.

Copyright Vickie Johnstone, April 9, 2022

NaPoWriMo (Day 8): The alter-ego (gecko)

For the month of April, I’m writing a poem a day from prompts on https://www.napowrimo.net. You can click on the headlines (Day One, etc) to view/add comments. There’s also a list of participants’ sites below the site header.

Day 8

Here is our daily prompt (optional, as always). Today’s prompt comes to us from this list of “all-time favorite writing prompts”. It asks you to name your alter-ego, and then describe him/her in detail. Then write in your alter-ego’s voice. Maybe your alter-ego is a streetwise detective, or a superhero, or a very small goldfinch. 
 

The alter-ego (gecko)

Lygodactylus williamsi of the Gekkonidae family
is critically endangered out here in the wild.
The gecko’s electric-blue, black-striped sheen
attracts too many collectors who take them home
to enclose them in leafy terrariums under heat lamps,
a poor substitute for the glorious Tanzanian sunshine
and a playground of towering Pandanus palm trees.
 
These lizards span 31 inches from nose to tail tip,
with a surprisingly orange underbelly hidden away.
Adhesive toe pads mean they can stick to and climb up
just about anything, even glass. They’re easy-going,
but backed into a corner they will hiss at any would-be assassin.
Every few weeks they shed their skin in a slow striptease,
gobbling up their costume by the end of the day.
 
                                             ***
 
“I like to bask in the sun, daylight being my favourite time,
for at night you’ll catch me napping. I like the misted air of dawn,
catching dew on my tongue to drink, rustling through the leaf litter
on the ground as I creep my way through the forest floor.
 
We know the Collectors by sight and I’m fast to steal myself away,
out of fear of being caught and never seeing my home again.
No one has ever returned to tell the tale of where they’ve been.
I wonder if it’s another forest or somewhere completely alien.
 
Some people call us the turquoise dwarf or William’s dwarf gecko,
but mainly we’re known as the electric blue, although we females
of the species are sometimes green. Unusually, I’m a bright cyan.
I live in the Kimboza Forest snug in the foothills of the Uluguru Mountains.
 
My home is the Pandanus rabaiensis screwpine tree, and I’m fondest
of the leaf crown. My dinner is made up of small leaf insects and nectar
is my equivalent of a chocolate treat. My best friend, Amon, is brighter
than me, a brilliant blue with the power to dazzle you in the sunshine.
 
He is a gecko of many moods, prone to head-bobbing, tail-wagging
and even throat-puffing. I can never tell which way he’s going to go.
Our first batch of eggs was laid a week ago, two in total, and I’m excited
for them to hatch. It should take 60 to 90 days. Tell you a secret, I can’t wait.”
 
Copyright Vickie Johnstone, April 8, 2022

NaPoWriMo (Day 7): A bird in the hand

 
For the month of April, I’m writing a poem a day from prompts on https://www.napowrimo.net. You can click on the headlines (Day One, etc) to view/add comments. There’s also a list of participants’ sites below the site header.

Day 7

Today, I’d like to challenge you to write a poem that argues against, or somehow questions, a proverb or saying. They say that “all cats are black at midnight”, but really? Surely some of them remain striped. And maybe there is an ill wind that blows some good. Perhaps that wind just has some mild dyspepsia.  Whatever phrase you pick, I hope you have fun complicating its simplicity. Happy writing!

 
A bird in the hand
 
A bird in the hand is worth two
in the bush, so they say,
but some would argue the other way
and seek the bigger prize.
 
Yet wouldn’t you rather a blackbird
sit in the palm of your hand and sing,
its soft feathers fluffing, rustling,
the body shuffling forward for prominence,
almost asking you for a request,
always in tune, always off the cuff,
rhyme and reason matched in song,
these four toes cold to the touch,
obsidian eyes reflecting you.
 
With chin angled high, notes fly
from staves on a song sheet,
sending a letter into the sky
only you can read.
 
Copyright Vickie Johnstone, April 7, 2022