NaPoWriMo (Day 18): Five answers to the same question

 
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.

18

Here is today’s prompt (optional, as always). It’s based on Faisal Mohyuddin’s poem “Five Answers to the Same Question”. Today, I’d like to challenge you to write your own poem that provides five answers to the same question – without ever specifically identifying the question that is being answered.

 
Five answers to the same question

1.
There was no filter
when we played,
splashing each other
with a snaking hose
all over, cold water
kissing sunburnt skin.
 
2.
I remember twisting leaves
spilling from the sky.
A resurrection of hope.
Reds, yellows, the burnt
orange an echoed sun.
I gathered them, overflowing
in my upturned palms.
 
3.
I don’t really have a favourite.
I like all four of them. I can’t
choose. Each one is different,
showing me something new,
a uniqueness. I look forward
to each one the same.
 
4.
Daffodils nod in the breeze.
Puffed-up bees bounce between them,
snorkelling in the lemon horns,
vibrating gently inside petals,
little legs poking out,
striped bellies stuck.
 
5.
We built him in the backyard,
rolled him up from nothing,
stuck round head to torso,
wrapped with a deep, red scarf.
Carrot nose, twiggy arms,
a hat that had seen better days.
We named him Cyril.
 
Copyright Vickie Johnstone, April 18, 2022