NaPoWriMo Day #9

I've always thought the more you write, the more you get into the habit, the easier it gets. I don't struggle with sitting down everyday to write. But everyday these poetry prompts seem to get more difficult for me. Today, I felt my students' pain when I say write sentences and you must use all of the spelling words.

Today's prompt included a word list, and then a few other rules. I had to use twelve of the suggested words, include something that tastes terrible, include some part of another poem that didn't pan out, and include a sound that makes you happy.

Doing one or two of these things might not have been so bad, but doing all of them was really tricky. Kind of like a puzzle. When you are fresh, it can be kind of fun. On a Friday evening, I was brain dead.

Here's my sad attempt:

On the Fringe

Winter wind scrubs my face
raw
like a pumice stone
against a callous.

I stow hand warmers
inside the flap
of my jacket,
strumming my fingertips
against their heat
until I bruise.
I click my tongue
over the bitter cold.

A campfire by the swishing river
wattles through my mind.
The fringe of my scarf
flapping
startles me back to reality--
I am a marionette
in the talons
of Old Man Winter,

ready for spring
to robe me in sunshine.

by Marcie Flinchum Atkins
April 9, 2010