Friday, April 30, 2010

NaPoWriMo Day #30

One year ago today at 7:27 p.m. I gave birth to Ian. Today's prompt was a freebie, so I write about him.

Birth Day

One year ago
I gave birth to you,
both of us feverish
after a long day
of getting you here.
We met face to face
for the first time
hot cheek to hot cheek.
I unbundled you
to rub those kicking feet
that kept me up at night.
I counted fingers
and toes,
rubbed red, curly hair,
kissed a little nose
happy birthday.

by Marcie Flinchum Atkins
April 30, 2010

Thursday, April 29, 2010

NaPoWriMo Day #29

Today's prompt was to write about something in the news, or to use it in a prompt, or to write the poem in the style of a particular type of article.

Picture reading this in the classified ads:

WANTED
One restful night's sleep
Eight hours per night
No cries,
No over-caffeinated wakefulness,
No three a.m. unaccomplished tasks list-making.
Will pay premium rates.
Call today before 8 p.m.

by Marcie Flinchum Atkins
April 29, 2010

NaPoWriMo Day #28

We're getting there...the month is almost over. And I'm behind again. I've had something going on every night this week, plus 2 birthdays (hubby turns 44 and baby boy turns 1). It's busy, busy, busy.

Yesterday's prompt was about intuition or an aha moment. Believe it or not, I had one of those just last night.

8:30 p.m.

Wednesday night


Brick-oven pizza,
dessert,
lingering conversation,
uninterrupted,
on the patio
full of people.


I look about,
patio spinning—
is this real?
Do people really do this
on weeknights?
Am I the only one
who pajamas-up
by eight-thirty,
too exhausted
on a
normal night?

by Marcie Flinchum Atkins
April 29, 2010


Tuesday, April 27, 2010

NaPoWriMo Day #27

This last week has been the busiest (and will continue to be the busiest) of the month. When I get home late I wonder if I'll even have any energy to write to a prompt. Thank goodness today's prompt was to write an acrostic. I chose to write about junk mail.

Junk Mail

Jumbled piles of mail spill
Under
Newspapers from last week
Kept receipts never recorded
Magazines and catalogs never ordered
Aghast at the mound of paper
I accumulated in a week
Losing my mind amidst paper.

by Marcie Flinchum Atkins
April 27, 2010

Monday, April 26, 2010

NaPoWriMo Day #26

Today's prompt was to find a scrap of paper or receipt with a poem or part of a poem scrawled on it. Use a part of it to make a new poem.

The phrase I found to use was "robed in leaves".

Here's what I did with it:

Leaves

I found her
robed in leaves,
camouflaged,
shaking like a leaf.
Her mew
quieter than the piles' rustle.
She cowered
when the wind
created a tornado of leaves.
I carried her home
before she could leave.

by Marcie Flinchum Atkins
April 26, 2010

NaPoWriMo Day #25

I'm late! I'm late! For a very important date!

Yes, I'm a day late for Day #25, but yesterday I was in the bed with a fever and a swollen throat. I won't go into more detail, but as much as I wanted to post last night, I wasn't able to.

Yesterday's prompt was to take a phrase or a word just heard and use it in a poem. The first phrase I heard was "life has begun". It was actually in the song, "From This Moment" by Shania Twain.

Here's my poem.

Beginnings

Life has begun
again

on the peach baubles
reading to plump up with juice,
inside the next,
filled with quiet noise,
under the soil
where a seed sends down roots,
around the protective sepal
holding on to a peony
about to burst,
in the blown bubble
carried by the warm breeze.

Life has begun
again.

by Marcie Flinchum Atkins
April 26, 2010

Saturday, April 24, 2010

NaPoWriMo Day #24

Today's prompt encouraged us to use a phrase, be it an idiom, cliche, saying. I used the Phrase Finder the prompt suggested and came up with a poem with multiple phrases in it. Growing up in Thailand, and being around people who didn't speak a lot of English, it becomes glaringly obvious how many idioms and sayings we really use in the English language.

Peas in a Pod

Kris and I

were two peas in a pod.


Most days
we were as good as gold,
but in the dog days of summer,
we ran around
like chickens with our heads cut off.


We’d trudge home
our mommas would say,
“Were you raised in a barn?”
For the rest of the day,
we’d toe the line,
lie low,
watching trash on TV.


The next day,
the wild goose chase
began again.
“Pipe down!”
our mommas would say,
“The babies are napping!”


We’d sneak off,
traipsing through the woods,
studying bugs,

wading in the creek,
skipping back for dinner,
making it in time,
by the skin of our teeth.


It wasn’t long
til we had to face the music
with long faces
begin school.

by Marcie Flinchum Atkins
April 24, 2010