Poetry Month, Day 4 - Platypus

Today's word, Platypus, was suggested by T. J. Shay, music teacher extraordinaire!!  I wrote it at the end of a very long day, so I hope you'll be forgiving!! 

Found on www.funnyjunk.com

Platypus

I feel just like a platypus,

A mixed up mess indeed!

I feel just like an octopus

with more arms than I need!

I never seem to fit the mold.

Instead, I always break it.

Although I try, I'm uncontrolled.

Normalcy?  

I'll fake it! 

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Poetry Month, Day 3 - Cantaloupe

Today's word came from my friend, Joanna Marple - thanks (I think)!

Cantaloupe

My mother brought a baby home

It looks a little weird.

It's sort of like a garden gnome

Of course, without the beard.

Its head's shaped like a cantaloupe,

its skin looks like a prune.

It smells just like some stinky soap. 

I hope it's leaving soon!

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Poetry Month, Day 2 - Equlibrium

For day two of Poetry Month, I used the word, Equilibrium, given to me by my awesome writer friend, Erik.  I'm still not really feeling it but I want to follow through on this - I'm just going to apologize in advance if it stinks!

  

Equilibrium

I've lost my equilibrium.

There's too much on my plate.

I'm feeling some delirium

I'm really in a state.

I have to let a few things go

But which ones could I lose?

They're equally important, so,

It's way too hard to choose.

I think I ought to organize,

 I need to make a plan.

 And if I can prioritize,

I'll say, "I think I can!"

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For Chuck

I was supposed to use the word Equilibrium in my poem today, but I’ve saved that for tomorrow.  An old college friend of mine passed away last night, at much too young an age!  I didn’t feel like writing a silly poem today.  Instead, I wrote the following poem for my friend, Chuck.

You graduate from college, leaving treasured friends behind.

You keep them in your heart and yet, they fade out from your mind.

From time to time you’ll hear their names and memories rush in.

But then your life gets busy and they fade away again.

We think we’ll always have more time, to spend with our old friends.

We put off making phone calls; we write notes we never send.

It’s years since I last saw you - though, at times, it feels like days.

It broke my heart to hear the news - that you had passed away.

The wounds of time and distance have left scars upon my heart.

I hope my memories heal them, even though we’re far apart

To say you were my favorite guy at Mac may sound trite or insincere, but it's the truth.  You truly were the sweetest, most genuine guy there – and nobody made me laugh the way you did – especially with your Jewish old man impression!

I wish I had said all these things to you sooner - before you passed away - before you got sick - before three decades had passed.  

 I loved you, Chuck Bernard!

My roommate was the editor of the yearbook and I swiped this from her files :-)

Bogged Down by Blogging

I was just beating myself up (figuratively - it's had to really beat yourself up because it hurts!) about breaking my promise to Elaine Kiely Kearns, of KidLit 411 fame!  I told her I'd blog more regularly and that was almost 3 months ago - sorry Elaine!!  I thought about why I hadn't blogged more often this past year and I realized, it's because I've been busy blogging - on other people's sites!  


Here are some of the blog posts I've written in the past year:

~ I'm a regular contributor to a group blog called Word Disco - an Unexpected Party.  I wrote five posts there last year. The other amazing author/posters are: Jenni Bielecki, Meg Fleming, Renee Gian, Betsy Pritts Ickes, Megan Maynor, Stephen Shaskan, Trisha Speed Shaskan, Catherine Urdahl and Heather Zenzen.

~ I'm also a regular contributor (though I'm late a lot - sorry!) to Nancy Viau's wonderful blog for kids, WIT - Writing Info & Tips.  The other contributing authors are: Alisonn Formento and Margie Gelbwasser.

In addition to my series guest posts, I've also done one-time posts on a variety of other sites:

~ I did a post on Genres for Donna Martin's series, Writerly Wisdom.

~ I've contributed a few times to Marcie Flinchum Atkins' series, We're All in This Together.

~ I wrote a post and writing prompt about Rhythm  on Shannon Abercrombie's series, Start The Year off Write.

~ I contributed a Dot to Peter Reynold's Celebri-dots for International Dot Day, held on September 15th.

So, instead of beating myself up, I should be hoisting myself on my shoulders (definitely harder than beating yourself up) and patting myself on the back (that I can do!) for writing so many posts in the past year!

You can expect to see a lot more posts from me soon - 30 to be exact!  I'll be writing a poem-a-day in April for Poetry Month, as I did last year.  In each poem, I'll use a word suggested here or on my Facebook page.  I stole borrowed this idea from Ed DeCaria's March Madness Poetry Contest.  I made it to round three this year, with the words Protean, Rapturous, and Quotidian!  Next year I'm going all the way! 


If you know of anyone else participating in April Poetry Month, please share their info here for other poetry lovers!!   Also, please suggest words for my poems and come back in two days to read the first one! 

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