If you love to write poetry, you love a good poetry challenge, and you are missing April’s NaPoWriMo then you are in the right place. There are now multiple Novel writing months it is past time we added another Poetry month. October is a great time to challenge poets to a poem a day for thirty one days.
This October, I’m also focusing on gratitude, so each of my poems will use the daily prompt, and deal in some way with thankfulness. Come join me on this poetic journey – and feel free to comment, or link your own poems.
For October 3rd, the OctPoWriMo prompt is “Showing Up” – coming to the page even when you might rather not, because life is being troublesome. As it happens, life recently threw our family an unexpected wrinkle, and, while things might be rather less than delightful right now, it appears that the outcome will perhaps unexpectedly bring benefits we were struggling to provide for ourselves.
I transformed this angst into a poem – because the written word is how I process the unexpected in life….which is where the Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt comes in – “expect/unexpected”.
Anyway, it’s now officially Sunday, so I’m going to go ahead and finish this belated post (life held the unexpected on Saturday, and I’m running late…). Click the links to read more poems or stream-of-consciousness posts, or add your own! =)
the unexpected poem
i
expect
life to move
expectedly
its trajectory
measured mapped charted
but sometimes my life
unexpectedly
throws in a
syllable
extra
or
wanders off
in directions
of its own choosing
leaving me to hold
for dear life to the
high-strung lifeline that
separates
what
i
expected
and
reality
fantastic. I love your formatting…it’s a perfect way to express your subject visually as well as in words 🙂
It started out as a diamante, and then went off in its own direction…I love when that happens! =)
It worked beautifully!
Great poem, Shan. It fits the theme of a workshop I am doing Oct. 10, and I would like to use your poem as an introduction to the main workshop activity. Of course, I would cite you as the author and provide a link to your website. May I have your permission to duplicate and distribute 15 (or fewer) copies? You may contact me at heyannis@sbcglobal.net. Thank you. Best. Annis
Hi there, Annis!
I’d be honored to help you with your workshop, and would love to hear how it goes. I’ll drop you an email tomorrow, to be formal, but wanted to let you know that you can go ahead.
I’m glad you liked the poem – it was fairly spontaneous, and those tend to be among my favorites.
I love this. It reminds me of e.e. cummings.
That’s exactly what I thought when it was writing me! =) Vewry e.e. cummingsesque.
I loved this one, Shan. And well done in finishing it even though your plans went awry. I hope all is well and that Sunday finds your household more at peace. 🙂