Friday, November 30, 2012

Writer's Digest Poem A Day Challenge

Wow! Fun times. My daughters challenged me to dueling poetry via Robert Lee Brewer's Poetic Asides Blog Poetry Contest. Every year he hosts the November Poem A Day challenge where prompts are provided for each day of the month. The challenge is to write a poem using the prompt for a title, theme, or motif within the poem. I did this once before (I think it was 2010). This time I felt much better about my work.

Sorry, though. Not posting any of the poems here until after they've been submitted elsewhere. I will post the final poem (today's prompt--November 30--was "milk"). I posted this one on his comment section so it's already public.

Been there, done that: Got Milk

My father in his mid-life crazies
recruited me for milking cows.
He packed me off to a farm in Texas
where he built a fine brick house.

I hated milking cows.

My arms grew thick and strong, I had
a death-grip-hand-shake—
it gave me strength, taught me how
to appreciate my work.

I hated milking cows.

Five o’clock every day
I would rise, pail in hand
and stomp my way to the barn
to relieve two brown Jerseys.

I hated milking cows.

I asked him why the task fell
to me, after all, it was
his idea from the start.
He explained how I received
the benefits of fresh dairy:
sweet milk, cream, and butter.
Our cows ate weeds, the milk was strong
the cream was rank and butter bitter.
I didn’t seem to profit much.
But it taught me industry,
early morning solitude,
and the meaning of metaphor
which I milked for all its worth.

And I hate milking cows.

Sunday, October 14, 2012

Three new poems to be published by Vox Poetica! You can follow the links. October 9, 2012 Ukrainka v'Chyorniy was published in "Today's Words" page but now can be accessed on the Poemblog. Dlya moyi doicheri was posted the night of November 20, The Border Land was posted on December 10. The poems appeared for one day on "Today's Words" page and were then moved to Vox Poetica's poemblog.