Pillow’s Fight

pencil and the pillow

went to war

pencil thought the pillow would smother it

pillow wanted only to smother the pencil

this they could agree on

pencil had been sharpened

to a dangerous point by the pencil sharpener

pencil stabbed repeatedly into the pillow

tearing it into pieces

now the pencil called for more pencils

to fight the many pieces of pillow

escalating the battle

forgetting their true purpose

of writing and resting the head

______________

NaPoWriMo April 22 prompt on two unlikely subjects in a fight

Town of Manzanar

after Executive Order No. 9066

Taken from their homes

hardly time to pack a suitcase

no pets can come

to this place between Sierra Nevada

and the Inyo Mountains

barbed wire kept them in

shot if you go out

yet in those confines of wire and desert

a community

a school

a hospital

gardens

orchard

baseball field

__________________

NaPoWriMo April 20 prompt to write of an historical event. I visited the Manzanar National Historic Site in California today. A sad event in American history.

Crazy News Headline

The craziest headline I ever saw

was when Norm Dicks – Democrat

ran for Congress

against Jim Beaver – Republican

The headline said—

“Fur Flies When Beaver and Dicks Meet”

Dicks won

____________

NaPoWriMo April 10 prompt on crazy headline. I took one I will always remember from a political race in the state of Washington.

Shifting

I see a tree in your pocket. I hear the buzz of the bee in your locket. The white sand beaches are shifting into the abyss. There is another crack in the earth. Plant the tree. Release the bee. It is time to unwarp the clock of history.

_______________

NaPoWriMo April 3 prompt to write a surreal prose poem. I sure would like to see what AÍ would make of this.

Here’s one

Death by Axe

Time travel me back

to that great lecture hall

where Professor Knox

(fresh out of Germany)

stood at the pulpit of knowledge

(I still have the notes)

taught of the Russian revolutions

(I studied Trotsky)

Trotsky exiled many times

teamed with Lenin

foe to Stalin

murdered with an ice axe

_____________

dVerse prompt on being “young and green” so remembering some college days

Baobab World

The world is a baobab

teeming with life and water

without water it shrivels

and dies

[Ibu Batuta an Arab explorer in East Africa saw a baobab and recorded it in his 14th century travelogue

botanist Alpino in 1592 ate the fruit while in Egypt and called it Bahobab from the Arabic buhibab which means many-seeded fruit

French explorer Michal Adanson observed a baobab in 1749 on the island of Sor in Senegal recognized the fruit described by Alpino and called it baobab]

Now the singing tree of superstition is alive

and filled with water

holding perhaps 12,000 gallons

replenishes itself in the rainy season

kuokoa

who stops the rain?

bwana anaokoa

Oh singing tree of superstition

bark taking water in

smooth bark

leaves like a vegetable

everything here for survival

pulp of the seed like candy

ciru

beautiful inside and out

qualities that go forward into the ages

living thousands of years

Oh singing tree

withering prophet

speak for the world

tuokoe

save us

Oh singing tree that gives blessings

and curses

in you there is life

__________________

NaPoWriMo Day 8 “Twenty Little Poetry Projects”

Let Go

let go

of love

and death—

you think

too much—

when love comes

you will be joyous—

when death comes

you will be ready

_______________

NaPoWriMo Day 6 prompt inspired by Portuguese poet Vasco Graça Moura and his poem a dog for pompeii

Hard Shell

hard shell

reveals a treasure

of many species

off in the distance

a misty presence

waiting to lift

__________________

NaPoWriMo prompt to ask questions based on prescribed words and write a poem from the answers—

What is a quahog?

A hardened shell

What is an oyster?

A holder of treasure

What is seaweed?

A cover for many soecies

What is longing?

A place in the distance

What is elusive?

A misty presence

What is fog?

A curtain waiting to lift

Kilimanjaro

In space in time I sit thousands of feet above the sea May Sarton

There are many who have come to my three peaks. Shira is my easiest at 13,140 feet, Kibo my highest at 19,340 (highest peak in Africa) and Mawenzi at 16,893. It is not a technical climb but rather a feat of endurance and determination. Do not get altitude sickness or you will fail.

Hemingway camped at my feet. His interest was in hunting and taking trophy, not in climbing me. Hans Meyer and Ludwig Purtscheller were the first Europeans to my summit in 1889. Yohani Kinyala Lauwo, a native, and declared member of this summit party, did my summit three times before WWI, once without shoes.

On a clear day you can see my snows from miles away. Come and see my mountain of whiteness. Come and strive for my highest summit Uhuru Peak, Freedom Peak in Kiswahili.

____________________

dVerse prompt to use May Sarton quote in flash fiction. This is flash historical fiction with Kilimanjaro speaking.

She

There is something about a Queen

that a king will never be

with gowns and jeweled crowns

sovereign tranquility in she

monach of dependability

regal and stern

in one last jubilee

now the son and grandson heirs

find solace in their grief

and pants

______________

dVerse prompt to write an aphorism. Not sure if I did or not.