Day 30 - Ending

 The cat with the mouse in its mouth is just passing through. Past the mourners, veiled and shuffling through a rhythm only known in grief. In the corner of the room, he finds a perch to place his prize - to sit and watch grim pageantry. The procession moves sluggishly, dragging their polished shoes across the worn carpet tile. They talk around the reasons for being here; about weather, about the family, about anything but the one thing missing. 

The cat sinks its teeth into Death and makes the process simple. 

Napowrimo Day 30

 So we come to it at last - the final prompts of the month. I definitely found this more difficult than last year but it has been a lot of fun. I hope everyone has gotten something out of the prompts and I look forward to next year's challenge. Without further ado, here are the last prompts for Napowrimo 2023:

Official Prompt:
 Today, I’d like to challenge you to write a palinode – a poem in which you retract a view or sentiment expressed in an earlier poem. For example, you might pick a poem you drafted earlier in the month and write a poem that contradicts or troubles it. This could be an interesting way to start working on a series of related poems. Alternatively, you could play around with the idea of a palinode by writing a poem in which the speaker says something like “I take it back” or otherwise abandons a prior position within the single poem.

My Prompt:
“Not with a bang, but with a whimper.” Or so the famous Eliot quote goes. As we wrap another month of prompts, I want you to consider endings. Maybe start the poem with your favourite ending line from another piece. Lucky Dip: Celebrate

Day 29 - Fragrance of Dark Coffee

 Rain.
Light against glass.
Susurrus of storm
behind each note.

Sitting,
curled in on yourself
beside warmth of fire.
Head in my lap.

Lost
in your own little 
Elysium; gone travelling 
while laying 

against 
me. My fingers draw 
shapes into your skin.
The music plays to 

itself.
Molasses slow, lullaby.
I lean down to kiss 
your sweet lips.

Napowrimo Day 29

 Official Prompt:
Start by reading Alberto Rios’s poem “Perfect for Any Occasion.” Now, write your own two-part poem that focuses on a food or type of meal. At some point in the poem, describe the food or meal as if it were a specific kind of person. Give the food/meal at least one line of spoken dialogue.

My Prompt:
I do enough of prompts with sight but never enough with sound so here we go. Pretty simple, I want you to listen to a piece of music called “Fragrance of Dark Coffee” and just write based on that. It could be in the background of a scene of a prose poem, it could be what the music makes you feel! Lucky Dip: Dawn

Day 28 - Word List 4

Take this - patchwork chambers of a heart worn
on a faded denim sleeve. Take needle and thread.
Take off the pieces and dredge them in soap to
wipe the smell of his cologne from you.

Take a run while it soaks - limber legs longing 
to take the memory of something other than 
his hands, huff out his name in the scorch
of your lungs. And then, at the peak of the trail,

press your back into the rough skin of an oak,
stationary, and take his name from the 
vault of your mouth. Take it out and let 
the wind take it from you.

Napowrimo Day 28

Official Prompt: 

Today, I challenge you to write your own index poem. You could start with found language from an actual index, or you could invent an index, somewhat in the style of this poem by Kell Connor. Happy writing. 

My Prompt: 

Last one of the month! Write in any form but include the following words: needle, huff, dredge, stationary, worn, limber

Lucky Dip:

Kiss

Day 27 - Book

We learn each other's hand 

in the margins of books kept hidden 
in plain sight. I know your 
cursive better than the 
curve of your lip. I think about 
how it would be to write ourselves 
into each other's worlds and, 
perhaps, get to trace the line of 
brow. The crook of your elbow. 
The apex of your jaw.

Learning to read the verse 
from your skin; a story kept 
for yourself until, here, we let 
it breathe.