julius caesar goes to meijer’s

and wanders down the aisles with his hand outstretched, barely brushing his fingers past the line of packaged wedges of parmesan in their tightly bound cling wrap, eyes set on the rows and rows and rows of wine – one for reds, one for white, one for sparkling prosecco, one for rose – and then the fridges proudly boasting their chilled wines and beers, the ones he could get in 24-packs of identical cans or the single cans of local IPAs, the colorful designs encircling the whole circumference like the world’s smallest never-ending mural, then the whole end-cap of hummus in every single flavor he could ever want or need, right next to the travel-size then normal-size then family-size tubs of salsa and guacamole for the tortilla chips on the next aisle over, spilling into an array of chips and pretzels and cheese puffs as far as the eye can see, all looking down at him from their place on the shelves, a mysterious concoction of flavors he’s never tasted but mostly full of air, and then to the pastas and sauces a couple steps over, as denoted by the sign hanging above him, which sways slightly in the chill of the air-conditioned interior and to the beat of the pop music from an artist that he has never heard of before; he knows what’s down this aisle because everyone keeps warning him of it, that he’ll find some kind of salad dressing that he may or may not take offense to, and his eyes jump from bottle to bottle, all decorated with colorful stickers and an array of colorful liquids like potions on a healer’s shelf that have stood the test of time, he has a basket in one hand and reaches out to grasp a small bottle in the other, looking down, to see what his legacy has amounted to, to see what the world remembers of him now

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Day 30: Today, we’d like to challenge you to write a poem in which the speaker is identified with, or compared to, a character from myth or legend.

The only reason I chose Julius Caesar – someone who I only know vaguely from European history – is because I started taking Latin lessons on Duolingo earlier today and feel like Latin is a severely underrated language that is actually super interesting both linguistically and culturally. I hope that it’ll help me understand the root of other languages and words moving forward – another fun and exciting side hobby that I’ve seemed to become immersed with! Maybe once I get more familiar with the words I’ll try reading some Latin poetry…I’ve heard that it’s incredibly beautiful and the beauty gets lost in translation.

(Also, I’ve completed my 20/30 days of NaPoWriMo goal! I know it’s not the whole month of writing, but this is still more commitment and more poetry writing that I’ve done of my own volition this whole year and I’m proud of myself for that. Lessons I’m taking away from this year’s NaPoWriMo – writing doesn’t have to be scary if you don’t think of it as some huge task for the day. I will really not like everything I write, but ideas can come from anywhere so it’s better to write something awful than to not write at all. I don’t need to make every poem deep; sometimes it’s just about whatever. Above all, writing should always be fun! It’s a hobby and it should bring me joy. It’s time to reclaim writing as something that I do for fun instead of something that controls me and makes me too intimidated to start.)

mercurial sunlight

when the clouds part she’s there, quick as a flash
I reach my hand up in greeting but only get
a glimpse of her tangerine dress as she turns the corner

in the summertime she likes to come out more,
gradual awakening of the daisies her children
round the fields and bring in meaning

I have never thought of her as auspicious
because everytime she’s here she takes up
the whole room and I am renewed in life

but how quick she can choose to hide
become moody and flit in between the clouds
casting gray shadows and low light in every tree

sometimes, when she’s thinking about sonnets
how deeply tragic the fate of Neptune was,
she will cry and howl and scream – I have never

known anyone else to be so openly emotional
to feel the world as deeply as she passes it
through every revolution of the day, renewed.

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Day 29: …In recognition of this occasion, Merriam-Webster put together a list of ten words from Taylor Swift songs. We hope you don’t find this too torturous yourself, but we’d like to challenge you to select one these words, and write a poem that uses the word as its title.

I chose the word “mercurial” because the word immediately made me think of the shifting moods of the weather of the city that I currently live in. Very unfinished and lots to revise, but at least it’s something!

when we spill

deep truths its like they tumble out of our lips
i have never been afraid to tell you anything.

secrets they float in front of us to pluck out of air
place on our tongues, let melt into the back of our minds.

ourselves onto each other i curve myself into your side
the safest place that i have ever been.

ourselves into each other my shame slips away
like a fine wine, the dawn, the start of a new beginning.

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Day 27: Today we’d like to challenge you to write an “American sonnet.” What’s that? Well, it’s like a regular sonnet but . . . fewer rules? Like a traditional Spencerian or Shakespearean sonnet, an American sonnet is shortish (generally 14 lines, but not necessarily!), discursive, and tends to end with a bang, but there’s no need to have a rhyme scheme or even a specific meter.

Off-prompt today, but determined to still be as consistent as I can with writing despite life being as busy as ever. My goal for myself this year is to complete at least 20/30 days of NaPoWriMo, and with just a couple days left I can’t stop now!

interstate highways of middle America

two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
the sun setting a ferocious amber tone
behind us, lighting the pavement ahead
in shades of passionate flame.

we took the one the GPS told us to,
that flat tone one we have come to trust explicitly
who guides us blindly and who leads us
wherever it wants us to go. we admire
the streaks of reds and orange fanning the sky
as we speed fast past the McDonalds, Burger King,
Arby’s, and Taco Bell all lined up in neat little rows
by the highway – familiar resting spots for forlorn travelers
to stretch their tired legs and for a greasy wrapper meal

the rest stop 5 miles down promises pamphlets
of the neatest local attractions – a spelunking cave
Amish furniture, the world’s biggest cuckoo clock
two roads diverged in a yellow wood
but now our eyes are only focused on the destination;
sights pass by plastered over in ads and dollar signs
middle America a cry to a long-forgotten childhood memory
eating a Big Mac in the backseat
the mysteries of farmland and cows whizzing by

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Day 24: Write a poem that begins with a line from another poem (not necessarily the first one), but then goes elsewhere with it. This will work best if you just start with a line of poetry you remember, but without looking up the whole original poem.

This started with Robert Frost but ended with more of a thoughtful reflection on what it’s like to travel through the interstates and highways of middle America. I didn’t realize I had so much to say on this topic until I started writing – think I might have to come back to this one and flesh out more of my thoughts.

green

like life, which slowly unfurls its sleeping fronds
through the slog of summer
through fields with ticks and the expanse they hide in
a slow cricket, a thin trickle, a low hum of wings
there is a sound of green which can be
either light or heavy
depending on how you breathe it in.

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Day 21: Today, we’d like to challenge you to write a poem that repeats or focuses on a single color. 

This is the beginnings of a potentially longer poem contrasting the different types of greenery and how they make me feel throughout the seasons. Green’s my favorite color, I knew I had to write about it somehow but what flowed from my fingers wasn’t what I expected! The surprise of creative writing is always a part of the fun.