Poem-A-Day Challenge: Days 20-22

I’m way behind again, the furthest yet, and am “cheating” a little bit to catch up by going with only one of the PAD prompts I missed (Day 21) and two from the Acentos Writers Workshop I facilitated today. I’m still commited to making 30/30 by the end of the month, but from here on they might not all be via the PAD prompts, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

Prompt: Pick a place and an emotion; personify the former using the latter.

Prompt: Write a poem about a paradox.

Prompt: “Two for Tuesday”: Write a haiku, or write about the haiku.

YANKEE STADIUM CRIED

As its replacement evolved
from good intentions to boondoggle
the House that Ruth built and Dent furnished
looked across the street and shed
no tears, confident that its memory
would live on in the hearts
of the true fans who can’t afford
to embrace something new.

*****

THE QUIET ONES

The squeaky wheel gets the grease much to the chagrin of the silent, brooding over the injustices, real and imagined, their voices too low to matter, they believe.

I prefer to wait in the wings, watch the play unfold as scripted, admire the skill of the leads playing their roles, each line delivered as directed, until the third act begins with my uncredited cameo, the plot twist or the red herring never clear.

It’s the quiet ones you have to watch out for, cliché because it’s true that the squeaky wheel gets the grease followed by the shaft when push comes to shove, the moment of impact right before retreat, when silence is the loudest noise in the room.

*****

CURRENT HEADSPACE HAIKU

Teaching poetry
is like coaching little league
you get, what you give.

2009 Poem-A-Day Challenge: The inimitable Robert Brewer — editor of Writer’s Market and Poet’s Market, and proprietor of the wonderful blog, Poetic Asides — is posting a daily prompt and I, along with numerous others, are commiting to write a poem inspired by that prompt.

Every. Day.

Full rules and info can be found here.

Written by Guy LeCharles Gonzalez

Guy LeCharles Gonzalez is the Chief Content Officer for LibraryPass, and former publisher & marketing director for Writer’s Digest. Previously, he was also project lead for the Panorama Project; director, content strategy & audience development for Library Journal & School Library Journal; and founding director of programming & business development for the original Digital Book World.