Friday, April 8, 2016

Day Six

Write a poem about food. This could be a poem about a particular food, or about your relationship to food in general. Or it could simply be a poem relating an incident that involves food.


*
Lilikoi Butter

Oh Lilikoi
How your name
tantalizes my tongue
Your scent
wakes me
to the lush world
outside my lanai
Tastebuds trigger
saliva glands
at mere mention
of you

But to find you
golden, encased
in glass jars!
The creamy spread
of you,
turned
into butter
glazing
my morning toast
next to my glass
of lilikoi juice
Truly, I am
in paradise
where a fruit’s passion
transforms
into pleasure
  

Day Five

In honor of my strained shoulder, write a poem with the opposite hand that you write with, or if you're typing, use only one hand to type.

*
Not Left Behind

This is it!
The moment of truth!
Finally, Lefty 
you can shine
like the hidden gem
I always knew you to be
Go ahead:
shift gears
open doors
and yes! yes!
WRITE!
I will be patient
as you work to learn
the curves and edges
of letters, pen in hand--
as you hunt and peck
on the keyboard
What else can I do?
You are the star!
I rely only on you.
So go ahead!
Seize this moment
in the limelight!
It's only a matter of time
before Righty recovers.


Day Four

Run around your house (or dorm room) and grab 5 items that all begin with the same letter. Write a poem as an ode to one of these items or that includes these items. 

*

Ode to My Pen

Black ink flows
like rapid rivers
of neurons flashing
electric, chemical thought
tattooing the page

Indelible ink
held in its chamber
until the click
until the tip’s scratch
until the scrawl

Oh my pen
how you save me
from the dark
from the listless pit
of black matter
in my mind
How you save me
by bringing forth
the deepest ember within
and call it
into the light



Tuesday, April 5, 2016

Day Three

Write a poem in the form of a fan letter to a celebrity. It could be anyone –living or dead-and needn’t be an actor or singer (though it could be).

Dear Roxane Gay,

How I love your voice: fierce and tender all at once.
your words pour forth like a river,
bearing the bad-ass truth of feminism
and the reality of competitive Scrabble
the scars of sexual trauma scratched into skin
the desire to be, to see
yourself, to be seen
in Miss America
in Vanessa Williams
Beauty. You have shown me beauty
in all the damage, in all the wreckage--
For this, I am ever grateful.



Day Two

[I'm already behind & it's only April 5th. To be fair, I hurt my shoulder & can only type with one hand. Heck, I can only do most things with one hand/arm! :/]


Where do the things we loved to pieces go, when they are lost or taken away? Write a poem in which you imagine the life they had after you. (from Luisa Igloria)

*



Maruya

Banana pancakes, my lola said
Small flat discs with misshapen edges:
lightly fried fritters made
of overripe fruit, a touch of flour, dash of sugar
This was our afterschool snack
our merienda, the peace
before fractions wracked my brain

Where are you now, beloved maruya?
Hidden in the black speckled dots of peels?
Living in the mouths of other kids?
Have you gone to live with my lola
who has been lost to the earth?
Or are you waiting to be reborn
in the skillet of my kitchen?