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

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?