Lyric Fire

Lyric Fire: NaPoWriMo 2012 - Day 30 of 30 Poems in 30 Days - Feed Me (Featured on NPR's Tell Me More Show)

NaPoWriMo 2012 - 30 Poems in 30 Days - Day 30

Looks like we made it! Today is the last day of the NaPoWriMo (National Poetry Month) poetry challenge! 30 poems in 30 days never felt so good. I am super honored to present my last poem for the month and it was featured on today's NPR radio program Tell Me More. To celebrate National Poetry Month host Michel Martin featured the lyrical art form in a unique way, fusing poetry and social media. In the month long Muses and Metaphor series, Twitter users were asked to tweet poems using 140 characters or less and post them with the #TMMPoetry hashtag. Curator of the series, Holly Bass then set out to select her favorites to feature on the show and mine was chosen to close out the series!

To read and listen to my Twitter poem Feed Me, which was featured on the show click here. You can also listen to the entire Muses and Metaphor segment below which features my poem along with Holly's explanation of why she chose it to end the series. 

Thanks so much to everyone who supported me by reading my poems and pushing me on to the finish line. To the other writers and poets who also participated in this challenge please know that you inspired and entertained me along the way and I am definitely richer for having done this with an amazingly talented group of bloggers! Please let me know your thoughts about my radio feature! Cheers!

Feed Me

Feed me, put poetry on the plate. I'll dine with gratitude savoring the taste. Digesting every word. Leaving no diameter to waste.

 

To enjoy your last serving of lyrics and lines for National Poetry Month, please visit these talented bloggers as they say goodbye to NaPoWriMo! 

Sweepy Jean Explores the (Webby) World

AscendingTheHills

142 Books

Sulekha Rawat: Memoirs

To create…

memoirs of a homemaker

For Jen’s Sake

One Time Pad

Thoughts Of Beauty In The Stillness Of Dawn

Lyric Fire: NaPoWriMo 2012 - Day 29 of 30 Poems in 30 Days - My Release & Joy (Two Poems)

NaPoWriMo 2012 - 30 Poems in 30 Days - Day 29

With two more days to go in the NaPoWriMo poetry challenge, I decided to pay further homage to the genre by presenting my last two pieces (today and tomorrow) in the form of "ars poetica", which is simply poetry about the art of poetry or the art of writing. Per Wikipedia, the definition of "ars poetica" in the past decade extends to defining techniques of rhetoric, including but not limited to: writing about writing, singing about singing, thinking about thinking, etc. Stemming first from poetry on poetry, "ars poetica" is now widely used as a literary device to enhance imagery, understanding, or profundity.

I wrote a piece recently that is perfect for today and it first appeared on the BlogNostic's website as a part of their spoken word series. So as not to cheat on the challenge, I also wrote a haiku in the ars poetica form that you can read before the longer piece. Please also watch the video below of me reciting the poem, My Release. The amazing folks over at BlogNostics did a fabulous job producing the video and it adds much to the original work. It was a joy to work with them. Now please enjoy my haiku, Joy and the longer poem My Release:

 

Joy (Haiku)

Coloring up life

Rendering beauty

In words, sentences and joy

 

***

 

My Release

Imagine me filling you up
You’d be imprinted with passion marks all over as I release
My love is a beast
Words per minute is high and I won’t cease

Until

The sentences, paragraphs and chapters increase
My appetite is deep
I’ll keep you rising like yeast
Our connection is so sweet

You amaze me and keep me lifted in the face of defeat
You are my safe house
My literary retreat
Magic happens every time we meet

It’s not always easy though
Sometimes we clash, and my feelings won’t flow
You send me reeling & crashing and pacing the floor

In those moments I take a breather
Then my heart longs for you and cries
So I then seek to feed her

Come here my lovely
Let me embrace you
Take you to exotic locations
And then super satiate you

My hands are wrapped around joy
And creating a rhythm
You acquiesce slowly
Revealing my vision

My inner creations look so beautiful on you
You wear them so well
I’m your lover for life
Together we meld

To separate would be tragic
A pain I can’t bear
I’m never leaving this home
Yes, I want to die there

In between the lines of your love
In excellent care
You are my release

 

For more delicious servings of poetry this month, please visit these bloggers as they are also participating in NaPoWriMo! 

Sweepy Jean Explores the (Webby) World

AscendingTheHills

142 Books

Sulekha Rawat: Memoirs

To create…

memoirs of a homemaker

For Jen’s Sake

One Time Pad

Thoughts Of Beauty In The Stillness Of Dawn

Lyric Fire: #NaPoWriMo 2012 - Day 28 of 30 Poems in 30 Days - El Baño

NaPoWriMo 2012 - 30 Poems in 30 Days - Day 28

For some reason I woke up very early and of course some ideas were floating about. Thank goodness one popped into my head that helped me write this next poem. There are two more days to go for National Poetry Month! I hope you're all still hanging in there with me. Enjoy! 

El Baño

A cold hard floor

Warmed gradually by sun rays

Fragrant, humid

A place to release

Rest

Cleanse

Read

Connect

Conversations reverberate off of tile walls

Colorful

Dark

Dank

Drab

Rich

Littered with chemicals and creams

Covered in germs

Bubbles float

Champagne bottles sweat

Strawberries are consumed

Bodies merge

Dance

Dissolve

Lay dying

Spring forth

In the morning

Life begins here

Death is washed away

 

For more delicious servings of poetry this month, please visit these bloggers as they are also participating in NaPoWriMo! 

Sweepy Jean Explores the (Webby) World

AscendingTheHills

142 Books

Sulekha Rawat: Memoirs

To create…

memoirs of a homemaker

For Jen’s Sake

One Time Pad

Thoughts Of Beauty In The Stillness Of Dawn

Lyric Fire: #NaPoWriMo 2012 - Day 27 of 30 Poems in 30 Days - Empty in the Middle

Image source

NaPoWriMo 2012 - 30 Poems in 30 Days - Day 27

It's Friday! Whoo hoo! What an amazing week it has been. I have read some amazing poetry and created some pieces I'm happy with as well. There are only a few more days left in the poetry challenge and what a ride! Again, I'm not sure where this post is going, but that is the joy of poetry. Let's see where the lyrics take me today! Thanks for coming along on the journey. Your presence has been most appreciated! 

Empty in the Middle

Rose scented soap

Day old fish grease

Curdled milk in a baby's bottle

A shrunken pizza littered with dried up anchovies

 

Her reality revolved around scents

And objects

A sniff could reveal what the day would bring

Chanel #5 lingering in the air

Meant long nights alone

Reading til 4 am to escape the loneliness

Cigarette smoke signaled a day in her room

 

A man was there

Huge, hulking, hairy

And new

Always new

Never any familiar eyes

Their backs were always big

Beefy

Their hands were embedded with oil

Dirt and bodily fluids

 

Styrofoam containers filled with fried meat

Overflowing with southern sides

Mac and cheese

Collard greens 

Yams

Chocolate cake and banana pudding

 

A treat

After the pounding

Eat

They said

You need energy

The fat and sugar 

Soothed her

Balanced out the pain

 

Once slim with well placed curves

She now was robust

A full woman indeed

But empty in the middle

In the center

Where it counted

 

She was empty

 

For more delicious servings of poetry this month, please visit these bloggers as they are also participating in NaPoWriMo! 

Sweepy Jean Explores the (Webby) World

AscendingTheHills

142 Books

Sulekha Rawat: Memoirs

To create…

memoirs of a homemaker

For Jen’s Sake

One Time Pad

Thoughts Of Beauty In The Stillness Of Dawn

Lyric Fire: #NaPoWriMo 2012 - Day 26 of 30 Poems in 30 Days - No Thinking!

NaPoWriMo 2012 - 30 Poems in 30 Days - Day 26

With four more days to go in this poetry challenge, my fingers are feeling like lead weights and my brain is going into weird dimensions, but for the love of poetry I would do anything! Honestly, I'm really not sure what the following poem is going to be about because I'm tasking myself to create something by just writing the first words that come to my mind. So I'm naming this one No Thinking! This should be interesting! Enjoy. I hope. :-) 

No Thinking!

No

Yes

Maybe

Sort of 

Why not

Answers

To questions

Fielded

By agents of a specific design

Boredom

Sets in

Wondering

Waiting

Sighing

Counting imaginary money

Wanting the game 

To save me

Project me

The biggest me

Into the light of minds

My sneakers

My house

My car

Is bigger

Faster

More storied

Than yours

But 

I seek you

I need you 

To want me

Long to be me

So that I

Know 

How best 

To 

Be 

Me

 

For more delicious servings of poetry this month, please visit these bloggers as they are also participating in NaPoWriMo! 

Sweepy Jean Explores the (Webby) World

AscendingTheHills

142 Books

Sulekha Rawat: Memoirs

To create…

memoirs of a homemaker

For Jen’s Sake

One Time Pad

Thoughts Of Beauty In The Stillness Of Dawn

Lyric Fire: #NaPoWriMo 2012 - Day 25 of 30 Poems in 30 Days - Axis of Ever

NaPoWriMo 2012 - 30 Poems in 30 Days - Day 25

I'm in one of those "artsy moods" today so clarity is a luxury that I can't afford. A perfect place to work these feelings out is in the writing so here goes. I hope you can understand:

Axis of Ever 

Particles floating around in the now

Penetrate the ever

Flow into the ether

Slip into sound

 

Never bound

Weightless

Seeping

Drawing of breath

Sweetness covers

Traps

Sealing out

All others

 

Chemically altering reason

Dissecting and splitting off into selfishness

Spinning into a microcosm of 

Ever

Merging into madness

Cradling crazy

Biding time

 

Until

 

Ever becomes

Unbearable

Then

Energy seeks

The comfort

Of a warm host

 

A home neglected

Shuttered and closed

Filled with bombs

Set to blow

 

Ever better not come

Around here 

There will be an explosion

Consciousness will splatter

Into a gorgeous design

Art that 

No one ever wants to grace their walls

 

The ever that was created 

Needs to now stand

Alone

Breathing their own oxy generations

Tiling the earth of their creation

 

For

Ever

 

For more delicious servings of poetry this month, please visit these bloggers as they are also participating in NaPoWriMo! 

Sweepy Jean Explores the (Webby) World

AscendingTheHills

142 Books

Sulekha Rawat: Memoirs

To create…

memoirs of a homemaker

For Jen’s Sake

One Time Pad

Thoughts Of Beauty In The Stillness Of Dawn

Lyric Fire: NaPoWriMo 2012 - Day 24 of 30 Poems in 30 Days - Revival

Image Source Page

NaPoWriMo 2012 - 30 Poems in 30 Days - Day 24

Happy Tuesday! I keep telling myself that I haven't run out of words, that I will never run out of words! It has been a constant chant in my head to keep me going. With six more days left in this poetry challenge, I know I can make it! I have to make it! So... Here is a nice serving of hay(na)ku for you! It is a poetry form that is similar to haiku, but has no syllable restrictions. The form goes like this: The first line has one word, the second line has two words, and the third line has three words. Hay(na)ku can be written as multi-verse poems. Enjoy!

Revival

Ravaged

battered and 

bruised beyond measure

 

Spoiled

tarnished, blackened

deformed and deranged

 

Once

filled with

color, vitality, goodness

 

Providing

flavorful fun

making days bright

 

Essence

of life

sun's favorite son

 

You

now lay 

down and out

 

Discarded

and tossed

to the side

 

No

one wants

you anymore ever

 

But

I weep

over your deterioration

 

So

I'll take

pity on you

 

Please

ring these

up for me

 

I 

tell the

grocery store cashier

 

Really?

She asks

Yes, I know

 

They 

are in

bad shape, but

 

I 

refuse to 

see fruit die

 

Nature's

life source

should be loved

 

For more delicious servings of poetry this month, please visit these bloggers as they are also participating in NaPoWriMo! 

Sweepy Jean Explores the (Webby) World

AscendingTheHills

142 Books

Sulekha Rawat: Memoirs

To create…

memoirs of a homemaker

For Jen’s Sake

One Time Pad

Thoughts Of Beauty In The Stillness Of Dawn

Lyric Fire: NaPoWriMo 2012 - Day 23 of 30 Poems in 30 Days - Click, Click, Flash

NaPoWriMo 2012 - 30 Poems in 30 Days - Day 23

Seven days to go! I think I can see the finish line. It's in the far distance, but I am fast approaching! This poetry challenge has been such a blast I'm sure I'll be sad to see it end. So since we aren't there yet anyway, how about another poem? Today's piece is inspired by things and people I see walking around New York City. NY is a place filled with energy and magnetic people, but the lights don't always shine as brightly as they do at night on 42nd street. People here are artists, writers, actors, waitresses, bartenders, graphic designers, janitors, teachers, preachers and everything in between. Sometimes a day in New York is spectacular and at others it's ordinary. Just like in your town. Enjoy:

Click, Click Flash 

An empty sketch pad

Longing for a touch

Frayed edges of a worn sweater

Light filters in from a high beam

Overgrown grass

 

A robin pecks at dry dirt

Tomatoes bursting off the vine

Kids whir by on Razors

Feet scraping concrete

 

An agitated mother balances her baby

While crossing the busy street

A smile from another softens her frown

 

Sagging pants on innocent youth

Following fashion trends

He dreams about space ships

Or so his t-shirt says

 

Overflowing trash attracting vermin

Tulip bulbs grace the town square

 

Purple hair on a jet black crown

Voluptuous lovers jiggle down the sidewalk

Laughing

Oblivious to stares

 

One-legged kitty begging for food

Obliging teens takes her in

 

Old timers sit on cars

Dreaming of yesterday

Retirement is a bust

 

NYC - April 21, 2012

Click, click FLASH

 

For more delicious servings of poetry this month, please visit these bloggers as they are also participating in NaPoWriMo! 

Sweepy Jean Explores the (Webby) World

AscendingTheHills

142 Books

Sulekha Rawat: Memoirs

To create…

memoirs of a homemaker

For Jen’s Sake

One Time Pad

Thoughts Of Beauty In The Stillness Of Dawn

Lyric Fire: NaPoWriMo 2012 - Day 22 of 30 Poems in 30 Days - Detroit Central: A Periodical Poem

NaPoWriMo 2012 - 30 Poems in 30 Days - Day 22

With eight more days to go in this poetry challenge a sister is running on fumes! Usually if I'm freelancing and not following the prompts, my poems are the first things that come into my mind after I wake up and all I have to do is write them down, but not today folks. I was pressing and forcing the issue and quite frankly what I was coming up with was horrid! I would feel really bad subjecting that kind of writing on you so I thought I'd steal an idea from one of my blogging buddies, Sulekha Rawat, who so creatively wrote a poem using book spines. I switched it up and used periodical titles since I am also a magazine fanatic as well as a book lover. Thanks for the idea Sulekha! You saved my hide today girl! 

Here is:

Detroit Central: A Periodical Poem

Detroit...

Where Writer's get creative 

And Vibe

 

For more delicious servings of poetry this month, please visit these bloggers as they are also participating in NaPoWriMo! 

Sweepy Jean Explores the (Webby) World

AscendingTheHills

142 Books

Sulekha Rawat: Memoirs

To create…

memoirs of a homemaker

For Jen’s Sake

One Time Pad

Thoughts Of Beauty In The Stillness Of Dawn

Lyric Fire: NaPoWriMo 2012 - Day 21 of 30 Poems in 30 Days - Nicki's Mirage

Photo: PA

NaPoWriMo 2012 - 30 Poems in 30 Days - Day 21

Whew, it's been 21 days of straight poetry! Wowzers! I'm feeling a little loopy today so I thought I'd write something fun and silly and when I think of fun I think of rapper Nicki Minaj. The crazy colorful wigs and outfits, her eye-popping videos and catchy outlandish lyrics sometimes inspire negative critiques, but honestly, I think the girl is just trying to have a little fun. It doesn't hurt that she shares my astrological sign of Sagittarius either. We can sometimes be tactless and over the top, but at our core, we are creative, loving and filled with passion! Happy Saturday! Hope you enjoy:  

Nicki's Mirage

11 million followers dropped like a dime

All because a rapper heard voices in her mind

She be pink and manic & some may call her sleazy

But her flow is rather hectic

She is the female Weezy!

 

Her eyes are wide like saucers

She makes that paper like the ballers

Her clothes are sometimes silly

Cause she be sipping on that Henny

 

But when it comes to rhyming

No one can beat her timing

She beez in the trap

The chick can flat out rap

 

So when it comes to dissing

Please keep it on the low

If she hears you flipping

She drop that ass to the floor

 

Not with her fist

Because she is non-violent

She'll cut you quick with lyrics

Your eye will be bruised and shining

 

So she has gone silent

For how long we do not know

Maybe it's just a ploy

To make her some more dough

 

Cause Twitter is a flitter

And Facebook is abuzz

All talking about Nicki

And the ill shit that she does

 

That girl's got a plan

She aint showing her hand

She'll be back I'm sure

This is just a detour

 

So don't pout

And be sad

Bump her music

And be glad

It's only entertainment yo'

There always be plenty mo'

 

For more delicious servings of poetry this month, please visit these bloggers as they are also participating in NaPoWriMo! 

Sweepy Jean Explores the (Webby) World

AscendingTheHills

142 Books

Sulekha Rawat: Memoirs

To create…

memoirs of a homemaker

For Jen’s Sake

One Time Pad

Thoughts Of Beauty In The Stillness Of Dawn