I am participating in National Poetry Writing Month,
where the goal is to write one poem a day for 30 days. During the month
of April, I will be using the writing prompts at ReadWritePoem.org
and posting the results.
Day four prompt (fresh paint or makeup)
Saturdays in my town people go to the hardware store to stock up on
supplies for sprucing up their homes. Spring is a great time to apply
a fresh coat of paint on old furniture, walls or maybe even a poem or
two! Here’s the idea — go to the hardware store (or an
online paint store), and look up some colors you like. They tend
to have evocative names, like white truffle or blackberry harvest.
Maybe the whole idea of a hardware store makes you yawn, or worse,
cringe. If so, head over to the make up counter, or browse the Clinique
Eyeshadow store online.
The idea is to find a color or two, write the phrase on a card, and
then write down the associations you have with the phrase. Do a five
minute free-write, and then turn your musings into a poem.
Field Trip
Honey-buzzed, I wheel o'er wild
fields. Blue bliss. Lilac
lilt. The percolating
pings of birdsong. My
paradise, Azurean berry,
sun-suffused. I wing to
clover call, the heady ache
of new-birthed sky.
Tonight, I'll soak my legs, laced
w/ grass scratches
and make sweet
spring Zinfandel.
Today was windy, so it was colder than I expected based on the weather
reports. My husband, The Gryphon, and I watched some films at the Philadelphia
Film Festival. On the way into the city on the train, I did the free
writing part of this exercise. Then, between the first two movies, I
wrote this in a coffee shop. My colors were from the online paint store:
Lilac Rose, Wildflower, Zinfandel, Blackberry Farm, Bliss Blue, Azurean,
Tropical Holiday, and Riviera Paradise.
