For today’s prompt, write a defensive poem. The first thing that springs to my mind is getting defensive about an accusation, which may or may not be true. The next thing I think about might be people or animals defending themselves. Or defense in sports. Or defense in the court room. Or well, there’s a lot to defend in this world.
Robert Lee Brewer's Original Post
I saw a meme this morning that said, "Don't fuck with writers. We'll describe you." That said, I know this is a terrible poem, but it's what I'm going through right now and it felt good to write it out. LOL.
ReplyDeleteHer heavyset former cheerleader face,
too much makeup, hair bigger than Dolly’s,
imperious and dictatorial,
yells, demands to crack the whip, run the show.
My business cohabitates with hers.
It’s not in my nature to take abuse.
I yearn for incursion, not just defense,
but hold by my martial arts creed, recite,
remember to “Use common sense before
self-defense and never be abusive
or offensive.” Common sense: remember
I have three times the students that she does.
Common sense says I pay my half of the rent
when she cannot pay hers. Common sense says
my best defense is to protect myself
and my students. I hold my tongue, prepare
to move, leave her to fail all on her own.
ARGHHH!!! I just realized stanza three has five lines. Well, it's a throwaway poem anyway. If I ever want to turn it into a "real poem" I'll fix it then.
DeleteBoy sometimes it really helps to crystallize what is going on by writing even if it is a poem you're not liking. Sometimes the poem finds me a way around whatever it is or ends with the solution like yours does! It's funny in Maine I lived in a tiny apartment that was once an optometrists office, upstairs was a martial arts studio and next door was a beauty parlor. (I guess that is where some of the mom's hang while their kids work out!)
Deletethe frustration flies off the page in this one. not terrible but honest and rough
Deleteheartbreaking defense--
ReplyDeleteinsanity--
failure--
words as a tornado
ripping through souls.
self esteem lie a trailer park in the morning.
Love "words as a tornado." The last line doesn't make sense. Are you missing a word?
DeleteMaybe lie is really like?
DeleteWell I was thinking about yesterday's prompt yesterday, and I was still thinking about it when I woke up today - so here it is. Untitled as yet...
ReplyDeleteFacts are solid.
unlike emotions –
will-‘o-the-wisps
lurking, welling up
at odd moments
causing chaos
for the unprepared.
Facts are definable.
A father is a male parent.
Definable –
You can see him coming home
after work, hat pushed back,
smiling when he sees you.
Emotions spill
all over the place,
happysadworriedlove
all mixed together.
Facts are protection
from pain and grief.
He fell the flight of stairs,
concussion, long coma,
death from pneumonia.
A common occurrence,
you can research it online.
Emotions trip you up
when you’re least prepared.
Get in the car, remember
to adjust the rearview mirror,
suddenly you remember
and tears well up, spill over
before you can stop them.
Emotions linger
in the smell of Old Spice,
taste of homemade pancakes,
grandsons shared memory
of walks in the woods.
©Priscilla Anne Tennant Herrington
You still could have posted it on the other page. Just click on the "30 Poems in 30 Days" title at the top and it'll show all the posts and you can click on the one where you want to comment. And I know that "happysadworriedlove" feeling!!!
DeleteWhere ever you put it it's a great piece, very heartfelt and it brings up a lot.... "emotions linger"
Deletethis is beautiful and brings forth a lot of emotions. that last verse is powerful
DeleteJust or fun I wrote a sonnet, they are so enjoyable to play with. Looking forward to comments, thanks to all.
ReplyDeleteDefending Myself
Shall I defend myself against all odds,
or single out an enemy to call my own?
They vary, enemies do, like angry gods
that interrupt me when I'm on the phone.
There is no shield that I can e'er employ
to fend off those who would me strike anew
I've tried to dodge, to use some clever ploy
Yet there seems nothing I can try or do.
If I withdraw, they do attack again
until I draw my sword and hew about
afflicting all my enemies with pain
or causing them to flee in coward's rout.
No rest for me upon my laurels, no
for I can never slay my every foe.
I love form poems. Nice sonnet. "hew about" is a great image. And so true. If I took on all my "foes" all I would do is fight them.
DeleteFor me, form puts me in the "cowards' rout" It's like a foreign language to me. I can't even force myself to try though I really enjoy reading it. Well done.
DeleteI suffer sonnet envy! When I try writing one it generally comes out clunky and forced - exactly teh opposite of what you've done here!
Deleteyep Tasha and Victoria are the two best sonnet writers I know and this one flows wonderfully. a form I have never mastered
DeleteWell I thought I was on Day 10 when I posted that. Well, here's day 11, the defensive poem. Then I'll put the emotion poem on Day 10!
ReplyDeleteMiss! Miss! The computer just…
Every day they ask for help—
claim that the computer
just turned itself off,
just printed their paper in some tiny, tiny font,
just lost their essay.
It’s always the computer’s fault.
They never do anything amiss.
I try explanation: A computer is useless
unless the user provides appropriate commands.
A PC is incapable of independent thought.
They cry and moan,
the computer just typed single space
when they needed double,
just lost all the corrections they made,
just typed everything in upper case.
I go for humor: Wow! Lucky you!
You found the only computer in the whole lab
capable of actual thinking and going rogue!
And still they seek assistance. The computer
just screwed up my bibliography,
just forgot my password, won’t accept it any more,
just won’t print my work.
Yes! Yes, of course it was the computer’s fault!
Your computer hates you!
You are beyond all help!
But no, I do not say what’s on their mind,
try to help students use modern technology,
wishing old fashioned personal responsibility
were part of their curriculum.
©Priscilla Anne Tennant Herrington
oh can I relate to this one!!!
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteDefensive
ReplyDeleteLittle crab has backed into a corner.
The backwards days are over.
Side-to-side is not an option.
.
Little crab waggles eye stalks,
blinks, raises claws,
ready to go forward.
Go forward or bust.
the scene is very visual.
DeleteWell I wasn't finished with my defensive poem I guess - I woke up thinking about it, and it kept niggling around in my head all morning - so here's its next evolution:
ReplyDeleteMiss! Miss! The computer just…
Every day they ask for help—
claim the computer just turned itself off,
just printed their paper in some tiny, tiny font,
just lost their essay.
It’s always the computer’s fault.
They never do anything amiss.
I try explanation: A computer can only respond
to the user’s commands, is incapable of independent thought.
They cry and moan, the computer just typed single space
when they needed double, just lost the corrections they made,
forgot their password—won’t let them log on, just did its own thing.
I go for humor: Wow! Lucky you!
You found the only computer in the whole lab
capable of actual thinking and going rogue!
And still they seek assistance. I need computer help—what’s
a good topic sentence? How do I do research on the computer?
How do I use MLA format? The computer did it wrong!
Yes! Yes, of course it was the computer’s fault!
I pick up my keyboard, swing it by the cord Wap! Wap! Wap!
The computer hates you!
I grab my mouse, stapler, pens, throw them in all directions.
You are beyond all help!
I am picking up my chair as Campus Police arrive.
It’s not my fault! The computer made me do it!
©Priscilla Anne Tennant Herrington
And I now notice that this doesn't support italics, which I generally use for speech - in this one, for "my" own lines. Hope you can follow it!
ReplyDeleteWhatever happened to conversation
ReplyDeletewhere civilized people exchange
differing opinions without insults
or becoming defensive when the other
won't change their opinion because
of course they are right and the other wrong
So instead of listening to the opinion
of others they stubbornly yell and talk
louder and louder and louder as they
interrupt anyone else's opinions and
become more and more defensive holding
tight to their opinions and then
walk away and call those who refuse
to agree with them 100% closed minded.