The Versesmith

 T - Tears I seem to have a run going of poetry from old prompts courtesy of  NaPoWriMo !   From “ That Morning ” by Rauan Klassnik.  The red text signifies the words I used as prompts.   " I’m trying to get this absolutely right. The words “ deer, ” “ clouds ,” “ trees ,” and “ it felt like it was raining ,” have all been crossed out." It felt like it was raining without clouds in the sky. Drips from the fir trees lining the deer trail ran down my face. No, not rain, tears. ©2024 Lisa Smith Nelson. All Rights Reserved

 S - Stones  Yet again, an old NaPoWriMo prompt!  " ...a poem that features  walls, bricks, stones, arches, or the like. "  This one is a true story.  My yard is full of stones gathered from the river. I’m told they were brought here in the bed of a truck, vacation by vacation. I’m pretty sure that’s illegal. As they say, “If we all took a stone, pretty soon there would be no stones.” My yard is full of stones. You wouldn’t be able to throw a stone without hitting a few. ©2024 Lisa Smith Nelson. All Rights Reserved

R - Rhymes A prompt from a quote found on the Bibliomancy Oracle .  Click the button and you will receive an answer to your question or concern!  All in fun of course.    I got a few good quotes to work with, this one being from  “ The Wages of Pascal ” by Charles Bernstein No doubt these rhymes annoy you.   I have come across people who insist poems must rhyme, and this quote reminded me of them, and how wrong they are! No doubt these rhymes annoy you. They annoy me as well. As do those who believe it’s not poetry at all, if it does not rhyme. ©2024 Lisa Smith Nelson. All Rights Reserved 

Q - Quadrille  A quadrille is a poem of exactly 44 words.   This was written in response to a prompt, but I missed the window of time to link it, so it wasn't published.  The prompt was the word " imagine ," which is included in the 44 word count.  Imagine if we’d never met, we had never said, “ Good Day .” Imagine how our lives would be, had we gone on our way. I imagine you would miss me, and feel an empty spot. I imagine you would turn around, without a second thought. ©2024 Lisa Smith Nelson. All Rights Reserved

P - Prompts and Preludes  A common poetry prompt is to take a line from another poem and use it as inspiration for a new one.  I chose the last line of T. S. Eliot's Preludes , making this a double P post.  Some of the words are taken from his The Waste Land , referenced in the last line. Inspiration: Thoughts of a dry brain in a dry season. My arid soul cries out for moisture. My heart, a dry stone. Unloved. Unloving. Withered. I look for water in sand and stone. Too long I’ve been without. A Wasteland ©2024 Lisa Smith Nelson. All Rights Reserved

O - Oregon Myth   NaPoWriMo had this prompt in the past.   There are many good poems based on myths.  But today I challenge you to write a poem based on a non-Greco-Roman myth.  I went local, but not with Bigfoot!  I discovered an Oregon myth of a creature living in the Columbia River dubbed Colossal Claude.  First seen in 1934, he is said to be a snake-like, 40' long creature, with "evil" looking eyes, prehistoric, with a horse-shaped head.  Apparently he was fond of salmon. More Claude sightings came in over the next thirty years.  Sailors, local residents, and tourists all reported seeing him.  There is video footage from 1963 of a creature matching the description given, however it was much shorter than the previous 40'.   Colossal Claude with evil eyes lurking in the river. Snake-like in body, a horsey head, make the fishermen quiver. In deep water where salmon swim, the crew given to shiver. The salmon gone, Claude no more seen, perhaps he moved upriver.  ©2024