DU Official NaPoWriMo Challenge

23/30



Rainy Day


It rained today
And lasted until evening
Now it has stopped
The light went out thrice
Once in the morning
And twice tonight
It is cold today
And I just want to laze in bed
But I had to get up and do the chores
I went to the market
In the afternoon to buy
Some fish for the cats
And for us too
I bought anchovies
And made kilawin
A local recipe for fish
That is not cook but
Soaked in vinegar
And garnish with
Onions, ginger, tomatoes
Kalamansi or lemon and chili
It is one of my favorite foods

#23/30

Sunday Swan Song


It was the piano that finally made me cry.

I’ve been dispassionate
     (to say the least)
about this closure,
 knowing that eras end and life goes on –
   impatient to rip off the bandage.
Perhaps even a little bitter
   about all the years I tried to help
people
 think
   bigger
even though my faith never completely fit
inside their box.

I think I gave it my best.

I guess they did too –
 nurturing me and my kids
   through all kinds of storms,
     (even when I wasn’t easy to love)
like a good parent.

And I’ve been so ready to grow up
  and move out,
the grief around me has aroused
   nothing
but apathy and irritation.
Let’s just get it done!
Churches close, no big deal!
God will be fine!

But the piano…
 this dear friend,
   who I’ve visited on quiet weekdays,
     hiding tears between its keys,
my baby with its quirks and special needs.
Caring for it one last time, I worried –
Will the new owners love it properly?

And the reality of
 the end of a season
   hit me fully,
like saying goodbye to a beloved child.

23/30

The Drunken

The meal was delicious
The desserts were divine

I’d hoped you could join us
You chose to decline

The bar, it was open
The liqueurs so fine

If only you’d have noticed
We weren’t there just to dine

The many who cared
Who had thrown you a line

Left shaking their heads
Watching you fall down a mine                    

Giving up in a trice
You Insufferable swine  

53 uw

23/30

Sluicing

Jokingly amused walking
stumbling in a world of
bewilderment less love
driving no further
gas tank completely arid
parchment unable to
accept even the tiniest
scratch.

I know airport parking lots
sooooo many tanks
sooooo many to siphon
off, of

Them Flyers flying off to places I wish
ain’t gonna miss a tank or five
and if I do 5 then 25 it is!!!!
I should be able to write & so
only seven more days to go.

23/30

[NaPoWriMo - 2025 Collection] Flowers from Thoughts

[ . . . ]

ix

   Mourning
                          Willow Flower

Mourning into the afterlife
 the willow flower hangs
from the limp limbs
 of the tree on which it blooms
to the tombs of ancient kings

Rich burial sites adorned
 by this blossom symbolized hope
from the darkness of death
 and emergence of afterlife
came rebirth—a new life

With the newness was promised
  fertility by this branch’s
décor comes protection
  good fortune, and sadness
as Shakespeare penned

Pollen and seed producing
 flower of upper and lower
Egyptian lore, divination
 of its channeling power
divining both earth and water

. . .

23/30

Uninspirational

I hoped that this month would be full of great wit—
it started off well, then it floundered a bit.
Don't worry - there's no way on Earth I would quit,
but you might have to cope with my writing being sub-par.

It is true, though I try hard, I sometimes get stuck—
to write well takes artistry, effort and luck.
My thinking cap's on but no ideas have struck,
but it's late and I'm tired and I don't give up easily.

Some people might give in and cheat - there's an app!
Still others might go to bed - call it a wrap.
I've honestly tried not to fall in the trap
of bad-rhyming, low effort, glib poetic rubbish!

23 of 30

The morning seems stronger

The morning seems stronger
Seems taller, lighter,
In letting go of yesterday.
A time long slept away,
And now a day,
Sun swept and,
under way.
The morning seems stronger,
Intent laid moving from the objective,
To the perspective,
Rising from the entourage of,
Waking dreams.
The pooling of will,
Drowning in imaginations pull.
Leaving my mind to build,
What it can.
While I focus not on what it does,
But how it does it,
In the mediation of the moments,
The morning seems stronger.

#24


~a nobody



agelessly…

much such countless
stories to poems written

walls raised, wars fought
walls broken, peace sought


all for

love

yes, this love
that is never a crime
& the only truth..


this nobody too
is now in love with you..


coloured as a tender dawn
in hues of the sacred sun


& donning the lucid language
of the shrill chirpy skylarks


as the holy Sanskrit mantras  
in the hymning.. rising warmth
of a soothing smokiness- this
consecrated fire ritual .. amidst


this overwhelming haze
of a misty fogginess.. that’s
in an indivisibly kissing chaos
of  the two razor sharp & slender
dewy grassy blades.. in the
touching arrival.. to One
overlapping fusional plane…
of a seamlessness..


evokes


a saltish tiding seven seas… with
its infinite draining in courses- the
gushing in riverine tributaries… in
the holy crying tears- as this
May’s monsoonal rains flows..streams
down the flushing reddened cheeks..
& entering through those lipping
lushly passages of purplish
plumping heavenly grapes..


unto


until the pitted dark.. a dimly lighted
& deeply in resonance, the sculpted
cavernous valleys- this holding tight
pulsating chest.. as a pure azure pool


of an eternal springing
Himalayan well, this


l o v e




*unique words:143

24 of 30

Lost choices


The infinite chances and choices lost,
as tears in rain
gone with the wind
whispers of tomorrow that never comes.

All the anticipation of the diverse arts
and potential ad infinitum,
now locked and blocked off
due the reality and what is.

The fields of dreams
now shut away and segregated,
replaced by an iron curtain on all sides
that enforces a narrow corridor is followed
unto its end,
and the end of what could have been.

(Unique Words: 57)

23/30

A Good Day To Hike

The sun warming up my skin as it shines through the trees
My feet walking over sticks and roots and rocks
Taking in more air than normal
Arms swaying and occasionally bracing on tree trunks
Looking for the brightly colored trail markers so I don’t get lost
Listening to the birds chirp and animals skitter all around
A light breeze cools flows in and cools me off
The path is getting steep
I push myself a little harder to get up the hill
Pausing at the top to take several deep breaths

23/30

Image Description

A poem should be wordless  
As the flight of birds –
soaring whispers, screeching undulations
that paint and swim through cotton candy sunsets;
a single sparrow flitting through a hot afternoon,
spreading song and smile thick like jam.

It should be the smell of honeysuckle
in the sticky July dusk,
the perfume collecting in your nostrils
while you pinch pistils and stamens
to suck the nectar droplets into your warm mouth.

It should be truth, but it might
be a lie; an empty doorway waiting;
the spark of life; a single maple leaf,
red and gold, dancing
to the tune of September sun.

It should be the first lightning bug to dare
shine their light in early spring, sparking
hope and awe in sweating, dirt-covered
six-year-olds toting empty mayonnaise jars.

It should start in wonder, end
in wisdom –
even if you have to dig.

23/30

Meditation

I sit, still and quiet
morning peeks her sleepy eyes
over the dark horizon
I am grateful for this gift
a simple new beginning
another day now awaits
one foot in front of the other
stillness brings the mental flood
but I am just water, flowing
around any and all obstacles
soft music, peaceful melody
drifts in and winds around
my thoughts of you

#23

Feel

My body screams in transition
My Stomach burns with anticipation
My head pounds with excitement
Yet my mind is quiet as a mouse
I know there is safety on the other side
So why does my body cry out
For attention?
Flooded with emotion
That I thought I had processed
I do this every year
But then the acid begins to creep
Up my esophagus
Reminding me that I need to feel

56 u/w

23/30

Eternity

I

I watched the stars come in
Across the tides, into this dimension
Whispering sweet-serene to insides of existential rides
As I painted black: The scene

Black paint – Over the screen:  
Shhhhh
Life, both, seen and unseen –
Unfolding

A fold of friends
Toasting
to

Friends.  

II

Openings in the sky
Slash/ed brash/w/razor/blade made
Thoughts upon promenade

Wilderness made

Across the foreboding/strictly forbade
Whispering-mysteries

Frolics into fields
of

Shadow flowers.  

III

I stopped and listen/ed, a clearing
of

Stars – Peering.  A clearing
of

Sky.  [There is

& is not

A: Why.]  Never a because-because.  That is why

IV

Reading the signs assigned and signed
What do they say

I close my eyes.  Seeing the way
I shall pick up a stack
of
pallets.  Take em
to

The farm.  Place them in the place of fires.  Light

Match

Watch

Stack from back of truck, struck and light
up

The night.  Recite Eerie Waltz into Starry night.  Through the fire into the night

V

Then…

Tomorrow.  Night

It’s on like street lights beneath nights

VI

I painted a black war paint line of infinity upon my brow

VII

How in the world have we arrived here, at this: Now

VIII

Big time daring
in

My stare into nowhere

&

Everywhere.  Oracles and pentacles

IX

Pulling rabbits outta
hats

Of ether.  

IX

The farm is so peaceful

I like to go there at night
and put on a Sony am/fm
radio, my aunt gave me

There is a late night
radio program:

Soundscapes.  Is perfect for firelight

&

Northern lights.  Further more.  Fresh made smores
There is a barn fulla bats

I remember the first time I climbed
up there

&

Looked out one of the doors
in the barn
loft,

Looking out into fields
of
gold.  A way
of
sway.  A weave
of
breeze.  The only way
to
describe, even as scribe
of
the ineffable.  Would be to say I heard the voice of God

X

Moments
of

Eternity.  Speaking eternally

Shimmers
across
a

Shifting sea.

XI

What is it?  Eternity

***
Cipher
Poems
***

23/30

WARRIOR

Lose the battle
Win the war
Don’t ever forget
What we’re fighting for

Some days you’re sick
Some you fall hard
Be ready when
They call your card

I fell behind
Perspective lost
Keep eyes on ball
Whatever cost

Come the morrow
We can lick our wounds
This fight will last
For many moons