OFFICIAL DUP Glo/NaPoWriMo 2021 Competition

#11

Lessons from a seagull

sun-sequined harbour
shifting with the wind
excessive brightness
turns my gaze upwards,
where a class of studious seagulls
practice Jonathan Livingston’s circles and dives
against a backdrop of baby blue…

…it takes me back
to my grandparents’ house…
Entering into the basement,
(oh, that smell of cool cement floor!)
Up creaky stairs to the kitchen
with its blueberry muffin warmth
and those ugly stained-glass window trinkets
that I made when I was eight, embarrassingly displayed.
Then finally to the favourite love-seat,
where I would curl up,
reach into the magazine rack
(careful honey, that piece comes loose sometimes)
and lose myself in that favourite book,
--such a curious tale of non-conformity
to find in this traditionalist home--
reading it front to back
the first day of each visit,
finding something new
every time.

12/20

I’m pulling out to win

I have to write about it
somehow writing it all down
gives me a temporary out
a piece of mind

I don’t wanna be with you  
just looking at you makes me mad
your voice your jokes that corny fake laugh!

stop trying to talk to me
with your salty breath soaked in beer
I can’t stand you go away
you killed our relationship dear

crawl back under the rock
from which you came
and while you’re at it
lose my name.


64unique words
83 total words

12/30

DEAD END


Using introspection as a means of reflection
Reflecting on decisions from past selections
My lens refraction is being keenly fined tuned
20/20's vision was filled with gloom and doom

I desired to zoom into '21 packin' a gun
Then my grandfather saw his final Sun
Speaking of guns, my Unc blew out his brains
Hoping for better weather away from the rain

Guess strain and strife made him take his life
Even I have thought about it once or twice
About cutting off my lights like in an eclipse
Giving this integumentary vessel its pink slip

But that's not a road trip that I'll wilfully take
In my weak moments I bend but I don't break
I just pump my brakes in order to get a grip
To regain traction, I let my pen's ink drip

12/30

Meditation in Biblioisma

The last of the boxes,
musty books I rescued
from my childhood;
they wait to be
unpacked and unveiled
in the waning light
and illuminating truth
of this abandoned
Sunday afternoon;
I’ve procrastinated
seventeen times,
not because of words
they contain,
but for the memories
they will hook
and drag unwillingly
to the surface

...I let them in
...
...I let them go

hand-waxed
hardwood floors
slide between
the sheets of
razor-thin linen,
stealing the smile from
right under my nose;
flax~gilded finery
comes alive in hands
holding tomes in tombs
for dead words ~
God’s Promises,
a gift from my father;
I grip its memory
to my forehead and

...I pull it in
...
...I let it go

I rebelliously keep
my word to this day
because the Almighty
never has to;
once vast and varied,
my collection now
whittled by wisdom
and the unburdening
of shoulders
weighted to slumping,
still decorated in the
torn tapestries
of unrequited
everything

...I breathe it all in
...
...I let it all go

107 unique words

11/30

Lend Me Your Ears

Let me commandeer your thoughts for just a moment please
Give me your consciousness and let your mind be leased
I’ve got some thoughts for you, for your perusal, at your leisure
Please I mean no offense and I don’t mean it to be a seizure
Just some simple thoughts and ideas which I think you’ll come to agree
There is no way to quell your mind in any way but this at least that’s all I see
Lend me your ear and listen with your heart and not only your mind
And in time I think you’ll come to learn all the answers you find
Will show that the problems all around are minor to compare
And it would be the utmost crime if I were not to share
You’ll always have a friend in me and a shoulder which to lean
No matter what happens here or now, the truth will always be pristine

Unique words: 90

11/30

Tribute:Solution

Premature death denied
innate need to provide
maternal love, temporal direction
helping her children
love themselves
learn to express their affection
finally, teach them self sufficiency
although severed earthly connection
mother managed the tasks from heaven
placing good women along my path
with precise intuitive frequency
thus she still mothers by proxy

Jan and Cecilia
angelic nurturers sent first
mothers of good friends
while reaching adolescence worst
when living with family
came to forced end
these ladies opened heart and home
saved my soul from being alone

Gene, my wise, compassionate,
dad-vetted, landlady
In whose house I rented a room
shew much patience
through brief rebellions bloom
my days of experimentation
for one day while she was working
In her living room I smoked
four cigars, without ventilation
thus curing my desire for smoking

T’was Madeleine
who put me back
on the straight and narrow
I met her at the hardware store
where we were both employed
a feisty little middle-aged lady
whom when we first met
she seemed rather annoyed
we shared the same faith
we soon discovered
It was then she became
my surrogate mother
Influencing course correction
Instilling a sense of great worth
providing to me the vision
that helped me make
life changing decisions

Bless my mother’s team of great women
without whom I’m not sure I’d be living

Unique words: 170

11/30

..new beginnings..

The new moon in Aries has arrived
The nights are dark
The air is crisp
The energy is aggressive, irritated, needing movement and lots of breathe
It’s a time to start
New beginnings
With new charge
Projects abound
New life comes
Motivating to get it done
Ambition is the game
It’s the season
Sit still
Know to ask for
Choose your words wisely
Go deep and put the call out there
Someone is listening

58 UWC

12/30

Lessons in life part 15....Take time to look down

I climb and offer my face some sunlight,
seeking out the balm of a southerly breeze,
It lifts the leaves and makes the trees laugh.
A crowd of resting crows, accuse themselves
of being too loud, their squadron scrambled
like black stars on a white warm sky.

The lake below has caught the wind
It moves slim fingers over its piano keys
stroking away the mirrored mountains,
fragmenting the purple hues of heather.
Distant wood smoke from a hill side cottage,
drifts across the valleys deep green canopy
into the blurred eyes of beauty.

12/30


FOURTH SANCTUARY

Sometimes on-your-knees is a fitting place
to face overwhelming forces at work
where media-hype, out of control, berserk
screams lying headlines — what a disgrace;
how to stand back when spin charges apace
shaping a world as new language-twists lurk
at every turn befuddling minds in murky
and clandestine rituals making a case?

Hold humus in your hands from the compost heap
marvel at Earth’s immune system finesse
trillions of microbes working their magic;
I squatted on a stone and began to weep
at pig-headed destruction. Then stopped. Blessed
the soil — laid aside the story tragic.

EPISODE 12/30

Dear Fellowshippers & Lord Melrond,
I am thankful to everyone for their help and hospitality, but I really must insist upon going to Mount Dumb by myself. There is no need for any more people to put themselves in harm's way. I regret to inform you that I am leaving now. For your own good, I would appreciate it if you did not follow me.

Sincerely,
DUGlo Baggins

p.s. Please give John Ronald an extra carrot. You say goodbye to him for me.

When Ahavarwen was finished reading the letter they found in DUGlo's room, everyone grimaced at the notion of the pleasant Glowyrm wandering through Muddle Earth ALONE. Many a Dwarf fond of the little bugger had tears in their eyes and beards.

"But, wait ... there's more," said Jaragorn, producing another letter not even she was aware of.

Dear Rosie, Dwarves, Elves, & Mister Ganjosh,
Mister DUGlo has foolishly gone off into the wilderness ALONE. Not to worry! I'm going after him and promise to take good care of him. Gotta run!

Yours Truly,
Satin Gamjeez

"Oh, for Took's sake!" grumbled Rosie Grace. "It will be like the blind leading the blind." Once upon a time she had to rescue DUGlo AND Satin, who both managed to get lost inside the Macy's located inside of the Wyrmington Heights Shopping mall.

"Cough ... ahem ... cough ..."

Lunalass, smirkingly clearing her throat, waved about another letter.

Dear Friends of DUGlo,
I'm taking the liberty of following Mister Gamjeez who is following Mister Baggins. I will make certain they destroy The One Poem ™. It is in everyone's best interest if you all journeyed to the Two Point O Towers in order to liberate the Eye of DUPon so she won't see us enter the lands of Moardor and inform MOAR!ON of our plan. If you see my signal up in the clouds, that's precisely when you should distract her.

Cordially Yours,
THE DARK KNIGHT!

What a production this whole Fellowship quest was turning into!

Time was of the essence. Everyone packed up their belongings and climbed onto their miniature Donkeys. Lord Melrond waved goodbye to Riddledale, for she was joining the Fellowship as well. And it was a good excuse for her not stay behind and clean up the bathhouse where the Dwarves bathed. Heavens, did they foul up the crystal waters and leave a ring around the tub.

Smuggle and Duggle were furious over being outsmarted as they were duct taped to John Ronald's bridal and brought along the journey.

"Tricksy, false Batmanses and Wyrmses!" they whined. "They takes the Precious Poem again and again and ruins our lives! But ... we'll get them, won't we? YES, we will! We knows of a dark terror that dwells in the forest near the Two Point O Towers. Stooopid Fellowshipperses won't know what hits them!"

Greetings, Great Poets of the Fellowship! If the Elves have presented you a bow along with your wreathed crown you may safely enter Day 12! We can see the Halfway Mark right across from that valley, which will take about three days to trek! Stay with us now! You got this!

( 12/30 )

Satellite

[ . . . ]

Part II: Arc of the Covenant    

[ . . . ]

iv.

Waxing Gibbous—
precision presented
an unveiling orb of perseverance

So close you can taste
fruition on the tongue—
deliverance reaping reward
from patience and hard work;

but, not quite yet;
not without diligent effort

You teach us circumstance
the unexpected loss
when taken for granted
when final work is left undone

Something seen is not owned
arriving ships can still succumb
to impending storms
before they reach shore

We must not give up
separating wheat from chaff
because the cornfield  
has begun to burgeon  

especially when not yet ripened
. . .

12 of 30

Role

I feel low today
Woke up with a mild fever
Clogged nose and back ache
I needed to rest and stay in bed
These past days have been stressful
And the light rain the other day
Has soaked my head cover
When we went to visit the cemetery
That must have caused this fever
And feeling of fatigue I felt this morning
But I had to get up
And move and do my role
I prepared my husband's lunch
Washed the sheets that have been waiting for days to be laundered
And waited for the afternoon to serve his snack
He is still not in good shape to do things for himself
So I have to do most things for him
I'm not complaining
This role comes with the package
When I entered the world of matrimony
To serve him as best I can
In sickness or in health
For richer or for poorer
Until death do us part

12/30

Cold Burn

In retrospect many love songs tend to have a different meaning
Only after some time has passed
I guess the older we get we wake up from the dreaming
As if awakening from a spell once cast

Years later we begin to understand ourselves a little better
Seeing where and how things went wrong
Comprehending the significance of each poem, text or letter
Realizing why we were so headstrong

Oh how the days of eternal youth flew by like the blink of an eye
When relationships were beat and broken
In the cold burn we learn to deal and heal and to detoxify
Recalling words that once were tenderly spoken

In retrospect many love songs tend to have a different connotation
Only after some time has passed
The promises once made cast into the pyre have no lamentation
Only after some time has passed

144 Words
92 Unique