Glo/NaPoWriMo 2023 Official Challenge

1/30

The Board
Walternate Universe – MC41225

I pressed the button on the control just for the hell of it
When the portal in the shape of a blue liquid sphere appeared
Thinking I was still dreaming from the night before I stepped through
Not realizing that things were about to get really weird…

A small robot with a television monitor for a face greeted me
In a long dimly lit hallway that was as far as the eye can see
Here other portals were opening and closing for other travelers
As they jumped through verses like they were wishes of a fantasy

“I’m your Tactical Ops Tech Officer or TOTO”, the robot said
And proceeded to brief me about my life in this parallel universe
“You’re in the school board and about to make a difficult decision
So you must change their course or things will get worse”

The briefing took nearly three hours in this dimly lit hallway
A summary of my life story in this particular world
Then I changed clothes and went through the new portal
And came out the other side very excited and stirred

I had two hours to memorize the speech I was given
So that I’d make a landmark decision for the school board
While my alternate self had been sedated the previous night
In the morning I’d make a decision that would bring discord

The panel was split in cutting music and arts from the schools
My alternate self grew up without these programs in his life
Though he had a privileged upbringing he didn’t understand it
But he was resentful, bitter and had an unhappy wife

When I made the decision not to cut the funding of the programs
Half of the panel looked at me like I had gone insane
As it turned out, my alternate self had been in cahoots
But now I was exposing them and going against the grain

I signed the documents and the teachers and students were happy
Meanwhile some board members were scowling and mean mugging
But I didn’t care, I knew it was the right thing to do for the children
While many of the faculty and staff and students were hugging

I went to my alternate self’s office and closed the door
Things were now in motion, I hoped they would work out
When suddenly his office phone rang and it was him
So I picked it up when over the receiver he tried to shout

“Who the hell is this?” he asked demanding and irate
“Listen carefully” I said with a low and calming voice
“Give them the opportunity and it will open worlds for them
But if you don’t then you’ll suffer if you don’t make the right choice…

There are consequences, both at a local and higher level
I’ve seen the documents, so you better come clean
This is not a threat, this is the promise of a new tomorrow
Follow the right path and you’ll…”

I was interrupted as board members pounded on the door
Just then the control on my wrist started flickering a light
I pushed the button and the blue portal quickly opened
I hung up the phone and left that world with delight…

263 Unique Words
534 Total

🙂

2/30

Woodlice

i used to think these bugs
were harmful to gardens
when i was small

i later found out
when not rolled up
into a tiny ball
they’re good for
Mother Earth.

Cleansing
soil & groundwater
they aid in removal of
heavy metals.

25 different nicknames
depending where on
earth You live –--
i like the name,
Roly Poly Bug

Related to shrimp,
I am pretty certain
I would not eat
these crustaceans
even if they rolled up
into a small
armored ball !!





66 unique words

2/30

QUAKER (FRIENDS) MEETING

here we are each to his own,
basking in
kindest thought
and sweetest word,
the heart expanding,
melding with mind
and mind with light

silent prayer is a window
clear as this other
set in brick
and all is plain
yet holy --
wooden bench
worn smooth
and old floor oft trod
by one pilgrim foot
then another and another,
generations of seekers
made bright by desire
to touch something sacred
in an ordinary day

(62 unique words)

2 of 30

Slow Down

Slow down
Pause for a while
Take a deep breath
Loosen yourself and relax
You don't need to hurry
To do what needs to be done

Slow down
Allow yourself to enjoy
The time in your hands
Go for a leisure walk
And enjoy the moment
Today put yourself first
You maybe too busy
On other days
That you forget
To think about yourself

Slow down
Take a closer look
At your surroundings
Smell those flowers
Look up at the sky
And see the clouds
As they drift and change shapes
Watch the sunset

Slow down
Do the things
That make you happy
That will put a smile on your face
That will bring warmth to your heart

Congratulations, NaPoets! We're off and running ( with the exception of a couple of snafus )!

2/30

Pamela Renee

I waited in the hall
outside Ms. Tribeau’s
third-grade classroom,
you’d told me the day before
that your real name wasn’t Renee,
it was Pamela Renee
and I decided you were the coolest
girl I’d ever met;
your caramel skin and tiger’s eyes
beguiled me, and your slight lisp
soothed my sensory
entrapments
you were weird in ways that
complimented my own awkward
social offerings;
I knew we’d be best friends

#2

A Strange Delight


"And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you."  
- Friedrich Nietzsche, 'Beyond Good and Evil: Prelude to a Philosophy of the Future'.  
 
I never quite understood this phrase,  
I guess  
I just  
never  
reached  
that phase.  
 
I have definitely gazed into the abyss  
at least once  
and once is enough;  
more is just despair  
and less is  
blissful ignorance.  
 
I found  
that the abyss has  
no eyes,  
no ears,  
no mouth,  
no nose  
and it didn't matter if I screamed.  
 
And my reaction was:  
"well, bugger that".  
and somehow looked past  
the void.  
 
To see  such scenes that be  
and felt so free.  
 
As, if nothing matters,  
then  
there is a wondrous magic in all  
that there is;  
such delight and dance  
in the day to day  
as we live anyway.  
 
Beyond Good and Evil,  
enraptured by life  
and not caring  
if such thought  
is a strange delight.

(Unique words: 83)

2/30

Love Song

You say it doesn't matter.

Whether that is true,
or just what you think
as you hide parts of you
behind the carefully polished exterior
that you want us to see;

the bond runs deep.
Tethered, inextricably linked,
I knew you before you knew yourself.
I wish you could grasp
part of the depth
and the breadth
and the width
and the circumference
of my love,

It burns strong enough
to move heaven and earth;
it feels huge enough
to fill the universe.

So, I will wait
and I will listen,
trying not to interrupt
as you show me who you are
and what you need.

I will sing it into the silences
and pour it into the places
that you allow me to see.

UWC 75/125

2/30

Divine Ventriloquism

Measure my chest
To be fitted for a new heart
In a cage of ribs expanding
It’s not for bondage but salvation

Lock me up
Tell me what you know
You only know what you’re living
And I’ll only hear what your life says

So speak up with your footsteps
When faith is divine ventriloquism
And everyone is but a stones throw away from the mirror

Tell me who you know
You only know who you listen to
And I’m still waiting for life to confirm the wisdom of the words

Every line is a map to a destination
You’ll only find the treasure where your heart is
When hope is the compass and love is the guide
Tempered by fear to keep us walking down a narrow aisle

Know when to obey and what to rebel against
All for dying just to live again
We’re only just beginning to breathe

Suffocate till your heart beats
Your pulse is found in what you’re willing to die for
Your life is found in what it’s given to
So tell me
How do I translate the footprints?

2/30

Peggysoarus

As silvered wings
shrug off the gale
night descends long
her spectre pale

High above it all
soaring in the mists
a soul gallops untethered
in a heavenly tryst

To feel her heart beat
is to flutter great wings
and drift into sleep
as moondust she brings

A creature of myth
birthed from aspiration
look to the star cluster
and view minds creation

           52 uw

2/30

The Twenty-Eight

Into the NaPo world rode twenty-eight
adventure called along a path to where
some blamed results upon those gods of fate
and others raised their game with utmost flair

Day-1 revealed that most were on their way
into the NaPo world rode twenty-eight
two posts were missing from the opening day
but all the poems posted tasted great

The month is stretched ahead like fishing-bait
to draw up hidden gems, bring them to light
into the NaPo world rode twenty-eight
charging … pens held high - oh what a sight!

This be a chance to dig and find and grow
but will all make it home? Don’t speculate:
the future is uncertain, yet we know
into the NaPo world rode twenty-eight.

2/30

Do Something!

I don’t want to poem today
I don’t have many words to say
There’s stuff on my list that has to get done
and other ways I’d rather have fun

Expectations pile up in a heap
I want to crawl into a hole and sleep
Too many people are counting on me
to do and be what I don’t want to be

It’s not just duties I’m trying to shirk
Even the fun stuff seems like work
Friendships feel awkward, please go away
but don’t leave me lonely, I want you to stay

I could play piano, or uke, or sing
Normally that’s my favourite thing
Music is such good therapy
but today I wallow in lethargy

The sun is shining, I should go outside
but here on the couch I’d rather lie
A walk would be good for my state of mind
but I just don’t want to move my behind

Just one thing is abundantly clear
Time keeps ticking as I lie here
The longer I waffle, trying to choose
The greater the options I’m going to lose

2 of 30

As nature's art

You are and forever will be
Seen as the first of flowers.
The slender green to winters scene,
Your tipping head of white.
You are,
As the waves of snow ebb and flow,
Forthright and gentle to your fight.
How,
Your grace and gift to sight,
Warms the breath upon the heart.
You are,
As nature's art.
Unyielding and inseparable,
From the turning tides of light.
And in you,
And,
Your inspiring view,
The depths of breath
Do stir and climb
Do rise and claim
The gift and rite to life