Finding Eldorado [Poetry: Anytime, Anyplace...]

Poetry: Anytime, Anyplace, About Anything - Finding Eldorado

By, Donna M. Monnig

Finding Eldorado

 

       Sadly contrite

       A cowardly knight

In moonshine and sun’s shadow

       Had sat awhile

       Being lazy in style

Having found Eldorado

 

       He would die young

       This coward unsung

His story but a mere shadow

       He would die on the ground

       None knew he had found

The land of Eldorado

 

       He’d been lazy at length

       Losing all of his strength

From pillaging in the shadow

       Rich he would be  

       He’d thought with glee

Possessing the land of Eldorado

 

       Over alligators

        In the lagoon

Down an alleyway of shadow

       Lying on his side

       He drunkenly died

In his mind, he was in Eldorado.

 

©Donna M. Monnig

 

Today’s NaPoWriMo prompt was to rewrite a poem so that every word in a line meant the opposite of what it did in the original poem. I didn’t follow the prompt exactly, but I did rewrite Edgar Allan Poe’s “Eldorado.”

 

NaPoWriMo prompt: Day 30  

Bella Butterfly [Poetry: Anytime, Anyplace...]

Poetry: Anytime, Anyplace, About Anything – Bella Butterfly

By, Donna M. Monnig

Bella Butterfly

 

Beautiful mariposa

       free like a fairy tale,

With colorful wings

       you always set sail.

 

Cenicienta had her

       ratons, says lore,

To keep company

      and help with chores.

 

Blanca Nieves, though

       young in anos,

Had the help of

       los siete enanos.

 

Beautiful mariaposa

       had no such friend,

But her fairy tale is:

       Queen of the Wind.

 

©Donna M. Monnig

 

Today’s NaPoWriMo prompt was to write a poem including at least five words from another language.

 

NaPoWriMo prompt: Day 29

Behind Blue-Green Eyes [Poetry: Anytime...]

Poetry: Anytime, Anyplace, About Anything – Behind Blue-Green Eyes

By, Donna M. Monnig

Thanks to Kathi for letting me use her picture. [Click here]

Behind Blue-Green Eyes

 

The sapphire sky above me sparkles;

stars suspended like precious stones in a cave.

Shining down on a land of charcoal;

dirt that will one day be my grave.

 

Thoughts of death depress so many,

but downhearted about it is not for me.

For, of cares and worries there won’t be any,

as my cerulean soul sails the azure sea.

 

But for now I stand in the navy of night,

thoughts a whirl in my blue-grey brain.

In my aquamarine notebook, words I write,

creating a poem, linking words in a chain.

 

A teal necklace rests beneath my chin,

and I wonder who owned it before me.

I write such wonderings with an indigo pen:

does the  previous owner sail the cobalt sea?

 

In the morning the sky will be a powdery blue,

from turquoise sheets tomorrow I’ll rise.

What the meaning is, I haven’t a clue,

these are just thoughts behind blue-green eyes.

 

©Donna M. Monnig

 

Today’s NaPoWriMo prompt was to write a poem using all the synonyms and words you could associate with your favorite color.

 

NaPoWriMo prompt: Day 28

Double-Edged Sword [Poetry: Anytime, Anyplace...]

Poetry: Anytime, Anyplace, About Anything – Double-Edged Sword

By, Donna M. Monnig

Double-Edged Sword

 

Resulting in a sword,

       double-edged, the blade,

Favorable and unfavorable

       an analogy is made.

 

Normal English translated

       in expressions that speak,

A sword is life-saving,

       life-taking i.e. unique.

 

Image and idiom

       sharply collide together,

15th Century attested

       and tough as leather.

 

Resulting in a sword

       double-edged, the blade,

Favorable and unfavorable

       an analogy is made.

 

©Donna M. Monnig

 

NaPoWriMo’s prompt was to type a few words of a favorite saying into a search engine and use words and phrases from the results as part of your source material.

 

NaPoWriMo prompt: Day 27

Wandering Words [Poetry: Anytime, Anyplace...]

Poetry: Anytime, Anyplace, About Anything – Wandering Words

By, Donna M. Monnig

Wandering Words

(An etched poem from “Words

From a Wanderer” by Louis L’Amour)

 

                 know your

                                       stranger knows

           nets                  have trapped

         webs of shadow                        filtered

                               dim

                   the dust

                  into my heart

                         loneliness

 

                                                               burns

        the kiss of

                             the mad sea churns

                                  spray, like

               savage teeth,            rip

            reluctant hopes,                       free.

 

©Donna M. Monnig

 

NaPoWriMo’s prompt today was to write an “erasure” (I’ve always heard it called an etched poem), but basically you just cut words away from someone else’s poem until you have a poem of your own. This poem was etched from Louis L’Amour’s “Words From a Wanderer.”

 

NaPoWriMo prompt: Day 26

Black Olive Ballad [Poetry: Anytime, Anyplace...]

Poetry: Anytime, Anyplace, About Anything – Black Olive Ballad

By, Donna M. Monnig

Black Olive Ballad

 

The idea was to write a ballad,

It was hard to decide what about,

So, I chose to write about salad,

And black olives to give it some clout.

 

Now sees I knows whatcha thinkin’,

That black olives and salads’ no fun,

But if ya hadn’t ah been blinkin’,

Ya’d ah realized what had been done.

 

You see if ya ate those black olives ,

Then it’s too late, yer a goner for sure,

For no one who eats ’em lives,

They’re ah poison without any cure.

 

Now I’s knows whatcha wonderin’;

Why would I do such a thing?

It’s ’cause my temper is thunderin’;

My boyfriend ain’t true to this ring.

 

So, now all ya deadbeats can listen,

And think ’bout how I was done wrong,

My, how black olives glisten,

The poison’ll getcha ‘fore long.

 

©Donna M. Monnig

 

Today’s NaPoWriMo prompt was to write a ballad, (i.e. a sentimental ballad, a murder ballad, a power ballad, etc.) I chose to write a short murder ballad that was very much inspired by a recent play I attended.

 

NaPoWriMo prompt: Day 25

Life is a Process [Poetry: Anytime, Anyplace...]

Poetry: Anytime, Anyplace, About Anything – Life is a Process

By, Donna M. Monnig

Life is a Process

 

Giving up is easy,

       staying strong is hard,

Against easy temptation,

       one must always be on guard.

 

Living is a process,

       that takes a lifetime to perfect,

Time is chincy with itself,

       but most generous with regret.

 

Memory is a fickle thing,

       though most abundant during youth,

Sometimes it even lies to us,

       mixing fiction up with truth.

 

Conversation is often just

       dishing out the beans,

Randomness or coincidence,

       nothing is ever what it seems.

 

Master of none is

       the Jacklyn of all trades,

In the end, regardless, 

       even the king’s glory fades.

 

©Donna M. Monnig

 

My name doesn’t really have that much anagram potential so I just pieced some random things together instead of following today’s NaPoWriMo prompt.