FOP #2

21.8 Must include a metaphor or similie

In my dreams I fall
like a tear from an angel
with no floor in sight
butterflies reek havoc in me
my hair is a second behind me
my face a pancake mess
I am hoping against all hope
that I land in the sea.

22.1

Must mention ONE animal AND ONE NUMBER.

A bat and a cat
in my flat
fancy that
both in a flap
at my intrusion
two nightly ghouls
trying to rule
I add confusion.

22.2 wildcard

Hide away from strife
Owning a piece of me
Mealtimes a success
Eating with my family.

22.3 life

Life is not a play
nor a charade
we have one chance
to leave a mark on history
because when we die
and lay in the grave
one day
nobody will utter our name
there is always a tomorrow
we will be left in yesterday.

22.4 Must include the words of a club name on this site. Yes, you can use the same club twice

Oh Madison
why did you cut your hair
golden and long
cascading down your back
like the flowing river
but you are such an imp
you took those scissors
and now you have a mullet
mum is going to be batty

(dedicated to my daughter who cut chunks out of her hair today)

22.5 form

Hell hates this word
Only the good cling onto me
Prayers offer answers
Each man needs hope to live

22.6 Alcohol

You're drunk again
and you long for her fingers
to brush the softness of one
sweat dampened hair strand
away,

away
from your mapped
forehead.

You've been having headaches
ever since she's gone

and now everything feels vaster
(vaster than the continents she claimed
were drawn on the palm of your hand)
vaster than asia, vaster than
bearable.

Funny, how a little thing like her
could fill up the place, sarcastic how
your grumpiness hasn't frightened
the walls yet

You long
for her words, her worlds,
her vibrant company

Her favourite chair mocks you
with its bright sunny color

What do chairs know of blood shot
eyes or losing someone anyway
you ask

and what do you know
of the feelings of chairs, she'd
Probably say. Nothing, except
She used to name the blasted
thing. She used to name
everything.

And you need some fresh air
You need her

You told her the night before she left
how reasoning with her feels much
like having a burnt tongue,

but did you tell her how she felt
like yogurt upon your burnt tongue
Every single time.

22.7 On Polite Conversation (10 - 13 lines)

Your voice on the phone
chewing, swallowing distance

a greeting, a sigh, a half-whispered
apology

and words more sweetened than
your tea

and I would've said you have
the wrong number, if it weren't so cliche,
I would've said you have the wrong person, I
would've hung up - but it is-

So instead let me ask you
"Do you still take your tea
with four cubes of sugar?"

22.8 Simile

I listened to your heart beat
like the soundtrack to an action movie,
and have watched your eyelashes dance
like oriental ballerinas as you blink.
I have written to you of the hope
of witnessing you again.

23.1 One animal one number

56 poems later, I roam the poetic plains
like a hyena, scavenging for carcasses
with enough verse left on the bone to fulfill
my unmetric, rumbling hunger.

23.2 Wild Card

The 1st pin, a par 4, was hidden behind
the overprotective bunker that gobbled up
my ball like a hungry tiger. The wind blew
my tee shots this way and that and I needed
google maps to find the 8th green.
After the 12th I broke my wedge in frustration
and I added a tens unit to my score on
the last par 5.
'Good game?' asked the clubhouse golfers
when I tramped in. 'Good walk' I replied.
They didn't hear me utter 'spoilt'
under my breath.

23.3 Life

Puppies, blind, shuffle their way
to their mothers warmth to feed, to sleep.
She read no parenting books to know
how to be their mother.

23.4 4. Club name

The taste of ink creeps up, when, seeping
from the end of the pen you borrowed,
it splutters and flutters as you spit it out,
curse and shout. Now you can never give it back,
now your tongue is temporarily black.

23.5 5. Formed

Tanka

Hummingbirds hover
inches above lilypads
anchored on water's surface.

Tadpoles adventure
under lilypad's shadow,
dreaming of hummingbirds flight.

23.6 Alcohol or drugs

There's mischief in the air
and lovers tattooing
their marks on necks,
traces of coconut rum
left behind -

mistresses treat
husbands like kings,
passionate
and no responsibility.

23.7 10-13 lines

There is gossip
in the corners of the room
and I can't turn away
from it. You see the juices
of the secrets
flowing down the wall,
but it's taking everything
inside of me
to not clean up
the mess you create.

23.8 Metaphor/Simile

You've slathered
my edges with
honey-wax, sticky
and hardened around
my emotions -
how callous of you
to strip them
so slowly.

24.1 Animal/Number

Like a panther
you pace -
swarming the room
and filling up
on one too many
egotistical rants

you'll fall
from the jungle
soon enough.

24.2 Wild Card

You place yourself
on a chair,
printed in paisley
yet refuse to believe
you're feminine enough
for finer taste.

24.3 Life

She watches
as it gnaws her womb
troubling yet inviting
as it takes away
all thought and responsibility,
yet a piece of her
has become burnt edges
on wax paper.

24.4 Club Name

He chews on
the edges of rocks
and expects danger
to come naturally -
he wants to be
a part of the club
yet grazes on
too much acid.
He longs to fit in,
but refuses to see
beyond his eyelashes.

24.5 Formed Poem Acrostic

Callous hands work
on fields, plowing before
rain hits, harvesting
nightly -

24.6 Alcohol/Drugs

He accidentally calls her
Mary Jane, forgetting
who he truly loves -
his addiction creates
callous mistakes
and she never knows
when to leave him.

Edit - please remove

24.7 10-13 Lines

There are cancellations
and no one knows
where the riders
have gone.
Who can tell me
what route
they have taken?
We've gotten them
lost, can we please
take the time
to find them?

24.8 Must include a metaphor or similie

You were light breaking through
swirling clouds, ships emerging
from the mouth of angry sea storms
and the green blooming from within
the rock-hard shell of a seed.

She was a vase within the sanctuary
of glass framed shelves that never
knew but artificial flowers, a painting
in a museum with a "don't touch" sign
and too much a coward to let you in.

25.1 Must mention ONE animal AND ONE NUMBER.

It's 12 am and I
don't miss you.

Now the dog takes
your side of the bed.

25.2 Wild Card

I remember the times,
you made me roses
out of candy wraps

and glued to my ceiling
plastic stars that shone
whenever the lights went
out.

I remember learning that one
can't shed their past with
their skin - I still dream
of my country every night.

I remember the evening you took
two shadow-glossed steps
towards me, how your words
have found a vein,

But I don't remember the morning
You left, for nothing but my writing
has changed.

25.3 Life

When fire eats the forests' green
and hurricanes pull houses from
their roots

and oceans reach
with their watery claws
to grab another piece
of the city.

When I knock at your door
at 10 pm, like dam that's
broken, or a tree in autumn,

with rain falling on my naked
wires

and you shrug your shoulders,
telling me: "That's life"

25.4 Must include the words of a club name

She used to joke of how your skin
would always taste of ink but she
never told you

how your picture, just like that,
with glasses resting on the bridge
of your nose, an open-mouthed
book on your lap and evening braiding
its sun-warmed colors into your hair
would stay with her forever.

25.5 Lilith (Formed poem)

Loving her was like
Ink stains on the pinky of a
Left handed person, tale-telling
In its own way. Years and years
This endless habit, natural now,
Hard to break.

25.6 Alcohol or drugs

She's become an addict,
looking for the next hit
and pouring a Vodka
for herself every night -
she can't see a way out,
but feels the burn
of her alcohol -
at least she's feeling
something.

25.7 10-13 lines

Her blonde hair
flows with the top
back, a sun tan
covers her long legs.
Toes strapped in
with the tiniest ring,
and she puckers her
pink lips. She breathes
in summer,
never looking back.

25.8 Metaphor/Simile

The ocean rages
on the stormy night,
an anchor wrapped
around his heart
keeps himself in place.

She holds more
than a promise,
and the chains
around her finger
when she realizes
anchors don't
have keys..
but chains do.

26.1 1 Animal and 1 Number

You order two
steak and lobster dinners
forgetting the fact
that I'm a turf-only
kind of girl.

Perhaps if you
listened
more than you tasted
you'd know that.

26.2 Wild Card

You walk by
as I sip my morning cup
of coffee,

and you don't care.

You don't notice
that my eyes didn't dance
at the sound of your voice,

and your eyes don't move
in my direction.

When did we get
to the place we swore
we'd never be?

26.3 Life

Three women,
lowered into the ground
and no one
knows why.

We pray
and speculate,
but life lost
in on someone's hands

and they're being
much too careful.

26.4 Club Name

... and like the ashes
from a phoenix rising,
a birth is created.

26.5 Form Acrostic

I breathe these prompts
throughout my
sleep -

Only those who are
very competitive
eat, breathe, and sleep
ready-made poetry.

26.6 Alcohol or drugs

The sun breaks over
the mountaintops,
and we feel
that summer is here -
there are tanned men
holding beers
in cozies,
ready for
bonfire parties
with pretty women near.