june 17 - survivors chant

today's prompt is to write a chant.
Because thighman82 lives on the darkside of town, this particular chant is written for all the troubled youth of the world that escape into fantasy and daydreams to shelter them from the realities they face daily. Thighman82 was a fan of intergalactic travel and all the options the universe has/had to offer in times of trauma.
a simple chant like a nursery rhyme will stick with a soul in turmoil.
in free verse, 7 lines, 3-4 words per line.

Runaway child, runaway.
Look to the sky
Where you’ll be safe
Even farther than that
And you’ll find a place
In the coldest caverns
of a lonely space.

june 16 - inside the throat

today's prompt is taken from the introduction of Macho Sluts by Pat Califia.

2 separate quotes from this introduction really jumped out into the lap of thighman82.

"our desire learns to curb itself, and we come to depend on the strength of self-repression for our safety."

"we know we are ugly before we have even seen ourselves, and the injustice of this, the falsehood, chokes me."

INSIDE THE THROAT

walking down the street
i am suddenly awash
in a cross
Between despair
and adrenaline

From within the throat
my desire wages
A coup detat
In response
to the repressive sanction
Of a swallow

As my eyes water
In defense of
a passionate codex
I awaken
To realize
I am running away
From myself

lost
in the vacuum of time
no longer responsible
for others ideas about
who or what
I am

Entranced by the
Vicious evidence
As it is rises
to the top of my throat

I want to rip my own flesh apart
as the adrenaline overtakes me

my desire is chasing me

Demanding that I feed it
Gnashing its teeth
Strangling me from
The inside out

Choking on adrenaline
I am taken by the image of myself
Leaving earth
Soaring through time into
A fleshy sun

as I burn up
upon entry
the strands
of my existence
snap undone

having been submitted
by my own body
i
submit myself
as an offering
to my own desire

june 15 - the power of touch - a cinquain

today's prompt is to write a cinquain about one of the senses.
thighman82 decided to write about touch.
For thighman82, being a queer and trans writer is an irrevocable experience with touch. Touch is all about understanding and intention. touch is soul based. touch is power based.
please enjoy this cinquain - which is a 5 line stanza that consists of the 2,4,6,8,2 syllablic structure.

the power of touch

You can
Feel that when they
Touch you, that they have no
Knowledge of what this is, nor want
To know.

june 14 - Sonnet

today's prompt is to write a sonnet. a classic theme of the grand poetical form of the sonnet is LOVE. A sonnet is 14 lines, each line comprised of 10 syllables. the structure of the poem varies and can be performed as an octave (8 lines) and a sestet (6 lines). Because irregular line breaks are near and dear to the heart of thighman82, the following sonnet is constructed of 3 quatrains (4 line stanza) and ends with a couplet (2 line stanza).

sonnet of a forlorn gigolo

I’ve loved thirteen women in my young life.
Broken down into categories, then
subdivided by genre. Though hard to
predict where and how the next affair may

go, all I know is that half my life has
been spent with ladies. countless hours of
devotion poured into the spectacle
of love. Attractions explored until it

became apparent they existed no
more. Another year becomes a woman
I’ve swallowed down hard, eyes watery and
In need of someone else to gaze upon.

Is the point of life to love? Or is it
Learning how to talk about what’s happened?

june 13 - pantoum for the piers of alvin baltrop

today's prompt is to write a pantoum. a pantoum usually has 4 - 6 stanzas of quatrains. 2 lines from each stanza repeat themselves in other stanzas until the final stanza is written (which is a culmination of the first 2 repeating lines and the last two). it sounds trickier than it is, but thighman82 has numbered each line of his pantoum in order to better illustrate the form.

and today's pantoum is inspired by the photography of alvin baltrop.

Where the smells are overwhelming 1
Unwashed men roost for hours in the sun 2
Sweat streams down slender necks 3
Hands ruddy from repetitious actions 4

Unwashed men roost for hours in the sun 2
Sizzle lips with rolled cigarettes 5
Hands ruddy from repetitious actions 4
Call out to each other across the highway 6

Sizzle lips with rolled cigarettes 5
Throwing glances laden with desire 7
Call out to each other across the highway 6
Step through a torn fence to join the party 8

Throwing glances laden with desire 7
Eyes are blinded by dangerous skin 9
Step through a torn fence to join the party 8
Find a history of public secrets 10

Eyes are blinded by dangerous skin 9
Sweat streams down slender necks 3
Find a history of public secrets 10
Where the smells are overwhelming 1

june 12 - ritual poem

today's prompt is to write a ritual poem. Thighman82 used this basic outline for his ritual poem:
1. decide what you would like to have occur.
2. examine all aspects of the subject.
3. think of actions to illustrate some of these aspects.
4. write each action down as a command.
5. number the commands.
6. let yourself go.

this poem, though written on the 12th was entered into the challenge on the 13th, hence 13 commands, because we all know how obsessive compulsive rituals can be.

Ritual for writing poems for the 30 day poetry challenge

1 sequester self in bedroom, sit cross legged on a milk crate, open window.
2 remove shirt, tilt thinking cap to the right, water bottle to the left.
3 nudge door into place with one hand: master placing boulder in front of cave.
4 lay pens down by photograph of self, aged 7.
5 write for ten minutes, another ten and another ten. Stay up late.
6 stare at that spot on the wall, no not there, next to it!
7 lean forward, crane neck, round back, erupt words.
8 straighten out, look up at that spot again, swig water.
9 gather snippets from free writes, journal entries, random receipts.
10 rock back and forth, talk out the window, pretend they’re watching.
11 stare into the screen, fingers snatch at old memories.
12 rocking back and forth, kiss lines with rhymes entreatingly.
13 rejoice, re-read, re-read, go to sleep.

june 11 - avoiding writing

today's prompt is - avoiding writing. what happens when one avoids writing, avoids committing to the page, avoids putting some work into it.
Thighman82 struggles constantly with the discontent that fuels avoiding writing. To properly and succinctly get a hold of himself, and end the avoidance to writing, thighman82 has assembled a triolet of direct verse.
A triolet is an 8 line poem with 2 rhymes and 2 repeating lines. the 1st line is repeated as the 4th and 7th lines, and the 2nd and 8th lines are the same.
as an added bonus thighman82 has included the mix behind the triolet,
part inspiration part damnation = transference.

triolet of frustration

avoiding writing
resigned to go unheard
waste time with things of no matter
avoiding writing
serve nothingness on a platter
tedium utters not a word
avoiding writing
resigned to go unheard