june 10 - what matters

Today's prompt is to write about what matters.
For me, thighman82, what matters is friendship, love and coffee.
please enjoy the following two pieces over a cup of joe and in the company
of someone whom you appreciate dearly.

PERCOLATION

Italian coffee with an Italian friend
Beans instantly ground
to jangle around
with anise and cardamom
bubbling atop your stove
percolator overlooking the view from six stories up,
welcoming all of north Brooklyn to engage in your aroma

a hot yellow mess,
fried egg to accompany
sausage made at family gatherings
where old world knowledge is celebrated
and
encapsulated in a sweaty process
known as meat grinding

pine nuts in a cast iron skillet,
even burnt things in your kitchen taste so delightful

a small glass of grapefruit juice
vitamins, chlorophyll, pieces of atmosphere
that aimlessly float up to this palace,
this small cabin in the sky
I am home whenever I visit you here
Whenever you share with me your coffee
Whenever we are engaged in the morning together


FRENCH PRESS

I miss your coffee
So full bodied and rich in my mouth
The product of special rituals
performed by elegant hands
in illuminated hours
when the day has already settled
when the challenge to rise is allayed

At night, while our bodies sink
into a mutual agreement of rest
The last words to leave our lips
before the soft
voluminous clouds of slumber
scoop us up,
are usually

I cant wait for coffee tomorrow

We sleep to wake
And wake to begin something new
all over again
Everyday

You are like a partner but
actually a co-conspirator
Plotting to intercede in the chaos of worldly affairs
With a reason to sit and gather
Awareness

Your coffee is why I love you
eager to share this ritual with you
whenever I can
a bragged about fetish
that I practice on my own,
although apt at executing this event
successfully by myself
The thought of you in your kitchen,
assembling the instruments
Grinding the beans,
Pushing the filter
And
Setting the cup to your lips
I am awake in the stillness
Stirred only by the spoon
You use to dispel
The monochromatic moment
Of the potion reaching consumption

june 9 - Cosign

Today's prompt is to choose a word or phrase you find yourself saying often and write a poem that is actually the opposite. (COSIGN)

it usually doesn't strike you
til a few years later
when the moment has passed
and you have a funny taste in your mouth
that indicates the onset
of an epiphany

and you realize
that you squandered
an opportunity

to fuck
to connect
to partake in the sincerity
of another

when all signs pointed to
HELL YES

your compass was throttled
and innately you were
caught in the crosshairs
of your own muddled excuses
as to why this would never come true

friends exclaim enthusiastically
that people don't send packages
via snail mail
unless they want something in return
other people seem to
understand the business of making eyes
and throwing nods of appreciation
in all the right places

but outside words of widsom
fall deaf
for the socially dumb
and
the agreement
is left
partially anointed
as you didn't have the insight
nor gumption
to cosign
in the first place.

june 8 - who denise foolin'?!

today's prompt is to write a response to "The Secret" by denise levertov. Why denise levertov you may wonder? why not? denise and i, thighman82, had a fling many years ago back in my collegiate days. we also have the same birthday, october 24th.
anyhow, check out the backstory on denise levertov.
p.s. - chicago currently houses a different denise of grand poetical stature who is also a 30 day challenger. woop woop!

I want to know as well.
These 2 girls are nothing more than one person
Split down the middle, playing air guitar
Eyes closed and heads swaying

Thinking about the secret and racing
Into other people’s conversations. I
Could never behave like that and get away with it.
Touching the back of her head, other hand

On my alarm clock, smacking it into submission
For another 15 minutes to peter out
Whenever the day comes, whatever the season,
I’ll be found there, laying face down with my best ideas

Engorged in the wee hours, wishing for another 15 minutes
Wondering why they show up at that time anyway
And fantasizing about all the things I’ll get done that year,
Until two girls show up and point out something I missed.

june 7 - walking poem

today's prompt is a walking poem.
it took me some time to upload this one because i had to get the form right.
the form is 7 stanzas of unrhymed quatrains. 7 stanzas because of the date june 7, quatrains (4 line stanzas) that are made up of 3 lines of 2 words and the last line of 4 words. this technical note is here just to illustrate the control i utilize for the form of the poem. enjoy!

walking poem

2 men
are visible
hands holding
separate histories
that follow one another

i havent
done this
before nor
thought that
i might one day

your presence
alights a
struggle i
have dealt
with for many years

in the
street i
am challenged
by my
privileges and subtle fears

what would
your mama
say or
furthermore what
would my mama say

on our
backs blows
a warm
summer breeze
without a destination ahead

you and
i are
navigating this
new terrain
bodies acting as beacons

june 6 - fibonacci sequence poem

today's prompt is to write a poem in the fibonacci sequence structure.
fibonacci poetic form. i.e. in the syllabic sequence 1,1,2,3,5,8....

the
pains
that are
imagined
are usually worse
than the actions of everyday

june 5 - i found a poem in my journal

today's prompt - a found poem created from today's journal entry.
As a device for controlling the form, the poem will be exactly eleven lines, june 5 = 6+5 = 11.


Hellified today/
The experience of no umbrella/
Desire fashions itself around/
Abundant internal mystery/
Walking in the rain/
Throwing stones at tanks/
Because they can recognize what I am/
Certain things that only cameras can capture/
Words do not fail, so much as flail/
Hadn’t expected anyone else to get/
Its amazing to be seen

june 4 - a date with a tanka

today's prompt is to write a tanka about a crush.
the tanka is a japanese form that predates the most popular and renowned form of syllable poetry, the haiku. a tanka is a 31 syllable poem broken into 5 lines that contain the 5-7-5-7-7 syllable structure.

Your hand, cool and smooth
Clutches mine tight underneath
Layers of shyness
Thighs pressed against vinyl seats
Shifting to receive your look