Posted by Ronda Levine on Tuesday, April 13, 2010,
In :
Poetry
Here's today's prompt - to title the poem "The Last ____." The Last Slice of Pizza
It sits in the box
Greasy, cheesy, filled with meats and vegetables
Two sets of eyes stare upon it
Each says “Go ahead, you take it.”
Two hands go reaching in
Surprised the other is doing the same
“Oh, no, it’s okay!”
The hands reach out again
And the cycle repeats
Until finally he picks up the
Slice, tears it in half
And one becomes two. Continue reading ...
Posted by Ronda Levine on Tuesday, April 13, 2010,
In :
Poetry
This poem assignment from the Poetic Asides blog was to write a horror poem. Here's mine (inspired by the people upstairs)
Stompers
What are they doing up there?
Bowling-
Moving Furniture-
Dragging bodies from another mafia kill?
Perhaps it’s a zombie scraping around on a hardwood floor
Arms out in a caricature of itself saying “brains”
Maybe it’s a swarm of elephants, ready
To crash through my ceiling at any moment
Perhaps it’s Vlad Vampire
Moving his coffin to a new p... Continue reading ...
Posted by Ronda Levine on Tuesday, April 13, 2010,
In :
Poetry
This day's poem was based on a self-portrait.(I have to admit, I know this isn't my best, but for the sake of the challenge, I'm posting it anyway.) Self Portrait
Looking in the mirror, I hardly recognize myself
What happened to my youth
Where is it hiding
Somewhere under creased eyelids
Somewhere behind stretch-marks from having a child
When I was way too skinny and only a little young
I wonder where we go as we age –
The youthful glint in the eye
The energy to run and jump and h... Continue reading ...
Posted by Ronda Levine on Tuesday, April 13, 2010,
In :
Poetry
Today's PAD Challenge from Poetic Asides relies upon titling the poem with the name of a tool. Here's my attempt at this prompt:
Heidegger’s Hammer
The carpenter swings his arm
Slamming its metal into the nail
Our tools are our bodily extensions
Engaging in the world
Ready-to-hand
Until they break
And we become aware of them
As they are present-at-hand
Beckoning us to question their
Essentiality to our projects Continue reading ...
Posted by Ronda Levine on Thursday, April 8, 2010,
In :
Poetry
Poetic Asides' prompt today involved writing a poem titled "Until _____." Here's my draft of this poem:
Until Forever
Arms lay across my chest
Wrapped around me
Opening my eyes takes an eternity
As I come out of the sea of warmth
Slowly and the dreams fade
Into the distance behind me
I become aware of the breathing
In sync – breathe in, breathe out
Repeated
The brown blanket raps around us
Creating pockets of heat
Skin upon skin
Hands clasped
We awaken
Slowly
Drifting fro... Continue reading ...
Posted by Ronda Levine on Wednesday, April 7, 2010,
In :
Poetry
Today's poem a day challenge was to write an "ekphrastic" poem from one of two artworks. An ekphrastic poem is one that uses a non-literary work of art (usually visual) to inspire a poetic response. Below is mine, based upon Goya's Flight of the Witches..
Levitation
They carry me, against my will
Lifting me towards the heavens
Dunce caps on their heads
Out of total blackness, a donkey
Does his dance
Following a beggar covering herself
In a white sheet
The horror leads some to bury
... Continue reading ...
Posted by Ronda Levine on Tuesday, April 6, 2010,
In :
Poetry
Today's Poetic Asides poem prompt asked participants to write a "TMI" poem. Since there's always that person at the grocery store announcing to everyone the details of his or her life, I thought I'd use that in a poem...Here's the draft. THE GIRL ON HER CELL PHONE IN THE GROCERY STORE LINE
“Omigod!” She shouted into the metal device, attached to her head
“Whatta jerk, dontcha just wish he were dead!”
“Well of course, you dummy, can’t you just see?
If a guy treated me like that... Continue reading ...
Posted by Ronda Levine on Tuesday, April 6, 2010,
In :
Poetry
Day four of the Poetic Asides PAD Challenge had us create a "history" poem - here's my draft!
History of Me
Derrida once said something about how he can only give facts
How he couldn’t explain "how", when asked about how
He met his wife
As we tour the world that is me
Colored by impressions,
I think of his quote, “As soon as there is language,
Generality has entered the scene”
I hold hands with my husband
In the place we met
History is a funny thing
Both fuzzy and changed ... Continue reading ...
Today's Poetic Asides PAD challenge was to write a poem that followed the pattern "Partly ____." Here's mine. PARTLY HERE One foot in the water
The other one has paused on the step
I wait for the flag
To signal the water’s safe
The lights inside the house flicker
The people inside constantly change
Alone I stand on the edge
The ripples of the water beg me to enter
My back is hot from the sun
If I stand too long, it might burn
I can’t look back
Just have to jump in
Before... Continue reading ...
Posted by Ronda Levine on Saturday, April 3, 2010,
In :
Poetry
Over at the
Poetic Asides blog, Robert Lee Brewer is running a poem a day
challenge for the month of April, national poetry month. The theme for
the second day was "water." Here's my poem for this challenge:
Water
Under the surface you exist
A thick substance separates you
From the world around you
Ripples reflect reverence,
Reality, rights
No one understands
The beauty that is you
Hydrogen, oxygen, combined
Together in a chemical bond
Without the two built together
The e... Continue reading ...
Posted by Ronda Levine on Saturday, April 3, 2010,
In :
Poetry
Over at the Poetic Asides blog, Robert Lee Brewer is running a poem a day challenge for the month of April, national poetry month. The theme for the first day was "loneliness." Here's my poem for this challenge:
At Sea
Stranded in a boat with no destination
Alone in my thoughts and in my hesitation
Life floats around me, people with gay smiles
I’m not quite sure where I’m going, won’t know for many miles
Lights are off in the eyes of the other
Fear sets in, but not the kind that... Continue reading ...
Posted by Ronda Levine on Wednesday, February 3, 2010,
In :
Poetry
This poem comes from a poetry prompt given by Robert Lee Brewer at Poetic Asides. The assignment was to write a poem backwards - either numbers, or days or backwards in time. Robert wrote a poem using the alphabet in reverse order. Here's the result of my tinkering with the exercise:
Sdrawkcab and Forwards
Life scribed for us in a mirror
Daeh pressed up against a wall
Daisies eid and life sdne
Feeling all crazy and pu-dexim
Walking forwards, sdrawkcab gniklaw
Crawling at complete standstill
Windows... Continue reading ...
Posted by Ronda Levine on Sunday, September 6, 2009,
In :
Poetry
I'm finally on track with these, here's day 5:
Quicksand
His supple lips
Stood out in a plethora of people
I watched in fascination
As he moved,
Careened around corners
Tripped himself in a line
Of quicksand
Sinking in, hands opened
Towards the becoming
They all stopped to stare
Crowds unabashedly gawking
At this man
Screaming in a moment
Of insanity
Listing reasons we should listen
But then stopping help
When others reached out
Silence cascades over this cityscape
The... Continue reading ...
Posted by Ronda Levine on Sunday, September 6, 2009,
In :
Poetry
Day 4's Poem:
Overcoming the Block
She touched her foot to the computer chassis,
Not knowing quite what to write this time
Life dripped away like wet paint
Keeping a beat to the steady passing of time
Her fingertips pounded over random keys
She looked back at past successes
Life kept twinkling in front of her
While she kept passing opportunity by
The calendar screamed at her
Pay attention to experience you won’t find
The day that you can repeat
After all, Groundhog’s D... Continue reading ...
Posted by Ronda Levine on Saturday, September 5, 2009,
In :
Poetry
Here is the third poem inspired by PoeWar's 30 Poems in 30 Days Challenge:
Little Box of Normal
I will never fit into your little box of normal I’m sorry for this
But the box really is too small
There’s no room for my creative energy For spontaneity or fun
The corners are really too sharp,
For they jab into reason and thought and questioning—
All activities I long to do
And when I ask the infamous gadfly question,
“Why?”
The lid of the box is closed entirely too tight It suffocates... Continue reading ...
Posted by Ronda Levine on Saturday, September 5, 2009,
In :
Poetry
Here is poem 2 from PoeWar's 30 Poems in 30 Days challenge: Why?
Why? I wonder, eyelids still glued shut,
Hanging on still to the last molecules of the
Dream that now lingers somewhere in the foggy distance
The warmth of my husband surrounding me I reach back for some vestige of dreamland
Grasp at it with a butterfly net
Hear the kittens pawing at the door Mewing to explore
Jackhammer sounds outside the window Screaming as it decimates cement “I’m the boss!”
People shout downstairs Peopl... Continue reading ...
Posted by Ronda Levine on Friday, September 4, 2009,
In :
Poetry
I decided to participate in the 30 Poems in 30 Days Challenge over at PoeWar. This is day one's submission, based upon using the word "patterns" in the first line of the poem. The other 3 (since we're on the 4th day of the month) will be up soon!
Love Patterns
The shadows on the wall make patterns
Our hands clasp and rise over shadow heads
The light glimmers through the blinds
It peaks from behind the blanket we hung
To keep out this early morning light
We lay together, silent, your he... Continue reading ...
Posted by Ronda Levine on Thursday, August 13, 2009,
In :
Poetry
Here is my poem I wrote inspired by the poetry prompt over at Poetic Asides. The theme was "Returning."
Coming Home
Brown corrugated cardboard makes a fortress in my living room
Painted porcelain packed perfectly wrapped in tissue and bubble wrap
Computer completely placed in its own over-sized box
Files upon files upon files of poems for you
For him
For life
For peace
And short stories
And philosophy papers
Stack silently in the confines of a small shipping parcel
The Beanie Bab... Continue reading ...
Posted by Ronda Levine on Thursday, August 6, 2009,
In :
Poetry
In addition to the [fiction] Friday prompts over at Write Anything, I've decided to participate in the Poetic Asides Blog's Wednesday Poetry Prompts. This week's prompt asked participants to write a poem about something I've been through. Here it is, in rough draft form:
“Graduate School Comps”
The light cracks in through the window The book is in my lap
The cat is on his pillow
Taking his nightly nap
A pencil is my hand
And the computer screen glows
I try to keep my eyes op... Continue reading ...
I've been on a poetry kick and thus, have been reading some great poetry. Through recommendation, I've been working my way through Philip Schultz's Failure, Natasha Trethewey's Native Guard, and Robert Hass's Time and Materials. Philip Schultz won the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for his poetry. He is an amazingly talented man. In this collection, my favorite poems so far are "It's Sunday Morning in Early November," "The Absent," and "The Truth." Natasha Trethewey (also a Pulitzer Prize winner for ... Continue reading ...
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