April~Poem-a-Day~~Day 30~Calling it a day

For today’s prompt, write a “calling it a day” poem. Some people might call this “Miller time,” others may refer to it as “closing time.” Just remember: Don’t call it a day until you put it in a poem.

“CALLING IT A DAY”

By John Yeo

Our poetical musing is over and done, and we finish by calling it a day.

April dawned with the challenge,

We met to ponder and think.

April showers brought showers of words

Poetical showery verbose days,

Followed by more time to ponder

On things that matter to poets.

The war is over, the battle is done,

Thirty pieces of art composed.

A month of prompts have been tackled

With our poetry to build and complete

The month of April is over.

Now is the time to call it a day.

Copyright ©  Written by John Yeo.

All rights reserved.

April~Poem-a-Day~Day 29~Magical Realism Poem

The final Two-for-Tuesday prompt for this month is:

• Write a realism poem. A poem that is rooted in the real world. Or…
• Write a magical poem. A poem that incorporates magical or fantastical elements.

Or write like Gabriel Garcia Marquez and do both!

The  Rude Awakening

By John Yeo

I drifted freely in a magical sky

With my wings outstretched I began to fly,

From cloud to cloud through the intense blue

I drifted and danced my way to you.

I passed a magical fish flying by

Swimming in the Cerulean Sapphire sky.

A voice broke into my high journey

From across the shores of the skyful sea.

Half aware and still flying free

I wondered who could be calling to me.

I was rudely brought back to reality.

When I awoke from my magical reverie.

Get out of bed! It is getting late!

Breakfast is ready and it will not wait.

I crawled out to face another cold day

On my bike in the rain, and on my way,

Soaked to the skin, in the heartless city,

From a magical dream I faced harsh reality.

Copyright © Written by John Yeo

All rights reserved.

.

April poem-a-Day~Day~Falling in and out of love

FALLING IN AND OUT OF LOVE
By John Yeo

LOVE

At thirteen years old I was very grown up,
My voice was a sweet boyish treble,
I sang in tune at school with the choir.
My dreamy mind wandered in the musical air
As I fell deeply in love with the leader
Miss Lawson the choir mistress
Kind words of support, blue eyes and long hair.
MY HEART FILLED WITH LOVE AND MELODIOUS JOY.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

ANTI-LOVE


How to attract the attention of Miss Lawson
Get my message of love to her heart?
I forced my voice to break and sound deeper 
A double bass statement to win her attention.
To attract her, I sounded very grown up.
Miss Lawson looked startled but still unaware
Of my feelings and undying love.
Then I blushed bright red and I told her.
DON’T BE SILLY YOU STUPID BOY!

It’s so easy to fall in and out of love!

Copyright © Written by John Yeo,
All rights reserved.

April POEM-A-DAY~ Day Seven

For today’s prompt, write a self-portrait poem. Pretty straightforward, right? That doesn’t mean there’s not a lot of room for creativity. Just look at artists and their self-portraits; there’s a lot of differences in the self-portraits of Kahlo, Schiele, Dali, Van Gogh, and others–and not just because the artists look different themselves.

SELF-PORTRAIT~A Masterpiece of individuality.

By John Yeo

~~~~

My ever-changing, developing, subtle self,

How do I begin to present you my very familiar friend?

You seem to change from day to day

With every act of improvisation.

I would not recognise my self of many years ago

Some things they say,  improve with age.

~~~~

Would I choose the medium to match the man?

Oil paint for a perfect finish, I am an unfinished product.

Water colours would be merging and blurring reality,

Perhaps I could use marble, a self-portrait as a bust,

Reflecting a very hard unchanging exterior.

The man I see in the mirror will one day be dust.

~~~~

The modern day self-portrait is a “selfie”

A photograph snapped when alone.

A very unrealistic image they say,

It is certainly myself, taken by myself

A genuine photographic self-portrait

Without bias and make believe.

~~~

A self portrait by the artist of words

Is an impossible task to achieve.

How do you construct a self portrait?

The temptation would always be

To compose a flattering CV.

To describe and present a self-portrait

Of how one would like one to be.

~~~

Copyright © Written by John Yeo

All rights reserved

April POEM-A-DAY~Day SIX

For today’s prompt, write a night poem. Vampires and werewolves? Cool. Clubbing and saloons? You got it. Lovers together alone? Right. Ex-lovers alone on their own? Sure thing. You figure out your night poem–and, yes, (k)night poems are fine too.

SILENCE IN THE CITY

By John Yeo

The silence was as deafening as always

The city was closed for the night

Towering office blocks and shadowy shops

The commuters had left, leaving silence.

~~~

The shops and offices eerily empty

Except for the watchmen and cleaners.

Artificial electric daylight had left

Darkness in shaded corners.

~~~

The ever vigilant cameras out of sight 

Watching the people of the night

Vehicles move through the silent city

Delivery men driving through fast.

~~~ 

Kerb crawlers looking for quick relief

from the loneliness of everyday life.

A young person with a dog in a doorway

Stretched out on cardboard to sleep.

~~~

An urban fox lopes by looking for food

The nocturnal wild life have needs

A siren blares, an ambulance speeds,

 flashing a blazing blue light.

~~~

Police patrol cars nose through the streets

Ever watchful for trouble or strife.

The night watch are very responsible folk

Living with and accepting the street life.

~~~

Dawn breaks with a slow emergence

Workers slowly return to the city

The business day in the metropolis

Begins, without care or time for pity.

~~~

Copyright (c) Written by John Yeo

All rights reserved

 

April POEM-A-DAY~Day FIVE

For today’s prompt, write a discovery poem. The narrator could discover an object, a person, an animal, a dishonorable deed, or any number of things. Poets can focus on the discovery, examine the aftermath, or even just mention it in passing.

DISCOVERY OF THE FAMILY TREE

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Live your life with wit and courage

Nothing is sacred in this open age

Your provenance is on display

Your ancestors will follow age-old clues

To find their past to aid discovery 

Of their ancestors on their family tree.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My ancestors were a motley crew

The more I looked my curiosity grew

Like a bird of prey, I swooped 

Through much conjecture and supposition

I pulled back the curtains of the murky lives

My long forgotten family past soon revives.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Following the trails and the slender threads

Of my various ancestors, very widespread.

The list is endless of stalwart citizens

Yeoman farmers, and the very well bred

Soldiers, a thief, seeking fame and fortune 

A Priest a nun and  women of easy virtue.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I pulled back the curtains, 

Closing the windows of time. 

My personal curiosity satisfied,  

I made up my mind

The seeds of me are unique. 

 Recovery of the distant past remains

A mystery beyond true discovery. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Copyright © Written by John Yeo.

All rights reserved

April POEM-A_DAY~Day Four

For today’s prompt, take the phrase “Since (blank),” replace the blank with a word or phrase, make the new phrase the title of your poem, and then, write your poem. Possible titles include: “Since the Last Time I Smoked,” “Since You Said Please,” and “Since When.”

SINCE AWAKING
By John Yeo

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Since~~Awaking,
Drowsily, dreamily deliberating,
What happened?

I remember the light exploded,
I saw stars of bright shining light.
My journey was vivid and real
Colours were shining and dazzling through
A kaleidoscope of ever changing hue.

A peaceful influence intervened,
A power of cloudy splendour
Directly cradled my mind
In an intellectual bubble of calm,
With comfort and reassurance.

On awaking,
Reality provided an explanation,
The roof caved in and I suffered concussion.

Since awaking
I cannot relate to my previous life
And this world of contradiction,
I have tried to find my way back
To that other ethereal dimension.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Written by John Yeo © Copyright.
All rights reserved~

APRIL POEM-A–DAY~Day Three~

For today’s prompt, write a message poem. Messages can be delivered in a variety of ways: postcard, e-mail, text message, letter in a bottle, smoke signals, secret codes, jumbotron proposals, etc. Also, messages themselves can be simple, complicated, nice, mean, happy, sad, and so on. Get at it!

CANARY ISLAND WHISTLING MESSAGES

Written by John Yeo

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Gomera Island’s cliffs and valleys are sheer,

Rock-faces that separate the neighbours.

In days of yore

Many years before

Electronic communication

~~~~~~~~~

A whistling language developed,

From valley to valley you would hear

When danger threatened

Or help was required

Whistling messages sounding clear.

~~~~~~~~~~~

A language of instant communication 

Was employed from valley to valley.

Hello! I am here.

The personal whistle 

Was heard and understood.

~~~~~~~~

Copyright © written by John Yeo,

All rights reserved.

April~POEM-A-DAY~Day Two

For today’s prompt, write a voyage poem. In my case, we’ll be driving along the Gulf of Mexico, but a voyage can happen in a variety of ways–even on foot, or psychologically. Heck, the process of writing a poem is a sort of voyage all its own. Happy poeming!

The Healing Voyage 
By John Yeo

~~~~~~~~

A very sad loss, 
With a thick mist over my consciousness,
I had suffered a traumatic life event,
Shattering a union of many years
A loss that was to my detriment
Lingering.

A loss that would not go away
A black cloud covered the firmament
Clarity with understanding, missing.
The familiar surroundings added sadness.
Some good advice like a ray of light
Illuminating.

Get away from here to lift the fog
Take a trip to anywhere, pastures new,
See the world, whatever you do,
Switch off your moping and try.
Somewhere there is a wide clear sky,
Ruminating.

People will help you to understand
Many are in the same boat.
Travelling rough seas alone.
I boarded a ship with little expectation
Of any solution to my sad situation.
Meditating.

The voyage began over calm seas
With friendly faces and comfort.
Waves billowing a calm sea breeze,
A friendship forged at cards,
I began to feel at ease,
Communicating.

At the voyage end
I had made a very firm friend,
Who is still by my side, comforting.
I have lost the fog, cleared the mist,
My life is now completely,
Exhilarating.

Copyright © Written by John Yeo~All rights reserved

APRIL POEM-A-DAY~DAY One

Robert Brewers~April~Poem-A-Day~Poetry prompts

As luck would have it, today is a Tuesday, which means we’re facing a “Two-for-Tuesday” prompt. For folks new to the challenge, you can choose one prompt, write to both, or try to mix them together in one poem. Here are the prompts:

1. Write a beginning poem. Today is the beginning of this challenge. It’s also the beginning of April. But there are so many other beginnings: Beginning of a relationship, beginning of school, beginning of the rest of your life, and so on. Pick a beginning to write about.
2. Write an ending poem. Often, though not always, beginnings come as the result of an ending. Sometimes endings are cause for disappointment, heartbreak, or numbness. Other times, endings are celebrated. Capture an ending today.

Beginning Poem

by John Yeo

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

What will the future hold for you?

So small, so petite so, vulnerable,

We waited for your arrival with bated breath

With highs and lows and loving care

We counted the minutes in silent prayer.

~~~~~~~~~~~

A tiny heart beats in your tiny body

Our blood flows through your veins

You will grow up in a world ever changing

The future is yours as you grow stronger

We will always be with you as long as we can

 Our life with you is our new beginning.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Copyright © Written by John Yeo~All rights reserved