Rena Traxel is challenging us in all sorts of ways with her A to Z Poetry Challenge. It has been really wonderful for my growth in poetry, as well as writing in general. It is Day 19 of the challenge and I keep wondering if I can pull another poem out of the hat. I promised myself when I began, that I would not allow myself to use any of my “old” stuff. I committed to writing something new for each day of the challenge. I am one of those “rule-to-the-tea” followers, so I have honored my commitment. I have come up with some poems I’m truly proud of, and I have eked out some poems that are a little embarrassing to post…but I post them anyway hoping my readers will get a laugh, at least. Today is a very ekey poem…but it made me laugh as I wrote it. I wrote it last night right on the tail end of my Day 18 poem. I thought, “Hey! I’m just going to do this thing and get it over with.” Our challenge had to do with S’s. A sonnet to be specific…and the word Shakespearean was mentioned too. So with Google as my friend, I revisited some Shakespeare and sonnetized.

I Love Me Some Sonnet (Giggle)

For me true dread lies in this night

As no words flow onto lines.

Forswear I  cannot see the light

As no budding thoughts shine.

O Penny-o, O Penny-o

Doth though not refuse to ponder

Or maybe eat a Cheerio

And seeth thy pen wander.

Deny thy blankness of mind

And add sweet ink to page.

No end, no limits will find

And thou wilt be a wise sage.

Thus me thinks me ramble too long.

Hence now I end this wayward song.

Oh my! It’s past my bedtime…but I wanted to get my Day 17 poem up! Rena Traxel is hosting our exciting A to Z Poetry Challenge Day, and today Q for Query. She encouraged us to think about submitting some of our poems. I think that scared me so bad that I avoided writing my challenge poem until now! Many thanks to Ishta Mercurio-Wentworth for the great information on querying that she shared today on Rena’s blog. Today we could write a poem of our choosing. So here is mine.

A Cow, A Moon, and A Suspicion

Hey! diddle, diddle, The cat and the fiddle,

The cow jumped over the moon;

I’m willing to bet that a record was set,

And she’ll be getting her trophy real soon.

She’s taken up discus and hurdle and sprints,

She long jumps and she triple jumps, too.

I know it sounds strange, but I’m telling you folks

There’s nothing ol’ Bess will not do.

I cannot explain where she got her mad skills,

Most bovine don’t even LIKE track.

But, I’ve come to suspect that Bess stayed in space

And “they” sent a lunar cow back!

Today is Day 16 of Rena Traxel’s A to Z Poetry Challenge. Our letter today is P for Prose. On her blog, HERE, she talks about prose poetry and writes an example. Even though I was challenged to write a prose poem…it’s really not my style. So I used the letter “P” to be a bit pigheaded and write a Penny-style poem! I wanted to add something to my poetry portfolio that would be pleasing to my persnickety, particular Penny-ness. I think that’s enough “P” references to get by with passing on prose. So without further postponement, here is my poem for Day 16.

Imagilicious Delicious

In my dream, I baked a cake so imagilicious

Every bite, every crumb—delightful and delicious!

Layers stacked so high. Oh my!

Luscious tower to the sky.

Layer one and layer two

Turned from purple into blue

Sugar sweetness spread between

Reaching up to cakey green.

Scrumptious icing, sticky fun

Touching bright, confection sun.

Up to orange and up to red

Sweet, treat vision in my head.

Every bite, every crumb—delightful and delicious

In my dream the cake I baked so imagilicious!

Day 15! Yahoo! Can’t believe it! 15 poems! Hooray! This challenge is great! Yippee! Today O is for Onomatopoeia!  Rena Traxel is giving us all kinds of great poetry tools over at her blog On The Way To Somewhere. The guest for this challenge is Kari-Lynn Winters. Kari-Lynn uses onomatopoeia in her book, On My Walk, which I want to read ASAP. Our challenge is to write a poem about the things we see and hear on our walk today. Well, it’s time for true confession. I really didn’t see these things in my poem on my walk! I was “walking” through some websites with onomatopoeia and the idea came to me. Then I “ran” over to Google images and found a couple to fit my poem! Ah! Come on…I exercised my brain.

Lesson Taught

Hmmm….purr.

Mousey fur.

Kitty creep.

Mousey weep.

Just a peek.

Eee-eek! Squeak.

Run hurry.

Speed-scurry.

Clickety-click.

Quickety-quick!

Hasten pace.

Dinner chase.

Flurried flash.

Sharpened slash.

Oopsy…….trap.

Kitty zap!

Howling yowl.

Feline scowl.

Mouse giggle.

Tummy jiggle.

Rodent plot.

Lesson taught.

The A to Z Poetry Challenge is over halfway finished. Wow! This month, I have written 14 poems counting today’s poem. I have to thank Rena Traxel once again for organizing this wonderful challenge. She inspires us each day as she challenges us to increase our poetic skills.  She has taken us from just a group of poets to a group of supportive friends. Thanks, Rena!!!

N is for Nature! Rena provided us with a really nice photo she took of a nest. It inspired me to write a little bird poem which is below the nest picture. But, then, as I thought about it, my mind took me to where I grew up…the most beautiful place in the world—the Crystal River Valley in western Colorado. Talk about nature! I thought of all the mountains I could write about…Mount Sopris, Elephant Mountain, Chair Mountain…you get the drift. I thought about the river, itself…and then I thought about something that happens in late May to early June. It’s awesome! So I found a picture (which includes the one and only Mount Sopris). The photo will be below my second poem, The King, so as to not spoil my surprise ending! I still go to The Crystal River Valley often because my parents are still there…and I could truly go wild about nature in that setting! Now for my bird poem inspired by Rena’s photo.

You Will Find Me

Grass, twig, straw — my nest in the tree—

my home…so you search for me.

 

Now in the springtime you will find me

carrying grasses to the tree.

Now in the summer you will find me

soaring high above the tree.

Now in the autumn you will find me

singing loudly from the tree.

Now in the winter you will find me

leaving tracks beneath the tree.

 

But when I stop—my nest in the tree—

my home—is where you’ll find me.

The King

I roar throughout the field, “I’m King!”

Up! Up! Up! I spring!

Across the field I cover ground.

“Beauty!” I am crowned.

In sun I spread my golden mane.

It is true! I reign!

This, the field, my royal Zion.

Me? The dandelion!

Oh and by the way…speaking of spring…we have ducks—Mr. and Mrs. Quackers. I made them their own blog right HERE.

This is Day 13 of Rena Traxel‘s A to Z Poetry Challenge. Today is M for Mother Goose. Our challenge is to create our own nursery rhyme or write a fractured nursery rhyme. I am using The Itsy Bitsy Spider for my nursery rhyme inspiration. Since The Itsy Bitsy Spider has such a catchy tune, I brought in this baby possum to sing my rewrite of this popular nursery rhyme. (Oh come on…use your imagination!)

An Itty Bitty Possum

An itty bitty possum is there in yonder tree.

She’s in her momma’s pocket with Sammy, Ed, and Bree.

And even though it’s crowded, she doesn’t seem to care

Cause her momma feeds her dinner and takes her everywhere.

I read my A to Z  Challenge on Rena Traxel‘s blog today. Then I got in the car for 4 hours! Eeeekkkk! That combination counts for a load of limericks. Well, not really that many…but I loved how “load of limericks” rolled off my tongue 🙂

River Shiver

There once was a fish in the river

Who dined on fresh earthworms and liver.

Then he took a good look,

And he noticed the hook

Which made his scales quiver and shiver!

 

TuTu Guru

There once was a cow in a muumuu 

Who said, “I would rather a tutu.”

And as proof, she arose

And spun ’round on her toes.

A real ballet-mooving, dance guru!

 

Upside Down

There once was a bird who said, “Soaring

Is really becoming quite boring.”

So she flipped upside down

And the sky became ground.

And now she is soaring, adoring.

 

Again, I want to thank Rena for her challenges. Today I especially want to thank her guest host Catherine Johnson who told us all about limericks. Catherine’s fun-loving personality is evident at her blog which is a delight to follow and read! Check it out HERE. 

 

Just for fun…here are some limericks I wrote earlier this year.

 

Bi-Lingo

There once was a bright, pink flamingo
Who married a wild, raunchy dingo.
Conversation was blurred
Cause he couldn’t speak bird
And she didn’t speak dingo lingo.

 

Along came a little flam-dingo

And they named the cute kiddo Ringo.

When he spoke his first word

It was dog mixed with bird.

It turns out that he was bi-lingo.

 

The Trade

There was an ole pirate named Sid
Who met a sailing arachnid.
He traded his peg
For one spider leg,

And tangoed his way through Madrid.

 

Cuckoo

There once was a clock-making guru

Who boarded the Number Nine Choo Choo.

He mummered, “Oh dears!”

Cause the train’s engineer’s

Hands twirled as he hollered out,  “Cuckoo!”

 

Limerick Insomnia

At night I have limerick insomnia
In spite of my flannel pajamas.
My head is immersed
With the next rhyming verse.
Oh my! All this poetic drama.