Everyday Poetry

Day 23: " today’s (optional) prompt takes its inspiration from Kiki Petrosino’s loose villanelle, “ Nursery. ” Try your hand today at your own take on a  villanelle , and have the poem end on a question." Now,  I  rather like a villanelle,  but it is very tricky.   For those of you who are asking yourself WHAT??? the villanelle is a French verse form consisting of five three-line stanzas and a final quatrain, with the first and third lines of the first stanza repeating alternately in the following stanzas. These two refrain lines form the final couplet in the quatrain. In addition, there is a regular rhyme scheme of aba.  First things first The clothes rotate in the washing machine,  There's dirt on the floor, dishes in the sink, I know everything needs to get clean.  It's in the worst state it ever has been Creeping up slowly, it's now at the brink,  So clothes rotate in the washing machine. I'm preoccupied, have turned my back on rout...

Day 22: " write your own poem in which the speaker is in dialogue with him or herself.  Jaswinder Bolina’s poem “ Mood Ring ” imagines the speaker as both himself and an interior being (who happens to take the form of a small donkey). It’s quite silly . . . and not silly at the same time. A sort of “serious fun.” " I don't have a donkey inside me - small or otherwise - but I've written a few times of having an inner dialogue between conflicting sides of myself. Perhaps it might help to think of having something separate trying to help me break out of my set ways? Wise Monkey Monkey waited for his chance Impatient for some fun.  You're really boring nowadays,  Old age has near begun.  Life used to be quite crazy You'd be flitting here and there,  But now you seem forever Rooted in that chair.  Get up, get out, just shake yourself, You've lost the zest of youth.  Offended, I protested,  But saw he spoke some truth.  Get going or you'll lose the...

Day 21: " In her poem, “ Names and Nicknames ,” Monika Kumar reminisces over various nicknames she has been given, the actual name her mother gave her, and the way both names and nicknames indicate a claim and an intimacy at once. In your poem for today, we challenge you to write your own poem in which you muse on your name and nicknames you’ve been given." Strangely I had a conversation about nicknames 2 days ago with my granddaughter. She was telling me about the nicknames her friends have been given,  but she doesn't have one.  Just like her I never had a nickname as a child, and it was always rather a disappointment.  Secret names Our given names come from our parents,  But the name most treasured comes from friends,  Our secret name, our special name,  Shared only by those in the know.  At school, we pondered long and hard,  Tried out suggestions for size,  Rolled them around our mouths until they fit,  Or didn't.   Throug...

Day 20: " try writing your own poem that uses an animal that shows up in myths and legends as a metaphor for some aspect of a contemporary person’s life. Include one spoken phrase." This poem is for anyone who has transformed a tired way of life as a result of a determined decision.  But for one person in particular.   Phoenix She rises, dusts off the ashes of her last incarnation, Surprised by her unfamiliar framed reflection,  Stretches wings s hining with the golden glow  Of new feathers hesistantly tried on for size. The dull weight of old aches transformed Into newfound crackling energy, Possibility draws her forward, Her old self left far behind.  You always were a drama queen.  © Copyright 2026. Chris Auger. All Rights Reserved

Day 19: " In her poem, “ Florilegium ,” Canadian poet Sylvia Legris gathers together many five-lined stanzas that describe flowers but also play with the sounds of their names, their medical (or poisonous) qualities, and historical aspects of herbalism. Today, pick a flower or two (or a whole bouquet, if you like) from this online edition of Kate Greenaway’s  Language of Flowers . Now, write your own poem in which you muse on your selections’ names and meanings." I've picked my favourite (the daffodil),  my daughter's (the rose), and my  mum's (the freesia).  Like us, they wouldn't make a coherent bouquet, but singly they are all rather special. Legris doesn't name the flowers in her verses and I've followed suit, hoping their identity is obvious from the description.  As an additional clue each verse begins with the first two letters of each flower.  Dancing in the breeze, faces demurely lowered, Pure unadulterated joy in a swathe of sunlit gold,  A s...

Day 18: "Take inspiration from  dramatic narrative poems such as  Alfred Noyes’s “ The Highwayman .” The action is dramatic, there’s lots of emotions, and the imagery is striking.  We invite you to try your hand at writing something that could be a section or piece of such a poem. " This is way out of my comfort zone! Dramatic narrative poems have a whole structure of their own. The Highwayman has 15 syllable lines and a rhyme scheme of aabccb. Well, you gotta love a challenge, and whilst there's no pirates, bank robbers or mermaids, there's plenty of emotion and drama. The girl she is a hurricane, a force both fierce and wild, You'd think she was a changeling, not the common human child, She'll be completely charming for an hour, become enraged the next, You'd never think it possible,                                                       ...