Tag Archives: Quillfyre

Day 8 Only the Dead are Unfraid

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Today, I chose to write about something that struck me, rather than the prompt from NaPoWriMo. Something said on a newscast:

Only the Dead are Unafraid

a man says on the screen. He’s speaking

amidst the ruins of his home, his city

somewhere in Ukraine.

I didn’t catch his name. Still, I see

the destruction around him. There must be

dead in a place so destroyed.

In another story, a new cemetery. No grave

without a recent marker. February, March, April.

All of them 2022. Numbers of the dead grow

and still, we know they are underestimating

how many graves they will need when the war ends.

This is a scenery I don’t understand.

A mentality that lacks humanity. How

does one human obliterate so many fellow humans,

and all in the name of returning Ukraine to Russia.

Only the dead are unfraid. Only the dead

and Vladimir Putin. The Gatherer of Russian Lands.

Even as he destroys his Ukrainian brothers and sisters.

Soon, there will be nothing of Ukraine to gather.

Only wasteland, and all those who are still

unafraid.

Carol A. Stephen

April 15, 2022

Day 7 A Stitch in Time Saves Nothing

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NaPoWriMo.net

…”Today, I’d like to challenge you to write a poem that argues against, or somehow questions, a proverb or saying. They say that “all cats are black at midnight,” but really? Surely some of them remain striped. And maybe there is an ill wind that blows some good. Perhaps that wind just has some mild dyspepsia.  Whatever phrase you pick, I hope you have fun complicating its simplicity. “

A Stitch in Time Saves Nothing

Well, no. I’ve stitched.
As soon as I saw the hole
that opened up along a seam. Crooked,
that stitch, so I ripped it out and stitched
again. And again. And again.

Still crooked. And now what time have I saved?
Not really visible, that small gap along the hem.
Lost in the patterned fabric, no-one saw but me.
In the time I spent putting four stitches in
and taking them out again, what else might I have done?

Read a book chapter. Made a grilled cheese sandwich.
Drank one required glass of water. Eaten an apple.
Watched an episode of My Cat from Hell. Played
with my own cat from Hell. No, wait—
she’s just from Purgatory.

Carol A. Stephen

April 7, 2022

Day Six Ezra’s Garden

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“Today, I’d like to challenge you to write a variation of an acrostic poem. But rather than spelling out a word with the first letters of each line, I’d like you to write a poem that reproduces a phrase with the first words of each line. Perhaps you could write a poem in which the first words of each line, read together, reproduce a treasured line of poetry? You could even try using a newspaper headline or something from a magazine article. Whatever you choose, I hope you enjoy this prompt.”

For today’s prompt, I chose the last line from Ezra Pound’s In a Station of the Metro

https://poets.org/poem/station-metro

Ezra’s Garden

Petals, the colour of rubies from the explorer rose, fall

on the grass along the back fence,

a carpet of red in a world of green. Last night’s rain

wet everything in the garden, turning the branches

black and glistening. Over the gate, a single

bough, heavy with blooms bows at the end of its performance.

Carol A. Stephen,

April 6, 2022

Day Five Paul Bunyan

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On April 5, 2022

Day 5 prompt from NaPoWriMo.net https://www.napowrimo.net

…”Today, I’d like to challenge you to write a poem about a mythical person or creature doing something unusual – or at least something that seems unusual in relation to that person/creature. For example, what does Hercules do when he loses a sock in the dryer? If a mermaid wants to pick up rock-climbing as a hobby, how does she do that? What happens when a mountain troll makes pancakes?”

Paul Bunyan

Every day, Paul walks the half mile

to the barn, greets Babe, the blue

ox who shares his mythic story.

The two stand tall, dwarf us

all. They say that he was seven feet 

in stocking toes, but who knows?

Was he from Quebec? Who the heck

knows, his first mention, Beaverton, Michigan,

though some proclaim his California fame.

And when did Babe, the Blue Ox appear?

Whatever the case, her fate, I fear, to stand forever

in Minnesota. I bet she doesn’t give one iota.

Ten thousand lakes they say he made,

and carved the Grand Canyon too.

And piled up stones to create Mount Hood.

Seems a mythical lumberjack thing to do.

He’s even mentioned by Stephen King

in the novel, It, he’s a regular thing.

Carol A. Stephen

April 5, 2022