Day 4 #Napowrimo - Dream Sequence

I was able to work on this poem during my Shut Up & Write meetup that is every Saturday morning. Shut Up & Write has been a great motivator to write for a solid hour. I glues me to my chair!

I wrote the following poem for #napowrimo for the day 4 prompt posted on the linked site. Have a great weekend and don't binge watch too much Netflix! Stay safe, healthy and sane. 

Dream Sequence 

This moment is cultural as I bend to take a sip 

from the alloy pool, the puddle formed of closures. 

Door knobs melted down, brass locks, silver keys, 

the sounds of deadbolts deadening. A foot, 

a finger caught between door and threshold, 

the pinch and bruise; my body parts wedged 

to keep the world open. I take the click 

of my car unlocking, its lights flashing, a warning. 

I melt that down until brass, silver, and steel 

burn bright and mercurial. Every automatic door 

that no longer opens and the empty parking lots, 

the shorter store hours, the street lights flickering. 

Closed gates in all of their wrought iron glory.  

I sip from the alloy pool, the playgrounds 

and monkey bars, wrapped in yellow police tape 

as if every park in the country held a crime, 

a murder, a mystery. I melt them down, too. 

All the tin roofs and mail boxes and pennies 

I find discarded on the sidewalks. All the handshakes 

not given or taken, my keys jingling a cue  

to hurry through the grocery stores, get what is  

needed. Don’t speak, don’t open the mouth, 

form fists, not in rage, but to stop 

the touch, touch, touch. I melt that down too  

and sip from the alloy pool. 

Day 3 #Napowrimo - Incubation

Here's my day 3 response for #napowrimo & National Poetry Month.

Incubation

My joints and bone marrow

lined with blood and freeze;

my spirit can find echoes

in my deep, point an arrow

to the start of disease;

tongue thick and swollen,

lungs rattled with panic.

I welcome this dark golem

red with heat and ash.

I burn bright with fever,

my body a nest for this virus

to hatch.

#Napowrimo & #the100dayproject 2020

Hello all,

I'm back from 9 months of life! And it's my favorite time of year. In honor of poetry month, I will be writing a poem every day based off of the prompts provided at NaPoWriMo. Poetry month has become a yearly tradition from the very first time I began in 2015. And it's not just me. Every April millions of people participate in poetry centric events across the US and the world to celebrate poetry. It's an exciting time, but this year is going to be strange and different. The Coronavirus pandemic has cancelled all poetry groups, events, readings, and workshops. Meeting face to face with poets is a vital part of being a writer. We cannot live a siloed life. In order to improve and be better writers, we must learn from our peers, workshop, and commiserate.

Regardless, our latest technologies have afforded us the ability to host virtual groups and events. My fellow poet K. Szpekman and I have been workshopping our poems from afar and I've been participating in virtual Shut Up & Write Ins when ever I have time. All of this is essential to feel connected and to not feel like I'm living in a bubble. This year's poetry month is going to matter a lot more to the poetry community than other years. Not only do we have nothing else to do but to write, but we also must write to move beyond the fear and panic that has become our new norm. We must write as witness to our changing and turbulent world.

Our words matter and this April we will come together in a collaborative effort to witness.

Please join me starting April 1st and write or read a poem a day. I'll be posting my daily poem on this blog and linking it to the NaPoWriMo site.

I look forward to our poetry. Stay safe and healthy.

With love,

Brittany Mishra