Happy Thanksgiving weekend, everybody! I’m here with seven more rough drafts of poems written off of prompts from the Writer’s Digest poem-a-day challenge. This week’s were difficult, and I think some of them are my least favorite of the month so far. That being said, I have beaten my record from last year, when I only completed 17 or 18 poems. Here’s hoping I can finish strong with the last days of the month! I’m currently behind, as I haven’t written poems for the 22nd, 23rd, or 24th yet, but the ideas are swimming around in my head!

If you missed weeks one or two, you can click the links and read those as well. I hope you enjoy!

Day 15: Anti-___

“Anticipation”

My heart is a forest
of desires fulfilled,
tall pines planted
by unseen hands,
watered with sorrow
and joy. Acre after acre,
they should remind me
who I am, but my gaze wanders
from the forest
to the trees that are absent,
empty plots where nothing
grows. Too often
the bare ground of hope
deferred sickens my soul.
Help me believe my dreams
are waiting there,
seedlings under snow.

Day 16: Brave

The readiness is all,
so we venture out
into the rain,
armed with umbrellas.

Day 17: Broken

The deacons beckon,
and we line the aisle
single file
to taste the truth again.
The wafer is thin,
but it catches the wine
just fine–
enough sweet and sting
to prick the memory
and prompt the heart
to praise.

Day 18: Child’s Toy as the Title

“Kaleidoscope”

Do you remember what it was like
to hold a cardboard tube to the light
and peer through a pinhole
at the miracle of multiple reflection?

The plastic beads would shift
with every turn of your wrist,
a million momentary mosaics
in the palm of your hand.

Day 19: Use 3 of the following 6 words: con, rub, flush, oxymoron, pass, toxic

The con artist…

takes his own sweet time
as he robs you blind
and breaks your heart
in the bargain.
Every lie you let pass
deepens the first flush
of disillusion; you wonder
whether toxic love is better
than none at all.

Day 20: Love Poem

I love you the way a mouse moves
and cursive connects. I love you
in riddles and plain dealings
and heated conversations
about where we should eat. I love you
with the ferocity of a locked door
and a ring of mismatched keys,
with the suddenness of a piñata breaking.
I love you the way hawks fly
and the way trees fall–
completely.

Day 21: Protest Poem

Today’s poem
is not so much a poem
as a protest
against blank pages
everywhere.

Then again,
maybe it’s not so much
a protest
as a prayer
for all those fighting
to fill them.

Thanks for stopping by! I’m hoping to have some book-related posts in the coming days, so check back for that.

Keep Reading,

Sarah