Posting 2 in 1 today. Although I have not been posting everyday I have actually been writing everyday. Some of what I have written has just been odd lines or stanzas, but here are 2 completed poems.
The first prompt I used was to right about an explosion of joy. As I was short of time, and because I love them, I wrote a haiku.
So incredible An explosion of pure joy He said "I love you"
The second prompt I used was to write a poem either about a birthday or to someone on their birthday. This prompt happened to fall on the day my son turned 16, so of course I wrote a poem to him.
You are no longer a babe Standing tall above me As we celebrate this day of your birth A day where once there were balloons Where parcels were passed, statues danced, and lions slept But time has passed and You have outgrown these things Now as you stand next to me You stand in a place ‘twixt man and boy Know that I will always be Stood here beside you As you find your feet in a fast changing world And take your place in the unfolding tale
For today let’s just celebrate The wonder that is you
Today I am meeting my son for coffee for the first time. I mean, we’ve been out to coffee shops and the like before as a family, but today I am sitting in one of a national chain of coffee shops waiting for him to make his own way here from school. (Tram and a short walk). My son is 13. He is much like many 13 year old boys I imagine i.e. has to be surgically removed from his phone and thinks playing on the X-box is a daily right. Lately it seemed to me that we weren’t really talking too much. Except at bedtime. Bedtime is when he tells me a bit about his day, when he asks me questions about when I was his age, and when he sometimes asks some very deep philosophical questions. The problem is I am always conscious that it is bedtime, that this is the time he should be going to sleep, so I often find myself cutting the conversation short, because I know if I don’t watch out I will be chatting with him into the wee small hours. He is also master of the Bedtime question; “Mu-um,” he asked once, just as I was turning to leave the room “What’s the Patriachy?” How could I just say goodnight and walk away? So I asked him if he would meet me for coffee after school, in the understanding that neither of us would get out our phones. Instead I am looking forward to an engaging conversation with my favourite teenager. An intelligent, funny, all round amazing wee man, that I am hugely proud of, and love overwhelmingly.
I wrote this for him just as he was starting high school
Time will march on Though I wish that it would not. However I implore them to cease The hours do not heed me. I could as likely turn the tide As stop the hands of time. But still I would cling to what is Ignoring the promise of what is to come. How long can I deceive myself? If I do not let go all will be prised painfully From my unyielding grasp.
Change is uncomfortable; The familiar is dependable. So please forgive me if I cling a little too tight For a little too long. I am learning; Learning how to love with equal strength yet looser grip. It feels unnatural And at first I am uncertain. Yet as time will march on I must allow you the space To try your wings.
Just know this - I will always catch you when you fall, And all too soon you will learn to soar While I gaze pride-fully heavenward. For now, be patient with me And just know how very loved you are
Life, as I understand it 