Today, I received the first chapbook submission for the November PAD Chapbook Challenge. So, the contest has now officially begun, I guess. The first shot has been fired.

I imagine there will be more submissions around the holidays, and then a mad sprint between January 1 and January 5.

If you need a reminder on the rules, here they are: http://blog.writersdigest.com/poeticasides/November+PAD+Chapbook+Challenge+Next+Steps.aspx.

I'm so excited about Day 30 of our November PAD Chapbook Challenge that I'm going to go ahead and post now, instead of waiting until later this morning. It's November 30th in the ATL, so here we go.

For today's prompt, I want you to write a resolution (or lack of resolution) poem. This is the poem that puts THE END on your collection. Maybe you can wrap it up with a pretty bow, or maybe it's open-ended. But today is definitely Day 30 of the challenge--and your last poem of November. Great job!

Here's my attempt for the day:

"Missing"

His body is always missing,
whether we burn him in a house
or throw him under a train;

when we check for his remains,
all that remains is a mystery--
no blood, no head, nothing

but a vacuum sucking
the edges of our rib cages,
leaving behind nothing

but fear.

Wow! I can't believe tomorrow is actually the last day of this challenge. Isn't that crazy?!? I haven't even really been keeping too close of an eye on the poems I've been crafting each day, so I'll be really interested in seeing what I have during December.

For today's prompt, I want you to write an outsider poem. That is, write a poem from the perspective of someone or something outside of your theme looking in. For instance, if you're writing a bunch of punk rock poems, have a country western fan look in on punk rock. If you're writing a series of vegan poems, have a big game hunter interact with veganism. You get the idea, right?

Here's my attempt for the day:

"Parents"

We always seem to be gone for the weekend
when these things happen. A man in a mask
with a sharp knife or a meathook terrorizing
the quiet town where nothing ever happens
until we leave. On our cruise, we shuffle along
the shuffleboard; we buy souvenirs when we
make port. Our lives are so perfect that coming
back sometimes leaves our minds, but we always
do, and that's when we learn what happens
when we leave: The world quickly falls apart.
Five dead, one traumatized--killer still at large.

Okay, with 3 days left, it's time to write a top-of-the-world or celebration poem. Even if your overall collection is a downer, try to find something related to your theme to celebrate. After all, you have 2 more days to get back to your overall mood.

Here's my attempt for the day:

"He's dead"

The monster is dead,
we chopped off his head;

the vampire is gone,
sun burned him at dawn;

the mummy's kaput,
unwrapped head to foot;

the werewolf done died,
and nobody cried.

We're almost there. Time to crack our knuckles, roll up our sleeves, loosen our ties and get to work. What am I talking about? Today (at least in the U.S.) is Thanksgiving, which means it's time to watch parades, graze the veggie trays, loosen our belts, and fall asleep--after writing your poem for today, of course. Oh yeah, it's on.

For today's prompt, I want you to write a poem that could be the climax of your collection. This is the take-no-prisoners poem you've been working toward all month. You get to decide how you're going to approach this poem, but keep it focused on your theme--and make it climactic.

Imagine that if people read the poem you're about to write that their faces would melt off from the brilliance of it--and that they'll all get together (at least the ones who are still alive) and sing praises to your poetic brilliance. No pressure.

Here's my attempt for the day:

"Witching Hour"

She hears him breathing,
but she can't see anything--
just darkness. Her skin shivers
beneath the autumn breeze,
no moon. She hears him
breathing and moving around
as if he knows where he's headed,
and maybe he does she thinks.

She grips the knife in her hand
tighter, thinks about how she
will do it, how she will stab him,
which direction she'll run to get
away. She hears him breahing
and moving closer; she feels
as if she reached out that
she could touch or cut him.

She hears him breathing before
she hears him leaving.

Okay, after today's poem, there are only four days left for the November challenge. We're sooooo close. And, yes, for those of us living in the States, there's that little turkey-themed holiday tomorrow and the biggest shopping-sale day of the year follows directly on its heels. I guess that's why this is called a challenge, huh? My recommendation for tomorrow: Write the poem first, then dig into the turkey (and take that Thanksgiving Day nap).

For today's poem, I want you to write a call-to-action piece that is related to your theme. Your call-to-action can be stated directly in the poem, or a more powerful way to attack this poem is to do it indirectly. Think of how The Jungle led to the establishment of the FDA and Bambi led to an interest in animal rights.

Here's my attempt for the day:

"Mommy, Daddy"

I heard a shuffling sound in the closet
things getting knocked around
and I can't get to sleep
unless you check it out
or let me sleep with you
and don't you tell me that it has to do
with all them monster movies
you let me watch
because them monster movies are not
about things hiding in an 8-year-old's closet
are they?

I've noticed that a person or two has asked what I've got planned for after November. And here's what I'm thinking: After November is over, y'all can have December to revise and organize and select poems for your chapbooks. If needed, you can even add a new poem to fill a hole or two. Then, I want you to submit your 10-20 page manuscript (only one poem per page) by January 5, 2009. Tammy and I will go through the entries and choose the first official November PAD Chapbook Challenge champion! I'm not sure what being the champion will mean, yet, besides bragging rights, but I bet I'll come up with something between now and then (the winner will be announced on February 2--Groundhog Day).

Stay tuned for more specific submission details in the beginning of December.

So, anyway, that's the post-November plans for this challenge. On to today's prompt.

*****

Today, I want you to write a something-overlooked poem. Think about something that is often overlooked--as it relates to your theme--and then shine some light on it.

Here's my attempt for the day:

"Nessie"

Maybe because I'm from Scotland
and hang in Loch Ness. Maybe because
I don't breathe fire as I smash up Tokyo
or beat my chest on top of the Empire
State Building in Manhattan. Maybe
because I'm camera shy, sure. But then,
Bigfoot is, too. Of course, he's got more
fur--so he's cuter and cuddlier, of course.
Anyway, I'm not complaining, but maybe,
just maybe, I've been playing hard to get.

So today is when we try to complete an experiment in poetry collection writing. On Day 3, I asked you to write a refrain poem that would be a shorter version of the poem you would write on Day 20. Well, it's Day 20, so let's see if this works.

Of course, it has occured during this month that it would probably make more sense to write the longer poem first and then cut the refrain out of that, instead of building upon the refrain to make the longer one. Yeah, that's what would make more sense, but I guess that's why we experiment, right?

Anyway, here's a link to Day 3, so that you can easily find your effort from that day and see how I went about doing this. Feel free to take it in a completely different direction than I have.

http://blog.writersdigest.com/poeticasides/November+PAD+Chapbook+Challenge+Day+3.aspx

Okay, here's my attempt for the day:

"I am the man standing outside your house"

who knows that you leave the door unlocked
every night with your curtains open to the naked night
hidden from the reflections of the lights. How you've grown
accustomed to having your power turned on at all times! I am the man
standing outside your house who knows you only have a landline, who knows
you always investigate the noises that come from the blackness, a slight
quiver in your voice asking, "Hello?" I am the man standing outside
your house who knows how to shut your power off, cut your line,
and turn the unlocked knob on your front door. I will not answer
when you call out, when you say, "This isn't funny." I know
that this is not. Still, I will come for you,
and when you scream out, no one
will come to your rescue,
because I am the man standing
outside your house who knows the others
will only hide. This is between me and you, and you
have no idea how long I've been standing outside your house,
how long I've been looking inside.

So after today's poem, we'll be three-fifths of the way through this November challenge. That's pretty impressive. And, as has been noted by several of you, it's not just the quantity of writing that's been amazing about November; it's also the quality. Oh yeah!

For today's prompt, I want you to write a point-of-view poem. Write from the perspective from someone or something obvious (or not so obvious) related to your theme. If you're writing a series of accounting poems, then today is the day you can write a poem from the perspective of your spreadsheet. If you're writing a bunch of baker poems, time to share the voice of your dough (or even your apron). If you're writing a series of poems from the perspective of an accountant for a bakery, then, well, I guess you have some options.

Here's my attempt for the day:

"Silver Bullet"

I'm the only sure way to kill a werewolf,
the only way to make sure a werewolf stays dead.

If you blow them up,
their body pieces will find a way back to each other.

Regular bullets just slow them down,
and wooden stakes only kill vampires.

Cages can confine,
but only I kill.

After all, guns don't kill werewolves,
I do.

Wow! Are we really 17 days into this challenge? It just doesn't seem possible that time would be moving so fast, but I guess it's been so much fun that the time has been flying. Again, wow.

Today's prompt is to write a love poem. This may or may not gel with some poets' themes, though I'm sure if you bend the rules enough, anything is possible. Your poem can be pro-love, anti-love, confused-love, love-it-or-leave-it, etc. Your poem, your rules.

(Btw, I think it's so appropriate that today just happens to be the love poem prompt, because I totally love my awesome wife, who posted my prompts for me the past two days while I was without Internet access, not to mention setting my fantasy football lineup as well. So, Tammy, you da bomb!)

Here's my monster-themed attempt for the day:

"M.M. loves L.S."

She stops by my house,
so I follow her to school,
watch her walk around town,
but when we're alone,
I freeze up,
can't talk,
only stare,
which usually freaks her out,
of course,
and then,
at night,
I get so confused,
so,
of course,
I kill her friends,
to help set the mood,
but she's not into that,
apparently,
and she stabs me in the face,
so I play dead,
then,
I come back,
get shot out of a window,
and disappear,
hope for a sequel.

Every once in a while, I like to offer these title prompts where you fill in the blanks on a title. For instance, I want you to write a poem today with a title that is: “If It (blank), It (blank)”

So an example title might be: “If It (Hangs From the Ceiling), It (Smells Like Flowers)”

And to give you some flexibility, I’ll even let you replace the “It” words with a specific noun. So, to take my earlier example, the title could be: “If a Basket Hangs From the Ceiling, It Smells Like Flowers”

Here’s my attempt for the day:

“If the door goes unlocked, it could easily open”

she forgets to lock the front door
frequently
but doesn’t stress the details

not like anyone is waiting outside
wanting to get in

right

she forgets to lock the back door
the bathroom door
closes her eyes when she rinses her hair
so that she doesn’t know
when someone is there

Did you sleep well last night? That’s too bad, because I want you to write a nightmare poem today. You could write an actual nightmare, or present a nightmare scenario related to your theme.

Here’s my attempt for the day:

“The closet”

He wakes up screaming, “Mommy, mommy!
They’re coming for me again. The aliens
were scratching at my closet door. I could
hear them. I could hear them scratching.”

Good morning! I'm hitting the road this morning, so the prompt is super early.

For today's prompt, I want you to write a warning poem. Offer some kind of caution or warning related to your theme. Like, maybe, watch out for bad traffic. (Did I mention my trip starts off with driving through Atlanta? O, geez!)

Here is my attempt for the day:

"Monster Alert System"

Warning! There is a giant gorilla
beating its chest and terrorizing
the southside of Manhattan.

Please use extreme caution when
in the vicinity of this giant beast.

Do not stand in its path or try
to distract its attention. It is
believed the monster will just
seek out the blond who traveled
over with the beast, and that
once she is found, the gorilla
will head for a skyscraper, where
we will have people in airplanes
shoot him down. In the process,
the blond will fall for her captor.

Wow! As many of you have noted, I've been super pleased with the quality of the poems written so far. Y'all're swinging for the fences with your efforts this month. Very, very cool!

For today's prompt, I want you to write a "By the Numbers" poem. That is, I want you to write a poem that somehow incorporates numbers. Sure, this might've made more sense on 11/11 when a few of us got talking about math and numbers and such--but, hey, who says poetry has to make sense? (Or numbers for that matter?)

Make numbers a large part of the poem or small part, but make sure they get factored in somehow. With this group, I'm sure some really cool stuff will emerge.

Here's my attempt for the day:

"Japan"

There are four oceans,
seven continents,
and hundreds of islands on this planet,
but I always return to you with my atomic breath,
my swinging tail lined with plates.

For just as there is only one Godzilla,
there is also only one Japan.

For today's prompt, I want you to write a poem that focuses on or discusses a tiny detail. It could be a tiny detail that is often overlooked, and you'd like to call attention to it. The detail could be one that if overlooked can cause good or bad things to happen.

Here's my attempt for the day:

"Shirts"

Not all werewolves wear shirts,
and those that do don't always rip them,
though sometimes they do.

And the same goes for their pants,
with some wearing 'em and others not.

Of course, it's a minor detail, but that's why
I always kind of preferred the Wolf Man,
because he had a nice buttoned-up shirt
tucked into his pants. A gentle, though feral,
man who had a penchant for strangulation.

As the full moon peaks from behind dark clouds,
the gentleman grows hair, claws and sharp teeth--
his clenched fists open and search for a victim.

Today is 11/11. What a mathematical day! (As some of you know, Tammy and I were married on 08/08/08 at 8:08--so I don't take numbers for granted.)

I also don't take these prompts for granted. For instance, today's prompt is to write a deep thought or observational poem related to your theme. The poem can be long and persuasive--or short and profound. Think about your theme. And then, think about your theme some more. And some more--until you find some deep thought or make an observation that others may or may not have considered.

"Where did all the monsters go?"

In the movies, the monsters, whether King Kong or
the Phantom, always chase after the pretty girls,
which makes me wonder if loneliness is really
so strong as to turn both man and beast against the
happiness and beauty of this world forever.

Hooray! Once you finish your poem today, you will be one-third of the way to completion. Isn't that awesome? And isn't this month speeding by so fast? Possibly even, too fast?

Well, it's not over yet. Today, I want you to write a "survival of the fittest" poem. Try to come up with a poem relating to your theme that plays around with the idea of the survival of the fittest. If you think about it long enough, you may be surprised with what you discover.

Here's my attempt for the day:

"Michael"

You can be good in school,
but I'll still follow you home;

you can lock your doors,
but I'll still force my way inside;

you can hide in your closet,
but I'll still find you right away;

you can stab me in the face,
but I'll still rise up again;

you can shoot me out a window,
but you can never find my body;

you can go to sleep at night,
but you can't forget my name,

or my William Shatner mask.

My stepson's fifth birthday extravaganza soldiers on today, which means my time is limited for the intro to the prompt. By 2pm, I need to have a cake baked, a meatloaf loafed, and chili simmered. I think I can do it.

For today's prompt, I want you to write a dream poem--or dream-like poem. This may or may not work with certain themes, so remember: You don't have to follow every prompt if it doesn't jive with your theme. In the meantime, I think I just heard the stove beep that it's at 350 degrees. Gotta run.

Here's my attempt for the day:

"He comes"

He comes when the night is silent;
he comes as a wisp of fog;
he comes as a giant bat;
he comes when no one else is near;
he comes to my side;
he comes with his beautiful teeth;
he comes with his ancient eyes;
he comes to take me as his bride.

Good morning! I've been hanging out with my stepson all morning (he just turned five yesterday!), and he's being kind enough to let me throw up a prompt real quick while he sings the Transformers theme song (guess what he got for his birthday last night?). Soooooo, I'm going to make this one pretty quick and easy.

Know how we had a prompt yesterday for a myth poem? Today, I'd like you to write a fact poem. Research a fact (or facts) about your theme and create a poem. Or make up a fact. Or spin a myth into a fact. Or, well, you get the idea.

Here's my attempt for the day:

"Werewolves"

--"London calling to the zombies of death..." -The Clash

We do exist,
though only from full moon to full moon,
our howls shaking the night
into fantastic madness.

We do exist,
though we spread from village to village,
only to be killed by villagers
and swept under a rug of superstition.

We do exist,
though we spread from person to person,
our howls haunting the night
as people hide in fear.

Once you finish today's prompt, you'll officially be a week in to the challenge. Woo-hoo! Yay! Fantastique!

Okay, so today's prompt is to write a myth poem. Investigate a well-known myth associated with your theme. Or make up a brand new myth. Be literal, or get surreal. Whatever you do, finish today's prompt and do a one-week celebration dance!

Here's my attempt for the day:

"Nothing works"

Silver bullets don't kill werewolves;
Frankenstein's Monster fears no fire;
witches never cackle over
bubbling cauldrons; and The Mummy
is not under an ancient curse.

Sunlight, wood stakes, holy water,
garlic and crosses--they can't slow
the fast approaching Dracula.

Because not one of them exist.

Good morning, y'all. Saw there was some back and forth yesterday about focusing on a whole chapbook for the month. I understand how looking at a huge project can get very intimidating, which is why I suggest just taking things one poem at a time. My feeling with the PAD Challenge (whether in April or November) is that it should be about inspiration and fun.

*****

Now for the inspiration and fun!

Today's prompt is to write a praise poem. Celebrate or praise something related to your theme (or if you're themeless, pick something random to praise). I would love to praise all the PAD Challenge participants, but as you know, my theme is monsters (and I'm pretty sure there are no zombies or warlocks participating this month).

So, here's my attempt for the day:

"The Sun"

No werewolves without the full moon,
no vampires while you shine,
thank you for shedding light on the darkness
and always returning each morning.

As requested, I'm getting today's prompt out a little earlier in the morning than usual. Hopefully, everyone didn't stay up too late watching the election coverage last night (if you were watching the election coverage, that is). I know I'm still a little sleepy-eyed (though that may have more to do with these spreadsheets I've been working on for WritersMarket.com).

Today, I'd like you to write a poem that sets a scene. In other words, one that pays attention to the details of the scenery and uses those details to heighten the effect and meaning of the poem. For instance, if you were to write a poem about the election results last night, don't drown it in abstractions and ideas. Instead, focus on the setting of a rally and let the details describe whether the particular candidate won or lost.

Personally, though, my attempt for the day is going to continue on with my monsters theme: 

"Autumn Poem"

He loves the way leaves fall from trees
and collect on the ground. He loves
raking them into little mounds
next to the street. And as more leaves
fall, his mounds grow ever larger
until they're the right size for him
to climb inside and wait for kids
biking along the gutter to
venture close enough to jump up
and scare. The reason why no kids
trick-or-treat his end of the street.