Today's prompt is to write a "ramble poem." That is, I want you to write a poem where you just start rambling without worrying about where you're headed. Very interesting things can happen in these poems. And don't worry about the interesting things, because they tend to just happen if you let yourself ramble.

While these poems can often be wordy on the early drafts, they can produce wonderful final drafts after going through a few rounds of revision (remember May is my unofficial poem revision month). Ramble poems can be made interesting by somehow rambling off and then coming back to where you began AND by rambling from point A to point Z without tying anything up completely. Plus, they're really fun to write.

In the spirit of the ramble poem and of not worrying about revision until next month, here are my words for today:

"Drinking liquids that are green and blue"

Has always appealed to me since my youth
so much that I'm surprised I never poisoned myself
making odd "scientific" concoctions with my brothers
with the chemicals hiding under our bathroom sink.
We thought we would raise the dead or find a cure
to something. Maybe our boredom. Like how,
as a teen, we'd drive around and loiter at parks
and outside the doughnut shop because we could
find nothing better to do at night. Full of energy
and ambition and the world was never going
to slow us down for nothing. At the all ages shows,
on the trails, in the air descending to the river below,
we knew we didn't want to be our parents,
but beyond that we couldn't see. And so there was
blue juice and Hi-C's Ectoplasm drinks. And so
there was a reason to drink liquids that looked
like they might kill us because we wanted to prove
we were better and that we would live forever.
And so our children will want green and blue, too.

*****

I'm going to try and post up some of the first day's highlights later today in a separate post. I'm so proud of the work everyone's done up to this point. And now we've made it through our first week together.

Sorry for the late post today. It's been a doozy of a morning. First, the power was knocked out by some intense storms early this morning, so my alarm did not wake me up this morning. Luckily, my girlfriend called--giving me just enough time to rush over and make my oil change appointment (in a very disoriented state of mind). Once at the dealership, I was told the average oil change wait time is 30-45 minutes. "Good, good," I thought, "that'll give me just enough time to get a start on my poem for today." So anyway, I guess I should've been trying to get a start on my Great American Novel, because 105 minutes later I'm politely asking if maybe they called my name and I didn't hear them. "Actually, no," they said--also politely, "The car in line before you had problems getting off THE RACK." So yeah, I'm not one to make a big fuss, so I said, "Cool," and sat back down worried about posting for y'all (because I'm always thinking of my wonderful blog readers) and just attributed it to some weird Friday bad luck. Anyway, 2 hours after arriving, they finally had me set to go. I pull out my wallet and find out that all I have to do is sign my name and leave. The service guy didn't even bother telling me it was on the house, and--as mentioned earlier--I'm not one of those people who pushes for that kind of stuff. So, yeah, nice ending to a weird morning. I'm thankful for the way they treated me without forcing me to be a jerk--and without making a big "to do" about how they were giving me excellent customer service by putting it on the house. It's the little things really. Anyway, that was a huge ramble. And now, on to the prompt!

*****

Actually, that ramble kind of perfectly fits in with today's prompt, which is to write a thankful poem (at the time, I was thinking TGIF=thankful poem?). Another option is to write a tribute poem. The thankful/tribute poem can be dedicated to a person, an inanimate object, an idea, a day of the week, etc.

For my part, I used this prompt to write a poem on a subject that I've just never been able to tackle: my mother. She's one of those people who is so perfect that every poem I've ever tried writing about her has been kind of blah. But you know what, who cares? So here goes:

"My Mother"

She began working in a car factory at 18,
got married, had 3 boys, and thought
of eventually doing something other
than working in a car factory. But she believed
in providing. Even after the divorce, she
worked and worked and did not let it
keep her from shuttling 3 boys between
practices and events; she did not let
it keep her from attending those events
and getting to know the boys' friends; and
she never once complained "it's not fair."
She was the only parent to be so involved
who also gave her children the freedom
to grow up at indie rock shows and staying out
late at night. "Just wake me when you get in,"
she'd say, "so I don't wake up worried."
She worked and cared for 3 sons, who
went on to become 3 successes--who
had 1 parent to thank for everything.

This poem is sappy and personal and the kind of poem many serious poets would attack as not poetry. I would seriously dispute any such claim. I agree that this is not "publishable poetry," but it is still poetry. Just because a poem is not meant for The New Yorker or The Atlantic, it doesn't mean that it's not a poem--or even that it's not a good poem. For instance, this poem really helped remind me just how thankful I am for my mother and how much she means to me. And when I read it to her tonight, I know she'll realize just how much she means to me as well. So even though this poem is only intended for an audience of 2--it scores a 100% for those two. Don't value your poetry solely off your publication credits and rejection slips; by writing and sharing your writing, you are doing something great. For real.

I'm sorry; I'm totally rambly and sentimental this morning/early afternoon. :)

*****

Some quick notes: First, I'm going to be visiting my grandmother in the Gatlinburg, Tennessee, area this weekend. She doesn't have a computer; and I've never tried locating the Internet down there--so my posts this weekend may be a bit on the inconsistent side. I'm going to try and keep them coming in the mornings though.

Second, due to popular request, I'm going to randomly provide posts with poems that I've particularly liked from each day's prompt--probably grouping a few prompts together. So on Monday, I'll see if I can get that first batch together.

Third, I'm very thankful to all of you who've been participating in this challenge with me. Your responses have totally overwhelmed me (in a fantastic way). Let's keep at it!

As with many programs, getting through the 3rd day is usually the toughest. So I'm going to try and make Day 3 a little easier to help everyone complete the first 10% of our challenge. The way I look at it 3 days should equal 3 lines; in other words, today we'll be writing a haiku.

The official Day 3 prompt: write a haiku.

Now, you ask: What constitutes a haiku? (Very good question, by the way.)

Here are some previous posts I've made about this form:

* Haiku: Easy or Hard?

* Haiku Revisited

* Haiku on September 11 (posted by Nancy Breen)

If you're not big on researching the haiku, here's a quick primer on what constitutes a haiku:

1. It's a 3-line poem.

2. While many think the lines should be 5-7-5 syllables, that's actually not true. It's 5-7-5 "sounds" if you're writing in Japanese. For English purposes, it tends to be a shorter 1st and 3rd line--with a slightly longer 2nd line.

3. The haiku describes nature--with an emphasis on description. Haiku do not rhyme or use metaphors and/or similes.

4. Haiku includes a word to indicate season. For instance, the word "frog" might indicate spring; the word "snow" might indicate winter.

5. There's also usually a juxtaposition of two sensory images. For instance, the most famous haiku involves a frog jumping into a pond as the first sensory image--the water's sound as the second. When put together, the sensory images turn a very simple moment into a profound poem.

There are more rules--if you want to do the research--but this gives a good enough outline of what makes a haiku. For writing your own, it's best to just observe the world around you, make notes, and see if you can spot connections that help you understand nature and the world around you better.

Here's my attempt:

Plastic bag
caught in the tree branches;
birds build their nests.

Now get haiku-ing!

So I've been going out of my way to build excitement about my write a poem-a-day challenge in April. Should be big-time fun for all.

But the Academy of American Poets has announced you can also read a poem-a-day in April. Just go to http://www.poets.org/poemaday, and enter your e-mail address.

Their newsletter claims you can expect work from poets, such as Charles Simic, James Tate, Caroline Knox, Cate Marvin, and many more.

It only took me about 5.6 seconds to sign up. Very fast. Very easy.