Well, after taking last week off, here we are again ready to write poems, right? I hope that you've been able to hit the ground running in 2009 by writing, revising, and maybe even submitting your poems. I've been able to do some writing and revising so far, but I need to submit some poems somewhere today to be able to keep that 2009 resolution alive.

Anyway, now that we're in a new year, I think it makes sense to make this week's prompt to write a poem that deals with something new. You can decide what that new thing is. You could write about the new year, a new item (many people just received gifts during the holidays last month), a new relationship, or even the lack of anything new.

Here's my attempt for the day:

"Will"

She drove through the mountains
at night and in a fog to find me
waiting for her. It was still early
in spring. She was a little scared,
but she came. Then, we wandered
around, found ourselves in church
beside a receding lake. She drove
through the mountains, because
she believed in something new.

I know I'm a day late on the Happy New Year post (and that I completely missed the Wednesday Poetry Prompt), but I've been very preoccupied with the family this past week. You see, I've had all four of my boys since Saturday--so we've been playing games, watching movies, going to playgrounds, attending family gatherings, etc. We've been totally familying (new word) it up this week.

I believe in setting goals. So, I guess I'm going to share my New Year Poetry Resolutions. If you want to, feel free to share yours as well in the comments below.

1. Write at least one first draft of a poem each week. (Should be do-able if I can manage to not miss any Wednesday Poetry Prompts--or PAD Challenges--in 2009.)

2. Submit poems at least once each week. (This is the one I always have trouble keeping.)

3. Revise at least one poem each week. (Preferably more.)

4. Assemble a collection to submit around to publishers.

5. Attend more poetry readings/events/etc. this year than last.

6. Read at least 2-3 collections of poetry each month.

7. Live, learn, and love!!!!!

I did not forget today was Wednesday. Things have just been a bit busy. Now I need to get to sleep here soon before Santa shows up with his sleigh, but let's do our Wednesday prompt first. Baby Will is laying across my lap and looking around--probably wondering what all the clicking-clacking noises of my keyboard are. In the living room, I can hear A Christmas Story streaming in across TBS. They just covered the part where Ralphie decodes the message: Be sure to drink your Ovaltine.

That sparked my idea for this week's prompt. I want you to write an acrostic poem. An acrostic takes the first letter of each line and spells out a message (or word); or it takes the last letter of each line and spells out a message (or word); or a double acrostic takes both the first and last letters of each line. Anyway, I was thinking of Ralphie with his secret message and thought maybe we could write secret messages of our own.

Here's my attempt:

"For Real"

Some people don't believe,
and some people do.
Not that it matters to me,
though not believing seems
appropriate for those
clowns who think angels
lash out against demons

and punish everyone
under heaven who isn't
saved today. Forgiveness
is a limited time offer for
some people. But Santa
Claus still rides his sleigh
over the cornfields and

mountains, over the tropical
islands and the frigid
nations. Santa Claus is
going to do what he can
to make good children happy,
or give coal to the bad.
The last thing a person

offers should be their hard
won good behavior. They
never think anything exists.

Both mom and son are happy and healthy.

William James Brewer entered the world at 10:02 am. He weighed in at 8 lbs, 1 oz; he measured 20" longways, 14" around the head, 13" around the chest.

Actually, for those who follow the blog religiously and know of my obsession with the number 808, it actually made an appearance again this morning--for when Baby Will was weighed, the scale read 8 lbs, 0.8 oz. The nurses, of course, rounded up to 8 lbs, 1 oz.

Since Tammy and I were married on 08/08/08 at 8:08, we figured this was just one more good omen.

Anyway, I just stopped by the apartment to walk the dog. Gonna get back to the hospital for the mommy-daddy-baby sleepover.

It's our combined 4th time through this process, but it's still just as exciting (though, luckily, just a tad less nerve-wracking) as the first time. Tammy and I are currently getting ready and will be hitting the road in a few to deliver William James Brewer via C-section. Wish us luck!

Either later tonight or tomorrow, I'll send details of how everything went.

(Tammy has once again shown why she's so cool. Today, she forwarded me the link to this little piece of news.)

Apparently, Barack Obama will be only the third president to invite a poet to speak at his inauguration--the other two presidents being Bill Clinton (1993 and 1997) and John F. Kennedy (1961). Obama has chosen Elizabeth Alexander.

Alexander will be the fourth poet to speak at a presidential inauguration, following up Miller Williams (1997), Maya Angelou (1993) and Robert Frost (1961). While people can agree or disagree with Obama's politics, I think everyone can appreciate Obama giving a nod to the importance and influence of poetry on the day of his inauguration.

Here's the article: http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2008/dec/18/obama-inauguration-alexander-poetry

*****

Also, for those interested in learning more about Alexander, including reading some of her poems, here is a link to her website: http://www.elizabethalexander.net/home.html.

The site includes poems, interviews, audio, events, and more.

Sorry for the silence on the blog recently (and the late post time today). As many of you know, I've had a pretty full plate for a while--and now is when a lot of due dates are hitting. For instance, I'm supposed to give my official and final sign off on our big Market Books database on the 19th, which is also the same day my son William James will be born, and on the 21st, we're relaunching WritersMarket.com! It's exciting times, but these times are also pretty time consuming (oh yeah, and there's them pesky holidays going on now, too).

But really, I'm sure many people are feeling a bit of a time pinch this time of the year. For this week's prompt, I want you to write a poem that involves time. You can write about how you don't have any time, or you can write about how you have all the time in the world. You could even write a time travel piece, something about watches (or clocks), etc. Whatever your slant, just be sure to give yourself enough time to write.

Here's my attempt for the day (just in time--o, how the bad jokes roll out):

"The curse of being an editor"

There's never any downtime. For instance,
when I read restaurant menus, I find
every misspelled word and want to break
out my red pen. Or I read a certain
word, such as "tires," and I start compiling
other combinations (rites, tries, and tiers).

When I read conservation, I think of
conversation. Reese says work is over
and that I shouldn't work eight hours a day.

"You should work six hours," he says. Then, he points
to a construction crane and tells me how
it's not a bird crane. These are the games played
by a stepfather and stepson: "Is that
yellow jacket on your yellow jacket?"

We cast lots for lost cats; whether we are
united or untied, we kill our time.

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.

Recently, I was looking up poems that had to do with gardening and thought, Hey, why not make that a prompt for the Poetic Asides group? So, that's our prompt for this week: I want you to write a poem that is somehow connected to gardening, whether we're talking a flower garden, a veggie garden, or a garden consisting entirely of rhubarb. Or focus on a single plant from within your poetic garden.

Here's my attempt for the day:

"You will have to do better than that"

She said, "You will have to do better
than that," when he brought her daisies
after the first season. He knew flowers
were what made her world go 'round,
so he learned how to grow her favorites.

She said, "I don't want these daisies."
"You don't," he asked. "Yes," she said,
"I don't." So he spent the first winter
with his nose in a book again, learning
how to grow her favorite vegetables.

After the harvest, he carried them to her
from the valley up and the winding path
to her house on the hill. She said, "You
are no closer this year than last," and
shut the door in his crestfallen face.

During that next winter, he did not know
what to do. He was stuck. So in the spring,
he walked up the winding path to her house
and knocked on the door with his gardening
tools and asked, "Would you like to join me?"

She smiled and said, "Of course, I would."