Monday was … interesting. Doing better at forming my habits. I have been reading more in Fearless Creating (Eric Maisel, PH.D.) ; chapter 3 is Belligerant  Committment: Starting Your Work talks about how the most important minutes of the day are the first minutes, how you start your day,  getting yourself to “yes” first thing in the morning and staying committed to it. No surprise, the author mentions getting up early as a vital part of cultivating that committment.

I’m … working on it. Being freelance and home, I have become an intermittant nurse to my brothers’ as they recover from serious health issues – transitioning from hospital to my place & then back home. The past three weeks, I’ve been hosting Keith. He has gotten me back into very dangerous Evans behavior … being a night owl. Keith likes company while watching movies, he watches movies until 2 – 3 in the morning (distracts from pain). My past wake-up calls at 6 have been getting ignored. As is the 7am one. And too often, the 8 am one as well. IT leaves me three hours late before I am even out of bed. Can’t wait until he goes home again!  Today I made the 7 o’clock one; it’s better than yesterday, it’s progress. Heck, I even made my bed. And – for me – a “made” bed puts me in a very productive frame of mind.  I finished all but one poem by noon. He has “Fantastic Four” starting now; I’m gonna aim for a 6:30.

On to today’s Poem-A Day prompts …

It’s Tuesday – and on Tuesdays during PAD events, Robert Lee Brewer posts “Twofer Tuesdays” two (usually related) prompts. Today’s is beginning  / ending.

NaPoWriMo’s features beat poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti today; I’ve always liked his work better than Jack Kerouac. And I often use line spacing as Lawrence does in Away above a Harborful to mimic spoken language or the flow of language.

The NaNoWriMo participant they shared is Katie Staten & her lovely elegy she wrote yesterday.

NaNoWriMo/ GloPoWriMo’s prompt is write something with a secret, similiar to a riddle. They suggest something like “Why is a raven like a writing desk?”. 30Day Poetry Challenge Day 4 prompt

As I have shared before, I do more than one PAD Challenge in Aprl & November. Some years I have done as many as seven. So there’s places I know to look. I’ve been a little disappointed the past few days; I’ve been checking on 30DayPoetry Challenge on Facebook – but could only find 2016’s posts. But,hallelujah! SOmeone posted Day 1 thru Day 3 yesterday! Today’s prompt is  … “just don’t do it”.

As for my personal Poem A Day Challenge , today’s PAD is … bacon.

Speaking of the riddle “how is a raven like a writing desk?” – I was given that as a prompt four years ago at an OPA Fall Conference at Pacific University. Here’s my answer …

How a Raven

He sits squat, not talking
         not listening;
his wooden eye peering – a judge
         in worn robes.
His solidity waits for you to recognize
         the poem he has carried in its grain;
cocks a shiny head as if to determine
         punishment and fines to levy
until you surrender the sentence –
         write the words upon it

black upon black.

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