Nov
26

Taste for Gratitude

A luscious menu includes mouthwatering staples.
Family and friends enhance flavors and aromas.
Delectable conversation smooths digestion.
Delightful entertainment devours the hours.
The slightest hint of a taste missed
as I remember my dad and others no longer with me.
And I am thankful for each morsel and memory
that serves and fills me completely.

©2009 Shari Lynne Smothers

Prompt: Write a thankful poem. Day 26 of the 2009 November PAD Chapbook Challenge, from Poetic Asides.

Nov
26

Herman and Missie call it Quits

Herman delighted in
the kisses Missie planted.
Even sweetly on his cheek
they seared his skin
with a passion he never
sought as it was unfamiliar
to him. This gift of love
Missie ignited in Herman
was the flame he longed for
though he never knew the
name of it.

No chance to change
his mind; he wouldn’t
be able to keep it.

She touched his chest
in romantic caresses.
He held her closely
pressing her to him
in the small of her back.
To the passerby they looked
the part of any lovers in the park.

That is, until they fell down
on the ground.

Close acquaintances were surprised to learn
a coroner’s investigation revealed
Herman planted an oleander spike
in Missie’s spine and she reciprocated
with a similar prick in Herman’s ear.

©2009 Shari Lynne Smothers

Prompt: Write a temperature poem. Poem for Day 25 of the 2009 November PAD Chapbook Challenge, at Poetic Asides

Nov
26

Everybody says So

Holiday celebrations
pre-empt my writing time.
Antisocial by right of design
still my inclination.

But I dismiss mine
for the sake of family,
habits made traditions
made rituals, now sacrosanct.

And in my ordinary family
like so many others
everybody says
so it should be.

Absence gets me shunned
which works for me
but everybody says
I shouldn’t be that way.

So, for mom’s sake
I fit in as best I can
privately harangued
by my life calling me.

©2009 Shari Lynne Smothers

Prompt: Take the phrase “Everybody says (blank),” replace the blank with a word or phrase, make that the title of the poem, and write the poem. For Day 24 of the 2009 November PAD Chapbook Challenge, from Poetic Asides.

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