Day Six ... NaPoWriMo / Poem-a-Day 2019

Maureen Thorson’s NaPoWriMo prompt: “Today, we’d like to challenge you to write a poem of the possible. . . . not on what has happened, or what will happen, but on what might happen if the conditions are right. . . . a poem that emphasizes the power of ‘if,’ of the woulds and coulds and shoulds of the world.” Maureen provides links to example poems by Raena Shirali and Rachel Mennies. Robert Lee Brewer’s Poem-a-Day prompt: “For today’s prompt, take the phrase ‘After (blank),’ replace the blank with a word or phrase, make the new phrase the title of your poem, and then, write your poem. Possible titles include: ‘After Dinner,’ ‘After You,’ ‘After Hours,’ and/or ‘After I Finish Writing This Poem.’ ” Okay, doing both prompts in one poem, as usual. I'm trying to hit the ‘if’ thing pretty hard here. Linked haiku in strict 5-7-5 syllabics, for you form aficionados out there. After the Sky Falls What if all the clouds start to harden into white porcelain, then crack, spiderwebs of stress fractures spreading everywhere, the clouds shattering, falling on the earth, like huge thunderstorms of shards, microscopic stones? If the blue above begins to flake in thick sheets as big as houses that tumble downward crushing vast fields of flowers, knocking down buildings, skyscrapers toothpicks, whole city blocks demolished, rivers glutted, dammed. If the black that was behind the blue then splinters into a billion obsidian spears, what would joggers do? Truckers on the open road? Gardeners? Beat cops? The crowds of pedestrians on their way to work? Outer space falling, a trillion stone javelins, black ice projectiles. What next could befall us? What other disasters, after the sky falls? —Draft by Vince Gotera    [Do not copy or quote . . . thanks.] Image from Antarctica Journal (source). Friends, won’t you comment, please? Love to know what you’re thinking. To comment, look for a red line below that starts Posted by, then click once on the word comments in that line. If you don’t find the word “comments” in that line, then look for a blue link below that says Post a comment and click it once. Thanks! Ingat, everyone.  ヅ

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