Day 8 ... NaPoWriMo / Poem-a-Day 2026 / Stafford 82

Welcome back, friends! My poem today is #82 in this year's Stafford Challenge (and #447, including the number of poems from last year's challenge). Maureen Thorson’s NaPoWriMo prompt: “In your poem for today, use a simple phrase repeatedly, and then make statements that invert or contradict that phrase.” Robert Lee Brewer’s Poem-a-Day suggestion: “For today's prompt, write a paranoid poem.” I'm combining both prompts, as usual, in today's poem. Paranoid             —curtal sonnet They are after me. They are after me. I can hardly walk down the street, today or any day. That bird on the branch, there, dogs me everywhere. They are after me. That bird’s song is a report to them . . . “they.” That girl across the street — don’t look at her! — has got a gun. She just looks like she’s ten. They are after me. You say, who are they? Well, I don’t know. They have never shown their faces. Maybe I’ve just imagined them.                                         No, they're everywhere. —Draft by Vince Gotera    [Do not copy or quote . . . thanks.] Image by izafi on pixabay.com Today, Alan is combining both prompts in a protest villanelle. P O E M   R E M O V E D while being submitted for publication.   Please come back later. The poem may return at some time in the future. Thank you!     Another courageous poem, Alan. Bravo again! Thanks for coming by. See you again tomorrow! Friends, won’t you comment, please? Love to know what you’re thinking. Thanks! Ingat, everyone.  ヅ