by the Read Write Poem Staff
It’s daunting to take on a commitment as large as NaPoWriMo, but here you are. Today is Day 3, and you are facing your fears. Read Write Poem member Joseph Harker thinks there’s a poem in that; here’s his prompt for you:
Write about something that scares you. It could be tarantulas or your significant other cheating on you or an existential fear of the unknown so long as it unsettles you. Describe it in the most vivid language possible!
Sometimes by articulating our fears, we strip them of their power. (But don’t go too far! A little fear is good to have.) 
Reminders for everyone
Read the Read Write Poem NaPoWriMo Challenge Kickoff post for details on how the challenge works — and how you can engage with Read Write Poem this month, no matter what your personal writing challenge is for the month of April.
Please read this page to find out how Read Write Poem’s prompt posts work. Remember that work linked from any post this month is shared in precisely that spirit: sharing, as opposed to critiquing. If you haven’t done so already, please read all the pages under About in the navigation bar.
And yet another great prompt. I think this is only a draft but here goes:
http://rustbloommansions.blogspot.com/2010/04/day-three.html
Hi, if you missed my first link, click and stop by…
…rob
Image & Verse
And I suppose it would’ve helped to have logged in first ;}
here’s that link again!
http://rustbloommansions.blogspot.com/2010/04/day-three.html
http://eveningpoems.blogspot.com/
April 3 – “Intro to Lit: Dramatic Irony”
Fear is an inherited factor.
http://tinacelio.wordpress.com/2010/04/03/napowrimo-day-3-fear/
Thanks for the prompt! I chose to write about the passage of time.
http://healingforthehealthy.blogspot.com/2010/04/napowrimo-3-scared-yet.html
I finished my poem. Now I can reward myself with some lunch.
http://paperdreams-jgc.blogspot.com/2010/04/day-three-him-them-and-death.html
Here’s mine: http://disorder1313.wordpress.com/2010/04/03/we-earn-a-razor/
Finished a few poems incorporating the prompt.
Posted here: http://dash30dash.ning.com/profiles/blogs/napowrimo-2010-day-3
and on Facebook.
Write ON….
Storms
Darkness in the afternoon
The air grows still and silent
Birds fly by in a hurry
Their wings close to the ground.
You’ve never been in a tornado
Though several have passed close
By. You’ve checked the TV radar
Where blobs of green are headed
In your direction. And the weather
Bureau has issued a “watch”.
You don’t want to watch. You just
Want them to go some place else.
When you were young, you loved to
See the lightning as it crackled and
Split the sky. The resulting boom
Of thunder, made your mother press
Her ears and cry.
Now you understand the pressure
No one wants to see their house
Blown away. No land of Oz awaits
Those caught up in a storm.
So you listen for the sirens. And
Tell your kids to listen, too. If you
Have to spend the evening in the
Bathroom, huddled together while
The atmosphere throws a tantrum.
It’s best to be together when you do.
kolokolchiki replied:
April 3rd, 2010 at 3:21 pm
This part is wonderful: “If you
Have to spend the evening in the
Bathroom, huddled together while
The atmosphere throws a tantrum.
It’s best to be together when you do.”
Who doesn’t fear it:
Rainbow Aduction
My thing of dread:
http://poemblaze.wordpress.com/2010/04/03/rwp-napowrimo-3/
Matt Quinn replied:
April 3rd, 2010 at 1:51 pm
Added a second poem, which is in the same link.
This is painfully honest, but not at all pretty: Fear
Well I am ready. Joseph thanks for this thought provoking prompt. You’ll find mine here:
http://flaubert-poetrywithme.blogspot.com/2010/04/people-vs-spiders-and-snakes-napowrimo.html
Poem #3. “Food Chain.” Posted at: http://troysworktable.blogspot.com/2010/04/napowrimo-3.html
I’m in with a poem about roosters.
http://marcieaf.blogspot.com/2010/04/napowrimo-day-3.html
Not my favorite subject, but one I am very used to writing about, after 3 years as a member of a writing group for cancer survivors!
http://caraholman.wordpress.com/2010/04/03/2010-napowrimo-3/
My submission took a turn from what I actually intended. I nearly decided not to post this one and try again, but somehow that seemed less than honest. Events I thought had healed reared their heads…be gentle, please. I Obviously, I still have much work to do!
Blessings on your day!
http://bridgeanna.blogspot.com
3/30 is up at http://www.ronniek.org/napowrimo !
Splintered Stalk
Here is #3. It was so strange how this was the very thing that I needed to write about this morning. A little clunky perhaps but done for now. Here it is.
Fear of Flying
http://lotuspapillon12.blogspot.com/2010/04/fear-of-flying-330-napowrimo.html
Day 3 done in a hurry so pretty awful but there you go.
http://treeinthetitle.blogspot.com/2010/04/day-3.html
http://sadiespoems.blogspot.com/2010/04/fear.html#comments
http://www.dansbait.com/?p=131
I Fear
She reads the poem,
not once, but twice.
She reads the
lines I’ve polished like
a gemcutter at the bench:
studying every facet,
massaging meter and rhyme,
reciting lines out loud,
over and over,
like a mantra,
until I think–
hell, I know–
each line is perfect.
“It’s nice,” she says.
“Really nice.”
Matt Quinn replied:
April 3rd, 2010 at 3:20 pm
A fate worse than death! Well done.
kolokolchiki replied:
April 3rd, 2010 at 3:22 pm
Beautifully polished!
viviblake replied:
April 3rd, 2010 at 3:33 pm
Terrific poem – I’ve always liked poems about poetry, and this one is a gem. The killer line is “It’s nice” Ouch!!!
daimlergunrow replied:
April 3rd, 2010 at 10:03 pm
I agree, great poem. The fearing of sharing…
erindavis replied:
April 4th, 2010 at 12:56 am
Ooooo. “Nice.” The dreaded evaluation!
Marie replied:
April 4th, 2010 at 10:35 am
Perfect description of the frustration we all must feel at some time. Feeling so betrayed by “Nice”.
Fear of the unknown
Fear of pop-corn
Fear of crusty the clown
Fear of the American Dream
Fear of the Simpsons
Fear of everything
Fear of nothing
Fear of Fear
Flea in my ear
Fear of writing rubbish
Fear of being only good
Fear of being the only chav girl in the neigbourhood
Fear of being posh
Fear of being fat not thin
Fear of going to the gym
Fear of… fear of
WHAT IS THE POINT OF FEAR?
kolokolchiki replied:
April 3rd, 2010 at 4:49 pm
I like the odd line in the middle. It contrasts nicely with the very serious Fear of Fear line before it.
Mmm, I’m still wanting to tinker with minor edits and maybe a major change or two, but I’ve got to run, so here is my response to #3: Tenuousness
I’m pleased with this one!
http://metaphysicworld.wordpress.com/2010/04/03/a-letter/
After
I have imagined your death.
The polieman knocking at the door.
His female companion making tea with sympathy.
The smallness of your coffin
lost under the nave of the parish church.
I have imagined your death
in a dream from which I struggle
to escape, in which you waking early
had stumbled head first into the bath
and lie drowned like a male Ophelia.
I have imagined your death.
and the funeral but not what comes
after. Living in silence
robbed of laughter.
Erica Scime replied:
April 3rd, 2010 at 3:59 pm
This is heart wrenching and I really feel I can relate. I’ve been fortunate enough not to loose too many loved ones (although one is one too many I suppose) so the thought plagues me. Well done.
Jaelle replied:
April 3rd, 2010 at 4:03 pm
Oh wow! This is really touching, especially the last few lines.
a most enjoyable reaction to the action… in posse
The Dream
I dreamt last night I was fired.
I dreamt last night I was poor.
I dreamt last night that the world had gone bankrupt
and never again be secure.
I was living of somebody’s money,
I depended on somebody’s grace,
I lived my life on anther one’s mercy,
and followed another one’s pace.
It wasn’t so bad that it hurt me,
I wasn’t in hunger or thirst.
The life was ok, I had all I could want
and yet still I felt I was cursed.
I woke in the morning alone in my bed
with silk and satin around me.
I wasn’t in sweat and I wasn’t in tears
but the dream that I had did astound me.
http://wintermintfruit.blogspot.com/2010/04/todays-rushed-day-so-i-again-wrote-this.html
Today’s a rushed day, so I, again, wrote this before I could see the prompt. I promise to keep to it for the rest of the month, though!
Well, that was cathartic.
http://kolokoli.blogspot.com/2010/04/indecision.html
What terrifies me? Baby possums! This is not even close to my best work, but my skin crawled throughout the writing process.
http://freckledwriter.blogspot.com/2010/04/possum-invasion.html
Oh the fish: http://thekitchenbitchponders.blogspot.com/2010/04/national-poetry-writing-month-day-three.html
I am posting today’s, though I wrote it yesterday. Interestingly, the prompt still speaks to the final product– I fear of what I’d lose or gain if I took a traditional desk job.
http://avniously.blogspot.com/2010/04/office-sonnet.html
Really like this, especially rhyming couplet at the end that completes the sonnet, full of honesty and meaning. Love the use of the traditional sonnet form and the contemporary feel. Very good!
Fear of the hill.
http://rrosenchang.blogspot.com
Getting Used To This
http://richelledodaro.blogspot.com
carolf22 replied:
April 3rd, 2010 at 5:31 pm
Like Getting used to this, I can understand your fear of the wall and being let down. Fear I think is human, but most of the time in the West it is fairly silly and pointless.
Fear of the bill Lol!
Still haven’t used the prompts. But I will one of these days!
http://yearofthebooks.wordpress.com/2010/04/03/poem-a-day-day-3/
Hard one to write: http://sheiladeethdrabbles.blogspot.com/2010/04/april-napowrimo-3.html
I decided to take Fear for a ride. Ignorance, Loathing, Arrogance, and Sadness were also along on the ride…
http://babblingoninbabylon.com/blog
This one was harder for me! I just went with fear as negation.
http://katharinewhitcomb.blogspot.com/2010/04/napowrimo-3-fears.html
Not really in response to the prompt:
http://vinniekinsella.wordpress.com/2010/04/03/napowrimo-3-at-the-hardware-store/
Fear of Heights
http://lanijo.com/poetry/fear-heights
My blog is still transitioning to its own domain name, so here’s my poem on what I’m scared of:
My Girl
Proudly, I look at her.
A young woman,
practically an adult–
stepping confidently into her future,
arms swinging, eyes eager.
Yet tendrils of fear lengthen,
embracing my throat,
choking my breath.
I burn–
my hands rippling outward
to touch her hair,
to brush her cheek.
Once she needed me
in everything–
for sustenance,
for taking first halting steps,
for tying stubborn shoelaces,
for leading her by hand into realm of books.
I unearth consolation
in her needing me still–
for encouragement,
for unyielding acceptance,
for discussing hem-and-haw of possibilities,
for watching Cary Grant movies on the sofa.
I hold the fears at bay–
pushing them out of swirling thoughts,
not allowing them a toehold.
I let go now,
snipping her strings–
so she may always find home
patiently awaiting her return.
Copyright 2010 by Susanne Barrett
Fear. This was a fun one… sort of!
http://just-somestuff.blogspot.com/2010/04/napowrimo-3-grilled-hamster-feet.html
Lovely, This is how I want my little boy to grow up to be, with “snipped” “strings” wanting encouraginment and love still but able to make his own decisions and choices, and how a mum should be, always there for their kids. Touching.
Here is something un-connected to prompts, call it blatant self-publicity if you like!
North Star Express
wwww.differentplanetandshadowsoftime.blogspot.com
carolf22 replied:
April 3rd, 2010 at 6:55 pm
Sorry, problem posting a link. I will try again.
http://www.differentplanetandshadowsoftime.blogspot.com
Whew! Busy day! Spent the morning babysitting for 6 month old granddaughter. The afternoon was spent making a side dish and dessert for Easter dinner at Great-grandma’s … poem is officially finished!
http://herwordsbloomed.blogspot.com/2010/04/napowrimo-3-scared-yet.html
http://rosettathurman.posterous.com/napowrimo-poem-3-lottery
My poem Sabbath Morning at the Coffee House can be found: at:
http://word-painting.blogspot.com/2010/04/sabbath-morning-at-coffee-house.html
Fear (Noun)
Breath vacuumed from the lungs
Only enough oxygen left to sustain life for roughly 67 more seconds
Goose flesh as large as inverted potholes
Invisible balloons create static shock as they brush up against the spine
Nostrils flare, toes curl, palms sweat
Not the dew that condensates before a first date, no
This is different. Unsettling
Shifty eyes detect it is all in the mind, the inner psyche up to its old tricks
Shadows creep forming all too familiar shapes
Closer. Engulfing. Darkness.
napowrimo#3…FEAR AND HATING at
http://waynepitchko.blogspot.com
Day three!
What I cannot see
Slithers.
Writhes.
Reaches for me.
Tendrils, invisible
Stretch out to
Claim.
Beneath my shield
Of linens and cotton
The denizens cannot
Seek.
Heart in a vice
Frozen.
Eyes thrown wide
Paralyzed.
Afraid
Not of blackness.
But what
Lurks.
Snarling deep within my heart.
here’s my day three contribution: legacy.
Being a coward scares me – so here’s my poem!
http://mylineofwords.blogspot.com/2010/04/napowrimo-3-here-comes-fear.html
Not sure I even feel this is poetry, but here is my poem for todays prompt…fear.
http://bygraceandfaith.tumblr.com/
“I Fear Being Left Out of Heaven”
http://bygraceandfaith.tumblr.com/
Wasn’t sure if I submitted this right the first time? My poem for day #3 using the prompt
I just realized that the poem I wrote today is based on my fear of not breathing as I have been struggling with severe asthma for two weeks.
It can be found here: http://tinyurl.com/yct5avf
Besides the poem I wrote today using the prompt;
I wanted to share this poem here, I wrote it before the challenge started though but here it is
I Am
Words
Aren’t enough
Silence
With breath
This is who I am
Experience
To fit in a box
Labels
Can’t define
Who I am
Stepping back into this land
Not enough of it
Time to go around
Answer to myself
Silence and it’s still
Void of denial
And full of truth
Where do I go now
Who I am
Was
Is this myself
Continuum
But we want it finite
Personality begins and
Ends with punctuation
Definite
Changing only within our limits
Yet
This is who I am
Like walking on thin ice
and not knowing how to swim
the then the now
in between
who am I to this today
out of body
hovering near
slow
black and white
still and void
Yet here I am
Finally got one done, my first contribution to the challenge:
http://iwriteforreal.blogspot.com/2010/04/napowrimo-3-are-you-scared-yet.html
Kept in a Box
http://comtngrl.livejournal.com/1396.html
It was this or spiders. ;-P
My April 3 poem is on my website htp://1965footprints.blogspot.com
It’s title is The Abyss.
Day 3 is posted: Fear of Fire
My day #3 post:
http://robin-turner.blogspot.com/2010/04/tell-them-this.html
This one is short, so I’ll post it here.
I wake
on the bathroom floor
pants around ankles
a bad smell
my dogs stand
in the doorway
wagging.
http://1965footprints.blogspot.com
The Abyss
everything i write about scares me. day three’s poem is at http://revolutionarysweetheart.blogspot.com
http://immortality-in-words.deviantart.com/art/NaPoWriMo-3-Fear-159459330
(c) Nicole Wilkinson
NaPoWriMo #03 Maybe fear
Jaelle replied:
April 5th, 2010 at 2:43 am
That’s awesome! I love the ending, it’s so hopeful
http://sky-lined.blogspot.com/2010/04/napowrimo-day-3.html silver butterfly
for today i went with a prompt from the deviantart site. i don’t want to give away what i’m scared of; that would ruin the fun :3 .
“Nuclear Fear”
http://www.redbubble.com/people/nebsy/writing/4936469-napowrimo-3
“Burial”
http://poemsaboutnothinginparticular.blogspot.com/2010/04/burial.html