by the Read Write Poem Staff
It’s Day #25, and you may be getting tired. In Joseph Harker’s prompt today, let others do the heavy lifting of inspiration.
Keep an ear out for the first sentence (or even word) that is said to you after you read this prompt. (Poetic license: If the first few words are exceptionally boring, wait for the first uncommon or peculiar one.) Take that word/sentence — it could be “mango” or “exemplar” or “have you ever been to this Ethiopian restaurant?” — and build a poem around it. Maybe you have deep thoughts on mangoes or a narrative of heartbreak and spicy injera from the restaurant mentioned. Trust in fate. 
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.
Love You, Too
‘The door won’t close properly’ HERE!
vivienne Blake replied:
April 25th, 2010 at 2:53 am
Stan, I loved this, specially your final stanza. I’ll never look at cracks in the same way again.
From a South Park episode my roommate was watching: “They fill our brains with illusions.”
Immaterialism
The first word to hear is here.
Wow, Joseph – quite an intriguing prompt. Well, I’m off to watch my daughter start, and then later finish the Heidelberg Halbesmarathon. In the meantime I’ll hang around and take pictures, and refuel at Starbucks. I wonder what the first words will be?
First things first, or my famous last words:
“My Feet are Killing Me!”
http://babblingoninbabylon.com/blog
Ieisha replied:
April 25th, 2010 at 4:17 pm
This is such a wonderful poem. It so speaks to the true essence of how feet mean so much more than just the flesh and bones.
Before the prompt was published I had decided today to try writing a Villanelle which I have never attempted. Although the first words spoken made me want to wait for what may come down the track…I gave it a go and used them . Then I used the next words spoken to write a Tanka.
http://ingeborgsblog.blogspot.com/2010/04/napowrimo-25-first-things.html
[Reply]
I can’t believe we only have five days left! I have LOVED napowrimo and I’m not American or even living there.
My poem for today is at
http://thelaughinghousewife.wordpress.com
A very different thing.
http://poemsotherwise.blogspot.com/2010/04/first-of-all.html
My poetry today runs hot and cold… NaPoWriMo #25
rob kistner replied:
April 25th, 2010 at 1:43 am
The “first word” was uttered to me by my daughter-in-law tonight, and it is the very last word in the poem…
rob kistner replied:
April 25th, 2010 at 12:58 pm
NOTE: Six (6) days until the first new prompt is launched from the re-opened Writer’s Island… come check it out, and enjoy the writing fun in the sun, and bring friends — all are welcome on the Island…
Jaelle replied:
April 25th, 2010 at 3:23 am
*lol* Marvelous how you trap us into your imagery!
Here is my poem for today, it has nothing to do with today’s Prompt, but features a recurring character that has appeared each NaPoWriMo that I have done. Today became his day to appear:
REX Surveys the Damage:
http://brokeness.blogspot.com/2010/04/napowrimo-24-rex-surveys-damage.html
My belovedjust got up and I tried to send him back to bed. This is what came of that inspiration:
I will do that
I look at my lover’s morning face
I tell him to go back to bed.
Through half closed eyes he looks at me,
And says: I will do that.
But he stays awake to save the world
(Computer games played with glee)
And he helps with the laundry and cleaning the house
And he takes good care of me.
We go together like salt an pepper
Like guns and bullets, we two.
All for one and each for the other
We’re making our love stay true.
vivienne Blake replied:
April 25th, 2010 at 6:54 am
Ah, that’s so sweet!
Mine was prompted by words written in a reply to my comment from my friend, Irene.
http://melrosemusings.blogspot.com/2010/04/end-is-nigh-napowrimo-day-25.html
vivienne Blake replied:
April 25th, 2010 at 6:52 am
You and me both, Derrick. At least yours is witty.
Good Morning! I was listening music when I read this prompt and the first thing I heard was:
God money’s not looking for the cure by Nine Inch Nails.
And here is my poem.
http://stiletto.crisopeya.eu/2010/04/25/napowrimo-25-first-things-first/
Have a nice day!
I kinda sorta cheated a little and warned my sentence-giver… Spring Cleaning
http://vivinfrance.wordpress.com/
First Words
Don’t blame me if it’s not a poem – blame the taxman.
By the time I remembered I was supposed to be doing this, I had missed quite a bit of conversation by not paying attention. So the first lines I actually remember are “a post-extinction burst” (it’s a psychology term) and “What shall I do with my hair?”
I’ll go to bed pondering what to do with those, in the meantime here is my Day 25 poem, with just an hour left in the day here, using the phrase finder prompt.
A Sort of a Villanelle
This is a true . Something that came to mind on
hearing those words
‘First Things First’
http://rallentanda.blogspot.com
get up. write poem. day 25
vivienne Blake replied:
April 25th, 2010 at 7:05 am
Swiss: Your poem is breathtaking. Tell yourself the same thing every morning, and let them all be as good as this!
“You should really read my Pimpernel sonnets”
http://poiesis3.blogspot.com/2010/04/napowrimo-day-25-in-which-i-am-so-very.html
Good morning! Here’s a poem for my son and the grandfather after whom he was named:
“John, again”
http://jasoncrane.org/2010/04/25/poem-john-again/
Enjoy!
Jason
And here’s my second attempt:
Gobbledegook senryu.
http://vivinfrance.wordpress.com
Yours were the first words that came Derrick, so our poems have the same title. How neat!
the end is nigh
The link is lame, so again.
the end is nigh
Funny story. Stupidly, I read today’s prompt out loud to my sister. She thought for a second, before imperiously pronouncing, “bottom”.
Yeah, I’m not going to pedal that unicycle. Here’s something different.
“Shan’t Convert”
http://www.redbubble.com/people/nebsy/writing/5067026-napowrimo-25
pamela sayers replied:
April 25th, 2010 at 1:59 pm
Nebs,
Good for you.
Pamela
The first line was said by my nephew and I built a poem around it:
http://firmlyrooted.blogspot.com/2010/04/clouds-roll-over.html
My answer to the prompt. The first line was spoken by someone who takes people to the hospital in relation to his work. I went a different direction:
http://poemblaze.wordpress.com/2010/04/25/rwp-napowrimo-25/
Matt Quinn replied:
April 25th, 2010 at 4:57 pm
Revised it a bit since first posting.
Since I’m alone this morning, and had to get this poem done before I leave the house, I used another prompt today. So, I let an inner voice speak, instead of an outer one:
http://memali.posterous.com/2530-2
“Use Only As Directed” at Scrambled, Not Fried.
vivienne Blake replied:
April 25th, 2010 at 10:21 am
Ron, my brain is addled today: it took me a while to get the sense of your poem. But You have done a grand job with it.
novaheart replied:
April 25th, 2010 at 10:24 am
Powerful! Great work!
Like the prompt from Joseph & I’m guessing we will be all over the place with this one:
New Reason to Cry
http://jdmackenzie.blogspot.com/2010/04/new-reason-to-cry.html
The first words I heard were: “You’ve got a criminal mind.” (from the TV– honest!). It sparked this:
http://caraholman.wordpress.com/2010/04/25/2010-napowrimo-25/
I asked someone this morning to say something interesting, she said “furbulous”…
http://novaheart.wordpress.com/2010/04/25/poem-42510-furbulous/
Inspired by a phone call with my daughter this morning.
http://herwordsbloomed.blogspot.com/2010/04/napowrimo-25-first-things-first.html
Last Sunday of 2010’s spectacular NaPoWriMo !!!
Did another double prompt, and an additional poem starter and some septolets too !!!
It’s on Facebook or here:
http://dash30dash.ning.com/profiles/blogs/napowrimo-day-25-poems-writing
Keep writing.
You can see my poem, Homeless, at musetomyeyes.blogspot.com
The words I hate to hear first thing in the morning, “The dog puked again…”
Another morning
“He puked again…”
there is the smell
of floor cleaner,
the kitchen tiles are wet,
the mop stands at attention
in the pail.
Somewhere feral dogs are eating
garbage, drinking ditch water,
sleeping under rusted cars…
This dog has
a sensitive stomach,
separation anxiety,
abandonment issues…
sleeping behind the chair
he breathes heavy.
I make my coffee
stirring responsibility
and ownership
vivienne Blake replied:
April 25th, 2010 at 2:32 pm
Yuk, but bravo for writing this.
robinamelia replied:
April 25th, 2010 at 3:31 pm
Substitute “cat” and I so there!
I like the way this prompt made me pay attention to an encounter I would otherwise hardly have noticed. http://rhiannonproblematising.wordpress.com/2010/04/25/napowrimo-25-way-in/
http://tinacelio.wordpress.com/2010/04/25/o-drivel-dumb-mouth-that-speaks/
In case of silence, read this
http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474978196643
Good one Joseph. It has revived me. I’ll be listening for first lines.
Are we done yet? Gah!
http://yearofthebooks.wordpress.com/2010/04/25/poem-a-day-day-25/
By the Models, Hank?
http://juliejordanscott.typepad.com/jjspoetry/2010/04/by-the-models-hank-napowrimo-day-and-poem-25.html
I used a conversation overheard on a train:
Hyperbole Fills the Belly and Keeps It Lean
This is another prompt that bears trying again when my brain is not mush.
google bodies looks like more than it really is. really just three poem ideas
This was a difficult one … Since my husband went to bed quite early last night and the only conversation I heard was coming from the tube … Thanks for the prompt Joseph.
http://flaubert-poetrywithme.blogspot.com/2010/04/adventure-napowrimo-25.html
http://mothersparrow.wordpress.com/2010/04/25/consoled/
Our first words this morning.
The first word said to me this morning was “danke” and I was prepared to write on this, until I overheard something more interesting in Starbucks.
http://www.synecdochicstuff.blogspot.com/
I followed directions!!
http://another2doors.wordpress.com/2010/04/25/i-remember-you-saying-something-about-that/
Trusting in fate…
http://pamelavillars.wordpress.com/2010/04/25/april-25-10-some-days/
‘would you like your melon scooped or sliced?’ was the first interesting question asked, and here is the poem – http://umaathreya.blogsome.com/2010/04/25/a-bowl-of-muskmelon/
The first thing on the narrator’s mind is the narrator, who has very robust self-esteem indeed!
Read ‘The Writer of this Poem’ at http://www.gregoconnell.com
Weather Report
“Did the thunder wake you up last night?”
My daughter calls early, at least for a rainy
Sunday morning. “No, actually our thunder
Wasn’t very loud, but I saw everything was
Wet when I let the kitties out.”
Actually I’ve always loved looking out the
Window and watch the lightning slash its
Patterns across the sky. I also love the
Feeling of everybody being safe inside
While nature huffs and puffs and blows
Down what she can.
Somehow, in the last years, I’ve been
Turning on the Weather Channel for
The forecast. Once I went outside and
Looked at the sky, felt which way the
Wind was blowing and what kind of
Clouds were building up and from
Which direction. Other signs included
Dew on the grass, or no dew, birds
Flying low, seagulls flying inland from
The bay and if the temperature was
Holding steady.
Once, when I was too young to know
Better, I believed in a self-sufficient
Existence. If someone dropped an
Atomic bomb and we were bounced
Back to the stone age, I was prepared,
I could cook, can, dry, preserve, sew
Clothes…but now I’m old and tired.
No electricity and they might as well
Sit me on the nearest ice-berg and let
Me float away. Modern inventions
Make life easy and it’s a habit hard
To break.
pamela sayers replied:
April 25th, 2010 at 2:48 pm
Marian,
Beautifully written. I love the bit about sitting on an iceberg and floating away.
I deviated from the prompt slightly and went with the first thing I read today, so this is mostly a found poem:
http://freckledwriter.blogspot.com/2010/04/stephen-hawking-scares-hell-out-of-me.html
A senryū so far. Might be more later, but people suck inspiration right out of me. http://jasonriedy.wordpress.com/2010/04/25/napowrino-25/
Crawling towards the finish line, I am…
http://daily-yawp.blogspot.com/
My word for today was sycamore.
http://mmw113.blogspot.com/2010/04/napowrimo-25-green-fuse-ignites.html
I combined this post the NaPoWriteMo # 25 and a writeup of a poetic event called the Green Fuse which happened yesterday.
Yes I missed #24. DEEP SIGH. I promise to go back to it before months end.
OK. Here is my attempt at #25. It was inspired by watching the Sounders game on tv. and hearing the announcer shout “left hand side”. Which is funny because it didn’t turn about to be about soccer (futball) at all.
I hope you like it. Blessings!!
http://lotuspapillon12.blogspot.com/2010/04/napowrimo-25-left-hand-side.html
In the End: http://poetry.disorderedcosmos.com/2010/04/napowrimo-25-in-the-end/
I wrote a poem today, but it was off prompt. I’ll get back on track tomorrow.
http://www.robertlunday.net/2010/04/poem-25-interregnum.html
The first line said to me after reading the prompt was, “I really hate this graphics project.”
http://healingforthehealthy.blogspot.com/2010/04/napowrimo-25-first-things-first.html
using another prompt: http://web.me.com/susansonnen/Susan_Sonnens_musings/Blog/Entries/2010/4/25_NaPoWriMo%2C_Day_25.html
It was a long night. Anyone who battles chronic pain will more than likely identify with “Battle of Wills.”
http://bridgeanna.blogspot.com
Blessings on your day!
another great challenging prompt! conduit connect
i think i crashed and burned conduit connect
Part 2 of NaPoWriMo #25 – Fissures
rob kistner replied:
April 25th, 2010 at 5:00 pm
Part 3 of NaPoWriMo #25 — The Circle Game, an addendum to the Joni Mitchell song…
The Gut has a real Organic Earthy Sound: http://thekitchenbitchponders.blogspot.com/2010/04/national-poetry-writing-month-day_8067.html
I wrote a 2nd poem for today. One of the campfire skits my daughter told me about was too funny. It had to be put in a poem.
http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474978197087
It must be spring – I keep coming back to seeds and growth!
http://www.shicho.net/words/?p=1148
The first thing said in my house this morning was “So Rude” when the dog woke me up
at http://1965footprints.blogspot.com
Oh, hosking, I really love the campfire skit! Hilarious!
in prompt 2 http://sky-lined.blogspot.com/2010/04/napowrimo-25.html
I’m trying hard to meet the people I find in my poems. I think I’m going to have to start reading novels again.
http://avniously.blogspot.com/2010/04/house-mother.html