In the tradition of Inktober I offer these 31 word poems instead of ink drawings inspired by the 2019 prompts offered by artist, illustrator, writer and teacher, Jake Parker, who started this popular art challenge in 2009. I regularly try to write up to 1,000 words a day so these are just little added bits of fun. Hope you enjoy my words cause no one wants to see my stick-figured drawings! jas

1. Ring

metal cold hard unyielding
chased on mandible
formed with mallet
brazed and soldered
fit to fingers, given
with promises of delight
rings rule, only hearts
not wizards
not kings
if they were imbued
with magic
the silversmith would sing.

2. Mindless

do we do
all the tiny things
that meander with our thoughts
through the bedlam of yesterday
past the confusion of today
and on toward
the topsy-turvyness of tomorrow
do we do
the things that thoughtless
words make light of
with no consideration for the we
we wanted to protect
no we do and we feel regret
we do mindless things we do.

3. Bait

it’s all about the allure
the deliberate little torments
used to entice him
like he was prey
in her sights
and she was an irresistible temptation
as bright as sun reflected on water
cool and soothing
ready to catch him up
and devour every delicious morsel of him.

4. Freeze

if you stop, if you pause
if you stand still
for more than a moment
if you halt all movement
suspend all action
end all care never worry
become a statue
stalwart and sure
no matter how robust
you may have been
you freeze
and that would be a tragic end.

5. Build

make all the components
fabricate all that you need
sort them out pair them up
put them together
make it a big thing
made of many small things
make it a thing that grows
sturdy and useful
let there be fine connections
assembled with infinite care
just be careful that what you build
enhances the delicate pattern of the world.

6. Husky

they were dogs built for winter
fit for the cold
furry yappy creatures
who loved to run in the snow
pulling their master’s sled
over ice and cold
ending each run
warming up with the one
who fed them
and loving the one
who tells them
how to go.

7. Enchanted

he could see it in her eyes
she was filled
her eyes liquid
with emotion
being charmed
not under a spell or
even hypnotized
just slightly enchanted
but by who?

8. Frail

delicate insubstantial
fragile surprise
how do we ever survive
what is weak and helpless
about us in the world
alone or worse
together without
even a frail
connection
beyond home.

9. Swing

let me bring you around
let me influence you
manage you
I can be compelling
sweeping you along
the way I mean
for you to go
swing with me
by me be swung.

10. Pattern

I question how
a tree grows it leaves
in a cookie cut pattern
of oak and maple
and sycamore
who made those patterns
so identically repeated
man without machine
never made anything
so precise, how does a tree?

11. Snow

snow like confectioners sugar
coating all, white
in the crisp winter
frosting we watch
its arrival with delight
we play til our fingers
are blue with the cold
we watch it melt
to reveal spring green
laying silently under it all.

12. Dragon

dragons will never
believe in me
though I breath fire
occasionally singeing
the wounded feelings
of annoying creatures
who pretend to be
slayers of lies and
knights of truth
though my bed
is stuffed with
lofty excelsior
dragons will never
sleep willingly with me.

13. Ash

we built huge fires
every late summer
burning up the branches
our trees lost to storms
the flames were high and hot
for hours we were warmed
when the evenings cool
turned to nightly cold
the embers glowed
as we told stories of dark deeds
and still the ashes sizzled
in the early morning rain
before we made it to our beds
and our incendiary dreams.

14. Overgrown

I’m saving this
until after I’ve trimmed
the rose bushes down to canes
and pulled the weeds
from my flower box garden
cleaned up the world a bit
of the debris that
marched in triumph
across my lawn
then we will no longer call it
overgrown.

15. Legend

she was an extremely
notorious person, a legend
though regarded as unauthentic
there would most likely be
an interesting inscription
on her gravestone
if anyone ever found her dead
so far, no one is really
looking very hard
most just tsk tsk
in faded wonder.

16. Wild

growing unrestrained
wild as beauty
tempting as it turns
running free while
you can only stand and watch
or pursue in frantic flight
desiring to capture
and tame the object of your delight
that once fought for and caught
disintegrates into vapor
and leaves you with naught.

17. Ornament

I have a little bobble
that dangles from a cord
I hang it on my door
to ward away the storm
I put it on a ring
and hang it round my neck
its brought me precious luck
no lightnings struck me yet.

18. Misfit

Sissy was a misfit
her mother told her so
her father gave her money
and said she had to go
her older brother laughed
her middle brother crowed
her baby brother cried
while she danced all alone.

19. Sling

he took a bandanna
tied it around her neck
and gently placed her arm
in the makeshift sling
she cried about her injury
she cried about every tender
thing he ever did
for all the careful damage
he had secretly caused
every last night and yesterday
would forever be healed wrong.

20. Tread

take only soft steps
go gently on the ground
leave no mark of your passing
tread as lightly as you can
floating as you move
from now until tomorrow
may you never reach the end
of your flawless forward journey.

21. Treasure

it was unbelievably small
the tiniest creature wasted
as it rested in my hand
I had lost it helplessly
rejected potential in this one
warm bundle of flesh
doctors took it from me
and wiped all traces
of it from existence
I couldn’t bear to wonder
where they put my treasure
only that it was gone
away to place
that was not my hand.

22. Ghost

I’d sooner believe in dragons
than believe in ghosts
I’d sooner clowns haunt me or
demon monsters steal my breath
than have ghosts
dance in my shadow.

23. Ancient

I wonder about ancient
artifacts the history of
who and when and where and why
someone made the golden
bounty hid in graves
with kings and queens and
pharaohs as much as I wonder
about alabaster bowls and flint tools
found in common burial places
ancient things fascinate me even more
now that I too have grown old.

24. Dizzy

spinning spinning spinning
turning twisting falling hard
as the world tilts the wrong way
and I land all this way and that
and I can’t seem to find
how to make the world right again
so dizzy my eyes dance.

25. Tasty

you put this wild
bit of food on my tongue
a morsel of savory delight
a dab of honey sweet
a chocolate rich and dark
a dash of fiery hot sauce
a sharp sip of wine
and water fresh icy and cold
to wash it all down.

26. Dark

dark beings moving in the dark
with dark intentions
and dark delights
they never cast a shadow
nor do they make a noise
there is no trace
of where they’ve been
only a dark and ominous void.

27. Coat

I love my coat, and yet
I strongly resist
getting it out of my closet
until I’m chattering with the cold
like I might just be able to stall winter
a few more days
if I can be stronger
than the icy wind
or just simply stay indoors.

28. Ride

give me a boat
I’ll float on the water
give me a plane
I’ll glide on the wind
let me loose to soar
past clouds
over waves
down endless roads
and over mountains
I’ll only turn once
to see where I’ve been
then let me ride on, again.

29. Injured

I don’t know what to say
I have been hurt in
so many ways all
that injured me
is lurid fresh
as wounds raw with pain
or past purple bruising
aching deep as deeds that slice
and words that puncture
twisting rightness until
every good thought is broken
and likely to remain
crippling and dented.

30. Catch

careless girl that I am
I couldn’t be in the exact
right place or only
move just a little left or
just right enough
to catch it up
and make it mine
I couldn’t be so lucky
as to have it land
solidly in my grasping hand
snatch it out of the air
with a sure grip and hold it tight
against dropping it
careless girl with useless hands
that I am.

31. Ripe

it’s a peach
and the mere thought
makes moisture fill my mouth
anticipation as that first bite
sends dribbles down my chin
and I lick at my fingers
sticky with sweet nectar
juice too precious
to loose perfect
raw and ripe.

Judith A. Sears
October 1 – 31 2019