NaHaiWriMo prompt: box (part two)

equalities lecture
the speaker ticking
all the boxes


I tick one or two boxes myself, by the way. I work for a large local authority and every few years you get sent on the odd training course revolving around equalities. I don't mind as it gets me away from my desk for a day and I get to meet people in other departments. I'm also a bit of a leftie, so these courses are like preaching to the converted when it comes to me. The last time I went on equalities training, the facilitator was a black lesbian with a walking stick. She was very good - she obviously spoke from experience and she made what can sometimes be a dry subject very interesting.

NaHaiWriMo prompt: box

behind glass
museum box brownies
out of focus

(what's the betting that tomorrow's prompt will be "brownie"?)

photo taken at the National Media Museum, Bradford in 2013.

NaHaiWriMo prompt: battery

the cheapest eggs
no blemish, no dirt
...no blood



other avenues explored included jump leads and Martello Towers.

When I see the uniform pristine white of battery eggs, I often equate them to the photoshopped models you see on the magazine shelves. Things ain't always what they seem. Give me an egg with blood and crap all over it any day.

NaHaiWriMo prompt: Black

returning from night shift
my neighbour
and his cat

NaHaiWriMo prompt: Bump (or black)

power cut
how carefully
we bump about


I arrived at this one while considering the prompt for 4th Feb: "black" and I was about to post it on the NaHaiWriMo wall when the prompt for the 5th was posted: "bump."

I'm kinda glad because I always struggle more with the broader prompts, so I've cheated bought more time for the black prompt.

Of course, I could write another bump piece.

NaHaiWriMo prompt: Band Aid

my self portrait
photoshopped -
the scars I didn't touch

NaHaiWriMo 2014

Oh heck, I said I'd give this a try again this year. The haiku bit of my brain needs exercising. Hopefully it won't burn out - I may not last the course.

All the prompts this year appear to start with the letter B. I'm playing catch-up a bit, but here's my first two:

Prompt: banjo

back from the pub
we acapella
duelling banjos


Prompt: brother

years later
my big brother's kids
led astray by mine


(I hate the banjo one)

a new moon
and all the planets
to Saturn
how neatly your shoulders
fit into my arm


I wish I wrote tanka more often. I always enjoy the experience.

morning mizzle
the screech of a gull
far from the sea

recycled
with each bottle
the same resolution

Happy new year!

coming soon...

After a couple of years of keeping a low profile, I have a few things in the pipeline.

I'll be appearing in the following in the new year:

Journals

• Blithe Spirit (March)
• Presence (guest edited by Matt Morden)
• A Hundred Gourds (March) 

Anthologies

• The Scent of Music (Ed. Marlène Buitelaar) ('t Schrijverke) (Dec 2013)
• Red Mood Anthology (Ed. Jim Kacian) (Red Moon Press) (April)

Publications

• Still Fighting The War (eChapbook, Alesbury Press) (April)

Other

• NaHaiWriMo - I succesfully took part in this in 2011, but dipped out last year. I'm hoping to give it another go this year. Initial publication will be on the NaHaiWriMo Facebook page in February.

Have a good new year everyone!

airport drop-off
back home, her name
in alphabetti

all that turmoil
in one little person
so fast asleep

fairy lights -
I switch on
their smiles

five counties, then
at the horizon
Betelgeuse

my urge to hold
the tarantula again
its velcro feet

skipping generations
her inherited traits
raise an eyebrow

tinted windows -
through the gap
his fingers wriggle thanks

binding
more than these canes -
knots
by the grandad
I never knew

Salute

I can't seem to lose

my sand filled boots

and my legs want to take me

different routes.

When I finish each day

I'm painfully mute.

It's like I'm wearing an inside-out

cactus suit.

I can't stem the tide

I'm like King Cnut

But I can give MS

a two fingered salute

* * * * * * * * * * *

...Up yours, MS! and have a happy poetry day everyone!