NaPoWriMo Day:25 The End Is Near

On By WinstonIn Humor, NaPoWriMo, PersonalLeave a comment

So day 25 of NaPoWriMo and there’s not a crumb of inspiration in the old mental cupboard. Still, I am nearly there. Only six to go including today.

I’ve got a rhyme, let’s see where it goes.

Enjoy!

The Home Stretch

I write and write, and write some more
More than I thought I could.
Sure most of it is just okay
But one or two are good.

“Write thirty days of poetry.”
I knew it would be tough.
I didn’t know when I began
That it would be this rough.

I share my thoughts and share my dreams
Through my poems each day.
I struggle now for every word
For something new to say.

My muse is on a coffee break
Perhaps a drinking binge.
But I press on though I can feel
My mind start to unhinge.

Now words and rhymes go tumbling through
The space between my ears.
I think out loud, I mumble them
And hope that no one hears.

But I go on, and on and on
My lowly verse to share.
I am so close I only hope
I’ll find more words somewhere.

Cheers, Winston

NaPoWriMo Day:24 The Dragon And The Boy

On By WinstonIn Loving Life, NaPoWriMo, Personal Responsibility, ValuesLeave a comment

A poem about a dragon, a boy, and how not eating visiting adolescents can actually make a dragon’s life easier… also, real heroes don’t steal dragon treasure.

Enjoy!

The Dragon And The Boy

The dragon sleeps upon his hoard
Beneath a mountain old.
While every town breeds heroes who
Would seize the dragon’s gold.

So every year in summertime
Some fool comes out to try.
They come for glory or for gold
But all come but to die.

A boy lives in a nearby town
In poverty and woe.
He knows to save his people he
Must to the mountain go.

He seeks no glory and no fame
It’s not a path he’d choose.
But famine stalks the ones he loves
He’s nothing left to lose.

He is quite young still just a lad
But fear, he knows it not.
He’s seen such horrors innocence
Is something long forgot.

He travels on through day and night
At last he nears his goal.
There high upon the mountainside
An ancient, ebon hole.

As he climbs toward the lair
He takes a look around.
He sees that bones, half melted blades
Lie scattered on the ground.

The dragon stirs and lumbers out
From his bejeweled lair.
For he has sensed the boys approach
Up steep and final stair.

The boy has reached the place he sought
Prepares to face his fate.
He has not come to slay the beast
No lust for gold to sate.

The dragon steps into the sun
And stares down at the child.
He is intrigued and when he speaks
He tries to sound more mild.

“What brings you to my door young one?
Speak true or you shall die.”
“Oh dragon great I bring a gift.”
Is his shocking reply.

The child then extends his hand
And there for all to see.
A simple copper coin is what
His offering would be.

“In my town all are starving sir.
This coin our only one.
I do not seek your pity for
I know that you have none.

Just take the coin, it is not much
Please add it to your horde.
If years from now you look at it
Remember us my lord.”

The dragon thinks then he replies,
“I’ll honor your request.
But I would ask a boon as well.
I know you’ll do your best.

Please wait right here, I’ll be right back
There’s something I must get.”
He goes inside, brings back a chest
Which on a rock he set.

“Inside is all the coin you need
To make your small town great.
And all I ask is that you spread
The tale of your fate.”

The boy is so amazed that he
Gapes up at him in awe.
Sees finally the ancient scars
Some wounds still fresh and raw.

He weeps to see this ancient beast
Has suffered so much pain.
He vows to do his best to see
It never will again.

He takes the chest and journeys back
And saves his town so dear.
They aid the other towns around
Save them from doom so clear.

A boy lived in a nearby town
Has now become a man.
He’s keeps his oath and tells his tale
To everyone he can.

Those who were saved form Dragonguards
They ring the mountains round.
No weapons are allowed within
For that is dragon ground.

The dragon sleeps upon his hoard
Beneath the sun so bold.
While nearby towns breed heroes who
Still guard the dragon’s gold.

Cheers, Winston

NaPoWriMo Day:23 The Terribly Short Wizard

On By WinstonIn Bullying, NaPoWriMo, Society, ValuesLeave a comment

The other day, I was thinking that after NaPoWriMo I might like to write a short story. While debating what to write about I doodled the following phrase.

A Terribly Short Story About A Terribly Short Wizard With A Terribly Short Temper.

It became this poem. My 23rd for NaPoWriMo.

Enjoy!

The Terribly Short Wizard

Some time ago not very far
From where we sit right now.
There lived a wizard feared by all
But laughed at anyhow.

He lived there in a quite tall house
And wore the tallest hat.
For he, himself was very short
And more so when he sat.

His chairs all had the longest legs
They’d kneel to let him up.
So he could sit there eye to eye
If guests should come to sup.

But guests were few for few would dare
To risk the wizards wrath.
As it was sure to bring ill luck
To cross the wizards path.

He’d been laughed at for his shortness
Back when he was a kid.
He had been hurt that’s why he did
The horrid things he did.

If he could make them all afraid
They’d leave him on his own .
There’d be no one to laugh at him
If he was all alone.

So he lived there in his tall house
Alone and near forgot.
And came to know that loneliness
Was all his anger bought.

So when somebody laughs at you
Don’t let it change your heart.
You’ve all your life ahead of you
That hurt is just one part.

Cheers, Winston

NaPoWriMo Day:22 Spare A Thought

On By WinstonIn Environment, Global Issues, Loving Life, NaPoWriMo, Personal Responsibility, UncategorizedLeave a comment

My 22nd NaPoWriMo effort is in honor of Earth Day.

Earth Day

A vernal warmth is on the land
As round the seasons go.
On this small world we call Earth
The only home we know.

She gives to us all that we need
Trash is all we give back.
The water’s dead, the soil too
The very sky is black.

We take so much then take some more
We take until we die.
Well what if we gave back instead
At least we ought to try.

Try taking less reusing more
Perfection’s not the goal.
For every single, smallest thing
Helps heal her wounded soul.

Plant some flowers or plant a tree
Put feeders in your yard.
Leave the car and take a walk
It’s really not that hard.

The Earth she needs your help my friend
She needs your help to heal.
It’s easier to just not look.
That won’t make it less real.

So won’t you please come work with us?
The time is now at hand.
To take much less and give much more
It’s time to heal the land.

Cheer, Winston

NaPoWriMo Day:21 Bygone Folke

On By WinstonIn NaPoWriMo, UncategorizedLeave a comment

My poem for day 21 of NaPoWriMo is about the lost world of the fae. We have reasoned so much magic out of the world in our search for the future. Maybe our lives are poorer for it.

Enjoy!

Faedreaming

I dreamed a dream of peaceful wood
All leafy and serene.
And through it flitted bygone folk
Soft footed through the green.

They came in every shape and size
And every sort of look.
From walking trees to balls of light
To women ‘neath a brook.

A fairy sipping from a bloom
Oh what a dainty sight.
Some gnomes were working on their house
To make the thatching tight.

A unicorn was grazing near
As satyr played his flute.
Across the glen a tree sprite sat
Astride a willow root.

A dwarf sat at his bench and worked
To craft an argent ring.
The other dwarves sat round a keg
To laugh and drink and sing.

All through the wood there were such sights
As varied as you wished.
In losing them we’ve lost so much
Our lives now diminished.

Cheers, Winston

NaPoWriMo Day: 20 A Self Improving Life

On By WinstonIn Enlightenment, NaPoWriMo, Personal, Personal Responsibility, Self Awareness, ValuesLeave a comment

When I was younger, I used to think that anyone who disagreed with me was wrong. More to the point, I didn’t hesitate to tell them how wrong they were. Usually as hurtful as possible. Not a really pleasant trait. So I decided to change it.

My day 20 NaPoWriMo offering is about that effort.

Enjoy!

My Past, My Path

I traveled far, so very far
As far as far can be.
When I arrived well there I was
I can’t escape from me.

Sometimes I say some awful thing
I instantly abhor.
My vile tongue and wicked mind
Wound innocence once more.

This part of me I cannot stand
Yet cannot put aside.
I bury it, try to deny
Yet from it cannot hide.

I’ve forged these chains with petty words
And every, cruel deed.
Until I change I greatly fear
My soul cannot be freed.

And so I work at bettering
Myself now day by day.
And hope in time that I can learn
To live a better way.

Now try to think before I speak
Think more before I act
Now try to see what others see
To feel how they react.

If I can see through others eyes
See me as I am seen.
Perhaps someday I will learn how
To put away the mean.

Cheers, Winston

NaPoWriMo Day: 19 Lucky In Love

On By WinstonIn Loving Life, NaPoWriMo, PersonalLeave a comment

Here we are at day nineteen of the NaPoWriMo challenge. Throughout this process as in everything, Lynn has been incredibly supportive of me. I realized that in amongst all the rest I had yet to write her a love poem. Today I would rectify that oversight.

Enjoy!

Lucky In Love

My love she is a wondrous girl
I’m lucky as can be.
She puts up with my whims and fits
And hasn’t murdered me.

I don’t know why she loves me so
But I’m one lucky guy.
My sweetheart is so good to me
Sometimes I almost cry.

When we’re in line while at the cash
She hugs me from behind.
I feel such love within that hug
It simply blows my mind.

She always finds the perfect gift
Wants nothing back it seems.
She shares her hopes and fears with me
As we build up our dreams.

A million times a million things
And millions more as well.
These are the reasons I am blessed
To in her sweet love dwell.

Cheers, Winston

NaPoWriMo Day: 18 A Night Terror

On By WinstonIn NaPoWriMo, Personal, UncategorizedLeave a comment

When I was a child, I suffered from extremely vivid nightmares. I would awake from them utterly convinced of their reality. A couple of cries in the night quickly established my father’s impatience with such behaviour.

The realization that my father wasn’t going to help me was, in its own way, more terrifying than the nightmares. That fear is the inspiration for day 18s NaPoWriMo entry.

Enjoy!

My Childhood Nights

There’s something lurking in the dark
Behind my closet door.
No way I’ll call out to my Dad
Made that mistake before.

I swear the door just moved a bit
The gap is bigger now.
I stare until I see a shape
There in the dark somehow.

I wish that I was brave enough
To go and close that door.
But no reward could make me put
My feet down on the floor.

I curl right down into a ball
Tuck my sheet in all ’round.
And when they wake me in the morn
That’s still how I’ll be found.

My father says “They are not real. ”
” Don’t fill your head with fluff.”
He’s grownup so he cannot see
Or recall well enough.

He has assured it is not real
But wise words cannot fix.
The terror I feel squirming here
For I am only six

Cheers, Winston

NaPoWriMo Day: 17 BBC Nature

On By WinstonIn Media, NaPoWriMo, Personal, Pop Culture, UncategorizedLeave a comment

I’m a huge fan of nature documentaries. I have been since I was a kid. At this time, I’ve got to say nobody can hold a candle to the BBC.

I recently picked up BBC Africa. While watching the first episode, I was reminded again of just how much I love their work. My 17th NaPoWriMo piece is a tribute to the BBC and their incredible teams.

Enjoy!

BBC Nature

I’d like to thank the BBC
I am a nature nut.
They bring all life’s wonders to me
While I sit on my butt.

They show me things I’d never see
Places I’d never go.
I’ve learned some things while watching them
I’d otherwise not know.

I’ve seen a cave that’s full of bats
And monkeys in hotsprings.
There’s beetles, sharks, volcanoes, more
Ten thousand wondrous things.

Through them I’ve been to India
Seen ocean’s hidden sights.
Watched bower bird build up his nest
So many more delights.

So thank you to the BBC
And all your roving teams.
For showing me these visions that
I’d only seen in dreams

Cheers, Winston

NaPoWriMo Day: 16 The Haunter

On By WinstonIn NaPoWriMo, Personal, UncategorizedLeave a comment

NaPoWriMo Day 16 and it’s time for a ghost poem. This one is for all the busy little “psychic investigators” out there on reality TV.

Put away your parabolic microphones and digital thermometers you ghost bothering busy – bodies. If they want your help, they’ll call your agent.

Enjoy!

The Haunter

It walks alone no matter who
Is there when it goes by.
For years or maybe centuries
Enough to make you cry.

No one can say why it’s still there
It’s story long forgot.
The only one who knows is it
And it is saying nought.

It walks about quite late at night
Goes thumping down the hall.
It will not stop and talk to you
No matter how you call.

You see it here you see it there
But never where you plan.
It shows up when it feels like
Maybe just when it can.

It wandered here before we came
Will wander when we’re gone.
Will wander here ’til it is time
At last, it to move on.

Cheers, Winston