April PAD Challenge: Day 3
The response has been so amazing that I now have all my blog comment notifications filtered into a folder in my Outlook. Isn’t that great?!? Something else that is great…
The response has been so amazing that I now have all my blog comment notifications filtered into a folder in my Outlook. Isn't that great?!? Something else that is great is that once we finish today's poem, we'll have made it 10% through the challenge (that's right, I threw out a statistic on a poetry blog). With a long distance running background, I learned a long time ago the value of breaking up large tasks into smaller tasks to give the sense of movement and accomplishment. So yay! We're getting there--one poem at a time.
(Note: If you're not already, I'd suggest you sign up for the free updates--over on the top left-hand side of this page--either via email or RSS. If you're not sure what RSS is, then you probably want to go with the email option. Then, you'll be notified whenever I post a new prompt, interview, or rambling attempt at answering a poetry-related question on Poetic Asides.)
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Today's prompt: Take the phrase "The problem with (blank)" and replace the "(blank)" with a word or phrase. Make this the title of your poem and then write a poem to fit with or juxtapose against that title. For instance, you could have poems with the titles of "The problem with government," "The problem with advanced mathematics," or "The problem with bipolar penguins." You know the drill: have fun, be creative. (You're all already doing such an amazing job that Tammy and I are trying to figure out logistical ways of getting the poems down to 5-a-day for the guest judges. Keep it up!)
Here's my attempt for the day:
"The problem with getting older"
Where to start? How about losing
my memory so that I can't
remember how bad things were
at twenty, fifteen, five?
Plus, there are expectations
never fully realized. Canceled
plans and Duran Duran sounding
worse with each new reunion.
New pains and allergies emerge
at the same time as I realize
odds are they'll only get worse.
I catch myself unconsciously
becoming suspicious of teens
and talking about politics.
I count calories and read
articles covering the best
diets for avoiding diabetes
and mental health issues.
When I'm not busy getting old,
I remember my youth (the new
version): racing around the track,
two laps in less than two minutes--
wind in my hair, legs burning, and
only the finish line in my way.
Robert Lee Brewer is Senior Editor of Writer's Digest, which includes managing the content on WritersDigest.com and programming virtual conferences. He's the author of 40 Plot Twist Prompts for Writers: Writing Ideas for Bending Stories in New Directions, The Complete Guide of Poetic Forms: 100+ Poetic Form Definitions and Examples for Poets, Poem-a-Day: 365 Poetry Writing Prompts for a Year of Poeming, and more. Also, he's the editor of Writer's Market, Poet's Market, and Guide to Literary Agents. Follow him on Twitter @robertleebrewer.
