November PAD Chapbook Challenge: Day 4

I've heard the pleas from the Poetic Asides commonwealth asking that I post the November PAD prompts earlier in the day. I've been on Main Street and seen Joe Poet and Jane Poet working to put food on the table and still write a poem-a-day. I've visited schools, hospitals, and random fast-food restaurants and hear the same stories of "earlier prompts" in every large city and small town. From the corporate CEO to the amateur hockey mom, all poets seem to want the prompts earlier in the day.

And I agree, which is why I will make an attempt to post earlier in the day for the rest of the month. The beginning of this month was a little rough because of a database project related to WritersMarket.com, but that's no excuse for getting the prompts out later in the day. So be prepared for earlier prompts. Be very prepared.

I am Robert Lee Brewer, and I endorse this message.

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Whew! I am sooooooo glad the political ads will come to a halt today. At least for a little while anyway (since the political season is now almost a year-round phenomenon). As many of you know (even if you're living outside the U.S.), today is election day in the United States of America. Hooray for voting and having a voice! (Even if I do usually back the losing candidate.)

For today's prompt, I want you to write a "soap box" poem on your theme. If your theme is food, have an asparagus campaign for less discrimination against veggies. If your subject is parenting, maybe make a case for having one hour or less of TV each night in favor of playing board games or doing a family activity. Regardless of your theme, today is the day you can pull out that soap box, dust it off, stand on it, and take a stance on an issue (or several issues--heck, this could turn into someone's theme).

Here's my attempt for the day:

"Monster Rights"

-speech delivered by The Mummy

You all know me; I've been around for centuries
just hanging out in my tomb. Some people come and
wake me up, and then they get mad at me when I'm
a little grumpy. I mean, have you ever been
woken after a very long sleep? You're grumpy,
simple as that. Just ask my friend Godzilla, who
has had more than his fair share of interruptions
to long sleeps. And that's exactly what I'm trying
to get at. We are not the problem; people are.

Dracula, you need blood to stay alive, correct?
But when, my friend, have people stopped to consider
your needs as a living, breathing, undead creature?
Never! They just try killing you like a common
mosquito, walking around with their wooden stakes,
mirrors, crosses, holy water, and attitudes.

Frankenstein's Monster, did you ask to be created?
And who, may I ask, created you? A man! Only
to be hunted and chased around the countryside
by men, even though you, too, were once one of them.

From werewolves to witches, I've seen the appalling way
mankind has treated those of us who just happen
to be a little, um, different. Some of us,
like the vampires, have special needs, sure; and a few
of us, like the homicidal killers (a la
Freddy K. and the Phantom of the Opera),
indulge, perhaps, a little too much in our arts,
but I say, the time for monster oppression has
passed. The time for monster equality is now!