Lesson #1 – Pleasure of Poetry

Assignment:  Write a poem of no more than fifteen lines. There is only one stipulation and that is you must begin your poem with one of these first lines: My mind swims with thoughts of, It would be much too dangerous to talk about, or lizards and cupcakes on my mind.  (I wrote three for the fun of it.)

Velvet Cake

My mind swims with thoughts of velvety cake.

Taking a bite, blood specks dribble down my chest

And over my heart.  The life we have crumbles,

Before my plate.  Can it be too late for us and our children?

No, I won’t think of me, or the us of lore, but only of cake –

Sweet, salty, and for me – sadly cheerless.


Death to the Faucet

It would be much too dangerous to talk about,

So, I will speak of the leaky faucet.

Drip, Drop, Dribble.

It rumbles and rattles my soul.

Fix it!  I’ll get to it!

Those resound in empty rooms,

Devoid of pleasantries from mourners,

Gone back to their own lives, loves, and leaky faucets.

All I have of you is

Drip, Drop, Dribble.


Mundane Existence

Lizards and cupcakes on my mind

Are two things that came to me the other day.

I was walking to and fro,

My solitary companion whizzing and whirring.

Unplugging my mundane exercise of common domesticity,

I welcomed the lizard into my home.

Shall I make raspberry cupcakes or plain vanilla?

Vanilla then, how boring and true…

The same thing everyday, and yet,

How often does a lizard come to play?