MY DANCIN' SHOES (#23 - a poem about shoes)

I never knew 

What the years would do

To my shoes

Hidden, stored away

Melancholy memories repressed

I had all but given in

To ever wearing them again

But then...

A second chance

A brand new song

To dance to

But time had been a bit unfair

To my old shoes

And now it's clear

I'm gonna' need a new pair.

Caren E. Salas

Photo: Poshmark

A Star for Her (#22 prompt: Star_____)

Fallen star

To hold in her hand

Midnight blue

Shining bright

A pendant of Star Sapphire

To hang on her neck.

Caren E. Salas

The prompt was a fill in the blank with "Star..." I didn't want to go with the first thought of Star Power or Star Light, but something a little different..:)

Photo: wanelo.com

FAMILY (#21 prompt: a poem that communicates with a previous poem)

I miss you

I hope you're happy

Yes, I'm mad

And I'm hurt

I can't believe you'd forget

We were family.

Caren E. Salas

MY FRIEND... (#20 Prompt: what goes unsaid)

What I should have said

Doesn't realy matter now

What I could have said

Nothing I can do about

Can only keep missing you.

Caren E. Salas

THE "COOL" KIDS (#19 Cool or Uncool)

The cool kids tease and call her names

Trip her walking down the hall

Knock over books, pull her hair

Laugh at her should she fall.

The cool kids talk behind her back

Spreading rumors around the school

I think these kids really need to learn

A better definition of  "cool".

Caren E. Salas

Photo: Huffington Post - Getty Images.

MY OFFICE (#18 an "office" poem)

I stare out at the ocean
Waves crashing, seagulls crying
Hot sand in between my toes
Cool breezes hitting my face
I turn back to my writing:
A tough day at the office.


Caren E. Salas

MAYBE (#17 write a hiaku)

The sun is shining

It's a spectacular day

The end of June Gloom

Caren E. Salas

KABUKI (#16 prompt: in or about a food establishment)

A cup of green tea
Pickled ginger, wasabi
Holding my chopsticks
Waiting for my miso soup
And one California Roll.



Caren E. Salas





Ah...heaven on a plate. My friend introduced me to Kabuki Restaurant, the funny thing is she doesn't like sushi! I only like a bit of the raw stuff, but I love me some California Rolls! So this is a love poem. A Tanka (syllabic form). And hey, try out Kabuki.
Photo and restaurant:
http://www.kabukirestaurants.com/food/

PARTY OF THE CENTURY (#15 Pick 4 or more)

It was a lavish affair

Only the brightest and best

Were invited, and there

Was no room for the rest

The blacklist was as long

As the earth is flat

And the size of the throng

Showed the truth in that.

But if you could wrestle,

If you could sing,

Had a big shiny vessel,

Or a small gaudy ring,

A flat piece of paper,

A nice golden tooth,

An ant-eating tapir,

Or an wild untold truth,

Then maybe they'd make

An exception for you

But of course they would take

A donation or two.

For this fancy event

Lasted only one night

Until your money was spent

And the morning was bright.

Caren E. Salas

Prompt: Use 4 or more of the following words: flat, ring, lavish, vessel, tooth, paper, blacklist gaudy.
These poems always come out a little funky, but I just had fun with it, and tried
to use all the words.

NO TAPPING OUT (#14 prompt:"Time Out")

They each like to argue about what it's about;

But I'm still confused, still filled with doubt.

I just want to cover my ears up and shout,

"I need a time out! I need a time out!"

Who knows what the truth is, it all seems absurd.

I've tuned it all out. I can't hear a word.

I stare out the window and see a small bird,

As it lets out a turd, It let out a turd!

It seems not to matter who's wrong or who's right.

It's who's still alive at the end of the fight.

There's no tapping out in this race tonight;

We can only sit tight, we can only sit tight.

Caren E. Salas

LAST ONE (#13 Prompt: "Last ____")

I stand, agonizing.

Staring at the almost empty

Pink cardboard box

Of crumbs and sugary shrapnel

And one,

One last doughnut.

I look around the room.

Is it being saved for someone?

Did everybody get one?

Maybe I should just take half.

I mean, really, I don't really need it.

On the other hand,

It's not something I have everyday...

Oh, what the heck!

I should just grab it before--

Hi! 

Oh no, go ahead!

I mean, really, I don't really need it.

It's just a doughnut...

The last one. 

(I smile)

Go ahead.

(I try not to cry)

Caren E. Salas

Photo: mine
Donut: Varsity Donuts of Manhattan, Kansas  https://www.facebook.com/varsitydonuts/

SILLY PHOTOS (#12 a serious or a silly poem)

Silly photos found

In my cell phone, make me smile

Surprises from her 

Caren E. Salas

SOMETHING WRONG (#11 a "defensive poem")

There's something very wrong here
Something not quite right

When a bullied child in self defense
Is rebuked for "joining" the fight;

When a victim's life is opened wide
And instead of comforted, shamed,
Insulted atop the injury
Belittled, mocked and blamed.

How do we alter hundreds of years
Of Survival of the Cruel?
It's time to change some attitudes.
It's time to break some rules.

Apparently it's easy to say
"Toughen up, you'll be fine"
Rather than taking action,
To eliminate the crime.

There's something very wrong here;
Something so absurd.
But being a girl myself, it seems
I likely won't be heard.


Caren E. Salas




Photo: http://bullyingpreventionnow.com/bullying-assemblies/high-school-bullying-assemblies/
Also, check this out! http://www.pennlive.com/news/2016/06/high_school_valedictorian_skip.html

ANTICIPATION (#10 - Pick an emotion)

Waiting and wondering
Nervous excitement
A happy panic
Mixed with somber confusion
Neurotic obsession
And willing delusion
A constant addiction
To imminent perceptions
Of future occasions
Filled with great trepidations
Yet euphoric optimism
Knowing and certain
Believing,,,hoping....

Waiting and wondering.


Caren E. Salas

THE PLAYHOUSE (#9 - "Hideout)

It was the coolest place in heaven or earth

We were seven or eight

Just a couple of girls

Our faces smudged with jelly and dirt

And the playhouse

Was our own little world

On the ceiling was a map and a chart of Morse code

There was a potter's wheel

For making clay bowls

Just enough space for imaginations to roam

Sleeping bags and blankets

For when it got cold

It was the coolest place in heaven or earth

And for a couple of girls

Our own little world.

Caren E. Salas

Okay, we are a little more than 7 or 8 here....but this is my partner in crime, 

and yes, we are still friends.

SQUIGGLES (#8 be inspired by a doodle)

A line

A wiggle

Just thoughtless squiggles

Like inside of my mind

A jumble

unrefined

In different directions

It's all

For my own protection.

If no one can figure me out, then

I don't have to show

Who I really am.

Caren E. Salas

URBAN AIR (#7 "Urban ---")

You really don't know

Until you go someplace else

And you realize

You can breathe, I mean really 

Inhale deeply, exhale...breathe.

Caren E. Salas

Photo: http://www.umich.edu/~elements/5e/web_mod/la_basin/index.htm

ROOTS (#6 an Ekphrastic poem)

Grounded

Stable, stong

Doing, feeling, striving

Roots, home, prison, restraint

Reaching, fearing, disparing

Imprisoned, tortured

Bound.

Caren E. Salas

Painting:  "Roots" by Frida Kahlo

THE INTERVIEW (#5 Experience/Inexperience)

Inexperience
Written all over his face
Passed over, again.


Caren E. Salas

Eyes Closed

The petals drop one by one
My opening night bouquet
Fading into every day
Mere hours remain of this dream
And I don't want to wake up
Eyes closed, let me sleep some more.


Caren E. Salas

IN BETWEEN (#4 Distance)

Distance can be measured

Not in miles, 

But by smiles and tears;

Not on a street map, 

But through years: the days and nights

And the difference

In between.

A warm embrace remembered,

Makes separation abate,

But the cold chill of a friendship lost

Reaches right into the heart:

A reminder 

Of a much greater divide

.

You haven't moved, or traveled 

To parts unknown and yet 

The distance

In between us

...has grown.

Caren E. Salas

Not That I'm Counting #3 - "Three ___ ____"

Three long months I have to wait

Until my next vacation

All right, about one hundred

Days more or less, give or take,

Thirteen hours, and six minutes.

But it's not like I'm counting....

Caren E. Salas

Fade to Black - #2 He said/she said

Good night

Is all she said

Turned off the light

And went to bed.

I love you

He whispered back

Closed his eyes

Fade to black.

Caren E Salas