2022 Whole Life Soaps Haiku Contest Entry

dandelion roars
shaking its soft head above
concrete affliction

This is my entry to the 2022 Whole Life Soaps Haiku Contest. This year’s them is “intolerance.”

All-Consuming

I wrote a poem for you today
To tell you how I really feel
It was terrible-
The poem, not my feelings about you
Or maybe that’s just
A matter of opinion too-
I guess we’ll never know
Because I tossed it in the box
And they assured me
You’d both burn

I made it! This is the first time I was able to complete a National Poetry Month poem of the day challenge. Thanks for reading!

The prompt is “a poem I’ll burn” from Maria Giesbrecht @theguelphpoet on Instagram. April 30, National Poetry Month 2022.

Enter Stage Right

Break a leg?!
What’s an arm and a leg anyway?
Seems a fair price to pay
When I’d give my heart
For any part to play
Even in your history
Just to be in your story

The prompt is “tibia and fibula” from Maria Giesbrecht @theguelphpoet on Instagram. April 29, National Poetry Month 2022.

Echoes

I tried to speak
                             But my tongue was rusted to the roof of my mouth
It took a long time to get that way I suppose
I didn’t notice
                        time passed by as I diminished in the silence
Swallowed by your shadow while you took in all the light

She found me
                    In a dark and damp corner of my mind
She told me I was beautiful
I wanted to believe
Though I thought it lies
       She told me I could shake off the night and decay
And loosen my voice once again
All it took was a spark of
faith
To free my caged spirit

You took for granted the sunshine
on your back
While my sight was restored
You raged down an empty hall
Echoes of breaking chains
                                        to keep you company

The prompt is “rust on my tongue” from Maria Giesbrecht @theguelphpoet on Instagram. April 28, National Poetry Month 2022.

Three Candles

On the night stand
Three candles
Wax melted and still
Warm to the touch
Remind me of the moment
Your face glowed
In the flames
From the fire between us
And the flickering cast shadows
On the walls and our bodies
You left your lighter there
Beside them so you could
Return and ignite
Me once again

The prompt is “you left your lighter” from Maria Giesbrecht @theguelphpoet on Instagram. April 27, National Poetry Month 2022.

Vulgar Work of Fiction

Like a butterfly emerging
From a cocoon
I awoke and floated
From my room
Feet above the ground
On my thirteenth zoom
Around the sun
A flower set to bloom
Being a teenager is fun
According to the mirror in my bathroom
I look good and that feeling I get
Carries me to the classroom
Where there’s always a place for me…
Yeah, that didn’t happen
And I felt a bit nauseous
Even just stringing the words together
This poem is a story that isn’t true
And I’ve somehow offended myself

The prompt is “a story that isn’t true” from Maria Giesbrecht @theguelphpoet on Instagram. April 26, National Poetry Month 2022.

Peachy Keen

Sticky, juicy, dribbling down my chin-
Laying on the summer grass
Sweat upon my skin-
I picked a good one.

Not to sound crass,
But a plump, round,
Perfectly ripe peach
Is where it’s at.

The prompt is “pickin’ peaches” from Maria Giesbrecht @theguelphpoet on Instagram. April 25, National Poetry Month 2022.