Tori Dreamer

Too many
Unusual requests this
Early in the day.
Sunrise
Denotes work time
And
Yet, I want to play.

April 11th
Prompt: Write a Form Poem and/or an Anti-Form Poem

Be raised in the South by divorced parents
one struggling, one not… financially that is.
Be the older child of two
and the only girl.
Be a child who carried guilt around
like it would some day earn her a prize;
Certain she was the cause of her parents divorce.
Should’ve been better.
Should’ve been smarter.
Should’ve been prettier.
Should’ve cleaned her room,
gotten better grades, and
not fought with her brother as much.

Be the nerdy high schooler who lived for math class
but secretly wanted to be a cheerleader.
Be the drama geek who loved to dance and act
because it could always take her away.
Be the overachiever, the teacher’s pet,
the good girl through and through.
Gotten better.
Gotten smarter.
(Was still working on the pretty.)
Didn’t clean her room, but
grades shot up, and you guessed it,
still fought with her brother.

Be the drama major, with minors in math and psych;
no one had seen this animal before.
Be the cheerleading captain (yes, she finally made it)
who discovered a taste for Seagram’s and Seven.
Be the girlfriend, the fun one,
the (fairly) good girl through and through.
Could’ve been better.
Should’ve been smarter.
What was “pretty” anyway?
Should’ve found herself,
made different choices, and
visited her grandparents more often.

Be the young wife who moved
3000 miles from home to sunny California.
Be the School Psychologist who
tested kids and dressed “professionally”.
Be the person who discovered new friends,
true friends, her tribe.
Could not have been better.
Acted much smarter.
Finally felt pretty.
Enjoyed sand and sea,
soaked up the sun, and
laughed and played and cried.

Be the young mother of one, then two
who moved from California east to Jersey.
Be the stay-at-home mom, but only briefly
while your husband traveled for work.
Be the fun mom, the good neighbor,
the one with all the energy.
Apparently got better.
Felt much smarter.
Was her own kind of pretty.
Enjoyed squeals of laughter,
playing in the pool, and
being a Mommy.

Be the older mother of three
who has watched two of them move away.
Be the grandmother of two
who fill your heart with joy.
Be the wife of 35 years
who’s settled and comfortable, yet antsy.
Better is relative.
Smarter is relative.
Pretty is relative.
Should’ve taken more pictures,
hugged longer, loved harder, and
not worried so much about the small stuff.

Be uncertain, yet certain.
Be happy, yet sad.
Be searching, yet found.
Be kind.
Be fair.
Be loved and loving.
Be alive…

April 10th
Prompt: Write a How Blank Poem

Futoshiki
Picture Cross
One more cell to show who’s boss

Bridges, Cross Sum
Kakuro
Two more minutes, then we’ll go

Sudoku and
Picture Path
Morning puzzles steeped in math

Oh, I’ve been told
of Crosswords
That won’t do for numbers nerds

Give me digits
Add, divide
Throw in coffee. What a ride!

April 9th
Prompt: Write a Number Poem

In case you missed it
when we spoke,
I miss you more each day.
Yet, as I hear you
park the car,
I consider running away.
The you that I now know,
isn’t the you of long ago.

Midday naps
on my parents’ couch.
Long gone walks through the park.
Skipping class
to go to the fair,
Who knew life wasn’t a lark?
The you that I now know,
isn’t the you of long ago.

Who knows when
I became so blue;
Could’ve been our first row.
The comments couched
in hurtful words,
Remembered blow by blow.
The me that you now hear,
isn’t the me you once held dear.

So all is fair
in love and war.
But where did I go wrong?
I search the sky,
the bluest of blue,
it’s found in a lark’s song.
The me that you now hear,
isn’t the me you once held dear.

The me that you now hear,
is not consumed with utter fear.
The time is almost here
and my escape is growing near.

April 8th
Prompt: Write a Homograph Poem

A dot
A spot
The beginning of rot
Too tiny yet to see

A dart
At the heart
Is only the start
Of the end of you and me

A dash
And a flash
Then a fatal car crash
And we two cease to be

April 7th
Prompt: Write a Small Poem
(Had a little extra time today, so it’s a three-fer Friday.)

Pitter pat pitter
Seven pups in the litter
All ready to eat

April 7th
Prompt: Write a Small Poem

Tiny in stature
With dreams larger than her life
Calling gods forward

April 7th
Prompt: Write a Small Poem

The sun beats down just a little too heavy
on this early April day.
Beads of sweat form on my brow,
as I listen to the birds gossiping,
and my nose wonders
how many more miles until it’s here.

The heat and the sun signal
a possible early arrival,
but I’ve been played by them before.
Just when my head and my heart
and my poor bare feet have given in,
another cold wave has blown through
and I’ve been stopped, frozen,
rendered unfeeling.

I breathe in the warm air,
searching for familiar signs.
All I need is the faint scent of lilac,
or possibly hyacinth,
and my olfactory imagination will run wild.

I can still make out the peppermint
on my temples from an earlier headache
and the bergamot on my hands
from morning meditation,
Yet, I am searching for something different.

Coconut
Lime
Sea salt
Jasmine
Lemon verbena
Basil
Mint
Cut grass
Fresh mulch
Suntan lotion

Another deep breath…
and again, my nose wonders
how many more miles until it’s here.

April 6th
Prompt: Write a Poem that Smells

Well… there you are.

Another day, another squirrel.

Didn’t I just warn you yesterday?
Or was that your sister, brother, mother?

What about this clear calm water
called to you…
and others like you?

Could it be that in the dark of night
you decided to go for a swim… 
then realized you didn’t know how?

Or were you thirsty
and stopped for a nice long drink…
only to suffer chlorine poisoning?

Maybe you were out
for your nightly jog on my deck…
and slipped and fell in?

Perhaps you were depressed? 
Papa squirrel always yelling,
lost your job at the nut factory,
girlfriend left you for a hedgehog?

Did your friends and family try to save you?
Or do they not yet know you’re gone?
Should I lay you out in the yard 
to be claimed by your squirrel peeps?
Or dispose of you like the others?

Either way, I’ll be quick.
No need to upset the kids.
Mine… not yours.

April 5th
Prompt: Write a Noun in Location Poem

Dream
I am there
not here
In the sun
not the snow
Laughing
not crying
Writing
not working
Eating
not dieting
Napping
not exercising
On my schedule
not theirs
And surrounded by family, friends, and dogs…
Oh please… let there be dogs.

Reality
I lie awake worrying
Rise early to get started
Always exhausted
Never truly satisfied
Loving yet guarded
Trying… oh god, am I trying
I dream and plan and write the lists
All the lists
I call and email and text
I pray and meditate and breathe
and pet my dog

Fusion
I am there
not here, lying awake worrying
At sunrise, I’m up to get started
Laughing, exhausted from laughing
Satisfied
Eating and loving, no need to be guarded
Napping, then trying again
On my schedule, I dream and plan and write
Surrounded by family, friends, and dogs…
No calling, emailing, texting
I pray and meditate and breathe
and possibly… get another dog…

April 4th
Prompt: Two-for-Tuesday – Write a Dream Poem/Write a Reality Poem/
Write Separately or Together