THE HERMIT

Posted on Apr 10, 2019 by John Yeo | Leave a comment

For today’s prompt, write a lone poem. Perhaps the poem is about a solitary wanderer or person who just prefers to go it alone. Or a lone winner, lone wolf, or some other solo individual. Or alternatively, I’ll accept poems that are about loans or that are about being alone.

Wednesday 10th April 2019

DAY TEN

Robert Lee Brewer’s Poem-A-Day on Writers Digest

THE HERMIT

by John Yeo

The hermit sat in some welcome shade,
Sunshine lit up the forest corners,
Nobody ever visited this secret glade.

A gentle breeze the branches swayed,
A sparkling stream with cool clear waters,
The hermit sat in some welcome shade

Wild birds sang and approached unafraid
Colourful, friendly, social performers,
Nobody ever visited this secret glade.

Deer who grazed here never strayed
Far from this glades secret borders,
The hermit sat in some welcome shade.

Butterflies fluttered and Rabbits played,
Sheltered safely here from life’s scorners
Nobody ever visited this secret glade.

After he dumped the old life he had made
For a quiet life to escape from his creditors
The hermit sat in some welcome shade
Nobody ever visited this secret glade.

LOVE POEMS

Posted on Apr 9, 2019 by John Yeo | Leave a comment

Tuesday 9th April 2019

Time for our second Two for Tuesday of the month! Pick one prompt or use both…your choice!

Write a love poem. All you need is love.
Write an anti-love poem. Or not.
Remember: There are many forms of love: romantic love, friend and family love, love of being alive, etc.

Tuesday 9th April

DAY NINE

Robert Lee Brewer’s Poem-A-Day on Writers Digest

A LOVE POEM

by John Yeo

Your thoughts tend to be narrowly focussed
On the person who evokes the feeling
Emotions go haywire control is lost
As your new love enters your life.
Something takes you by surprise
As you wander along aimlessly
You are introduced to a person
Who makes a disturbing impression
Leaving you puzzled, somewhat nonplussed.
Hopelessly wondering what happened.
Love has arrived like a bolt from the blue.

NOT AN ANTI-LOVE POEM

by John Yeo

When I woke up this morning
I uttered these words
Heavens above, I must be in love,
I’m always incredibly happy.
Although I know it sounds soppy
You refer to me as a daft old thing.
Every little thing we share together.
We love, laugh and share our lives
Each moment seems to deepen the feeling.
Fifteen years ago we tied the love knot
Marriage has taught me nothing of anti-love.

LUCKY NUMBER

Posted on Apr 8, 2019 by John Yeo | Leave a comment

For today’s prompt, write a lucky number poem. Some people have lucky numbers, some don’t. Wherever you fall on the lucky number spectrum, you can still write a poem about the phenomenon of lucky numbers and/or luck in general.

Monday 8th April 2019

DAY EIGHT

Robert Lee Brewer’s Poem-A-Day on Writers Digest

LUCKY NUMBER

by John Yeo

There were three witches stirring the broth
Of the cauldron of fabulous fortune.
Three wise men stared into crystal balls.
A trio of wizards studied the runes.
Three answers to my question gave birth
To my tri-universal problematic equation.

The significant number with firm proof
You will need to follow wherever you roam,
A number that will always be with you;
The key to your future in a third dimension
Wherever you roam in Sea, Sky or Earth.
Look to the cycle of a mystical threesome.

Your lucky number will be with you forever
Engendering three branches of fortune
Three spins; Good, Bad or Indifferent.
Look to the leaves of a four leafed Clover
Then break of a leaf and feel the power.
Of this harsh sometimes brutal world
Where luck lies with the accident of birth.

NATURAL JEALOUSY

Posted on Apr 7, 2019 by John Yeo | Leave a comment

Woo-hoo! We’re a week into this challenge. Let’s keep at it! For today’s prompt, write a jealous poem. Maybe you’re jealous. Or maybe someone else is jealous of you–or someone else. Whether envious of another or suspicious of a partner, dive deep into this emotion today.

Sunday 7th April 2019

DAY SEVEN

Robert Lee Brewer’s Poem-A-Day on Writers Digest

NATURAL JEALOUSY

by John Yeo

Jules was a man with a mission
A man who was dedicated and firm
A man who was incredibly competitive
The opposition had a lot to learn.
Jules put a lot of effort into his creation
Nurtured his monster cabbage with care
Used the finest plant food available
To build a specimen succulent and rare.

Peter was the epitome of the competition,
A grower who bent all the rules.
He nurtured his vegetables with loving care
Laughed at the efforts of his rival, Jules.
The growers vied for the ultimate prize
The best in show at the village fair.
Jules showered his cabbage with care
Peter’s concern was the ultimate size.

That was where the similarity ended,
As jealousy raised its ugly head.
Jules became extremely offended
Over a chance comment carelessly said.
Peter’s cabbage was suddenly nibbled
By a thousand yellow caterpillars.
It was a mystery where they appeared from
As Jules cabbage looked equally troubled.

Finally the prize went to Mary and Jane
They stole the prize for the best in show.
Peter and Jules came to furious blows
As their competitive spirits rose.
Both accused one another outwardly
Of introducing the offending grubs.
They took their wives Mary and Jane
For a night out in two of the local pubs.

AFTER THE SEED WAS SOWN

Posted on Apr 6, 2019 by John Yeo | Leave a comment

Saturday 6th April 2019

DAY SIX

Robert Lee Brewer’s Poem-A-Day on Writers Digest

AFTER THE SEED WAS SOWN

by John Yeo

Was it just a babble of words
That swirled around in my fertile brain?
No, laughed my erstwhile teacher/advisor
Sorting through my scribbled ideas.
‘That’s the seed of a new line of thought
Searching for the moment to erupt.
After much cogitation and fertile study
Into a complete circle of answers sought.’

I searched shadows of ideas in my brain
As the sparkling neurons were lit,
My thoughts began to take shape
New information fed my ideas again.
As the budding concept grew large
Familiarity made the connections secure.
Growth of my ideas helped to demonstrate
A new line of knowledge began to emerge.

AFTER THE SEED WAS PLANTED

Posted on Apr 6, 2019 by John Yeo | Leave a comment

For today’s prompt, take the phrase “After (blank),” replace the blank with a word or phrase, make the new phrase the title of your poem, and then, write your poem. Possible titles include: “After Dinner,” “After You,” “After Hours,” and/or “After I Finish Writing This Poem.”

Saturday 6th April 2019

DAY SIX

Robert Lee Brewer’s Poem-A-Day on Writers Digest

AFTER THE SEED WAS PLANTED

by John Yeo

Was it a speck of dust
that had flipped into an empty packet?
No, laughed my chief garden advisor.
Looking a wee bit nonplussed,
‘That is a potential Petunia plant
Searching for the right conditions.’
Although I was still none the wiser
I prepared a natural environment.

After the seed was planted
Moisture was added to the mix
Of enriched potting compost,
The tiny seed began to get started.
Change developed slowly but surely
As metamorphosis began,
Two tiny leaves unfurled in the process,
A new plant life had begun its story.

HOPE

Posted on Apr 5, 2019 by John Yeo | Leave a comment

Thursday 5th April 2019

DAY FIVE

Robert Lee Brewer’s Poem-A-Day on Writers Digest

For today’s prompt, write a stolen poem. And no, don’t steal anyone’s poem! But you can write about doing such a thing. Or stealing hearts, stealing time, stealing minds.

HOPE

by John Yeo

My child has left and gone to work
I lie here alone with my thoughts,
I will not stir, I will not move, I am in pain.
My little girl Hope is twelve years old
Takes care of everything for us both,
Since her mother left us alone again.
When the sadness descended on me.

Hope gets up at dawn to prepare our meal,
Fetches water to wash the clothes,
She cleans the room and takes good care of me.
Hope hides when visitors come to the door
We both need her here to be free, with me.
Hope works in a sweatshop making clothes
for the fat people over the sea.

As I lie here alone the rats appear,
They scuffle around then leave, foodless.
When the landlord calls to collect the rent,
I have noticed the way he looks at my Hope
As she pays him from her paltry earnings.
Mischievous, malevolent lascivious looks
That bode no good for my child.

School for Hope was a couple of years
In a shack for a classroom until;
Her mother left us and Hope went to work.
She has no time for friends or parties
New clothes or games and playing sport,
No time for laughter or enjoying a book.
Hope is too busy working to stop and look.

Selfishly I lie here and let things be.
I know I can never let Hope be free
We are tied to each other irrecoverably,
It is too late for all but my sympathy.
I know I’m a thief and I can clearly see
I have stolen a precious commodity.
The innocent freedom of childhood.

EDVARD MUNCH

Posted on Apr 4, 2019 by John Yeo | Leave a comment

Thursday 4th April 2019

DAY FOUR

Robert Lee Brewer’s Poem-A-Day on Writers Digest

For today’s prompt, pick a painter, make him or her the title of your poem, and then, write your poem. Possible painters include Salvador Dali, Frida Kahlo, or Pablo Picasso. Of course, you don’t have to go with the big names.

Edvard Munch

By John Yeo

Full of inward fascination,
With an outer gloss of trepidation,
I was entranced by a painting.
A face full of fear and suffering
Shocked beyond all reasoning
With a sad mentality unraveling.

With my curiosity blindly aroused
I couldn’t help thinking out loud.
‘Whoever actually painted this
Must have also suffered painfully’
Edvard Munch a Norwegian artist
Created this work empathetically.

‘The Scream’ an iconic painting.
Reflected art as inward suffering.
Revealed by the artists inward
fear of his own tortured soul.
A legacy of a creative journey toward.
A mirror of beautiful painful love.

Quotes by Edvard Munch

‘From my rotting body, flowers shall grow and I am in them and that is eternity.’

‘Nature is not only all that is visible to the eye… it also includes the inner pictures of the soul.’

TECHNOLOGY

Posted on Apr 3, 2019 by John Yeo | Leave a comment

Wednesday 3rd April 2019

Day Three

Robert Lee Brewer’s Poem-A-Day on Writers Digest

For today’s prompt, write an animal poem. The poem could be about an animal. Or it could just mention an animal in passing. Or include an animal in your title and fail to mention the animal once in your poem. Your poem, your rules.

TECHNOLOGY

by John Yeo

If animals could communicate clearly
And we could understand their thought,
If the Lions could talk to the Lambs
Would the thought processes differ really,
Or give answers to the problems sought
If Bears could converse with Orang-Utans?

How could we eat creatures who question
Our motives for making a meal of them,
Without giving their feelings a thought?
Communication would aid the digestion
Of plants and seeds and bugs. What then?
If Chickens and Turkeys were able to talk.

If Horses became clever with logistics.
Or Pigs preached the wisdom of the ages
Ants could help to govern all smoothly
Monkeys could be studying simplistics
While Ducks would be veritable sages
Humans would be lost in technology.

People have lost the talking habit
Most of them are lost in their phones
People no longer look up and around
No time to chat to a passing Rabbit.
Bees plainly buzz these walking Drones
Who shuffle by without making a sound.

If only People would communicate clearly.

WORST CASE / BEST CASE

Posted on Apr 2, 2019 by John Yeo | Leave a comment

Tuesday 2nd April 2019

And today is actually a special day: Two for Tuesday! Pick one prompt or use both…your choice!

Day Two

Robert Lee Brewer’s Poem-A-Day on Writers Digest

Write a worst case poem. What’s the worst that could happen?
Write a best case poem. Take the worst and reverse it!

WORST CASE

by John Yeo

I’m not kidding you this is actual truth.
We were waiting by the airport carousel
Waiting for our luggage to hove into view.
Tommy our youngest nearly jumped through the roof.
There’s our case Mum! I know it so well
It’s really old and tatty and a muddy blue.

It wasn’t our suitcase passing through.
A smart lady stepped forward and blushed.
Then grabbed her case from the carousel.
Tommy piped up to apologise, right on cue.
Although suddenly conversation was hushed.
Sorry I thought I would be able to tell.
When I saw the worst case on the carousel.

BREXIT BEST CASE

by John Yeo

Weighing up the evidence was a chore,
When coming to an impossible decision.
The choice could have gone either way.

I leave to you all my favourite choices
Without suffering fear of tears or derision
We will get an answer come what may.

Come to a conclusion don’t go to war
Accept the answers that’s our mission.
Concentrate, focus, let’s hope and pray

Don’t let our efforts crumble, waste away
Dithering and manoeuvring sad but sure
Will never realise a conclusion to embrace.

When we go it alone without a deal
Armageddon and disaster will surely follow.
The futile factions will never agree.

The best case for an orderly Brexit is clear,
Close your eyes the next move is simple
Let’s just communicate without the fear.

Either stay put or get the hell out of here!

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Category Archives: Poetry

THE HERMIT

LOVE POEMS

LUCKY NUMBER

NATURAL JEALOUSY

AFTER THE SEED WAS SOWN

AFTER THE SEED WAS PLANTED

HOPE

EDVARD MUNCH

TECHNOLOGY

WORST CASE / BEST CASE