Glo/NaPoWriMo 2024

Dear reader, dear fellow poet,

Thank you for stopping by.

I am grateful to Maureen for launching this initiative in 2003. In 2013, I joined, or rather gatecrashed, as an international participant. Thanks to Aaron Compton, the term “GloPoWriMo” or “Global Poetry Writing Month” was born in 2016, and since then, I have been trumpeting my international participation.

Please read my poems as drafts. Between traveling, work, and other life adventures, I am not seeking perfection here but the inspiration to refine the poems after this beautiful affair ends.

Happy reading and poeming!

PS: Yay!!! I am elated by the featuring of these two poems on day 19. Also, I have listed the previously featured poems below.

2022: Table of Farewells.

2020: The Return of the Rose.

2019: Allegory of Dancing.

2017: Spring Wedding.

2014: Berry-Ho, Merry-Ho.

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DAY 18

Today’s prompt challenges to write a poem in which the speaker expresses the desire to be someone or something else, and explains why. I wrote two poems today.

IN MY NEXT LIFE, I WANT THE COURAGE OF OUR GERMAN SHEPHERDS

to be multi-religious and bark at contradictions
that faith cannot be held by diverse worshiping.
At 4am, when the muezzin sings a call to prayer,
the pack leader Rocky barks a wolf-like refrain
and his lady Ruby barks the refrain in response.
The puppies, Ryder and Roxy, join in the prayer
after their parents prompt with alternate barking.
They will dutifully bark until the muezzin is done,
and I will be between dreaming and waking up.
Throughout the day, they respond to muezzin calls,
and I sigh in despair that I cannot be that disciplined.
At 6am, when the first set of Angelus gongs strikes,
our pack of dogs will begin again a hymn of barking
resembling the appropriate devotion for believers
and I, the less religious, hail the new day, thank you.
They do not tire repeating the ringing of Angelus;
morning, noon, and evening they loyally respond;
and I am ashamed to react when the gate bell rings.
In this world where we pit each other against faith,
I am grateful to be a multi-religious dog mama.
In my next life, may our pack of dogs welcome me
to where different faiths co-exist in lives and thrive.

THE GRACE TO BE MYSELF

Among selves and other selves of this world,
I pray for the courage to be myself.
When jingles of gold and silver smug,
I pray loudly to be myself.
When magnolias come for their brides,
I pray for grace to be myself.
When the bees land on me like their queen,
I pray for me to be myself.
When ants’ armies tempt me to be their master,
I pray for mastery to be myself.
When birds compose a hymn for me,
I pray for worth to be myself.
When the eagles land in the cliffs of my heart,
I pray to soar and be myself.
When butterflies flutter with flattery,
I pray for modesty to be myself.
When dandelions collect their wishes,
I pray for contentment to be myself.
When owls hoot on moon’s arrival,
I pray for enlightenment to be myself.
When the sun kisses my skin with a glow,
I pray consciously to be myself.
When the sky births auroras and halos,
I pray for calm to be myself.
When the wind is frivolous with my facade,
I pray firmly to reveal myself.
When the rainbow hails my colors,
I pray for authenticity to be myself.
When the sky thunders its rage on me,
I pray for clarity to find myself.
When tornadoes bring their killer eyes,
I pray for visions to be myself.
When the rivers channel my gifts,
I pray to contain myself to be myself.
When the seas rise to hold me higher,
I pray for humility to be myself.
When water creatures come to my service,
I pray for gentleness to be myself.
When the mountains stand as my guardians,
I pray unwaveringly to be myself.
When the trees bow upon my arrival,
I pray for stillness to be myself.
When mushrooms emerge,
I pray to bow down as myself.
When wolves howl with dominance,
I pray for valor to be myself.
When memories come to haunt,
I pray for a cave to be myself.
When love and hate collide,
I pray to be a keeper of myself.
When peace breakers hold the forts,
I pray for wisdom to be myself.
When reasons to avenge become,
I pray for restraint to be myself.
When hawks and doves come calling,
I pray for bravery to be myself.
When selves and other selves unite,
I graciously pray to be myself.