Wednesday, October 31, 2018

With Love

This is it. OctPoWriMo is over. My final poem is a Haiku, which still is one of my favorite forms to write. Thank you all for staying with me this month, for encouraging me. It has been an honor to write for you. Until next time, farewell.

Rod E. Kok
October 31, 2018














Time has passed slowly
thoughts sewn together daily
Sharing words with love

Tuesday, October 30, 2018

A Dance

Today is the penultimate day of #OctPoWriMo 2018. There are only two poems left to write. Today's prompt is Dancing on the Moon. I wrote the prompt just a little different, but I did write about a dance. I hope you enjoy.

Rod E. Kok
October 30, 2018













Under moonbeams and starlight,
soft saxophones
jazz up
this dance floor.
An embrace
for the ages,
two lovers
sway in time;
nothing else matters.
Eyes locked
on each other,
holding a gaze
full of promise,
radiating passion.
A celebration of love
under glimmering light;
time holds no sway
over those who dance
together.

Monday, October 29, 2018

Math

Today, dear reader has been my least favourite prompt. I do not mean this to disrespect Amy. No, not at all. I simply mean that today's prompt is about numbers. And I hate numbers. I am not a math guy. So I hope you will forgive me for what may be a lackadaisical effort. It simply wasn't my day.

Rod E. Kok
October 29, 2018














I am trying to dig
into hidden meanings
of numbers,
but all I come up with
is that one
plus one
is two.

Sunday, October 28, 2018

From Darkness to Joy

Day 28 is almost over, and I finally penned a poem. I must admit that my creativity is waning. I hope I make it 3 more days. Today's prompt is Split in Two. Once again, I have made it personal, addressing my mental health struggles. I hope my words make sense.

Rod E. Kok
October 28, 2018














Like a tree felled
by an iron axe,
so I fell
into overwhelming
darkness.

Split in two,
I tried to hide
behind a mask.
Broken, despairing;
I cried for help.

As a seed planted
in fertile soil,
I was given a chance
to thrive.

Flourishing under
loving care,
I grew in stature.
Now I cry
for joy.

Saturday, October 27, 2018

Created

Shadow. This is the random noun I was given to write about. The poem today is to write about the color of this random word. I feel mine was an interesting one to get. I hope I did it justice.

Rod E. Kok
October 27, 2018














In eastern skies,
dark oranges turn
lighter.
Our sun casts its warmth
over everything.
From beige deserts
to yellow fields of canola,
shadows disappear
into daylight.
Golden wheat basks
in the glow,
green forests awaken.
Rays traverse the land,
forging ahead with hope.
East to West,
here to there;
the shadows of life
come and go,
coloring our world
with heat and cold.
Such is the way
it was created.

Friday, October 26, 2018

Inside Out

Today, dear reader, I wrote an etheree. This is a syllabic poem, 10 lines long. Starting with 1 syllable, the last line then has 10 syllables. There is no rhyme scheme. Although the meaning of the poem will mean very little to most who read it, I felt good writing it. Take it for what it is worth. 

Rod E. Kok
October 26, 2018













An
open
plea to change
from chaos to
normalcy. Only
you can make this happen.
On this present course, things will
veer off track very quickly. So
I beg you, stop reading between the
lines. Please stop turning good rules inside out.

Thursday, October 25, 2018

The Door

Welcome to day 25, dear reader. I hope you have enjoyed #OctPoWriMo so far. Today's prompt is 'The door goes both ways', and the suggested form is a triquain. In it's simplest form, a triquain is a non-rhyming poem made of 7 lines. The syllable count is 3,6,9,12,9,6,3. I wrote mine this way. My goal was to add a bit of spookiness, or mysteriousness to my words. I hope I succeeded. 

Rod E. Kok
October 25, 2018














An open
door may not lead to that
place you expected. But rather it
is simply a mirror unto itself, taking
you right back to where you were trying
to escape from. It might
never close.

Wednesday, October 24, 2018

A-Z

Day 24 already. The end is in sight. Today we were given free reign to do whatever we wanted with the prompt 'opening'. So, I wrote an abecedarian. This is a poem in which every line starts with the next letter of the alphabet. Today's offering is a lot lighter than what I have written in the past few days. Please enjoy.

Rod E. Kok
October 24, 2018














All along the path
beauty started to show.
children ran along
dancing
ecstatically
for this was their day;
gone were the
hard days of winter;
in came spring,
jumping with joy.
Knowing that soon
light would last longer
many looked for
new adventures.
Opening doors
previously shut,
quiet laughter
raised few eyebrows.
Somebody
tried to play a joke
under the noses of
very busy people
who were
xylographing.
Yes, engraving on wood
zealously.

Tuesday, October 23, 2018

The Wall

Dear reader, have you ever heard of a Haibun? It is Japanese poetry which starts with a paragraph of prose and ends with a Haiku. Never have I written one, for to me it does not seem like real poetry. But as I looked at the topic of the day (Can you see me?), I realized that the Haibun could be extremely powerful. Today's Haibun is intensely personal. I enjoyed writing it. I hope you like reading it. 

Rod E. Kok
October 23, 2018














I used to hide behind a veneer of confidence. My lies, my sins...
my whole life was veiled from everyone. Even those most important
to me did not get inside my shield. I have been very open with
my journey through mental illness. 2 years of counselling has
brought down my wall. Sort of. Being bullied and betrayed,
my life was compartmentalized. There were two areas:
the one you could see,and the one you couldn’t.
The one you couldn’t see became too full. My wall wasn’t
high enough to contain all the evil. That is what led to
the breakdown. That is what led to the unseen side of me to
finally be seen by someone. That is what led to the
destruction of the wall. I still hide. I still don’t want
very many people to get close.
I guess in some ways, I am building a wall.

What came between us
has made us that much stronger
true love always wins

Monday, October 22, 2018

Hypocrite

Today is day 22 of OctPoWriMo 2018. Our theme today is about betrayal. We were given the opportunity to write a palindrome, but as I started to craft one I realized my lines were much better used in free verse. So that's what I did. I hope you enjoy this piece. 

Rod E. Kok
October 22, 2018














I am a hypocrite,
for I judge others.
Sometimes intentionally.
They have betrayed
confidences.
I have done it worse.
Yet I condemn unfairly,
those who do
what I have done.
I pretend to be stronger
than those I deem
to be so much worse
than I.
How can I forgive
myself
when all I do
is castigate others?

Truth speaks,
even if only
in my own mind.
Fixing myself should be
my only concern.
Forgiving myself,
showing grace
to this broken man
is the hardest thing
to do.
I know I am weak.
I know I am wrong.
I know I am
a hypocrite.

Sunday, October 21, 2018

A Hug

Day 21 is almost over. Today's prompt is 'How will I know', and we were encouraged to use magnetic poetry. If you are not familiar, this way of writing is limiting. You can only use words that you are given, and there is no punctuation. I managed to get it done. Please enjoy.

Rod E. Kok
October 21, 2018


















Saturday, October 20, 2018

Time - A Haiku

If all else fails dear reader, write Haiku. That is always my 'goto' form of poetry. And today I had to go back to what I love, because nothing else was working. Our prompt for Day 20 is about controlling time. I hope I did the prompt justice.

Rod E. Kok
October 20, 2018













Seasons change colour.
No control over the wind
which never looks back

Friday, October 19, 2018

Fatherhood

Today, dear reader is day 19 of #OctPoWriMo. Our prompt is the question: 'What do you want?'.  There were a few suggestions as to how we could approach it, along with some suggested forms. I did not use the forms but chose to write free verse. My approach to the prompt is almost confessional in nature. I hope you enjoy.

Rod E. Kok
October 19, 2018














Hindsight is
woefully accurate;
a bane on my psyche,
a blight on the soul.

All they needed
was me.
What they received
they did not
deserve.

Determined not to be
that,
I became
much more.
Or much less.

If the question
were asked,
I am sure
I know
the answer.

All we wanted
was you.

Thursday, October 18, 2018

Her and I

Dear reader, today we were taken to a land of fairy-tales. Today we were prompted to write about all things to do with that world. I may have interpreted it differently. I hope you enjoy my poem.

Rod E. Kok
October 18, 2018













I do not believe
in fairy-tales.
Unicorns are
merely myths.
Simply put,
I am not
a hocus-pocus
bullshit sort of guy.

But I do believe
in magic.
I see it
in the eyes
of my lover.
I feel it
in her kiss.

Yes, there is
an enchantment
at work.
It is because
we work
at being
her and I.

Wednesday, October 17, 2018

Rage

Does madness control you, dear reader? That is our prompt today. As an added challenge, we were are to use 'rain', 'rein' and 'reign' in the poem. This challenge came about from a spelling mistake. Challenge accepted. 

Today's piece is still dark. It seems to be where my best work comes from. This is far from my best, but it is what I wrote. Please enjoy.

Rod E. Kok
October 17, 2018














Rage inside
is born
from a madness
which reigns
far beneath
what anyone sees.

I try to rein in the urge
to lash out,
but I fail.
Acerbic words
rain down on anyone
within hearing.

Only after
the beast is caged
does remorse set in.
With a vow to never
give in again,
I wait for the next
appearance.

Tuesday, October 16, 2018

A Cry for Help


Today's poem, dear reader, is probably the darkest I have written so far this month. The prompt did not really lend itself to dark writing, but as I penned my thoughts, it just went that way. The mood in this piece is probably more reflective of me a couple years ago. Please don't assume this is me today. The prompt is 'Catch me when I fall', which is pretty self-explanatory. The form is a terzanelle. You can read more about that here.

I hope you enjoy today's writing.

Rod E. Kok
October 16, 2018















Catch me when I fall
I cannot go alone;
for help, it is you I call.

I am vulnerable, I cannot atone
for the wrongs I have committed
I cannot go alone

Much have I admitted;
I feel I have been convicted
for the wrongs I have committed.

With guilt, I am afflicted;
my wounds fester and rot.
I feel I have been convicted.

Crying out, help I sought.
You found me, drenched with tears
my wounds fester and rot.

You found me, amidst my fears;
Catch me when I fall.
I have struggled for years;
for help, it is you I call.