NPMC 17 & 18 Worthless Words and a Poem in 5 Minutes

And here comes a catch up post for  National Poetry Month Challenge!

Take them for what they are.

NPMC Poem 17

"The Cause of Worthless Words"

Uninspired words
litter pages upon pages
murdering whole forests
in the name of free dribble
nonsense
foolishness
and hate

Yet there must have been
some sense to the value
of ink and pulp
as words were more private
more restrained
when paper
was the sole resource

This new digital age
it protects the trees
but it saves us not
from stupidity
and words that hurt
society

Instead it lets loose
the tongues
of all those
who would never
take pen to page
yet find power in
in the striking of keys
and anonymity

And perhaps,
becasuse their words
lack physical weight
don't need to be left alone
to dry
they make them harsher
sharper
louder
fearing the hollowness
that is at their center
which would never be made tangible
if not for the heart and ears
of others

NPMC Poem 18

"Writing a Poem in 5 Minutes"

Less than five
minutes
to write a poem

down to four
already
must have spent too
many seconds planning
thinking
what to write?

The seconds tick away
without sound
or notice making this minute
last forever
longer than a minute
in the mind of this writer

Three minutes
making the start feel
vast
not short at all
what was there to fear
in that tight void of time
that turns out to be not tight at all
but wide and empty
vast

Two minutes
to write a poem would
have been the real challenge
Perhaps an interruption enters
two large bull mastiffs
and an angry tabby
they distract and yet
there is still time

there is always time

One minute to write a poem
now that would be a feat
a true acrobat at the keyboard
a magician of words
making them appear
here
here

and

here

fast, fast, fast
but the poem would
still need a beat
to move its heart
its reader

and teach the writer a lesson
about deleting and editing
and coming back
and finding a way to finish
in 12 no 10 seconds

but this isn't about the writer
no
it was always for you
the reader


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