Tuesday, May 9, 2023
Thursday, April 27, 2023
NAPOWRIMO April 27, 2023
I’ve missed quite a few NAPOWRIMO days, but today, while at the AATH (Association for Applied & Therapeutic Humor) Conference I was inspired by an opportunity to follow my own advice.
Today’s disaster can be tomorrow’s funny story.
Noreen Braman
Powerpoint Disaster
There was thunder and lightning in my presentation.
No, really, it was a sound file
Carefully placed and timed, I thought,
To enhance the Laughter Lightning Round.
But Zeus was feeling disrespected
how dare I use lightning for humor
Only he can control its form.
And that is why lightning flashed
and thunder roared
at all the wrong times
in my 4-minute speech
that was rewarded with smiles and laughter,
instant reframing of a disaster
turning immediately into humor.
©2023 Noreen Braman
Wednesday, April 19, 2023
NAPOWRIMO April 16, 2023
Another Day to Die
Death lurks in the closet, in the attic, on top of the refrigerator, in a locked case with glass doors.
Death takes the children playing, in the classroom, on the street, sleeping in bed, watching a road race.
Death creeps behind a candy store trip, rains down over city and farm, ambushes from behind a patio door, in the middle of a birthday party, during a chat outside a home.
Death meets children betrayed, abused, stalked, ignored – absorbing breath and closing eyes, taking more killed by man. than nature.
©2023Noreen BramanMonday, April 17, 2023
NAPOWRIMO April 15, 2023
Hungry Birds
Dear Michael,
you warned about the hungry birds
that circle overhead waiting
just waiting
to snatch the fruit from your hand
gleefully flying away
swallowing it whole
then returning to their incessant circling
with unquenched appetites waiting
just waiting.
©2023 Noreen Braman
Sunday, April 16, 2023
NAPOWRIMO APRIL 14, 2023
Present Presence
only this moment is real
all else is memory or anticipation
pulling against the present
to distract, derail, and devalue
the influence of your presence
in this
the only moment that is real.
©2023 Noreen Braman
NANOWRIMO April 13, 2023
a poem, a poem, my fountain pen for a poem!
Hop, Skip, Jump, Write
Words don’t form straight lines these days, they jump, skip, and hop around,
trying out each possibility
like shattered flecks of an enchanted broom,
rising up in some other place.
Some rudely demanding
shouting their names annoyingly,
others play hide-and-seek, refusing
to appear when summoned.
But when upon a golden page
they stop their motion and align,
In that final act of acceptance - their light worth every minute of chasing.
©2023 Noreen Braman
Wednesday, April 12, 2023
NAPOWRIMO April 12, 2023
Rhymer Reasons
Actually you rhyme so seldomly
why is that?
And metered form you run from, panicky
no stomach for it?
Trying hard to write in rhymery
but just can’t find a reason.
©2023 Noreen Braman
From a NAPOWRIMO prompt: “write a poem that addresses itself or some aspect of its self”
Tuesday, April 11, 2023
NAPOWRIMO April 11, 2023
For Love
In the softness of night, listening to your breath,
inhaling your warmth, thoughts of the day return,
gentle touch of reassurance, soft smiles connecting hearts,
hugs sharing strength, flowing between us.
Deep conversations bookended by laughter, silences wrapped in contentment,
the secret meaning of love squared, giving or getting unconditional support,
from love, for love, with love, we live.
©2023 Noreen Braman
Monday, April 10, 2023
NANOWRIMO APRIL 10, 2023
Group
Snapshot
Breathing in shared experience, breathing out laughter
bathing in endorphins, the secret brew of joy,
hands held high in delight, brings memory to life.
©2023 Noreen Braman
NANOWRIMO April 9, 2023
Hippity Hop
(still a day behind)
Easter Bunny, Easter bunny,
you filled me up with candy
don't take me wrong I like the sweets,
and the basket's really handy.
But if you really like me,
you'd help me out a bit
and write today's poem for me
instead of all this bunny....stuff.
(what? Do you think I'd really dis the rabbit?)
Sunday, April 9, 2023
NAPOWRIMO April 7, 2023
April Baby
The distant ram is dim in the sky
now occupying space assigned to Pisces
held fast to March and April despite
galactic shifts in perpetual motion.
What stars twinkled down upon my birth?
do they count because I was ceasarian born
forcing the hand of fate and destiny?
Perhaps there is more influence
from birth in a Wood Goat year
and other birth symbolism yet to explore.
©2023 Noreen Braman
Friday, April 7, 2023
NAPOWRIMO April 6, 2023
Genetics
Spiraling ladders of fate
spinning in every cell
distant cousins to the Fates
dizzying threads to weave and cut.
©2023 Noreen Braman
Wednesday, April 5, 2023
NAPOWRIMO April 5, 2023
Timeline
Years of lists and goals and plans
plotted more carefully than executed,
reams of paper filled and filed
terabytes of digital words,
photos and artwork and decor and collections,
gathered and saved, with laughter and poetry and books
as armor holding back the future,
when decades shrink to years, and every hour ticks loudly.
©2023 Noreen Braman
Tuesday, April 4, 2023
NAPOWRIMO April 4, 2023
Practicing What I Preach
Not so funny when the ankle turns
and wrenches everything above
while bags and boxes fly about
landing on your head
As you hit the ground.
Knees and elbows are first to complain
screeching from scrapes and indignity
Not so funny indeed.
Until the children you bore
and sheltered from harm
are paralyzed with laughter
as they try to help you get up
tears are running down their faces.
And years later they still enact
the choreography of the moment
each move a gymnastic trick,
because after all, I was basically ok,
mostly injured by embarrassment
and now proud to be the favorite example
of reframing for humor.
©2023 Noreen Braman
Monday, April 3, 2023
NAPOWRIMO April 3, 2023
Blippity Doo-Dah
The blips are there
I have no doubt.
But wonder what
blips are about.
Am I too stressed
too full a plate?
Moving too fast
with too much weight?
Does anxiety
hold me in sway?
Those scary things
are years away!
Or are the thoughts
sounding alarm
trying to keep
My brain from harm?
Or crying out
Alas! Too late!
The blips herald
my aging fate.
©2023 Noreen Braman
Sunday, April 2, 2023
NAPOWRIMO 2023 April 2, 2023
Change of Seasons
Twice a year a solstice
twice a year an equinox,
heralding seasons
based on orbital positions
creating specific length of daylight.
Meteorological seasonal arrivals
rely on historical temperature ranges
And possibly school vacations.
While the astrological change of seasons
depends on ancient zodiac calculations,
telling me as I pass through the sign of my birth,
despite being centered unarguably in Spring,
that I am seasonally summer.
More proof of the cruelty of April.
©2023 Noreen Braman
Saturday, April 1, 2023
NAPOWRIMO 2023 - April 1, 2023 For Bill
For Bill, Wherever You May Be
We met once, but, you’ll forgive me
I have no recollection,
no matter how I try to see your face
all I have are photographs, service records,
And lingering questions.
Now almost triple the years you lived
on a quest too long in getting started
I trace paths nearing obliteration.
Your influence strong in its absence,
empty spaces have their own weight.
Trauma passes on to new generations,
genetic strands woven into those who never knew you
but carry you with them just the same.
©2023 Noreen Braman
NAPOWRIMO 2023 - The Cruellest Month Returns
Here we are, once again, the first of April. National Poetry Month, National Humor Month, Autism Awareness Month, Child Abuse Awareness Month, Jazz Appreciation Month — and that is just a fraction of April's responsibilities. It is also known as the "cruellest month" thanks to T.S. Elliot's poem, "The Wasteland."
For me, April is a bit more personal, the month I was born, an observation that is forever entwined with the sudden sickness and death of my father, 3 weeks after my birth. He got to hold me once, tears streaming down his face. His cause of death was listed as "uremia" - the family recalls being told it was from nephritis. So many years later, I collected his Marine Corps. service records, have a medal sent to me, and find something disturbing on his death certificate.
There is a second line for "cause of death." The second line says "pending chemical." No test results are attached. Suddenly, all the TV commercials about a water problem at Camp Lejuene become personal. I've been on a quest to get those Veteran's Hospital records, if they still exist. This is too much of a coincidence. Can the mystery of why a healthy 23-year old, new father, died suddenly from nephritis/uremia/renal failure?
This year, I dedicate my participation in NAPOWRIMO to the father I only met once, and I strengthen my resolve to find out what happened so many years ago.
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Noreen Braman |
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William Johnston Braman |