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Poetry Prompts

Monday Poetry Prompt: Add, Kind, Maple

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This week let’s write a poem with the words add, kind and maple in it. This is another of those prompts where I randomly choose three words from a list of the top 1000 words in the English language plus a few of my favorites. (Rolling maple a week after the tree prompt was mere coincidence.) Post your poems in the comments below.

About Bartholomew Barker

Bartholomew Barker is one of the organizers of Living Poetry, a collection of poets and poetry lovers in the Triangle region of North Carolina. His first poetry collection, Wednesday Night Regular, written in and about strip clubs, was published in 2013. His second, Milkshakes and Chilidogs, a chapbook of food inspired poetry was served in 2017. He was nominated for a Pushcart Prize in 2021. Born and raised in Ohio, studied in Chicago, he worked in Connecticut for nearly twenty years before moving to Hillsborough where he makes money as a computer programmer to fund his poetry habit.

Discussion

48 thoughts on “Monday Poetry Prompt: Add, Kind, Maple”

  1. Wishful Thinking

    I wish life is
    as kind as
    bland breakfast cereal

    A spoonful of maple syrup
    will add sweet taste
    and a big smile

    Liked by 3 people

    Posted by Cassa Bassa | May 16, 2022, 8:03 AM
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  2. Please, kindly do not
    provide maple syrup for me
    I do not like the smell or taste
    In all fairness, though
    the trees are beautiful
    and that is sweet enough for me

    Liked by 3 people

    Posted by Lisa Tomey | May 16, 2022, 8:19 AM
    Reply to this comment

  3. Of Olmecs and Quebec

    Randomness is not what it seems,
    a current flows through the world we know,
    bolstered by the world as it seems,
    and framed by the world below.

    Thus poetry prompts sometimes arise
    behind the scenes of cultural eyes
    from deep in a shadow world surmised,
    and yet oblivious, we exercise

    Our craft of connection, a magic move,
    as tying lines into a grid, or following vines
    tangled in the forest of the mind
    can lead to victories, over time.

    Thus, Maples can be added to kindness
    padded with green in summer, red in fall,
    and syrup sweetness over all,
    or just over your waffle.

    Don’t neglect the truffle, maple sugar
    dipped in chocolate is Canada meets
    Olmec, or kitchen tech, or treats galore,
    that will send you to your knees; there, on the floor,

    You best can send a prayer,
    for tropic god meets nordic plantation
    sweet, dark, and so very kind,
    a cosmopolitan melt-in-your-mouth creation,
    that can truly change your mind.

    Liked by 3 people

    Posted by ts19page | May 16, 2022, 10:57 AM
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  4. Sitting

    To withdraw
    Or perhaps to enter
    The world around me
    I sit
    Under the Maple tree
    Its crimson leaves
    Tired from their summer existence
    Fall gently around me

    To add to their journey
    A gentle breeze
    Unannounced
    And unseen
    Works to ease their connection
    To the branches
    And they float along
    Enhancing my solitude

    I in kind
    Float to another place
    Allowing the breeze
    To transport me
    Away from the clutter
    Of my mind
    Into the peace
    Of my heart

    Liked by 3 people

    Posted by John Lowe | May 16, 2022, 12:29 PM
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  5. Sugar Maple Bliss

    What kind of sweetness
    Do you add to your pancakes
    Use Maple syrup

    ~ Haiku ~

    Poetree ©️ May 16, 2022

    Liked by 3 people

    Posted by Kathy Jo Bryant | May 16, 2022, 1:13 PM
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  6. I looked into the artifact
    and saw an image of the past
    as if pulled out of the aether
    kind of like a
    chronodimentional crystal radio receiver
    if there was such a thing existed
    resonating on the echoes of emotions
    experienced by those who were
    and likely are no more
    “Can I have some more Maple!”
    the child said mysteriously
    in the moments before
    the alien circuit blew
    and returned the dead to their peace
    safe from the curious eyes
    of voyeurs with good intentions

    I hammered the circuitry
    with a palladium mallet
    said aloud to the lab
    “This one will never work!”
    raising a chuckle from the crew
    as I moved to the next artifact

    I have slept well since that day
    knowing that the past is truly gone
    and safely locked away
    allowing time to be immutable
    on the arrow it is on

    Liked by 4 people

    Posted by Chris Clarke | May 16, 2022, 1:18 PM
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    • Such a nice story with an original twist in the statement about the Maple. Also the details like palladium hammer are fun to consider as well as the cheerful crew of what is presumably future archeologists. Fun.

      Liked by 1 person

      Posted by ts19page | May 16, 2022, 4:39 PM
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      • Thank you! That use of “Maple” was a play on words to the correct/original “Maypo”, which the researchers wouldn’t have had any cultural context to recognize the difference…

        Like

        Posted by Chris Clarke | May 16, 2022, 5:08 PM

      • Interesting! I did not know about the cereal either, I just thought it was a cute non sequitur. Perhaps it is a regional concept, we did not watch much TV.- Nice to learn. TS.

        Like

        Posted by ts19page | May 16, 2022, 5:39 PM

    • Smashing the artifact was probably for the best. (Though next time try crystallized xanthanite if you want to conduct electrons across realities.) Well done!

      Liked by 1 person

      Posted by Bartholomew Barker | May 16, 2022, 5:59 PM
      Reply to this comment

      • Ah, Bart C-137… I should have known…

        I guess the next time I need a heroine’s name it should be Jessica. : )

        Liked by 1 person

        Posted by Chris Clarke | May 16, 2022, 10:50 PM

      • Indeed. One of my favorite lines goes like this (with a minor edit) “Nobody exists on purpose. / Nobody belongs anywhere. / Everybody’s gonna die. / Let’s read poetry.”

        Liked by 2 people

        Posted by Bartholomew Barker | May 16, 2022, 10:58 PM

      • Looked up xanthanite and am confused..but its ok. I think just a kiss will conduct electrons across realities.

        Liked by 1 person

        Posted by ts19page | May 17, 2022, 10:34 AM

      • @ts19page… Sometimes, our tendency to play on inside jokes and cultural references can actually obscure rather than illuminate.

        “Crystallized Xanthanite“ is a reference to an episode of Rick and Morty, a wacky cartoon series about a dysfunctional family that just happens to include a uber-genius multidimensional-traveling alcoholic grandfather. (Yes, it is as wild as it sounds… ) It has quite a cult following.

        Though we craft words into expressions that try to span beyond the simply literal. In that, I find the temptation to use cultural references that can lead to greater connection can be tough to resist…

        But the danger is that when the reader/listener doesn’t have that connection, the true scope of your writing is lost. Today, everyone in America will know what 9/11 is… Most Americans will have some connection to the date December 7th. But what about November 5th? March 15? Not so much (certainly some thanks to writers…)

        Bartholomew’s comments were wonderful if you got the Rick and Morty reference and absolutely confusing if you didn’t. I personally laughed out loud and really appreciated it.

        Thank you for asking. Reading other people’s poetry is always like an insight into the mind of someone else, always different from me. And that is why I do this.

        Liked by 1 person

        Posted by Chris Clarke | May 17, 2022, 11:20 AM

      • I agree that allusions are fun, and do carry the risk of being missed by some readers. This reader is happy for that however.

        One cannot think she knows everything, I personally dropped that illusion after I found out at age 14 that I did not, in fact, know everything. The realization dawned.

        Being heard, read, and hopefully appreciated once in a while suffices for me, as my long life and several children have brought home to me the awareness that we don’t all live in the same universe after all, yet there is great joy in traveling to new neighborhoods. It requires expansiveness of mind, and brings great rewards. -TS.

        Liked by 1 person

        Posted by ts19page | May 17, 2022, 12:28 PM

  7. Alexa
    kindly add
    to my bucket list:
    journey to Vermont
    in the autumn
    To see the
    maples
    turn
    a
    vibrant
    progression
    from green to
    saffron rust and red
    before loosening
    their hold to
    drift and
    fall
    to
    the
    ground
    to leap and
    bound across
    lawns and pathways
    fall’s last dance
    before
    snow
    fall

    Liked by 4 people

    Posted by amyhadley2180751 | May 16, 2022, 4:12 PM
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  8. Be kind to your guests
    Add more maple syrup
    Pancakes need love too

    Liked by 3 people

    Posted by JeanMarie | May 16, 2022, 4:51 PM
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  9. Reply to this comment

  10. In the forest wild
    Adding fire of its kind
    Maple undresses

    Liked by 3 people

    Posted by utopicdystopian | May 17, 2022, 10:19 AM
    Reply to this comment
  11. Reply to this comment

  12. Initially only thought about Frost’s nasty farmer. The hope chest came to me and it needed an owner

    Liked by 3 people

    Posted by Second Act Blogger | May 20, 2022, 9:00 PM
    Reply to this comment

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