Gavin Bennett's Blog: 2016 November PAD Chapbook Challenge: Day 8

For today’s prompt, we’re on our second two-for-Tuesday prompt. So pick one, combine both prompts into one poem, or write two (or more) different poems. Here are the prompts:

Write a nothing will be the same poem. A poem about moment after which nothing will ever be the same, because everything will change. Or…
Write a nothing will ever change poem. Maybe you’re in the camp of “the more things change, the more they stay the same.” So while things change, they don’t–not really. Or do they? How can things change and not change? I’m confusing myself.

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Here’s my attempt at a Nothing Will poem:

“The Slot Machine of My Mind”

The kids want to go somewhere:
If I choose the cow park, the girl
will be happy, because she likes
to swing, but the boy will protest,

because he likes to geocache &
go fishing, which she grows tired
of rather fast. They both agree
that a trip to the store (& getting

a toy) would be fun, but I’m not
into spending money on more
things to clutter the playroom,
which is a mess. So I consider

having them clean the house,
but they want to go somewhere–
anywhere–that doesn’t involve
cleaning. So we go to the cow

park & the girl is appeased; &
we go fishing & the boy is
appeased; & everyone’s so
happy that we go to the store:

Now I’m stuck inside cleaning
the extra cluttered playroom.

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Robert Lee Brewer is Senior Content Editor of the Writer’s Digest Writing Community and author of the poetry collection, Solving the World’s Problems (Press 53). He edits Poet’s Market and Writer’s Market, in addition to writing a free weekly WritersMarket.com newsletter and a poetry column for Writer’s Digest magazine.

He knows one thing will always remain the same: The more laundry he does, the more laundry there will be left to do. The same can be said of the dishes.

Follow him on Twitter @robertleebrewer.

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