Today’s featured participant is An Embarrassment of Riches, where you’ll find a poem about doorways in response to Day Seven’s “proverbial” prompt.
Our featured online journal for the day is The Tiny, which started out as a print journal before moving online in 2017. I’ll point you to two poems by Dan Brady.
Today’s prompt comes to us from this list of “all-time favorite writing prompts.” It asks you to name your alter-ego, and then describe him/her in detail. Then write in your alter-ego’s voice. Maybe your alter-ego is a streetwise detective, or a superhero, or a very small goldfinch.
The featured poem today is proof of how well proverbs work, we believe so strongly when one door closes, another one opens… when actually the door just shuts. I also enjoyed the open door photos.
As I am short on time today I went straight to the recommended poems by Dan Brady, My Father-in-Law in His Garden was impactful.
rows
of herbs and vegetables
carefully planted
like prayers,
Then the second poem was beautiful – For the Fourth-Grade Students of Washington Elementary School. I cherished the whole thing. Also suspect I will print this one out to remember what poetry is and the sound and summer of Malibu marigold.
An inspiring poem.
The list is an incredible resource which I will keep safe and use in the future.
PROCESS NOTES:
I thought about my alter-ego as a series of strong women who I have known (family) crossed with Hollywood – think Elizabeth Taylor/ Joan Collins… then I shuddered with the physical memory of shoulder pads and decided to take a different approach.
I decided to base myself on an animated character and grow an alter-ego from that. Then I flip flopped back to the drawing board to create my own. Then like any method actor I Stanislavski-ed up!
^ That makes the process sound easy, I really struggled with this one. So in the end I had to give myself a good talking to and trust.
There is always a prompt hill which comes at some point with NaPoWriMo – there’s no hard and fast rules here, it is FUN, there are plenty of places you can pick up prompts all year round and the internet goes crazy in April. That small voice had already commanded me to look elsewhere – but as always, I dug my heels in because I love to overcome a writing challenge and the ones you feel you have nothing for are often the ones where some alchemic writing occurs and you fill the page!
You can’t ignore them when they’re under
your skin, choose to become numb. Block
yourself safe from the pins and put downs.
In the end there were elements of magic in the poem, instructions and a hope for a brighter future. Whole spectrum covered in 6 short stanzas. Ironic – as after writing this ^ summary of my poem and my alter ego being instinctively drawn towards witchcraft during the writing process… I had a memory flash from another writing project where I did some research into numbers.
I did a quick search engine check and discovered (or re-discovered) 6 symbolises beauty and harmony and is often called the love number. Which is the complete opposite of this situation I am trying to cast away from. It has already ruined too many years.
I continued to read the article and found more and more parallels and connections.
In numerology, the 6 holds the vibration of unconditional love, protection, and sanctuary.
Which is what the alter-ego in this poem is trying to offer/do. And I wrote the poem without any of this connective knowledge.
People whose personalities are formed through the six are fair-minded, justice-driven, trusting and honest.
A person with an abundance of this number in their numerology chart may keep putting others needs ahead of their own, to their detriment. Use of proper boundaries tends to be an important lesson.
Under such stress, the maternal instinct of the number six can become intrusive and interfering and its vibrational pattern may tend towards a self-righteous attitude. But it usually takes a major betrayal to bring that side of its nature to the foreground.
©2022 NUMEROLOGIST
A major betrayal is exactly what has occurred, but not from my doing. I am innocent. However, anyone who has ever been accused will know how guilty it leaves you feeling, even when you have done no wrong.
awritersfountain 
Thank you for linking to my door poem! It made me happy to be featured.
I’d like to inform you that my comment to your Nina’s challenge #2 is still waiting for approval. Maybe it’s in the spam folder.
You’re welcome and thanks for the #Day 2 Nina’s challenge comment reminder.