PAD Day 7: Wish You Were Here, Briefly

 Today's prompts:

WBP: Write a "luck" poem.

NPWM: "...write a poem titled “Wish You Were Here” that takes its inspiration from the idea of a postcard. Consistent with the abbreviated format of a postcard, your poem should be short, and should play with the idea of travel, distance, or sightseeing. "

PSH: "Area Code Haiku! In Philadelphia we have two basic codes, 125 & 267, so maybe one-two-five or two-six-seven syllables." (Kellley White)

These three prompts seem to mesh together pretty well today. I wrote three short poems, two of which use all three, and one which uses two. Pardon my quibbling, but the area codes for Philly are 215 (no 125) and 267, so I tried both formats for my first poem:

Postcard from Vegas
 
out
of dough
please send me more luck

OR:
 
out of
dough
please send me more luck

I'm not sure which one I like better - it's a toss-up. The 1-2-5 format reminds me of one of my favorite short forms, the hay(na)ku, which is 1-2-3 (but words, not syllables.) I've talked about that form and shared some examples in previous blog posts.

And here are two for the 2-6-7 format: 
 
 
Postcard from Philly
 
I’m fine
digging Brotherly Love
enjoying independence
 
 
 
Adding It Up
 
If I
Could accumulate luck
would I hit the lottery?

Note that I went off-prompt a bit for NaPoWriMo and didn't use the suggested title of "Wish You Were Here." I opted to include the origin of the post card in my title since the poems themselves are so short.

Also, the "postcard" prompt is a familiar one: It's been a favorite of Peter Murphy's Winter Poetry and Prose Getaway writer's conference in New Jersey every January. I haven't attended for several years, but I wouldn't be surprised if he still uses it. Like Maureen Thorson did for NaPoWriMo, Peter offers a collection of vintage postcards to use for inspiration. (I wonder if Maureen ever attended that conference?) One of my most successful poems was written as a result of that prompt several years ago. It was nominated for a Pushcart Prize by U.S. 1 Worksheets and won second place in an annual poetry contest sponsored by Robert Lee Brewer, poetry editor of Writer's Digest. Here it is:

Postcard to the Ex
 
There's a bear in the back yard
and piranhas in the kitchen sink.
 
The kids are dressing like clowns
and the bank took back the TV.
 
The car lost a wheel and a door.
Someone painted our windows black.
 
Your favorite chair caught fire,
and last night during the storm,
 
a huge tree limb crashed
through the bedroom ceiling
 
and onto your side of the bed.
Wish you were here.