THE “B” LIST
Boy, I could
Be in trouble.
Before I left
By myself to go grocery shopping, we
Built a list of what we need
But on the way to
Buy it all I
Blundered, lost the list, don’t want to go
Back, admit my error
Besides it would
Be a waste of time.
Believe it or not, I remember everything, not a
Billion items and all
Began with a
“B”. First up
Back—
Bacon enough for four sandwiches. You won’t have more than that, too fat.
Bananas and
Bagels for
Breakfast
Brussel sprouts
Because we
Both love your special recipe.
Boil them a
Bit. Add chili peppers, soy sauce.
Butters—three
Both almond and dairy, salted and not. Hot
Barbequed chicken
Blue cheese cuz it pleases you
Black Diamond slices for me
Brie for
Both of us. A
Brick of ice cream
Blueberry pie, not sugar or pecan
Because all the sugar reminds me
Brown sugar, and
Brown eggs from happy chickens
Barn-raised maybe
But also free to range
But
But
But, am I forgetting something. Ah! A
Broom. Not
Big, small, more a whisk with matching
Black dustpan to sweep up
Bread crumbs and sesame
Bagel seeds from the floor. What’s more
Bags for the vacuum cleaner
But, finally, not on the list
Beautiful cut flowers, something we’ve missed.
Prompt: “A Two Sylvias Press prompt, entitled, ‘Make a list, baby!’”
—from Rattle #81, Fall 2023
Tribute to Prompt Poems
__________
Frank Beltrano: “Over the past couple of years I have probably written over 200 poems to prompts. I particularly love Peter Murphy prompts and prompts written by Two Sylvias Press. It’s not because I have a shortage of imagination or inspiration. I find that a prompt gives focus, and the more demanding the prompt the more rewarding the result. Also I imagine the writer of the prompt is listening, wants their curiosity answered, and becomes the person to whom the poem is written.”
