Poetry Friday--Ch Challenge

This is the second week of Heidi Mordhurst's ch-ending words challenge. Monday through Friday for the month of March there is an assigned word to use in a poem.

I think of this as a musical challenge! Many of the poems I've written so far have some bit of music associated with them, at least in my mind, and starting with a connection to David Bowie that encompasses the whole ch challenge. It has become the "ch-ch-challenge" for me. Here's a version of Bowie's "Changes" that may be a little less familiar:



I made several more musical connections with my poems of the last two weeks:

March 6, word: "fetch"

Fiscal Therapy

The old lady spends
her days online
religiously checking
prices on eBay.

A born kvetcher
she tells her son that
everything she
has labeled will fetch
a good price

when the time comes.

"Okay, Ma," he says.

The labels are only
a warm-up.

She crosses out $6.99
and re-marks the
Xavier Cugat LP, $8.99.
All the while
humming "Perfidia."

Xavier Cugat and his orchestra performing "Perfidia":




March 9, word: "unhitch"

Hitching Up Your Wagon

How's that expression go?
"Hitch your wagon to a star"?
Just how far is the closest star?
More years than you'll have.
Of course, if your goal
is procrastination, then
you'll shine, shine, shine!

Take my advice--step in front
of that wagon, insert your head
and buckle up the collar, attach
the traces. You can click
to yourself if you'd like--no
further motivation is necessary.
Lay back your ears and go.

I didn't realize that Heidi had changed the day's word from hitch to preach, so if you visit her post for March 9, you'll mostly find preach poems. Here's a song the hitching poem dredged up. It's from the 1956 film Westward Ho the Wagons!:




March 11, word: "smooch"

Bésame (No) Smoocho

A kiss is a peck or a
passionate surrender.

A smooch is not a kiss--
a smooch is an event.

Onomatopoeia
as performance art.

The title is a play on words of the song "Besame Mucho." Here's a fantastic version by Diana Krall:



And here's the ultimate smooch performer--Snoopy!



Next week I'll have a few more ch poems that I've tied to music. But, now, if you haven't already visited, you must head over to Author Amok for the Round-Up.