Happy Haiga Day!

Michelle H. Barnes has a challenge going on this month at Today's Little Ditty. It was suggested by Nikki Grimes:

When I talk about wordplay, I'm talking about studying a word from top to bottom, and inside out, considering every aspect of the word: What it looks like, sounds like, feels like. What it does, how it's used, etc. The idea is to bring all of your senses into the act. The poem you create may end up being complex and sophisticated, or very simple. But whether you're writing a nursery rhyme, or a complex prose poem for adults, wordplay is a valuable skill in the process of creating dynamic, original, poetry, or lyrical prose.

She then supplied a list of ten words to choose from. For some reason, "bullet" grabbed me. The poem I wrote is not exactly kid-friendly, so Michelle and I decided it would be better for me to post it here on my blog. I also illustrated it.

If you click on the image it should enlarge for better reading, however, I'm also going to include it below:

Bullet

Let's just put it out there:
bullet is a phallic word.
Smooth, hot, projectile.

A macho don't-mess-with-me word.
Inflexible and rigid, unable
to be regulated or constrained.

A word delineating two purposes:
to act as an instrument of death,
or, as a security blanket for a fool.

© Diane Mayr, all rights reserved. The bullet illustration is from a cigarette card, "Enemy Explosive Bullets," courtesy NY Public Library Digital Collections. I have edited the illustration extensively.

Thanks to Michelle Barnes and Nikki Grimes for this fun challenge!