Prompt: 2 for Tuesday: 

                 Write a dawn/dusk poem

Dawn Memories

Sometimes now I greet the dawn with sleepy eyes ready to close

But I remember when I was a worker rising before the sun rose

Driving in the dark with the rays of the rising sun before me

Going to a thankless job where I would be until the sun set

And once again back on the road in the dark

Back to the life where I felt like me and not like a puppet

Held up by the thought that I would soon be home.

Copyright 2026 by Barbara Ehrentreu

Dusk on the Beach

There is no place better to see the sunset than on the beach

The air changes and cools as the sun prepares to lower in the sky

Colors become a crazy artist’s palette of coral and light pink 

Smearing across the sky

The water is a mirror for the tableau in the heavens

You breathe in the salty sea air and feel the remnants of the day’s fun

Romping in the cool waves as the hot sun beat down on you

Sometimes the aroma of cooking meat wafts into your nostrils

From a barbeque set into the sand

Half-clad people rushing to find a wrap as the sun goes down

And the light lessens slowly as you sit mesmerized by the experience

One with the sand, the water, and the air flowing around you

Copyright 2026 by Barbara Ehrentreu

Day 8

Prompt: Write a paranoid poem

Conspiracy Theories

He was obsessed with not winning

So, he claimed the election was rigged

He wasn’t paranoid – no

How could someone in power be paranoid

But he instigated a riot about this

And made everyone else think it was true

Was he paranoid?

No one thought that when they re-elected him

Was he paranoid when he snubbed other countries?

Bombed a country that he was sure would attack him?

No, he was just being careful

Protective of his country

Not paranoid when he believed he can’t trust

Anyone but his handpicked henchmen and henchwomen

And we are left with the sad, paranoid, still leader

Who still hasn’t learned that everything is not always

About him.

Copyright 2026 by Barbara Ehrentreu

Paranoid Thoughts

When I was a girl I always thought people were talking about me

Seeing a group of girls laughing together when I walked by

Made me think they were talking about me

I worried I wasn’t wearing my hair the right way or the wrong clothes

Paranoid that I was different

So different they were laughing

I was their joke

And I went through school thinking this constantly

The refrain of you’re not good enough in my head each day

My short curly hair not the sleek fashionable straight hair

I never quite felt I fitted into anywhere

Thinking this I went to my high school reunion

And fifty years later I realized

I had truly been paranoid for no reason

For I met another alumna who showed me

She too had wondered about what others thought

And I had always believed she was a popular girl

We both laughed at our own paranoia so many years later.

Copyright 2026 by Barbara Ehrentreu

Day 9

Prompt: ____But_______

Smiling But Crying

Sometimes the moment brings tears

I am smiling but tears roll down my cheeks

The time is so overwhelming

The emotion too strong it needs more than a smile

Inside of me is the beauty of it

Wonder and joy are careening in a circle

And I am in the middle of that experience

A bystander to my emotions

The recipient of the moment’s splendor

And suddenly smiling is not enough

For that is only part of what I am feeling

The immensity of the dance of my feelings

Brings my eyes into focus and they spill over

With tears that suddenly appear

In wonder I realize this moment is not only joyous

But bittersweet when it reminds me of why

The why is the important part

For the why is the reason I am smiling

The why is the person for whom I am smiling

And the why is the tears being shed

For the smile would only be happy

If the person were here

The why is about that person who is gone

And though the moment I just remembered

Was funny it was funny but sad

For this was him in the spotlight

Being the person he was and getting people to laugh

This was funny but sad

And though I smile at the memory

My heart remembers that he is not here to hear it

Not here but still very much in my thoughts

Alive but not

Here but only in remembrance.

Copyright 2026 by Barbara Ehrentreu

Day 10

Prompt: Write a mini poem

SAINO #111

7-8-9

Beckoning

Sunshine spreads over the scene

I see pink blossoms bloom on trees

Outside my window the world awaits.

Come out it says and walk here

Feel the warmth as you stroll along

I fly outdoors to bathe in Spring air.

Copyright 2026 by Barbara Ehrentreu

Day 11

Prompt: Write a poem about home

You Were My Home

We moved around so much without a care

Crossing the country in our little FIAT

Through the desert and into LA

Back again in less than a year in the same little car

No place to call home as we sped back to another town I didn’t know

And then to Buffalo a year later

Our life placing us everywhere

Unknown faces and places

Yet through it all I was always home

There in your arms I had my home

Always there no matter where we were

Grounding me with your familiar feel

My head resting in the place I called home

Now I have what we created together to bring me home.

Copyright 2026 by Barbara Ehrentreu

H h

Day 12

Prompt: Write a set poem

An Old Set

They were paper thin flowered, China tea cups

With a matching teapot

Left to him by default from his long deceased grandmother

Carted across the sea from Germany so many years ago

Probably displayed and used for special occasions

Incongruous for a young man without a place to live

He carried them to a new marriage

Wrapped in tissue paper and kept in a box for years

Finally unwrapped and placed on display

One or two were destroyed so there are only two left

With the cream pitcher, the teapot lost due to fire damage

Now they sit in a safe place in my antique China cabinet

Along with the other remnants of past life

The three or four Hummel figures also left to him

And an assortment of glass and China objects gifted to me

I treasure these as past remembrances

And the China tea cups, delicately hand painted are a look into the past

When tea was not just a beverage but a whole experience

And people visited holding their pinkies up as they sipped

A time when life was simpler and when his grandmother 

            felt at home in her country

Before she came to America

And she and her friends could sit together at a table with 

An embroidered tablecloth drinking tea together in peace

Until she had to flee to a new world

Where her brave sons a set of strong boys

Enlisted in the Army here to fight for their new country in World War I

She became part of the set of Americans.

Copyright 2026 by Barbara Ehrentreu

Day 13

Prompt: Write a problem poem

The Problem

Some people whose minds were clouded with untruths

Voted for him

Supported him no matter what he said or did

Watched as people who were incensed with his lies

Stormed our Capitol and destroyed property

Put up a gallows for a sitting vice president

Forced Senators and Representatives to hide in dark rooms

While they rampaged like giddy teenagers in a school after hours

Took everything in stride as he destroyed institutions of the government

And continued to ignore the lies he spewed out

Until he spewed us into a stupid unnecessary war

That drove up gas prices and food prices to the ceiling

And still his cronies and lackeys refuse to censure him

Unheard of behavior from a leader of our country

Has made many turn away from him

But these politicians care nothing for their country

They only want to keep kissing the hem of his garments

And have him praise them

Our problem is very simple

We must continue to force these unthinking, 

despicable, brain dead individuals

To see what is in front of them

Some have already changed their minds

As his rhetoric ramped up to an unnatural level

We need to eliminate this person from office

Not an easy task but it can be done

We have tried so many times without a good result

But now it seems this will happen

For many have had the clouds taken from their eyes

And can see what has been hidden for years

The truth about the man they thought was one way

And turns out to be a wolf in sheep’s clothing

Lying and stealing and calling it leadership.

Copyright 2026 by Barbara Ehrentreu

Creative Problem Solving

Think of a problem you have to solve 

And find questions to solve it

Brainstorm all of the solutions without judgement

Choose one that you think are best

Experiment by using these solutions

Your problem could be simple or complicated

Solve the way to untie a knot

Figure out all the ways to do it

See the way the knot is tied

Examine it carefully

Look for a way to start it

Maybe your solution is to try to loosen it

Or maybe you will use a sharp object to pry it loose

Untying a knot with the help of creative problem solving

Is a door to solving all problems

It teaches you that though a problem may seem impossible to fix

There is always a solution if you persist.

Copyright 2026 by Barbara Ehrentreu

Day 14

Prompt: Two for Tuesday: Write a form poem and an anti -form poem

Spring Arrives

Sunshine

Spreads across

The new grass

While birds sing lustily

And the flowers bloom profusely

Spring has arrived with a roaring presence.

Copyright 2026 by Barbara Ehrentreu

Spring Arrives – anti-form

Spring came late this year

And I thought it would never come

Winter hung around like an old boyfriend who wouldn’t leave

while Spring crept slowly in

Soon trees had buds and then flowers

And suddenly the air was warm and breezy

I  could sit outside and read listening to bird songs

Thankful that the season had turned at last.

Copyright 2026 by Barbara Ehrentreu

Day 15

Prompt: Under_____

Under Siege

Too many places in this world

Are under siege and fighting for their lives

Not for any reason but still they have to suffer

They are attacked by bombs and drones with bombs

Without a reason or warning

Imagine being one of those people

Who did not do anything but exist

Suddenly their home is destroyed 

Their life is in ruins

They might have lost a loved one

And they are suffering needlessly

Not knowing how they will get by day to day

And there seems to be no end

As not one but two or three countries

Have decided to destroy their lives

Under the name of what?

There is no reason for this except greed

The greed of someone who keeps wanting more

Nothing is enough and they need so much more

They start wars for their own ends and not for their country’s well being

And they think only in terms of themselves

Some had a reason once but that is gone now

So many innocent people are now under siege and dying for nothing

While wealthy countries pummel them with useless bombs

Destroying their peace and causing pain everywhere

All for their own nefarious ends

Copyright 2026 by Barbara Ehrentreu

Hopefully, I will be able to post each day's poem. But until the next time I also hope that you are writing or reading a poem or poems each day. The weather is cooperating too. So it's fun to write.

Soon I might have a new guest author for April.  As Rachel Maddow says: "Watch this space".