One thousand and one nights

(based on suggestions from @seanmelliott, @johnnypurple, @jellyjellyfish, @ernmalleyscat, @realnixwilliams and @lucyrogue)

Slap on a rollercoaster face

dance the descent towards morning.

Sun rises; my assignment done.

Can you hear the new day?

Creak of jonquils, crinkle

of damp earth after timpani rain.

Afternoon slung high like a crow

Tiring birds creep in piles

Request definition and filing.

Place them curlewed on the rack,

They smell and wilt wings

Stew in feathered ink.

Evening is out of place

a horse living among cows

Touch the air between them

braille roast chicken skin

Brush against the fluff

that lurks under lemon skins.

Count cats on your hands (two)

Press my fingers with yours (ten)

Request stories on the day

(thirty-one) beat on

Boats against the current

Kicks against the wall.

Hoist Scheherazade’s flag

make poems in her honour

keep her alive one more night.

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Today marks exactly a month of writing poems by request every day. It should total 29 poems, but because there were 2 days where I was a bit keen, there are thirty-one all together. It's been a regular joy in what has been a bit of a rough time for me. Hence the Scheherazade references - I'll tell my stories each night; take your suggestions to bed to keep me til morning. There's also a Great Gatsby reference, because it seemed a good idea at the time.

So thanks to everyone for their continued suggestions and great response. I'm still having fun, so I figure I'll just keep doing it as long as I can.

Today's poem is based on suggestions from six peeps:

• @seanmelliott: “finishing assignments”
• @ernmalleyscat: “a horse that lives with cows”
• @realnixwilliams: “jonquils and the smell of earth after rain”
• @lucyrogue: “roast chicken, lemon, cut flowers smelling strongly as they wilt and stew in their vase. (that was pretty much just what I can smell right now).”
• @johnnypurple: “cats. your cats.”
• @jellyjellfish: “rollercoasters”

I asked for 'lovely things', and then I ended up writing about them in an unlovely way. Poetry of misbehaviour!