I was trying to follow the January 3rd prompt in The Daily Poet by Kelli Russell-Agodon and Martha Silano, which says to use fifteen words that you don’t normally use in your poems. I opted to grab several books and pick random words. Unfortunately, I wasn’t satisfied with the results I was getting, probably because I was still choosing the words—and they tended to be the kinds of words I would choose, whether or not I had used them before. So, I ended up with a tanka.

Meatloaf and crackers
sound pretty good about now
with extra ketchup

Maybe some stuffed green peppers
I should learn how to make that

(5 January 2015—written January 3rd)