2013 November PAD Chapbook Challenge: Day 17

Whew! These are the dog days of the challenge, right? The middle wasteland, but remember: "The Wasteland" is like a pretty incredible poem (for some folks anyway). As we wander in the desert of the November PAD Chapbook Challenge, be sure to let your mind wander and maybe a mirage or two will spring into a keeper.

For today's prompt, write an element poem. Maybe an element from the periodic table (hydrogen, oxygen, etc.). Maybe an element of surprise?!? Or a missing element, which could refer to a person, tool, or poem. Run wild with it.

Here's my attempt at an Element Poem:

"Silver City"

Almost mythical, it should surprise
no one Silver City is where Billy

the kid cut his teeth. Famous
as a stop for Butch Cassidy

and Kit Carson, it was built
on an old Apache campsite.

Geronimo and Cochise haunt
the valley first mined for copper,

but silver purifies and conducts,
and eventually time moves on

so that the only thing left mining
are the stories left behind.

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Robert Lee Brewer is Senior Content Editor of the Writer's Digest Writing Community and has never been to Silver City, though he thinks it sounds like a great place to take a hike. He's the author of Solving the World's Problems and a former Poet Laureate of the Blogosphere. He's married to the poet Tammy Foster Brewer, who has been writing some incredible poems this month. If you haven't read any of them, you're really missing out. No, seriously, you are. Friend her on Facebook and see for yourself. Follow Robert on Twitter @robertleebrewer.

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