NaPoWriMo Day 16: Today, I challenge you to fill out, in no more than five minutes, the following “Almanac Questionnaire,” which solicits concrete details about a specific place (real or imagined). Then write a poem incorporating or based on one or more of your answers. Happy writing!

A powerful storm produced piles of agates, three buckets of beers, and 8 inches of love. The pounding waves destroyed the sandy beach, stole my flip flops, and raged, “Go home, you’re drunk.”

~Just L (April 16, 2016)

Almanac Questionnaire

Weather: Marine layer
Flora: Hanging pots of Bouganvilla, heavenly morning glories, and Jade vines
Architecture: Spanish Colonial
Customs: Catholic
Mammals/reptiles/fish: Yellowfin Tuna, Marlin, Sailfish
Childhood dream: To be an ex-pat and author
Found on the Street: Market vendors
Export: Tequila
Graffiti: Murals
Lover: Latin, duh.
Conspiracy: Government corruption
Dress: White cotton embroidered dresses
Hometown memory: Trees touching across the street
Notable person: Lady of Guadalupe
Outside your window, you find: Bay of Banderas
Today’s news headline: El Nino Delays Whales
Scrap from a letter: With you, all my love goes away
Animal from a myth: Mermaids
Story read to children at night: Goodnight Moon
You walk three minutes down an alley and you find: A thrown out piece of furniture to be restored
You walk to the border and hear: “chiclet chiclet….”
What you fear: Being too fierce and bold for any one man to love forever
Picture on your city’s postcard: Cathedral