I Am Candace

For today's prompt, I was challenged to write a poem reflecting on my name and nicknames. If you do a quick Google search on my name's meaning, you'll see that my name means "queen," "glowing," and "pure," and it is associated with clarity, strength, and royal authority. I tried to use most of those meanings in my poem. As for nicknames, I've had a few throughout my life, but I chose to use only one in this poem. Candy is a common nickname for Candace, but it never stuck to me. I never really liked it as a nickname, so I never let it stay with me. I hope you enjoy my poem!

 

I Am Candace
By Candace Shultz

Who am I?
I am Candace.
I am named after a queen.
I claim my name with pride. 

My name is pure,
Given to me with love.
It surrounded me at birth
And settled in to stay.

My name has power.
It defines me. It holds fast 
Even when nicknames fade,
Like Candy who just melted away.

My name has strength.
It walks with me every day
As I journey through my life,
A constant companion in an 
Ever changing and confusing world.

My name is ethereal.
It will carry on in the wind
When my body is no more,
Touching the lips of those
Who speak its rhythm,
Tumbling in their laughter
As they remember me,
Sliding down their tears
As they mourn.

Who am I?
I am Candace.
I am named after a queen.
I claim my name with pride.

Raindrops

 

Little raindrops fall
Tapping softly on the wall
Otherwise silence

 

 

Tiger Lily

This poem was inspired by the NaPoWriMo prompt to muse on a flower's name and its meanings.

 

 

 

Tiger Lily
By Candace Shultz 

Oh, tiger lily! 
The passion that flows 
through your petals
entices the heart to love! 
Your subtle scent sweetens 
the air around you.
Is it no wonder a man dares
to pluck you from the earth 
to give you to his heart's desire?
Your strength becomes
the endurance of their love,
thriving in this harsh world.
You bring good fortune 
to all who know you,
imbuing them with
your fiery soul. 

Drowning in Love

I attempted to follow the NaPoWriMo prompt today to write a small section of a long, narrative poem in which I use rhymes and unlikely dramatic scenes. I tried to channel the feel of a drama opera. My poem gives a glimpse of a story between a female cyclops and a male human who somehow fell in love and must navigate the hardships of such a relationship. 

Drowning in Love
By Candace Shultz 

He looked lovingly into her hazel eye
As he sat atop her bulging chest,
And when she let out a heartfelt sigh
His tiny body fell off her breast.

She sat up suddenly, her large body looming
Over his tiny form sprawled on the ground.
To his human ears, her voice was booming
As she bawled that death had come around.

He tried to shout so she could hear,
But he couldn't quite catch his breath.
So he watched with dread as her tears
Fell forth, forming a wave of impending death.

 

I Paved My Own Path - a haiku

In response to today's NaPoWriMo prompt, I wrote a poem responding to "The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost.

 

Two roads diverged in 

a wood, and I took neither.

I paved my own path. 

 

 

Crocheting Dreams

The NaPoWriMo prompt for today is to write "a poem in which you describe something that cannot speak, and what it has taught or told you." I love to crochet, so I decided to write about yarn and how it has dreams to be created into something new. 

Crocheting Dreams
By Candace Shultz

Yarn speaks to me
Every color
Every texture
Every size
Has a story to tell
Has a longing to be
Something
Something special
Something wanted
Something loved

A blanket for a newborn baby
Who will outgrow it but still
Take it everywhere with them
When they become a toddler

Warm socks for a grandma
To keep her feet warm
When she walks on the
Cold floorboards of her home

Mittens for children
To keep their hands 
From freezing in the cold
As they throw snowballs
And make snowmen
On their day off from school

A cute cat plush
For a little girl or boy
To hold close to their heart
Or a daring dinosaur
To play with every day

Yarn tells me
It wants to be created
Into something new,
To be held and cherished too.
It's just waiting for me
To make its dreams come true.

 

Love in a Cup of Coffee

For Day 15 of NaPoWriMo, today's poem is a love poem, but not a traditional one. I dedicate this poem to that first cup of coffee in the morning that helps me face the day. 

Love in a Cup of Coffee
By Candace Shultz

I love you truly,
my morning coffee. 
You fill my cup 
when I am empty.
You wake me up 
when my mind is numb.
You give me energy 
when I have none.
You make me happy
when I smell your scent.
You make me feel alive
with just one taste.
You jump-start my heart
when the fatigue is erased.
My grumpiness fades
and I am carefree
because I found love
in my morning cup of coffee.

Facade

For Day 14 of NaPoWriMo, I was challenged to write a poem involving technological advances. My poem is inspired by how people use artificial intelligence to create fake videos and images of themselves and others. 

Facade
By Candace Shultz

Are you real?
Or are you just pixels
of a face rearranged
on the screen to look
like someone else?
Do I even know you?

What is truth anymore
when everything
can be turned to lies?

I don't want a facsimile,
a false truth, an illusion,
an artificial face hiding 
behind a computer screen.

Give me authenticity.
Be genuine. Be real
in your words and actions,
in the face you present
to me and the world.
Give me your truth,
and I will give you mine.

Your First Steps

For today's NaPoWriMo prompt, I included a "remembered, cherished landscape" in my poem. I chose the front yard of the apartment complex where my daughter learned to take her first steps.

Your First Steps
By Candace Shultz 

In the front of our apartment,
I chose a little patch of grass,
Cut short and pristine,
The most beautiful color green.
The sun warmed our faces.
The wind rustled leaves
From a nearby oak tree.
It was the perfect place
To take your first steps.

I placed your feet down
On the lawn, and suddenly
Your smile became a frown.
You clenched your fists
And released an awful sound.
You cried at my betrayal for
Putting you on that wretched grass,
But I praised you as I watched
You walk towards me with sass.

One step, two steps, and then a third.
You toddled towards me undeterred.
Your first steps! Oh, what a sight!
You are my star, my joy, my delight!
You left behind that grassy green.
You reached my arms, and then you leaned
Into my embrace before I lifted you high
Into the bluest sky, showering you with praise
And looking at you with love in my gaze.

Love of Reading

In today's poem, I tried to follow a prompt to describe a memory of a family member I love in which my thoughts echo today. I chose a memory with my Grandma. 

Love of Reading
By Candace Shultz

Grandma sits in her rocker,
A book open in her lap,
The lamp lit on the table beside her.
I borrow a book from her shelves
Upon shelves of Harlequin novels,
And I feel a little risque
At reading romance as a young teen,
But Grandma doesn't mind.
She just loves that I love to read.

More than twenty years later
Down the road of life,
I have lived all kinds of lives
In so many different, wonderful worlds,
The Harlequin romance just one
Of the many genres of books that I open 
In my lap as I sit in my own rocker.
Thank you, my dear Grandma, 
For all those stories that you let me read.

 

 

In Pursuit of Love - a blackout poem

Today's poem is a blackout poem! I love blackout poetry. I followed the prompt from this NaPoWriMo site. 

  

In Pursuit of Love
By Candace Shultz

An enthusiastic flower
Feelings of exultation
Oh joy!
The lover seen
A purpose new
Both eyes intent
In pursuit to nothing else. 

 

 

To make my blackout poem, I used page 21 in the book Our Bird Comrades by Leander Keyser found on this website.

Tears of Regret

For today's poem, I followed the prompt posted on the NaPoWriMo site to write about grief using Geoffrey Brock's poem, “Goodbye,” as inspiration. Here is my poem.

Tears of Regret
By Candace Shultz

You were sick,
And I didn't know.
Death knocked on your door,
And you followed him home.

Were you alone? I don't know.
I wasn't there to say goodbye.
Were you alone? I hope love
Surrounded you in the end.

You were a whisper in the wind
That I tried so hard to hear, but now
A heavy silence weighs on my heart,
And I drown in a pool of tears.

I Love You - an acrostic poem

I Love You
By Candace Shultz

I love you. 

Look into the mirror
Of my heart. It reflects a
Vision of you as seen through my
Eyes - my heart's desire, my better half.

You are my world, and no
Other person could complete me
Until I met you. With you, I am whole. 

It isn't an Empty Page

For today's poem, I followed the challenge to use a phrase repeatedly while contradicting or inverting that phrase. 

It isn't an Empty Page
By Candace Shultz 

It isn't an empty page.
It's a white glare in my face
Mocking me for having no words
To form into a resemblance of a poem.

It isn't an empty page.
It's a blank slate ready for new ideas,
No longer a void, but a place
To express thoughts and find meaning.

It isn't an empty page.
It's a cat sharpening its claws,
Getting ready for the hunt
To bring home the prize.

It isn't an empty page.
It's a person stretching their legs,
Getting ready to run a mile,
Knowing they will reach the finish line.

It isn't an empty page.
It was a beginning not yet begun,
Now an ending finally achieved.
It's a poem written by me.
 

I Saw a Cat

For Day 7 of NaPoWriMo, I followed a prompt to write a poem similar to a song from a clapping game. My poem is inspired by the song "Miss Mary Mack," which I used to clap to with friends when I was a kid. 

 

I Saw a Cat
By Candace Shultz

I saw a cat, cat, cat
That was all black, black, black
With a tiny spider, spider, spider
Crawling on her back, back, back.

She felt a tickle, tickle, tickle
Within her fur, fur, fur
So she licked the spider, spider, spider
And began to purr, purr, purr.

The spider was scared, scared, scared
When it was snared, snared, snared
Inside the mouth of the cat, cat, cat.
The spider had erred, erred, erred.

Cat Greetings

Today's poem is inspired by a prompt to use a casual, conversational tone with at least one thing that would happen in a dream. A cat speaking in human words counts as something that would happen in a dream, right? 

 

Cat Greetings
By Candace Shultz

I open the door
and the first thing I see
is my cat sitting on the stairs
greeting me. "Welcome home!"
she says to me. "Hello kitty.
Were you waiting for me?"
I scratch her on the ears
and she trails behind me
like a shadow attached to my feet, 
talking to me the entire time
while I set down my purse, 
my water bottle, my phone.
I walk towards the bathroom,
and I close the door behind me,
and she reaches under the door
with her little paws, crying out
"Mom!" like a toddler child
who can't bear to be apart
from her mom for even a moment.
When I leave the bathroom,
she runs around me excitedly
until I finally settle in the rocker
in the living room, and then she
curls in a ball in my lap, cuddling me
as I rock us gently back and forth,
and the house becomes quiet
as we both close our eyes,
letting the gentle sway of the rocker
lead us into a slumber of dreams.

 

Canned Spinach

For Day 5 of NaPoWriMo, I followed a prompt to write about something I dislike, and to be over dramatic if I want. So I decided to write about canned spinach, which I really dislike. Seriously, why change a perfectly good fresh spinach leaf into a canned, stringy, slimy, unrecognizable leaf? Here is my poem:

Canned Spinach
By Candace Shultz 

I hate canned spinach.
It has ruined the color green
With its slimy taste and texture
And unappealing appearance.
I believe it is an unknown substance,
So bitter and gross that it makes
Me want to vomit in my mouth,
Which makes it that much worse to eat.
If you put some slimy spinach on my plate,
My blood will boil and the spinach will fly,
And I will watch as it trails down your face
Like a snail secreting mucus as it slides.

 

 

* Author's note: I wouldn't truly throw canned spinach at someone, but I definitely won't eat it (I've already eaten it before a few times. I never want to eat it again.).

Drip Drip Drop

Today's poem is about an aspect of weather, while using rhyme and lines of relatively even length.  

Drip Drip Drop
By Candace Shultz

In the distance, I can hear thunder rumble,
Which makes my son begin to grumble.
He hates it when the storms begin.
It makes him tremble from within.
God is just bowling, I sometimes say
As the clouds in the sky begin to gray.
The rain pitter patters on our roof above
And the wind blows harder without love,
So I sing a little song to calm my son down:
Drip drip drop, rain is falling on our town.
Drip drip drop, rain is falling on my head.
Drip drip drop, rain is falling on my bed.
Drip drip drop, my son sings too,
And just like that, the sky is blue.

Where did the day go? - a haiku

Today's poem is short and sweet: a haiku. 

I woke to the light

Shining through my window, then

I blinked. Now it's night.

Memories

This poem is for Day 2 of NaPoWriMo. 

Memories
By Candace Shultz 

I reach for a memory:
Laughing with friends,
Running through the sand,
The sun shining on my face,
My skin reddened from ultraviolet rays.

But the memory fades
Like sand sifting between my fingertips.

When I was young, I never thought to
Grasp onto those memories,
Never imagined bright, sunny days
Turning into hazy afternoons
Casting shadows on my memories. 

Even though my young self seems far away,
I still find her in the mirror,
Her eyes crinkled with the laughter
From a life fulfilled.

I Worry - a tanka

Today is Day 1 of NaPoWriMo 2026, and I wrote a tanka, as prompted by https://www.napowrimo.net/go/.

I Worry
By Candace Shultz

Shadows whisper in
between the dark spaces of
one thought to the next. 
I reach for rays of hope as
worries delve deep in my mind.