Day 26 ... NaPoWriMo / Poem-a-Day 2024

One more time . . . a blog intro from 2013: Day 26. Two baker's dozens. 26 is also half a deck of cards, meaning there are 26 red cards and 26 black cards. Finally, as I'm sure we all know, 26 is the "number of spacetime dimensions in bosonic string theory" (Wikipedia). Maureen Thorson’s NaPoWriMo prompt: “And now for our (optional) prompt. Today, we’d like to challenge you to write a poem that involves alliteration, consonance, and assonance. Alliteration is the repetition of a particular consonant sound at the beginning of multiple words. Consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds elsewhere in multiple words, and assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds. Traci Brimhall’s poem 'A Group of Moths' provides a great example of these poetic devices at work, with each line playing with different sounds that seem to move the poem along on a sonorous wave.” Robert Lee Brewer’s Poem-a-Day suggestion: “For today's prompt, write a persona poem. A persona poem is just a poem narrated in the voice of a persona who is not yourself.” Robert's demo poem today is titled "An Abandoned Payphone Beside an Abandoned Gas Station" and I imagined my cellphone talking to that abandoned payphone. (Read his demo poem here, lower on the page.) Once again, today's poem is a curtal sonnet (rhymed abcabc dbcdc) in ten-syllable lines, ending with the required half-line. My Cellphone Speaks with the Abandoned Payphone Beside an Abandoned Gas Station I see you, brother phone, in your old booth on this rubbled street, so undignified. You’ve seen better days, full of silver coins in your slot, on this posh strip of your youth, where stylish skaters and bikers would ride all night. Scruffy panhandlers used to join the glittery parade, “Spare change? Spare change?” Now, your nights are just dark, no glitz, no glide, no folks pushing your numbers. I enjoin you, old timer, free yourself. Go long range!                                   Fly off to cloud nine! —Draft by Vince Gotera    [Do not copy or quote . . . thanks.] I use the sound devices Maureen suggests. Alliteration: glitz / glide. Assonance: brother / rubbled (short u and schwa). Consonance: brother / booth (b and th). There's more. See what you can find and tell me in a comment below? Friends, won’t you comment, please? Love to know what you’re thinking. Thanks! Ingat, everyone.  ヅ

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Day 25 ... NaPoWriMo / Poem-a-Day 2024

Today another intro from the blog in April 2013. Day 25. 5/6 of the way through National Poetry Month. 5 squared. 5 times 5. 25 is the first number mentioned in the title of one of my favorite Chicago songs: "25 or 6 to 4." I was 18 when that song came out in 1970 and I learned Terry Kath's bravura guitar solo in it by listening to the record over and over, working out the solo note by note. Even now, 43 years later, Kath's influence on my lead guitar playing continues to be substantial. It's now 54 years later, and that last sentence is still true. And now today's poetry prompts. Maureen Thorson’s NaPoWriMo prompt: “Today, we’d like to challenge you to write a poem based on the “Proust Questionnaire,” a set of questions drawn from Victorian-era parlor games, and adapted by modern interviewers. You could choose to answer the whole questionnaire, and then write a poem based on your answers, answer just a few, or just write a poem that’s based on the questions. You could even write a poem in the form of an entirely new Proust Questionnaire. We have a fairly standard, 35-question version of the questionnaire laid out for you below.” You can see Maureen's questionnaire here. Robert Lee Brewer’s Poem-a-Day suggestion: “For today's prompt, write a homonym poem. A homonym is either (or both) a homograph (word spelled the same with different meanings and possibly different pronunciations) or a homophone (word that is pronounced the same but has different spellings).” Robert gives a couple links of homophone and homograph examples: homophones / homographs. One of the questions in Maureen's Proust questionnaire is "Who are your favorite writers?" I'm answering that but changing it to "Who are your favorite bass players?" since I'm a bass player myself. I'm also including one homophone and one homograph. Can you see those homonym pairs (which overlap) in the poem? This poem is a senryu, with a traditional haiku shape (5-7-5 syllables). Victor Wooten At base, Vic’s the best bass player in the world. But he can’t fish for bass. —Draft by Vince Gotera    [Do not copy or quote . . . thanks.] Yes, it's kind of a silly little ditty, but it gets the job done today. The homophones are base / base, and the homographs are bass (musical instrument) / bass (fish). Apologies to Victor if he actually is a bass fisherman. Victor Wooten photo from No Treble Friends, won’t you comment, please? Love to know what you’re thinking. Thanks! Ingat, everyone.  ヅ

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Day 24 ... NaPoWriMo / Poem-a-Day 2024

Another blog intro from Day 24 of 2013 . . . that was a fun year! Day Two-Four. Let's see, 24 hours in a day, 24-carat gold. Of course, 24, the TV action series starring Kiefer Sutherland in which each episode comprised the 24 hours of a single day. And from our childhoods, the 24 blackbirds in the nursery-rhyme pie. I remember being freaked out by that as a child. I didn't have trouble with the blackbirds being cooked, but then they would sing. So they were still alive after being baked. Horrifying! Maureen Thorson’s NaPoWriMo suggestion: “[O]ur (optional) prompt for the day is another one pulled from our 2016 archives. Today, we’d like to challenge you to write a poem that begins with a line from another poem (not necessarily the first one), but then goes elsewhere with it. This will work best if you just start with a line of poetry you remember, but without looking up the whole original poem. Or you could find a poem that you haven’t read before and then use a line that interests you. The idea is for the original to furnish the backdrop for your work, but without influencing you so much that you feel as if you are just rewriting the original! ” Robert Lee Brewer’s Poem-a-Day suggestion: “For today's prompt, write a maximum poem. Some people may recall that we wrote a minimum poem back on day 6; this takes that concept and brings it back the other way. In fact, one possible way into today's poem would be to see what you did on day 6 and turn it on its head. Or go somewhere completely new. Whatever you do, take it to the max.” My poem for Day 6 had to do with something my father used to tell me all the time when I was growing up. I've taken the opening lines of that poem and taken them "back the other way," as Robert said above. Today we have, again, a curtal sonnet (rhymed abcabc dbcdc), with ten-syllable lines. Maximum Love Papa's mantra: “You have to be better than them.” But what does better mean? I know he meant well. To him, better meant book smart, more accomplished, more clever, whatever it takes to be best, be top dynamo. All my life, I’ve done that. Stand tall, apart. But as I got older, I’ve found it’s not enough. Competing doesn’t help you grow. What does? A warm, crackling fire in the hearth, sitting next to the one you love. Sweet thoughts                                               overflowing your heart. —Draft by Vince Gotera    [Do not copy or quote . . . thanks.] Friends, won’t you comment, please? Love to know what you’re thinking. Thanks! Ingat, everyone.  ヅ

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Day 23 ... NaPoWriMo / Poem-a-Day 2024

Looks like 2013 was a good year for April blog intros. Here's Day 23's intro from 2013: Day 23. Today is Shakespeare's birthday, born 1564. Had he been an Old Testament patriarch, he would be turning 449 today. Or maybe if he was Methuselah's lesser-known sibling, then four and a half centuries would be a walk in the park. Happy Shakespeare's birthday, everyone! And now, today's prompts. Maureen Thorson’s NaPoWriMo prompt: “[W]rite a poem about, or involving, a superhero, taking your inspiration from these four poems in which Lucille Clifton addresses Clark Kent/Superman.” Robert Lee Brewer’s Poem-a-Day suggestion: “For today's Two-for-Tuesday prompt: 1) Write a "(blank) of the Heart" poem, and/or . . . 2) Write a "Heart of the (blank)" poem.” Today, in honor of Shakespeare's birthday, here is a slapstick-humorous Shakesperean sonnet, merging all three prompts: Shakespeare as a superhero, with a reference to his heart, even! Shakespeare of the Heart; or Heart of the Shakespeare So, it turns out that Shakespeare never died. Today is his birthday, and he’s four hundred sixty years old. Or “young,” as they say. Why’d anyone think Bill had passed? Unnumbered visitors to his grave have seen his headstone at Holy Trinity, his parish church in Stratford, where it says, to move Bill’s bones would bring upon said mover a dread curse. Folks, that’s a clue he isn’t there! Shakespeare grew wings, flew to Avalon, where he dwells, waiting for calls, along with King Arthur, from ones who need aid in verse. “SuperBill, help me!” you should say when needing a rhyme. And Bill will come, cross his heart, every time! —Draft by Vince Gotera    [Do not copy or quote . . . thanks.] Super Shakespeare by Mathew McFarren Friends, won’t you comment, please? Love to know what you’re thinking. Thanks! Ingat, everyone.  ヅ

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Day 22 ... NaPoWriMo / Poem-a-Day 2024

Seems like 2013 was a good year for April blog intros. Here's the one for 22 April 2013: Day 22. What comes to mind immediately is the novel Catch-22 by Joseph Heller; in our everyday language we use the slang "catch-22" to describe a problem that can't be solved because the problem itself prohibits a resolution. A no-win. Kobayashi Maru. And there's also the .22 caliber rifle so often mentioned in literature because it's a well-known weapon. Lots more 22-related trivia, but let's get to the poetry. Maureen Thorson’s NaPoWriMo prompt: “[W]rite a poem in which two things have a fight. Two very unlikely things, if you can manage it. Like, maybe a comb and a spatula. Or a daffodil and a bag of potato chips. Or perhaps your two things could be linked somehow – like a rock and a hard place – and be utterly sick of being so joined. The possibilities are endless!” Robert Lee Brewer’s Poem-a-Day prompt: “[W]rite an earth poem. The poem can be about nature or the planet. But it can also be about anything or anyone on the planet. Or dirt (aka, earth); feel encouraged to write a poem about dirt. Or earthlings!” Today, I give you a tanka — a poetic form from Japan that, traditionally, has 5 lines of 5, 7, 5, 7, and 7 syllables. Working with both prompts, as usual. I just wondered how dirt, if it could talk, would feel about the earthworm. Happy Earth Day, everyone! Dirt Speaks of the Earthworm So tired of always passing through this fleshy tube: in at the mouth, then out . . . well, you know. Given time, this worm would eat the whole earth! —Draft by Vince Gotera    [Do not copy or quote . . . thanks.] On another note, non-earthy, I just wanted to tell you about the second annual Poetry Palooza festival in Des Moines this weekend (Friday and Saturday). It was such a wonderful event, with a poetry slam; workshops; a panel of expert poets discussing eco-poetry; a release reading for "The Cities in the Plains" (an anthology of Iowa poems and art); and poetry readings by Traci Brimwall, Paul Brooke, Camille T. Dungy, Jennifer L. Knox, Debra Marquart, and Caleb Rainey. I read some of my poems too (pics below). It was my first official event as Poet Laureate of Iowa. Looking forward to next April when I will be a featured poet at this event. See you next year! Friends, won’t you comment, please? Love to know what you’re thinking. Thanks! Ingat, everyone.  ヅ

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