Day Eight ... NaPoWriMo / Poem-a-Day

Day Eight ... start of a new NaPoWriMo week. And also Easter week. Happy Easter to everyone for whom this day is special! Today, Maureen Thorson prompts us to "Go outside. That's about it. Take a walk, on this lovely Sunday. Or a drive. (Or if it's not lovely where you are at all, maybe just remember your last good walk or drive)." Catherine's poem for Day Eight follows Maureen's lead. You Being the Moon and I Being a Poet Shining through the bamboo shade covering my bedroom window, you are stark and sure of your place, full in the April sky, asserting yourself onto the wall beside my desk as if to remind me I should be inspired to write about you.     But I am only reminded of a night you weren’t so bright and crisp, when I crossed blurred lines, slowly making my way to the car, so distracted by sibilant confession, I was driving before I noticed you hanging above me like a peach, fuzzy edges glowing pink and yellow, the colors of promise and love. —Draft by Catherine Pritchard Childress     [do not copy or quote ... thanks] Robert Lee Brewer suggests we "write a rejected poem. [One] that work[s] the idea of rejection into the poem somehow. This could take the form of a poet lamenting rejection, though also a rejected friend or student or whatever." My poem for Day Eight responds to this prompt. Sorting Through Discards Behind Goodwill Plastic picture of Jesus with eyes that follow you, a tear painted below the outside corner of each eye, gang tattoo-style, with Wite-Out. Cracked mirror, with a fancy beveled edge, chipped. Thick sweater with black and white moose outlines. Pair of pointy, 1960s Beatle boots, black — the left with its Cuban heel broken off. Yellow-stained baby crib mattress. Princess phone in pink, rotary-dial, with no earpiece. Electric blue Schwinn 5-speed bike from the 1950s, no brakes, twisted back wheel. Small 1970s tabletop TV in wood veneer, no knobs, broken antenna. Plastic kids' toy guitar, emblazoned with Roy Rogers and Dale Evans's smiling faces, only the G string left. Large He-Man action figure — the left lower leg removed, its knee replaced with a Skeletor head. Empty shell of a 1980s Mac computer — watermark across the screen plus a faint fishy smell. Stack of thirteen 8-track tapes in red, black and blue: Carole King, Elvis, Smokey Robinson & the Miracles. Barry Manilow CD case, the CD inside badly scratched. Cardboard-backed print of Manet's painting Luncheon on the Grass — on the back someone had written in red "From the first Salon des Refusés." Tarnished copper PlanetX token — on the back side: A PLACE THIS MUCH FUN DESERVES ITS OWN PLANET. —Draft by Vince Gotera     [do not copy or quote ... thanks] I'm glad of the opportunity here to present a list poem. I've been suggesting to my poetry students at the University of Northern Iowa that they try a list poem, but I haven't been able to find suitable examples online. I hope this poem will inspire my students to try the form. Okay, eight days, eight poems apiece. All is well. Hope you're cruising around the blogosphere taking in the sights: the Poem-a-Day work all over the place. Starting a new thing . . . I'll feature a NaPoWriMo website or blog each day from here on out. For my first shout-out, check out J. I. Kleinberg's NaPoWriMo work in chocolate is a verb. Wonderful visual found poems. Take a look around the blog also, beyond the NaPoWriMo stuff, the various categories: colors, flavors, frolics, and so on. Such fun! Have a wonderful week, all. Please leave us a comment below — we would love to hear what you think about our poems, today and so far. See you around here on Day Nine? Ingat. POEM-A-DAY 2012 • Pick a day in April: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30