Day 19 ... NaPoWriMo / Poem-a-Day 2014

Hello, everyone. Day 19, almost 2/3 through National Poetry Month, and I only today found this cool little button online for NaPoWriMo 2014. Not sure what one could do with such a thing, but here it is on the right. Anyone have any ideas for what I could do in the blog with a button? Why they are called buttons anyway. Comment and let me know if you have a suggestion, won't you? Okay, let's get on to the business at hand, the official prompts for Day 19. Poem-a-Day guru Robert Lee Brewer's prompt today: "pick a color, make the color the title of your poem, and then, write your poem" (Poetic Asides). Maureen Thorson says, "Today I challenge you to take a look at the list of actual sea shell names below, and to use one or more of them to write a poem." You'll have to look at the entire list of 19 at NaPoWriMo.net, but here are a few of them: "Shuttlecock Volva," "False Cup-and-Saucer," and "Lazarus Jewel Box." I googled images of all 19 and here's the best-looking one, the most colorful, the shell of the "Strawberry Top" sea snail. You probably won't be surprised to hear I'm combining the two prompts today. I really need to write a proper love poem to Kathy and so I'm using her favorite color as my starting point and title. Here we go: linked haiku. Enjoy! Purple Kathleen, you were born to the purple . . . regal queen of periwinkle and magenta rose. Royalty's Tyrian hue. Strawberry Top snails Your fave sea creature. The color of penitence at Lent. Deep Purple, the band of your dreams. "Purple Haze" and "PurpleRain, " your best rock anthems. And, except for me, of course, Prince is your main man. Well, not the best poem someone ever wrote but heartfelt . . . a love letter of amaranthine splendor, amethyst gemstones, lilac, lavender, orchid, mauve, fuchsia. Plums, pomegranates. Heliotrope, mauve blossoms. Kath, I purple you. —Draft by Vince Gotera    [Do not copy or quote . . . thanks.] I was inspired by this particular image of a Strawberry Top seashell photographed in ultraviolet light. Isn't that the most magnificent shade of purple? Alan sets up his poem today: "Lunches lead to conversations that can go anywhere." Two of My Colleagues Might Have Encountered Each Other at a Nude Beach Years Ago Before They Met Each Other Suppose we’re having lunch, semester nearly done, and two at table talk about their trips to Greece, and one says “Speedo,” laughs, and then the other says, “Since all the other ones were nude, then why should I stand out?” And I can’t think of anything but how, away from anyone you know, high SPF, Wayfarers, and a smile would be all that you’d need. And then I realized how private tanlines are, a demarcation — here is what one shows the world, and here’s a privileged space. It seemed to me a beach of unclothed people would be like a zoo, the norm negating nudity, but knowing someone puts a face with all that flesh. And now, at least for weeks, I will associate these two with stripping down in anonymity because Greek locals did. My locals did as well, but nakedness has risks that being nude does not. —Draft by Thomas Alan Holmes     [Do not copy or quote . . . thanks.] That must have been a very interesting lunch, Alan. Anyone I know?  ヅ Won't you comment, please, friends? To make a comment, look for a blue link below that says Post a comment; if you don't see that, look in the red line that starts Posted by Vince and click on the word comments. Okay, friends, watch out for purple seashells on those nude beaches.  ヅ  Ingat, everyone.

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