Day 14 ... NaPoWriMo / Poem-a-Day 2015

Day Fourteen. Here we are at the end of two weeks, but not yet quite at the halfway point. Today marks 7/15 of National Poetry Month gone by . . . 46.67%. Still a fair amount of poetry to go. Kentucky Rumbler Roller Coaster Photo by Joel Styer (source) If we were on an old-time wooden roller-coaster, we would be at that juncture on the lift hill, having just started the ride, where we're slowly climbing up and the creaking chain-pull seems at its breaking point. It feels like our ascent is slowing just before we get to the top, and we're getting ready to raise our arms and let our hands blow like starfish flags in the wind about to hit. Get set to scream now!  ヅ  Maureen Thorson's NaPoWriMo challenge: "Today's prompt (optional, as always) is a little something I'm calling 'Twenty Questions.' The idea is to write a poem in which every sentence, except for the last one, is in the form of a question. That's it! It can be as long or short as you like. Since today is Tuesday, Robert Lee Brewer's PAD prompt is a double one (his trademark "Two for Tuesday"): write an "honest poem" and/or a "dishonest poem." Let's start with Alan's poem. As an introduction to his approach today, Alan says, "Although I have not technically followed the NaPoWriMo suggestion of using a list of questions, I think that I have met the spirit of the prompt. In the exchange between the two figures in my poem, the unnamed speaker is angling for information from David, whose responses offer no direct answer about his feelings regarding his recent administrative assignment. So I do not have a series of questions so much as a series of misdirecting statements in my response to the NaPoWriMo prompt. I have definitely nailed the PAD 'honesty/dishonesty' target, though. The bigger question, however, may be the indirect comment on the subject given my selection of source material for this poem." The Ruined Professor “O David, old buddy, this tops everything! I’ve not seen you since graduation in late spring! You’re dressed to the nines! Tell me, why should that be?” “I’m in upper administration,” said he. “You left us in blue jeans, the cuffs stained with dirt, frayed collars and cuffs on about every shirt, a regular guy, at least sartorially.” “We always dress up when we’re admin,” said he. “Your office had music, with CDs in stacks and one or two guitars in free-standing racks; you were singing in bands in some bars cover free.” “There are things more important in admin,” said he. “Your hands were all ink-stained, your face drawn and dour from grading those essays to ungodly hour, but you taught some students to write brilliantly.” “We never have students in admin,” said he. “I’ve seen you near shaking when you’d found a book that was something to share — you’d insist that we’d look at some challenging fiction or new poetry.” “We don’t have to read when we’re admin,” said he. “We miss your sweet music; we miss your book passion; we miss you in classrooms; we miss your worn fashion.” “I’m on a new track now — that old way can’t be. It’s great to be in upper admin,” said he. —Draft by Thomas Alan Holmes    [Do not copy or quote . . . thanks.] For those of us who work at colleges and universities, this will bring a belly laugh because it rings true. Certainly for faculty members. And, I would bet, for administrators too, though they might be loath to admit it. I suppose they wouldn't appreciate my saying that, but that's what they get for switching to the dark side. Alan's poem today, in couplet quatrains — four-line stanzas where the first two lines rhyme and then the next two — is sing-able. Alan, you should write a melody for this. It would be great entertainment for department parties. To those of you who don't know Alan, I'm suggesting this because he is a guitar-slinging local performer and singer-songwriter. In my poem for day fourteen, I combine the two prompts . . . three, really, since there are two PAD promputs. Here is my poem about both honesty and dishonesty, couched in all questions. Please note  the epigraph; it gives the dramatic context for the poem, something that has really happened at PAD HQ. Twenty Questions             “there is a person copying and pasting other              people’s work in the comments of this blog.”                   —Robert Lee Brewer, Poetic Asides, 14 April 2015 Hey, did you read my PAD poem today on Robert’s blog? Did you like it? Did you write a poem too? What time did you upload it . . . to Robert’s blog, right? I read your poem — where did you get your idea? Did a kidnapping really happen to you? Did you ever tell me about it before? Someone broke into your house? They broke that window in the back door and reached in to unlock? Does your back door even have a window? Oh, it’s just a little one, huh? You woke up and the guy was hovering over you in your bed? Then he chloroformed you with a rag over your face? And you woke up in the back of car tied up with a white extension cord? The white extension cord was from your bedroom, right? You sure you didn’t just dream that? Did you know a poem on NaPoWriMo last year was very very similar? Did you read that poem last year? Are you sure? Should I mention it to Robert? —Draft by Vince Gotera    [Do not copy or quote . . . thanks.] I don't know why anyone would plagiarize poetry. What's the point? It's not like there's some potential reward of fame or finance. Friends, won't you comment, please? Why do you think someone would plagiarize poems? Or anything you want to say, really. To comment, look for a red line below that starts Posted by, then click once on the word comments in that line. If you don't find the word "comments" in that line, then look for a blue link below that says Post a comment and click it once. Thanks! Ingat, everyone.  ヅ

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