Day 22 is Earth Day!
Maureen Thorson’s NaPoWriMo prompt: "[W]rite a poem in honor of Earth Day. This could be about your own backyard, a national park, or anything from a maple tree to a humpback whale."
Robert Lee Brewer’s PAD prompt: "[T]ake the phrase 'Star (blank),' replace the blank with a word or phrase, make the new phrase the title of your poem, and then, write the poem. Possible titles include: 'Star-struck,' 'Star Man,' 'Star Wars Prequels Aren’t Star Wars Movies,' 'Starter Set,' 'Stark Raving Mad,' and so on."
Here's my star+earth poem, with apologies to Christopher Smart.
Starship Earth
For I will consider our Planet Earth.
For it is the servant of the Living Sun, duly and daily orbiting it.
For with the Sun and the sibling planets it dutifully orbits the Milky Way.
For the Earth spins in space, providing us night and day.
For the Earth carries us safely through frigid darkness.
For the Earth stays faithfully in the Sun’s Goldilocks zone.
For firstly it is neither too cold nor too hot.
For secondly it keeps our feet to the ground, our heads to the sky.
For thirdly it holds on to a sphere of air that we may breathe and fly.
For fourthly it wears a voluminous coat of water that we may drink and swim.
For fifthly it serves as bed and nurturer of all plants and trees and flowers.
For sixthly it serves as medium for one-celled creatures with flagella.
For seventhly it serves as house and home for all animals with legs and wings.
For eighthly it serves up minerals and metals and all materials we need.
For ninthly its magnetic aura wards off dangerous rays and particles.
For tenthly the Earth abides, and abides us all.
For the Earth is our vessel, our starship.
For the Earth is our refuge, our mother.
—Draft by Vince Gotera [Do not copy or quote . . . thanks.]
Alan's star+earth poem is a graceful sonnet today.
Starborne Earth
So far, I’ve kept myself intact, except
those published pieces, gone and digitized,
as if eternal. I wish I’d realized
residual impulse to intercept
between the printing and the reader, kept
on some suspended state, uncriticized,
remaining new, that modest book, adept
in writing, left disdained or prized,
earthbound and looking higher, like the Earth.
Entropic forces swell, collapse, and swell
again, engender birth and death and birth,
returning, resurrecting, from the cell
to entire creatures, geosystems, worth
hosannas of revisions yet to tell.
—Draft by Thomas Alan Holmes [Do not copy or quote . . . thanks.]
Jed offers a little humorous vision of life at home with the Kurths.
Attack Of The ...
We bought the seeds
And window trays.
My wife, she says
I need to get a grip.
We wanted ripe tomatoes,
Not overlords.
I water faithfully,
And dream
Of both.
They’re three inches tall
Already.
—Draft by Jedediah Kurth [Do not copy or quote . . . thanks.]
Ven says, "So, the Prince thing has been on my mind. And then thinking about my other musical influences, I noted that two of the biggest ones still alive had songs that fit this prompt. 'Earth Day' by Devin Townsend and 'Starfuckers Inc.' by Nine Inch Nails. So I did a mashup of the lyrics from those two songs. If you don't know Devin Townsend, he's basically the closest thing there is to a heavy metal Prince. Except for dancing, pretty sure he doesn't dance."
Starfucker’s Earth Day
Eat your beets, recycle. Recycle.
Don't eat your beets, recycle. Recycle.
Shut up and think of something more important to say —
I saw God.
My God sits in the back of the limousine.
My God comes in a wrapper of cellophane.
My God pouts on the cover of the magazine.
My God is a shallow little bitch tryin' to make a scene.
She said . . . 'If you don't believe in me,
guaranteed you'll never leave me'.
On your way, and out of my time.
I didn't even know if it was true
or just a result of chemicals.
Now I belong, I'm one of the chosen ones.
It's like your birthday, it's on Earth Day,
Like a child you're born again,
little child you're bored again.
It's your worst fucking day,
it's on Earth Day.
Little lies to cover up
please make your mind up.
I'll be there for you as long as it works for me.
I play a game it's called insincerity.
Sometimes I think that in every straight there's a gay.
Now I belong, I'm one of the beautiful ones.
So just shut your face and take a seat
Because after all, you're just talking meat
and music?
Well, it's just entertainment folks.
I sold my soul but don't you dare call me a whore.
When I suck you off not a drop will go to waste
It's really not so bad you know once you get past the taste.
Like a child you're born again,
little child you're cold again.
It's your worst fucking day,
it's on Earth Day.
Little child your time is up —
please turn the heat up.
Peace, Love, Joy
Hate, Love, Love,
Hate, Love, Hate
Destruction.
The message is: 'THERE IS NO MESSAGE'
—Draft by Ven Batista [Do not copy or quote . . . thanks.]
Happy Earth Day, all. And thanks for reading!
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Ingat, everyone. ヅ |
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2 comments:
Well, I confess that things got a little odd on this one in that I put two jokes in this poem. In the lines where the persona claims to be an "adept" writer, I have mixed up the rhyme scheme so that this poem does not strictly follow a traditional sonnet form. Also, this poem is an acrostic poem that repeats the poem's title with the initial letter of each line except where instead of starting with the letter "n" I start with the word "in."
Alan, I did not see the acrostic at all. But the sonnet is sufficiently traditional ... just a hybrid of TWO traditions from two countries! :-D
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