Day 28 ... NaPoWriMo / Poem-a-Day 2017

28 is a happy number. Do you know about "happy numbers"? I didn't until a couple of minutes ago. "A happy number is a number defined by the following process: Starting with any positive integer, replace the number by the sum of the squares of its digits, and repeat the process until the number either equals 1 (where it will stay), or it loops endlessly in a cycle that does not include 1. Those numbers for which this process ends in 1 are happy numbers, while those that do not end in 1 are unhappy numbers (or sad numbers)" (Wikipedia). So, for 28 . . . 22 + 82 = 68. Apply the squaring and adding again . . . 62 + 82 = 100. Again . . . 12 + 02 + 02 = 1. Okay, there we are, happy!  ヅ  Maureen Thorson’s NaPoWriMo prompt: "write a poem using Skeltonic verse. Don’t worry, there are no skeletons involved. Rather, Skeltonic verse gets its name from John Skelton, a fifteenth-century English poet who pioneered the use of short stanzas with irregular meter, but two strong stresses per line (otherwise know as 'dipodic' or 'two-footed' verse). The lines rhyme, but there’s not a rhyme scheme per se. The poet simply rhymes against one word until he or she gets bored and moves on to another." Robert Lee Brewer’s Poem-a-Day prompt: "write a poem about a smell. Similar to Day 6’s prompt about writing a poem about a sound, today’s prompt involves thinking about the various good and bad smells that fill the world. Pick one smell (or a variety, I suppose), and write a poem." Here's my best shot today, merging both prompts. I'm just okay with this one. It's going to need some serious revision, probably. But here it is for now, starting with some song lyrics you might recognize. Prevention Ooo-ooo, that smell. Can you smell that smell? Lynyrd frickin’ Skynyrd wanted to save lives. To save you and me. Music is free: you hear it, we hear it. Hard drugs aren’t just for thugs. That girl next door, that boy who’s your lawn mower, they’re all in danger. But what to do? It’s all on you. Love your kids till they know and feel they’re something real important. Give them strength to live each day with pride, not have to hide. Let’s stem the tide. Let love abide. —Draft by Vince Gotera    [Do not copy or quote . . . thanks.] Man, this skeltonic form is tough. The rhyme comes back so fast! Easy to use for light verse, for humor, probably, but I wanted to try to write something in a serious vein. I almost went "rogue" (evaded the prompts, that is), but I've committed myself this month to using and combining both prompts. And now, Alan's skeltonics . . . Blue Guitar Vince Gotera stands on terra firma, thera- peutic air o’ seeing, peri- scopic stare a- bove the crowd, in tune, unbowed while playing loud and polyrhythmic, cataclysmic spills of seismic rills and cosmic fire-pick sweet lick testified, amplified, led beside still waters, sons and daughters, troll-abhoring, poll-deploring, goal-ignoring, soul-restoring, soul-imploring, psychedelia like you tell ya gals and fellas like Vidalias sweet and layered like the first heard hungry, thirsty on the first day joy that burst ‘way up and out and all about as our nation needs creation. —Draft by Thomas Alan Holmes    [Do not copy or quote . . . thanks.] Why, thank you, Alan. What a treat. Love the -smic rhymes! I also find delightful the rhymes of air o’ and stare a- with my last name. Friends, won’t you comment, please? Love to know what you’re thinking. 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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