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

“Day Eight” . . . long-A (ā) assonance, right there. Ain’t prosody grand? Maureen Thorson’s NaPoWriMo prompt: “Write a poem that relies on repetition. It can be repetition of a phrase, or just a word. Need a couple of examples? Try ‘The Bells‘ by Edgar Allan Poe, or Joy Harjo’s ‘She Had Some Horses.’ ” Robert Lee Brewer’s Poem-a-Day prompt: “Write a panic poem. There are any number of things a person can panic about, including severe weather, military invasions, or what to wear to an event. And while some may be more life or death than others, that feeling of panic is just as real for a person who has to get up and speak in front of a crowd of smiling strangers as it is for a person hiding in the basement of their house as a tornado approaches.” At the moment I'm writing this paragraph, it's a quarter to eight on Saturday morning. And I found out just now that Alan had already sent me his poem, in fact, an hour and a half ago. Bravo, Alan! Here is his set-up for us this morning: “As Emily Dickinson writes, ‘After great pain, a formal feeling comes.‘ I am responding to the prompts, but rather than focus on the panic recommended by Brewer, I write about resolve in panic’s wake; taking Thorson’s prompt of repetition, I have incorporated anaphora.” P O E M   R E M O V E D while being submitted for publication.   Please come back later. The poem may return at some time in the future. Thank you!       Thank you, Alan. A strong, brave poem that I'm sure you wish you had not had to write. The different repetitions, various anaphoras, you employ are indeed powerful. Thank you. Here’s my poem for the day. Not as powerful a poem as Alan’s; mine may not be a poem at all. The word “panic” occurs in the title but a different feeling came into the poem and I went with it rather than forcing the poem into a posture of panic. Like Alan, I also used anaphora as my repetition. Keep Calm, Don’t Panic Yesterday, Republican Senators banged Thor’s hammer down, the nuclear gavel that changed how the Supreme Court will live on. Yesterday, so-called President Trump banged his hammer down on a Syrian airbase in punishment of Assad's chemical attacks. Yesterday, 100-year-old — or older — rules were ruined and our nation likely became an international scofflaw. Yesterday, a progressive friend told me “It had to be done” and I wondered how much the world and we have altered. Yesterday, for many people, was just another day, but are we now on a slippery slope to global fire and brimstone. Yesterday may be, in some not-too-distant time, called the day that derelicted, damaged, doomed tomorrow.               —Draft by Vince Gotera    [Do not copy or quote . . . thanks.] I’m tired today, friends. And I don’t mean physically. But we must resist, and I hope that poem contributes to the resistance. Certainly Alan’s poem does. 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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