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

Day Six. Yea, Chanticleer the cock hath crowed once more to the heavens, and thus now shall the count be six. (If you're puzzled, peek at yesterday's blog opening!) Here we go. Maureen Thorson’s NaPoWriMo prompt: "write a poem that looks at the same thing from various points of view. The most famous poem of this type is probably Wallace Stevens’ 'Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird.'" Robert Lee Brewer’s Poem-a-Day prompt: "For today’s prompt, write a poem about a sound. The poem could be about a small sound, a loud sound, a happy sound, or a creepy sound. And yes, music sounds count as well." Once again, Alan got done first today. He provides an intro to his poem: "When Apple released the remixed and remastered 1 album last year, I was beginning to hear the Beatles the way I remembered them, the songs much truer, in my opinion, than those abysmal late '80s CDs and more fully realized than the vastly improved but still obscuring 2009 remasters. The new version of 1 was closer to the potential promised by the Love album and the Yellow Submarine "songtrack" album. So, having nerded you out, prompted by the recent announcement of the fiftieth anniversary edition of a new remixed and remastered Sgt Pepper, here is my attempt to match both prompts of the day." Remixing “I Feel Fine” I had all the LPs, and when the CDs started to appear In 1987 only a few at a time, I wanted to like them, but those early ones, Please Please Me, With the Beatles, sounded so tinny and absent, like a bad phone connection, so I had to mollify my disappointment with the consolation that I had them on CD and could play them in ways I could not on LP— even cassettes did not sound good enough. And then, 2009, the remasters made the bass notes round and ripe, the drums had mass, a pulsing rhythm section I remembered, to have them closer to the life I loved, although the mono feels far more alive than the workman stereo of the converted albums and even the dedicated stereo mixes. But the vocals, sometimes warm, sometimes processed for effect, seemed spare in places. 2015, a remixed “I Feel Fine,” and I hear warmth, a guttural depth in John’s deep moans that almost shift to rhythm section, too. I’m sure that Apple will remix them all, eventually, and I will hope to hear what I have never heard before. —Draft by Thomas Alan Holmes    [Do not copy or quote . . . thanks.] Once again writing after reading Alan's poem, I find I can't help but be influenced. Though that's not a bad thing since Alan's poems are always so good. You'll see a small echo from his poem in mine, where I'm also working with both prompts. Gods A guitar chord is a constellation of colors and tones. A murder of crows on a handful of wires. George Harrison shimmering magic on the old stereo phonograph I cherished at age 13. My fingertips ridged with callus to parse Beatle major 7s tingling the brain. Chet Atkins’ melodies: gold embroideries or silvery lace. The "Jimi Hendrix chord" — E7#9 — both major and minor at once! John Cipollina’s vibrato notes flared in mercurial light. Carlos Santana’s hands flashed like heaven’s archangels on fire. Oscillating steel pulsing always higher. —Draft by Vince Gotera    [Do not copy or quote . . . thanks.] George Harrison Playing a Gibson SG   Just for fun, here are the daily form breakdowns. Day One: both free verse. Day Two: Vince haiku stanzas, Alan sonnet. Day Three: Vince sonnet, Alan free verse. Day Four: both sonnets. Day Five: both free verse. Day Six: Alan free verse, Vince sonnet. So . . . Alan has written 4 free verse poems and 2 sonnets, while Vince has written 1 poem in haiku stanzas, 2 free verse poems, and 3 sonnets. 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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