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

Day Two. Time goes on, doesn't it. And so do the poems. Let's get to the biz. Maureen Thorson’s NaPoWriMo prompt: “write a poem inspired by, or in the form of, a recipe! It can be a recipe for something real, like your grandmother’s lemon chiffon cake, or for something imaginary, like a love potion or a spell.” Robert Lee Brewer’s PAD prompt: “write a ‘not today’ poem. Maybe it’s normal to give in to outside pressures, but not today. Or maybe you’re usually very disciplined in your health and wellness habits, but not today. Or maybe you struggle to write poems, but not today.” Here's my attempt at merging the “recipe” and “not today” prompts, highlighting today's weather in my area with a couple of haiku. Recipe for a Spring Day • Sun bright in the sky • Not one solitary cloud • Brilliant blazing blue Ingredients . . . pfft. Cloudy with a chance of clouds. No sun. Not today. —Draft by Vince Gotera    [Do not copy or quote . . . thanks.] Alan's poem today blends the prompts more subtly. And comes with an intro: “Readers outside of academia should know that ‘ABD’ refers to ‘all but dissertation,’ or, commonly (and sometimes derisively) ‘all but done.’ The term refers to doctoral students who have completed all of their course work and tests but must complete their extended writing projects to fulfull the requirements of their doctoral programs. For many of us, this process results in a book-length project, usually not ready for publication but a major step towards it, often with parts of it salvaged, developed, and presented in expanded forms later. Sometimes, PhD students have life experiences that tear them away from those dissertations, and I can name at least five people who experienced these crises. There are some doctoral students, however, who get so hung up on the process and their realization that there is no possible way for them to offer a definitive answer to their theses that they persist in research past the point of getting any project completed.” ABD Perfection is procrastination’s wile, a promise left unkept with good to come if we will only wait, the maker mum about what progress has been made. We smile in hopes of future pleasure, all the while unsure—uncertainty and doubt rise from experience of waiting, feeling numb from sitting, anxious, yearning. Take a crumb from cakes that turn out wrong and realize they’re good to eat, imperfect in their fall, and pity all those worriers of pies and icings, arts mixed up in chemical experiments. Rely on guts, not eyes, and be a cook instead, when hungers call. —Draft by Thomas Alan Holmes    [Do not copy or quote . . . thanks.] Man, that brings me back to my PhD student days . . . that urge to keep researching and keep researching because there's always more stuff to find. As you suggest, some people never finish their PhDs because of that urge. Yup, be a cook rather than a shopper. Get the meal made. Brilliant poem, Alan. For those who keep track of poetics, this is a Petrarchan sonnet, a savvy choice for a poem about yearning. 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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