National Poetry Month / NaPoWriMo / Poem-a-Day 2022

Friends, welcome to a new round of April poems! Once again, I'll be following prompts from Robert Lee Brewer at Writer's Digest and Maureen Thorson at NaPoWriMo, mixing them whenever possible. Robert Lee Brewer’s Poem-a-Day prompt: “[P]ick a word that begins with F, make it the title of your poem, and then, write your poem. I don't know if it's because today is April Fool's Day, Friday, or just the first day of the challenge, but today really feels like an F type of day.” Maureen Thorson’s NaPoWriMo suggestion: “The prompt is based on Robert Hass’s remarkable prose poem, 'A Story About the Body.' The idea is to write your own prose poem that, whatever title you choose to give it, is a story about the body. The poem should contain an encounter between two people, some spoken language, and at least one crisp visual image.” Today, I wrote another poem to go in my aswang novel-in-poems. Aswang are mythical Philippine monsters. At this point in the novel, our protagonist Clara and her grown son Malcolm have returned from the US to the Philippines. She is a manananggal who can split her body at the waist and fly with bat-like wings that grow at that moment. I am melding both prompts today. However, instead of simply a prose poem, as Maureen prompted, I have written a haibun, a Japanese form that combines prose and haiku. Final Flight The breeze ruffles my long hair, invisible fingers combing. I beat my wings hard and rise into the glorious night, the moon glowing above me like a mother’s face lit by a votive candle. As I swoop and glide, the dark land below — rice paddies, mountains afar — and the thousand stars above swivel majestically around this small half-woman. I revel in the wind buffeting against my pinions for the last time. Then down down to the jungle clearing where Malcolm, always faithful son, stands waiting with a bolo. We look at each other and I say, “Yes.” I gingerly lower my torso on my waiting hips.                             Oh mother     I strike                             twice     the wings fall from your back                             you stand     free at last —Draft by Vince Gotera    [Do not copy or quote . . . thanks.]             Image by flo222 on Pixabay Friends of the blog know that for several years now, I've showcased April poems by my poet friend Thomas Alan Holmes alongside my own. Alan is an associate dean at East Tennessee State University, and his administrative and academic work is keeping him away from poetry this April. So sorry about that, Alan! Some good news, though: his first collection of poems will be coming out from Iris Press this year. Everyone, I'll let you know when that book comes out. Early congrats, Alan, old friend. Friends, won’t you comment, please? Love to know what you’re thinking. Thanks! Ingat, everyone.  ヅ

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