Tuesday, April 30, 2024

Day 30 ... NaPoWriMo / Poem-a-Day 2024


Well, last day. Let's end with the Day 30 blog intro from that great year 2013:
Day 30. One of the hallmarks of my "teenagehood" was the slogan of the youth movement of the '60s: "Don't trust anyone over 30." This turned out to be a severe irony of youth because all those people eventually turned 30 (who'll you trust then, Mac) and surely most of them are now double 30. Mick Jagger, for example, will be turning 70 soon. Who'd a-thunk it? He's still doing live performances with the Rolling Stones but now keeps a tank of oxygen just offstage so he can keep up his energetic on-stage persona.
Good ol' Mick, now 80, still performing with the Stones. Probably still got that tank of oxygen handy!


And now the last April poetry prompts for this year. Maureen Thorson’s NaPoWriMo suggestion: “Today, we’d like to challenge you to write a poem in which the speaker is identified with, or compared to, a character from myth or legend, as in Claire Scott’s poem ‘Scheherazade at the Doctor’s Office.’”

Robert Lee Brewer’s Poem-a-Day suggestion: “For today's Two-for-Tuesday prompt: 1) Write a The End poem, and/or . . . 2) Write a Beginning poem. After all, endings are just opportunities for new beginnings, and beginnings tend to be the first step on the path to future endings (and so the cycle repeats).”


Today, I'm writing a terza rima haiku sonnet to finish off a poem I've been working on for some weeks. My next book of poetry will be titled Dragons and Rayguns, and I have been trying to write a definitive raygun poem for that collection. Today's poem is the third section of "Time Lord Thief," which imagines a Gallifreyan cat burglar of rayguns, wily as Doctor Who, but not the Doctor himself. This poem merges the three prompts: the speaker likens himself to Loki, the Norse god of thieves, the poem tells of the beginning of the character's interest in rayguns, and then the speakers brags of his current thieving skills, his end of sorts.

The form terza rima haiku sonnet is composed of four haiku-shaped 5-7-5-syllable stanzas rounded out by a 7-7 couplet, rhymed in interlocked terza rima: aba bcb cdc ded ee. I invented this form in the late 1970s and have written quite a few here during these April games.

Time Lord Thief

      1.

I’ve had an interest
in rayguns since I was five,
when I saw my first.

Father shot a live
bird dead, right between the eyes.
A needle hole gave

the lone hint of why
the bird had died. I was hooked.
Some years later, I

began to collect
rayguns, from the famous and
infamous. Intrigued

by how anyone could end
a life so quick, on command.

      2.

I tried to visit
many warriors and spacemen’s
chronotopes — planets

and ships — for a chance
to steal their weapons. Phasers
hijacked from Captains

Kirk, Picard. Blasters
from Han Solo, Chewbacca.
And Marvin of Mars —

his trusty Acme
pistol. Paralyzer gun
made by Doc Zarkov

for Flash Gordon (once Tarzan).
My TARDIS filled with rayguns.

      3.

Friends, my life has stood —
a loaded raygun, fully
charged and ready, good

for battle, truly
primed. On Earth I’m like Loki
the Trickster, wooly,

wild, ghostlike, smoky.
I drift like the breeze; you won’t
see me, way low key.

That’s how I’ve purloined
these celebrity rayguns,
magicked and siphoned

in mystical elegance.
I’m gone. And so’s your raygun.

—Draft by Vince Gotera    [Do not copy or quote . . . thanks.]

Space Pilot X Ray Gun made by Taiyo (1970s)
I had toy rayguns similar to this when I was a kid.

Well, friends, there we go. Thirty days, thirty poems. Thanks for reading this month. See you next April!


Friends, won’t you comment, please? Love to know what you’re thinking. Thanks!

Ingat, everyone.   


NaPoWriMo / PAD 2024 • Pick a day:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17
18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30


Monday, April 29, 2024

Day 29 ... NaPoWriMo / Poem-a-Day 2024


Fun stuff for Day 29 in the blog intro for 29 April 2015:
Day Twenty-Nine. Looking online for something to say about the number 29, I found these interesting facts: According to USA Today, 29% of married couples share a toothbrush. It would take 29 million years for a car traveling 100 miles per hour to reach the nearest star. And April 29 — today — is International Dance Day!
I like that second factoid. That's a lot of gas stations or charging stations! Oh, also, my poem that day was pretty funny . . . click here.

Okay, on to today's prompts. Robert Lee Brewer’s Poem-a-Day suggestion: “For today's prompt, take the phrase ‘Until (blank),’ replace the blank with a new word or phrase, make the new phrase the title of your poem, and then, write your poem. Possible titles might include: ‘Until the End of Time,’ ‘Until the Cows Come Home,’ ‘Until I Finish This Poem,’ and/or ‘Until You Get Your Chores Done.’”

Maureen Thorson’s NaPoWriMo prompt: “If you’ve been paying attention to pop-music news over the past couple of weeks, you may know that Taylor Swift has released a new double album titled “The Tortured Poets Department.” In recognition of this occasion, Merriam-Webster put together a list of ten words from Taylor Swift songs. We hope you don’t find this too torturous yourself, but we’d like to challenge you to select one these words, and write a poem that uses the word as its title.”

Okay, I cheated. I used all 10 words with “until ____,” but not as a title. Sorry if I'm sending you to the dictionary or google. Also, I suppose if there's a poetic form here, well, maybe a poetic device, it's anaphora (see Day 14).

Until Taylor

until albatross
until antithetical
until altruism
until cardigan
until clandestine
until elegy
until incandescent
until Macchiavellian
until mercurial
until self-effacing

all become just
banal bromides
mainstream chestnuts
humdrum commonplaces
we'll just listen
harken lend an ear
to tortured poets

—Draft by Vince Gotera    [Do not copy or quote . . . thanks.]


To end, here's a fun(ny) article: "Man Named Taylor Swift ..."


Friends, won’t you comment, please? Love to know what you’re thinking. Thanks!

Ingat, everyone.   


NaPoWriMo / PAD 2024 • Pick a day:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17
18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30


Sunday, April 28, 2024

Day 28 ... NaPoWriMo / Poem-a-Day 2024


Let's get right to the poetry prompts today. Day 28 means 3 days to go, counting this one.

Maureen Thorson’s NaPoWriMo suggestion: “[O]ur optional prompt for the day asks you to try your hand at writing a sijo. This is a traditional Korean verse form. A sijo has three lines of 14-16 syllables. The first line introduces the poem’s theme, the second discusses it, and the third line, which is divided into two sentences or clauses, ends the poem – usually with some kind of twist or surprise.”

Robert Lee Brewer’s Poem-a-Day prompt: “[W]rite a dead poem. Back on day 13, we wrote living poems. Now, we're going to inspect the other side of that coin. A dead poem could take place at a funeral, or involve a wilting flower that's already been picked. Or it could involve the undead (like zombies and vampires). Or maybe a dead language, a dead culture, or as some people like to say, they're just ‘dead inside.’”

Today I'm merging the prompts by writing a sijo on the TV show The Walking Dead. Note: there may be spoilers for you in the poem if you haven't watched the spinoff The Ones Who Live.

The Future of The Walking Dead
CW: spoilers from The Ones Who Live
Well, Rick and Michonne finally got together again.
Then, Daryl and Carol, their reunion is in the wings.
So, will Walking Dead ever end? No, looks like forever.

—Draft by Vince Gotera    [Do not copy or quote . . . thanks.]

Rick and Michonne in The Walking Dead
(Gene Page/AMC) TV Insider

Friends, won’t you comment, please? Love to know what you’re thinking. Thanks!

Ingat, everyone.   


NaPoWriMo / PAD 2024 • Pick a day:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17
18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30


Saturday, April 27, 2024

Day 27 ... NaPoWriMo / Poem-a-Day 2024


As faithful readers may know, this month I've been quoting blog intros from 2013. Well, here's one from 2015:
Day Twenty-Seven. As a child, I found 27 enchanting, as I said about 24 recently. The number 27 is equal to 9 x 3, and the digits 2 and 7 in 27 add up to the 9 that's a factor of 27. I'm sure there's something about the number 9 and base 10 that makes 9 so interesting: 9 x 2 = 18 and the digits 1 and 8 add up to 9; 9 x 4 = 36 and the digits 3 and 6 add up to 9; 9 x 859,472 = 7,735,248 and the digits 7, 7, 3, 5, 2, 4, and 8 add up to 36, and then the digits 3 and 6 add up to 9. So 27 is not alone in that adding-up-to-9 thing. I'm sure a mathematician could explain those cool 9-effects clearly. To me it's all glorious mathematical magic.

Maureen Thorson’s NaPoWriMo prompt: “Today we’d like to challenge you to write an 'American sonnet.' What’s that? Well, it’s like a regular sonnet but . . . fewer rules? Like a traditional Spencerian or Shakespearean sonnet, an American sonnet is shortish (generally 14 lines, but not necessarily!), discursive, and tends to end with a bang, but there’s no need to have a rhyme scheme or even a specific meter.” Maureen provides three examples and also an instructional link.

Robert Lee Brewer’s Poem-a-Day prompt: “[W]rite a remix poem. Just remix one of your poems. It could be from earlier in this month or even from before this challenge. But take one of your already existing poems and remix it. If it's a sonnet, make it free verse. If it's free verse, try turning it into a triolet or villanelle.”


I decided to remix my poem from Day 10, which was on seeing the recent total solar eclipse. That poem was a curtal sonnet and I remixed it into an American sonnet, though I gotta say, I'm not a big believer in the American sonnet, since it's unrhymed . . . to me, rhyming is the heart of the sonnet. However, my curtal sonnet on Day 10 had not been enough space to fit in everything I wanted to say. So, anyway, here we go.

Seeing the Total Solar Eclipse

For weeks, Renee and I had been talking about driving
eight hours to the zone of totality that came closest to us
in southeast Missouri. She kept saying we would be able
to see a partial eclipse here in Cedar Falls (about 90%).

I insisted though, so off we went the day before, sleeping
over in St. Louis. We left early the next day, four hours
before the total eclipse. The timing was fortunate, because
it took over three hours to get through the last 100 miles.

Bumper to bumper on the freeway. I thought we wouldn’t
make it to the zone in time. We ended up viewing the eclipse
in a cemetery in Cape Girardeau. There were cars everywhere.

The eclipse was incredibly beautiful. Just a fantabulous ring
of light around the dark moon. Truly magical, glorious. Now
we’re talking about trekking to Iceland for the 2026 eclipse!

—Draft by Vince Gotera    [Do not copy or quote . . . thanks.]


Friends, won’t you comment, please? Love to know what you’re thinking. Thanks!

Ingat, everyone.   


NaPoWriMo / PAD 2024 • Pick a day:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17
18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30


Friday, April 26, 2024

Day 26 ... NaPoWriMo / Poem-a-Day 2024


One more time . . . a blog intro from 2013:
Day 26. Two baker's dozens. 26 is also half a deck of cards, meaning there are 26 red cards and 26 black cards. Finally, as I'm sure we all know, 26 is the "number of spacetime dimensions in bosonic string theory" (Wikipedia).

Maureen Thorson’s NaPoWriMo prompt: “And now for our (optional) prompt. Today, we’d like to challenge you to write a poem that involves alliteration, consonance, and assonance. Alliteration is the repetition of a particular consonant sound at the beginning of multiple words. Consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds elsewhere in multiple words, and assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds. Traci Brimhall’s poem 'A Group of Moths' provides a great example of these poetic devices at work, with each line playing with different sounds that seem to move the poem along on a sonorous wave.”

Robert Lee Brewer’s Poem-a-Day suggestion: “For today's prompt, write a persona poem. A persona poem is just a poem narrated in the voice of a persona who is not yourself.”


Robert's demo poem today is titled "An Abandoned Payphone Beside an Abandoned Gas Station" and I imagined my cellphone talking to that abandoned payphone. (Read his demo poem here, lower on the page.) Once again, today's poem is a curtal sonnet (rhymed abcabc dbcdc) in ten-syllable lines, ending with the required half-line.

My Cellphone Speaks with the Abandoned
Payphone Beside an Abandoned Gas Station


I see you, brother phone, in your old booth
on this rubbled street, so undignified.
You’ve seen better days, full of silver coins
in your slot, on this posh strip of your youth,
where stylish skaters and bikers would ride
all night. Scruffy panhandlers used to join

the glittery parade, “Spare change? Spare change?”
Now, your nights are just dark, no glitz, no glide,
no folks pushing your numbers. I enjoin
you, old timer, free yourself. Go long range!
                                  Fly off to cloud nine!

—Draft by Vince Gotera    [Do not copy or quote . . . thanks.]


I use the sound devices Maureen suggests. Alliteration: glitz / glide. Assonance: brother / rubbled (short u and schwa). Consonance: brother / booth (b and th). There's more. See what you can find and tell me in a comment below?


Friends, won’t you comment, please? Love to know what you’re thinking. Thanks!

Ingat, everyone.   


NaPoWriMo / PAD 2024 • Pick a day:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17
18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30


Thursday, April 25, 2024

Day 25 ... NaPoWriMo / Poem-a-Day 2024


Today another intro from the blog in April 2013.
Day 25. 5/6 of the way through National Poetry Month. 5 squared. 5 times 5. 25 is the first number mentioned in the title of one of my favorite Chicago songs: "25 or 6 to 4." I was 18 when that song came out in 1970 and I learned Terry Kath's bravura guitar solo in it by listening to the record over and over, working out the solo note by note. Even now, 43 years later, Kath's influence on my lead guitar playing continues to be substantial.
It's now 54 years later, and that last sentence is still true.

And now today's poetry prompts. Maureen Thorson’s NaPoWriMo prompt: “Today, we’d like to challenge you to write a poem based on the “Proust Questionnaire,” a set of questions drawn from Victorian-era parlor games, and adapted by modern interviewers. You could choose to answer the whole questionnaire, and then write a poem based on your answers, answer just a few, or just write a poem that’s based on the questions. You could even write a poem in the form of an entirely new Proust Questionnaire. We have a fairly standard, 35-question version of the questionnaire laid out for you below.” You can see Maureen's questionnaire here.

Robert Lee Brewer’s Poem-a-Day suggestion: “For today's prompt, write a homonym poem. A homonym is either (or both) a homograph (word spelled the same with different meanings and possibly different pronunciations) or a homophone (word that is pronounced the same but has different spellings).” Robert gives a couple links of homophone and homograph examples: homophones / homographs.


One of the questions in Maureen's Proust questionnaire is "Who are your favorite writers?" I'm answering that but changing it to "Who are your favorite bass players?" since I'm a bass player myself. I'm also including one homophone and one homograph. Can you see those homonym pairs (which overlap) in the poem? This poem is a senryu, with a traditional haiku shape (5-7-5 syllables).

Victor Wooten

At base, Vic’s the best
bass player in the world. But
he can’t fish for bass.

—Draft by Vince Gotera    [Do not copy or quote . . . thanks.]

Yes, it's kind of a silly little ditty, but it gets the job done today. The homophones are base / base, and the homographs are bass (musical instrument) / bass (fish). Apologies to Victor if he actually is a bass fisherman.


Victor Wooten photo from No Treble


Friends, won’t you comment, please? Love to know what you’re thinking. Thanks!

Ingat, everyone.   


NaPoWriMo / PAD 2024 • Pick a day:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17
18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30


Wednesday, April 24, 2024

Day 24 ... NaPoWriMo / Poem-a-Day 2024


Another blog intro from Day 24 of 2013 . . . that was a fun year!
Day Two-Four. Let's see, 24 hours in a day, 24-carat gold. Of course, 24, the TV action series starring Kiefer Sutherland in which each episode comprised the 24 hours of a single day. And from our childhoods, the 24 blackbirds in the nursery-rhyme pie. I remember being freaked out by that as a child. I didn't have trouble with the blackbirds being cooked, but then they would sing. So they were still alive after being baked. Horrifying!

Maureen Thorson’s NaPoWriMo suggestion: “[O]ur (optional) prompt for the day is another one pulled from our 2016 archives. Today, we’d like to challenge you to write a poem that begins with a line from another poem (not necessarily the first one), but then goes elsewhere with it. This will work best if you just start with a line of poetry you remember, but without looking up the whole original poem. Or you could find a poem that you haven’t read before and then use a line that interests you. The idea is for the original to furnish the backdrop for your work, but without influencing you so much that you feel as if you are just rewriting the original! ”

Robert Lee Brewer’s Poem-a-Day suggestion: “For today's prompt, write a maximum poem. Some people may recall that we wrote a minimum poem back on day 6; this takes that concept and brings it back the other way. In fact, one possible way into today's poem would be to see what you did on day 6 and turn it on its head. Or go somewhere completely new. Whatever you do, take it to the max.”


My poem for Day 6 had to do with something my father used to tell me all the time when I was growing up. I've taken the opening lines of that poem and taken them "back the other way," as Robert said above. Today we have, again, a curtal sonnet (rhymed abcabc dbcdc), with ten-syllable lines.

Maximum Love

Papa's mantra: “You have to be better
than them.” But what does better mean? I know
he meant well. To him, better meant book smart,
more accomplished, more clever, whatever
it takes to be best, be top dynamo.
All my life, I’ve done that. Stand tall, apart.

But as I got older, I’ve found it’s not
enough. Competing doesn’t help you grow.
What does? A warm, crackling fire in the hearth,
sitting next to the one you love. Sweet thoughts
                                              overflowing your heart.

—Draft by Vince Gotera    [Do not copy or quote . . . thanks.]


Friends, won’t you comment, please? Love to know what you’re thinking. Thanks!

Ingat, everyone.   


NaPoWriMo / PAD 2024 • Pick a day:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17
18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30


Tuesday, April 23, 2024

Day 23 ... NaPoWriMo / Poem-a-Day 2024


Looks like 2013 was a good year for April blog intros. Here's Day 23's intro from 2013:
Day 23. Today is Shakespeare's birthday, born 1564. Had he been an Old Testament patriarch, he would be turning 449 today. Or maybe if he was Methuselah's lesser-known sibling, then four and a half centuries would be a walk in the park.
Happy Shakespeare's birthday, everyone!

And now, today's prompts. Maureen Thorson’s NaPoWriMo prompt: “[W]rite a poem about, or involving, a superhero, taking your inspiration from these four poems in which Lucille Clifton addresses Clark Kent/Superman.”

Robert Lee Brewer’s Poem-a-Day suggestion: “For today's Two-for-Tuesday prompt: 1) Write a "(blank) of the Heart" poem, and/or . . . 2) Write a "Heart of the (blank)" poem.”


Today, in honor of Shakespeare's birthday, here is a slapstick-humorous Shakesperean sonnet, merging all three prompts: Shakespeare as a superhero, with a reference to his heart, even!


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!

 
 
Super Shakespeare by Mathew McFarren

Friends, won’t you comment, please? Love to know what you’re thinking. Thanks!

Ingat, everyone.   


NaPoWriMo / PAD 2024 • Pick a day:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17
18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30


Monday, April 22, 2024

Day 22 ... NaPoWriMo / Poem-a-Day 2024


Seems like 2013 was a good year for April blog intros. Here's the one for 22 April 2013:
Day 22. What comes to mind immediately is the novel Catch-22 by Joseph Heller; in our everyday language we use the slang "catch-22" to describe a problem that can't be solved because the problem itself prohibits a resolution. A no-win. Kobayashi Maru. And there's also the .22 caliber rifle so often mentioned in literature because it's a well-known weapon. Lots more 22-related trivia, but let's get to the poetry.

Maureen Thorson’s NaPoWriMo prompt: “[W]rite a poem in which two things have a fight. Two very unlikely things, if you can manage it. Like, maybe a comb and a spatula. Or a daffodil and a bag of potato chips. Or perhaps your two things could be linked somehow – like a rock and a hard place – and be utterly sick of being so joined. The possibilities are endless!”

Robert Lee Brewer’s Poem-a-Day prompt: “[W]rite an earth poem. The poem can be about nature or the planet. But it can also be about anything or anyone on the planet. Or dirt (aka, earth); feel encouraged to write a poem about dirt. Or earthlings!”


Today, I give you a tanka — a poetic form from Japan that, traditionally, has 5 lines of 5, 7, 5, 7, and 7 syllables. Working with both prompts, as usual. I just wondered how dirt, if it could talk, would feel about the earthworm. Happy Earth Day, everyone!

Dirt Speaks of the Earthworm

So tired of always
passing through this fleshy tube:
in at the mouth, then
out . . . well, you know. Given time,
this worm would eat the whole earth!

—Draft by Vince Gotera    [Do not copy or quote . . . thanks.]


On another note, non-earthy, I just wanted to tell you about the second annual Poetry Palooza festival in Des Moines this weekend (Friday and Saturday). It was such a wonderful event, with a poetry slam; workshops; a panel of expert poets discussing eco-poetry; a release reading for "The Cities in the Plains" (an anthology of Iowa poems and art); and poetry readings by Traci Brimwall, Paul Brooke, Camille T. Dungy, Jennifer L. Knox, Debra Marquart, and Caleb Rainey. I read some of my poems too (pics below). It was my first official event as Poet Laureate of Iowa. Looking forward to next April when I will be a featured poet at this event. See you next year!

 

Friends, won’t you comment, please? Love to know what you’re thinking. Thanks!

Ingat, everyone.   


NaPoWriMo / PAD 2024 • Pick a day:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17
18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30


Sunday, April 21, 2024

Day 21 ... NaPoWriMo / Poem-a-Day 2024


Once again, a quoted intro from this day in 2013:
Day 21. The card game Blackjack is sometimes called "21" because that's the score that trumps all others. There's the 21-gun salute in military honors for heads of state. 21 is the title of a recent album by Adele. If we put our minds together we could probably come up with 21 21s, but I bet you'd like to get to the poetry.

Robert Lee Brewer’s Poem-a-Day prompt: “[W]rite a trope poem. For most people, tropes are common plot devices used in certain genres. In romance, for example, the 'different worlds' trope brings together two characters from different walks of life and/or cultures. Meanwhile, a popular trope in horror fiction is to split up, which usually doesn't end well for many of the characters. Mysteries frequently feature the 'unassuming suspect' trope. Pick a trope or mix a few in your poem today.”

Maureen Thorson’s NaPoWriMo prompt: “[W]rite a poem that repeats or focuses on a single color.”


I was tempted to choose blue as the "single color," but then thought maybe I should try something opposed to my favorite color. How about black? In today's curtal sonnet, I focus on an old standby, Frankenstein, and stuff in as many movie tropes as I could fit in from horror, science-fiction, and fantasy movies. The curtal sonnet, one of my favorite poetic forms to write, is rhymed abcabc dbcdc, using (as usual) 10-syllable lines. Enjoy!

Trope-icana in Black

Here I am again, Frankenstein's fiend, stuck
in a black cave, lumbering from one side
to the other. Why must I, a monster,
always lumber and stagger? Just bad luck.
In an alternate universe, I ride
a white horse, wield a golden sword, and swear

allegiance to my brother, the good king.
But here it's all black, black darkness inside
darkness. A mad scientist, my father,
made me one black night, a black magic thing.
                What do monsters say? Grrr.

—Draft by Vince Gotera    [Do not copy or quote . . . thanks.]



Friends, won’t you comment, please? Love to know what you’re thinking. Thanks!

Ingat, everyone.   


NaPoWriMo / PAD 2024 • Pick a day:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17
18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30


Saturday, April 20, 2024

Day 20 ... NaPoWriMo / Poem-a-Day 2024


Fun little intro from Day 20 in 2013:
Day 20. What's our 20? Here's where we are: exactly two-thirds into National Poetry Month. Using all our fingers and toes.

And now, today's prompts. Maureen Thorson’s NaPoWriMo suggestion: “[W]rite a poem that recounts a historical event.”

Robert Lee Brewer’s Poem-a-Day suggestion: “[W]rite a poem using at least three of the following six words:”

  • bear • collar • flair
  • hear • praise • ramble

Or for extra credit, use all six words.  Also, as an alternate prompt: Write a six-word poem (doesn't have to use any of the above words).


Today, I offer a hay(na)ku about the recent eclipse I witnessed in totality. The poem is exactly six words (as suggested), and I (almost) used three of the words: "ramble," "collar," and "flair" . . . I cheated with the last one by changing it into "flare." For what it's worth, I did use "flair" in its original suggested spelling as part of the title. The hay(na)ku is a three-line form that uses one word in the first line, two words in the second line, and three in the third line (along with other variations), invented by the poet Eileen R. Tabios.

Anyway, I was successful in combining three prompts today: recount a historical event, use three of the six words suggested, and write a poem that's only six words!


Eclipse Flair

Sun's
collar flares
around moon's ramble.

—Draft by Vince Gotera    [Do not copy or quote . . . thanks.]

Eclipse with lens flares (USA Today)


Friends, won’t you comment, please? Love to know what you’re thinking. Thanks!

Ingat, everyone.   


NaPoWriMo / PAD 2024 • Pick a day:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17
18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30





13th floor elevators (1) 3d (1) 9/11 (3) a schneider (1) abecedarian (13) acrostic (6) adelaide crapsey (1) african american (1) aids (1) aisling (1) al robles (2) alberta turner (1) alex esclamado (1) alexander chen (1) alexander pushkin (1) alexandra bissell (1) alexandrines (4) alien (1) alliteration (3) alphabet (1) alphabet poem (2) altered books (1) altered pages (2) altered reality magazine (2) amanda blue gotera (7) amelia blue gotera (6) american gothic (1) american sonnet (1) amok (1) amy lowell (1) anacreon (1) anacreontics (1) anaphora (4) andre norton (1) andrea boltwood (19) andrew davidson (1) andrew marvell (1) andrew oldham (1) angelina jolie (1) angels (1) animation (1) anna montgomery (3) anne reynolds (1) annie e. existence (1) annie finch (1) anny ballardini (1) anti- (1) antonio taguba (2) aprille (1) art (7) arturo islas (1) ash wednesday (1) asian american (4) assonance (2) astronomy (2) aswang (13) aswang wars (1) atlanta rhythm section (1) axolotl (1) bakunawa (1) balato (1) ballad (2) barack obama (7) barbara jane reyes (1) barry a. morris (1) bass (2) bataan (5) becca andrea (1) beetle (2) belinda subraman (2) beowulf (1) best american poetry (1) beverly cassidy (1) bible (1) bill clinton (1) billy collins (2) blank verse (10) bob boynton (1) body farm (1) bolo (1) bongbong marcos (3) bop (1) brandt cotherman (1) brian brodeur (2) brian garrison (1) bruce johnson (1) bruce niedt (5) buddah moskowitz (2) buddy holly (1) burns stanza (1) callaloo (1) candida fajardo gotera (5) cardinal sin (1) carlos bulosan (1) carlos santana (2) carmina figurata (3) carolina matsumura gotera (1) caroline klocksiem (1) carrie arizona (3) carrieola (3) carriezona (1) catherine childress pritchard (1) catherine pritchard childress (37) catullus (1) cebu (1) cecilia manguerra brainard (1) cedar falls (6) cedar falls public library (1) cento (1) charles a hogan (2) ChatGPT (1) chess (1) childhood (1) children's poetry (1) China (1) chorus of glories (1) chris durietz (1) christmas (2) christopher smart (1) chuck pahlaniuk (1) cinquain (1) civil rights (1) clarean sonnet (2) clarice (1) classics iv (1) cleave hay(na)ku (2) clerihews (3) cliché (1) common meter (1) computers (1) concrete poem (1) concreteness (1) consonance (5) coolest month (1) cory aquino (2) couplet (5) couplet quatrains (2) crab (1) craft (5) creative nonfiction (1) crewrt-l (1) crucifixion (1) curtal sonnet (51) dactyls (2) daily palette (1) damián ortega (1) dan hartman (1) danielle filas (1) dante (5) dashiki (1) david foster wallace (1) david kopaska-merkel (1) david wojahn (1) de jackson (2) decasyllabics (4) denise duhamel (1) deviantART (3) dick powell (1) diction (1) didactic cinquain (1) dinosaur (2) disaster relief (1) divine comedy (1) dodecasyllables (1) doggerel (2) doggie diner (1) don johnson (1) donald trump (8) dr who (3) dr. seuss (1) draft (2) dragon (1) dragonfly (17) dreams & nightmares (1) drug addiction (1) drums (1) duplex (1) dusty springfield (1) dylan thomas (1) e e cummings (1) e-book (1) earth day (1) ebay (2) eclipse (5) ecopoetry (1) ed hill (1) edgar allan poe (2) edgar lee masters (1) edgar rice burroughs (1) editing (1) eeyore (1) eileen tabios (9) ekphrasis (3) ekphrastic poem (4) ekphrastic review (1) election (2) elegy (3) elevenie (1) elizabeth alexander (2) elizabeth bishop (2) elvis presley (1) emily dickinson (9) emma trelles (1) end-stop (3) english sonnet (1) englyn milwer (1) enita meadows (1) enjambed rhyme (1) enjambment (5) enola gay (1) envelope quatrain (1) environment (1) erasure poetry (9) erin mcreynolds (4) ernest lawrence thayer (1) exxon valdez oil spill (1) f. j. bergman (1) f. scott fitzgerald (1) facebook (3) family (4) fantasy (1) fashion (1) ferdinand magellan (1) ferdinand marcos (5) fib (3) fiction (3) fiera lingue (1) fighting kite (4) filipino (language) (1) filipino americans (6) filipino poetry (1) filipino veterans equity (3) filipinos (5) film (3) final thursday press (1) final thursday reading series (2) flannery o'connor (3) florence & the machine (1) flute (1) fortune cookie (1) found poem (1) found poetry (6) found poetry review (2) fourteeners (1) fox news (1) frank frazetta (1) frankenstein (1) franny choi (1) fred unwin (1) free verse (3) fructuosa gotera (1) fyodor dostoevsky (1) gabriel garcía márquez (1) gambling (1) garrett hongo (1) gary kelley (1) gawain (1) genre (1) george w. bush (1) gerard manley hopkins (13) ghazal (2) ghost wars (5) ghosts of a low moon (1) gogol bordello (1) golden shovel (5) goodreads (1) google (1) gotera (1) grace kelly (1) grant tracey (1) grant wood (4) grateful dead (1) greek mythology (1) gregory k pincus (1) grendel (1) griffin lit (1) grimm (1) grinnell college (2) growing up (1) growing up filipino (2) guest blogger (1) guillaume appolinaire (1) guitar (9) gulf war (1) gustave doré (3) guy de maupassant (1) gwendolyn brooks (4) gypsy art show (1) gypsy punk (1) hades (1) haggard hawks (1) haibun (4) haiga (1) haiku (29) haiku sonnet (3) hart crane (1) hawak kamay (1) hay(na)ku (23) hay(na)ku sonnet (13) header (1) hearst center for the arts (2) heirloom (1) herman melville (1) hey joe (1) hieronymus bosch (1) hiroshima (1) hiv here & now (1) homer (1) how a poem happens (2) humboldt state university (1) humor (1) hybrid sonnet (4) hymnal stanza (1) iain m. banks (1) iamb (1) iambic pentameter (1) ian parks (1) ibanez (1) imagery (1) imelda marcos (4) immigrants (1) imogen heap (1) indiana university (1) inigo online magazine (1) ink! (1) insect (2) insects (1) international hotel (1) international space station (1) interview (3) introduction (2) iowa (2) Iowa poet laureate (2) iran (1) iran-iraq war (1) irving levinson (1) italian bicycle (1) italian sonnet (2) ivania velez (2) j. d. schraffenberger (4) j. i. kleinberg (3) j. k. rowling (1) jack horner (2) jack kerouac (1) jack p nantell (1) james brown (1) james gorman (2) james joyce (1) jan d. hodges (1) japan (1) jasmine dreame wagner (1) jeanette winterson (1) jedediah dougherty (1) jedediah kurth (31) jennifer bullis (1) jesse graves (1) jessica hagedorn (1) jessica mchugh (2) jim daniels (1) jim hall (1) jim hiduke (1) jim o'loughlin (2) jim simmerman (3) jimi hendrix (3) jimmy fallon (1) joan osborne (1) joe mcnally (1) john barth (1) john charles lawrence (2) john clare (1) john donne (1) john gardner (1) john mccain (1) john prine (1) john welsh iii (2) joseph solo (1) josh hamzehee (1) joyce kilmer (1) justine wagner (1) kampilan (1) kathleen ann lawrence (1) kathy reichs (1) kay ryan (2) keith welsh (1) kelly cherry (1) kelly christiansen (1) kenning (1) kennings poem (3) killjoy (1) kim groninga (1) kimo (6) king arthur (1) king tut (1) knight fight (1) kumadre (1) kumpadre (1) kurt vonnegut (1) kyell gold (1) landays (1) lapu-lapu (1) lapwing publications (1) laurie kolp (2) leonardo da vinci (1) les paul (1) leslie kebschull (1) lester smith (1) library (1) library of congress (2) limerick (3) linda parsons marion (1) linda sue grimes (2) lineation (6) linked haiku (9) linked tanka (2) list poem (5) little brown brother (1) little free libraries (3) lorette c. luzajic (1) lost (tv) (1) louise glück (1) luis buñuel (1) lune (2) lydia lunch (1) machismo (1) magazines (1) mah jong (1) man ray (1) manananggal (2) manong (3) margaret atwood (2) maria fleuette deguzman (1) marianne moore (1) marilyn cavicchia (1) marilyn hacker (1) mark jarman (1) marriage (1) martin avila gotera (17) martin luther king jr. (1) marty gotera (5) marty mcgoey (1) mary ann blue gotera (8) mary biddinger (1) mary roberts rinehart award (1) mary shelley (1) matchbook (1) maura stanton (1) maureen thorson (386) maurice manning (1) meena rose (3) megan hippler (1) melanie villines (1) melanie wolfe (1) melina blue gotera (3) mental illness (1) metapoem (1) meter (7) mfa (2) michael heffernan (3) michael martone (2) michael ondaatje (1) michael shermer (2) michael spence (1) michelle obama (1) middle witch (1) minotaur (1) mirror northwest (1) misky (1) molossus (1) monkey (1) monorhyme (2) monostich (1) morel mushrooms (2) mueller report (1) multiverse (1) mushroom hunting (1) music (3) muslim (1) my custom writer blog (1) myth (1) mythology (3) nagasaki (1) naked blonde writer (1) naked girls reading (1) naked novelist (1) napowrimo (393) narrative (2) natalya st. clair (1) nathan dahlhauser (1) nathaniel hawthorne (1) national geographic (3) national poetry month (393) native american (1) neil gaiman (2) neoformalism (1) New Formalists (1) New York School (1) nick carbó (3) ninang (1) nonet (1) north american review (7) north american review blog (2) ode (1) of books and such (1) of this and such (1) onegin stanza (2) ottava rima (2) oulipo (1) oumumua (1) pablo picasso (2) pacific crossing (1) padre timoteo gotera (1) painting (1) palestinian american (1) palindrome (1) palinode (1) palmer hall (1) pantoum (2) paradelle (2) paranormal (1) parkersburg iowa (1) parody (6) parody poetry journal (1) parol (1) pastoral poetry (1) pat bertram (2) pat martin (1) paula berinstein (1) pause for the cause (2) pca/aca (1) peace (2) peace of mind band (1) pecan grove press (2) pepito gotera (1) percy bysshe shelley (2) performance poetry (1) persephone (1) persona poem (3) peter padua (1) petrarch (1) petrarchan sonnet (22) phil memmer (1) philip larkin (1) philippine news (1) philippine scouts (6) philippine-american war (1) philippines (8) phish (1) pinoy (1) pinoy poetics (1) pixie lott (1) podcast (1) podcasts (3) poem-a-day challenge (391) poetics (6) poetry (5) poetry imitation (1) poetry international (1) poetry palooza (1) poetry reading (4) poets against (the) war (2) pop culture (2) popcorn press (1) prejudice (1) presidio of san francisco (1) prime numbers (1) prime-sentence poem (1) prince (3) princess grace foundation (1) promotion (1) prose poem (7) proverbs (1) pterosaur (1) ptsd (2) puppini sisters (1) puptent poets (2) pushkin sonnet (2) pyrrhic (1) quatrain (4) quatrains (1) r.e.m. (1) rachel morgan (3) racism (1) rainer maria rilke (1) rap (1) rattle (1) ray fajardo (1) ray harryhausen (1) reggie lee (1) rembrandt (1) ren powell (1) reverse golden shovel (1) reviews (1) revision (1) rhyme (8) rhysling awards (4) rhythm (1) richard fay (1) richard hugo (1) rick griffin (1) rime (1) rippled mirror hay(na)ku (1) robert bly (1) robert frost (2) robert fulghum (1) robert j christenson (1) robert lee brewer (391) robert mezey (1) robert neville (1) robert zemeckis (1) rock and roll (2) roger zelazny (1) rolling stones (1) romanian (1) ron kowit (1) ronald wallace (2) rondeau (1) ross gay (1) roundelay (1) rubaiyat (1) rubaiyat sonnet (1) run-d.m.c. (1) saade mustafa (1) salt publishing (1) salvador dali (4) san francisco (8) sandra cisneros (1) santa claus (1) santana (1) sapphics (1) sarah deppe (1) sarah palin (1) sarah smith (26) satan (1) sayaka alessandra (1) schizophrenia (1) science fiction (2) science fiction poetry association (1) science friction (1) scifaiku (1) scott walker (1) screaming monkeys (1) scripture (1) sculpture (1) sea chantey (1) sena jeter naslund (1) senryu (5) sestina (9) sevenling (1) shadorma (2) shaindel beers (2) shakespeare (1) shakespearean sonnet (8) sharon olds (2) shawn wong (1) shiites or shia (1) shoreline of infinity (1) sidney bechet (1) sijo (2) skateboard (1) skeltonics (2) skylaar amann (1) slant rhyme (6) slide shows (1) small fires press (1) sniper (1) somersault abecedarian (1) somonka (1) sonnet (43) sonnetina (4) soul (1) southeast asian american (1) spanish (1) specificity (1) speculative poetry (1) spenserian stanza (1) spiraling abecedarian (1) spondee (1) spooky (1) sprung rhythm (1) st. patrick's day (1) stanford university (1) stanley meltzoff (1) stanza (1) stars and stripes (2) stereogram (1) steve hazlewood (1) steve mcqueen (1) stevie nicks (1) stone canoe (2) sue boynton (1) suite101 (2) sunflowers (1) surges (1) susan l. chast (1) syllabics (1) sylvia plath (2) synesthesia (1) syzygy poetry journal (2) t. m. sandrock (1) t. s. eliot (2) tamandua (1) tanka (25) tanka prose (4) tanka sequence (1) tanya tucker (1) tarzan (1) taylor swift (1) teaching creative writing (2) ted kooser (1) term paper mill (1) terrance hayes (2) terza rima (10) terza rima haiku sonnet (8) terzaiku sonnet (4) terzanelle (1) tetrameter (1) the byrds (1) the coolest month (1) the warning (1) the who (1) thomas alan holmes (215) thomas crofts (4) thomas faivre-duboz (1) thunderstorm (1) thurifer (1) tiger (1) tilly the laughing housewife (1) time travel (1) tom perrotta (1) tom petty (1) tom phillips (1) tone hønebø (1) toni morrison (2) tornado (1) total eclipse (4) translation (2) translitic (4) tribute in light (1) trickster (1) triolet (8) triskaidekaphobia (1) tritina (1) trochee (1) trope (1) tucson (1) typhoon haiyan (1) typhoon yolanda (1) university of northern iowa (6) unrhymed sonnet (2) us army (7) valentine's day (1) vampire (2) ven batista (29) verses typhoon yolanda (1) veterans' day (2) via dolorosa (1) video poetry (6) vietnam war (4) viktor vasnetsov (1) villanelle (3) vince del monte (1) vincent van gogh (1) virgil wren (1) virtual blog tour (1) visual poetry (3) vladimir putin (1) volkswagen (1) w. somerset maugham (1) walking dead (1) wallace stevens (3) walt mcdonald (1) walt whitman (4) war (7) war in afghanistan (2) war in iraq (2) wartburg college (1) waterloo (1) whypoetrymatters (1) wile e. coyote (1) wilfred owen (1) william blake (1) william carlos williams (1) william f tout (1) william gibson (1) william oandasan (1) william shakespeare (3) wind (1) winslow homer (1) winter (1) women's art (1) wooster review (1) wordy 30 (1) writing (1) writing away retreats (1) writing show (1) wwii (6) young adult (1) yusef komunyakaa (6) zone 3 (1)