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 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. ヅ |
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1 comment:
Sounds like it was a great festival! Love that tanka. I think you'll like mine today too, with a sci-fi theme. I used a lot of allusions per another prompt that I employed, and had a lot of fun with it.
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