Day 5 ... NaPoWriMo / Poem-a-Day 2024

April 5 . . . poets' birthdays today: Algernon Charles Swinburne and Richard Eberhart. Maureen Thorson’s NaPoWriMo prompt: “Today we’d like you to start by taking a look at Alicia Ostriker’s poem, “The Blessing of the Old Woman, the Tulip, and the Dog.” Now try your hand at writing your own poem about how a pair or trio very different things would perceive of a blessing or, alternatively, how these very different things would think of something else (luck, grief, happiness, etc).” Robert Lee Brewer’s Poem-a-Day suggestion: “For today's prompt, take the phrase 'Tell (blank),' replace the blank with a new word or phrase, make the new phrase the title of your poem, and then, write your poem.” Here's today's meld of the two prompts, with a pair of objects instead of a trio. This is an ekphrastic poem (a poem about a work of art) that draws inspiration from the photo below, which shows bassist Dan Hartman of the Edgar Winter Group performing in his 1974 "bass suit." This is a curtal sonnet, as well, a poetic form I use quite often (on days 1 and 4 this month, so far), with a rhyme scheme of abc abc dbcdc, in decasyllabics (10-syllable lines). The Bass and the Jumpsuit Tell It "To be lucky,” the silver jumpsuit said, “I want to glow in sound as well as light, roar thunder along with my lightning flash.” “To be lucky,” the electric bass pled, “help me to cleave to my player, forge right inside the belly’s deepest thump and swash.” The jumpsuit and the bass, lamé and wood, merged their luck, intertwined essence and might, a new melding of beauty and raw wish. Frankenstein angel like an argent bird                                     near the moon's bright blush. —Draft by Vince Gotera    [Do not copy or quote . . . thanks.] Dan Hartman designed and wore tne bass suit pictured above, which merged a silver jumpsuit with a wireless 4-string bass. He said, “The bass suit was actually one of the first cordless guitars in existence, and I invented it. It was built right into this silver bodysuit so it looked as though the bass was coming out of my body, and the volume and tone knobs were on the sleeve. . . .  When it worked it was great, but the tunings were a little strange, plus I can’t tell you how many times I got shocked. It wound up being just one more thing that we had to worry about on tour: ‘Well, I wonder if this will work tonight.’ After a while I couldn’t stand wearing it anymore so I gave it up.” (from the Vintage News Daily). As a bassist in the Edgar Winter group, Dan Hartman played on many songs, esp. "Frankenstein." Friends, won’t you comment, please? Love to know what you’re thinking. Thanks! Ingat, everyone.  ヅ

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