Welcome, friends! My poem today is #90 in this year's Stafford Challenge (and #455, including my poems in last year's Stafford Challenge).
Maureen Thorson’s NaPoWriMo prompt: “Today, try writing a poem in which you describe something that cannot speak, and what it has taught or told you.”
Robert Lee Brewer’s Poem-a-Day suggestion: “For today's prompt, write a new poem [— that is, a poem] about something or someone new.”
I'm combining the two prompts again in a single poem, a Quadrille Quaiku, a new poetic form invented by David Hoffmann — exactly 44 words like a quadrille, with 4 linked haiku using strict 5-7-5 syllables, and 11 words per stanza.
New Bass
—quadrille quaiku
New Fender Jazz Bass,
in brilliant electric blue,
active and passive,
five bright roundwound strings,
sounds wonderful, smooth thunder
in springtime rainstorm.
It doesn't speak but
it has a beautiful voice,
deep, mellifluous.
It boldly declares
to me, confidently, I'm
your new number one.
—Draft by Vince Gotera [Do not copy or quote . . . thanks.]
|
| |
My photo of the new bass when it arrived in late February.
|
Today, Alan is also working with both prompts — a new interaction with a voiceless family member.
The Last Lesson My Dad Taught Me
You can take a retractable pen
and a small spiral-bound notepad,
lift the suit’s lapel, and slide them
into the shirt pocket underneath,
where he always kept them,
still without touching
the room-temperature skin
of his folded hands. You can look
at his closed eyes—you have seen
him sleep before, but never with his jaw
set quite that way. You can ask
yourself if he needs the glasses.
You can admire how white
his hair got, how full and straight
although at almost eighty years
his hairline receded a bit.
You can do all of it
as if you have done it before
outside of steeling yourself for this time,
but you have never before placed
your right hand over his
folded that way, and you do,
and you have never before
kissed his forehead
without his showing some feeling
in return, and you do that, too,
new gestures that do not comfort
you both, because you’re not the same.
—Draft by Thomas Alan Holmes [Do not copy or quote . . . thanks.]
Wow. That's an amazing poem, Alan.
Thanks for coming by today. See you again tomorrow!
Friends, won’t you comment, please? Love to know what you’re thinking. Thanks!
Ingat, everyone. ヅ |
Posts
1 comment:
OMG, you both blew me away with your poems today. Vince, I love that invented form and the subject. And Alan - what can I say, man? It's brilliant and heartbreaking.
Post a Comment