Day 29 ... NaPoWriMo / Poem-a-Day 2017

29 is where I live. That's an interesting sentence, isn't it? Translation: I live in the state of Iowa, which is the 29th state in the US, admitted to the Union in 1846. Maureen Thorson’s NaPoWriMo prompt: "Today, I’d like to challenge you to take one of your favorite poems and find a very specific, concrete noun in it. For example, if your favorite poem is this verse of Emily Dickinson’s, you might choose the word 'stones' or 'specter.' After you’ve chosen your word, put the original poem away and spend five minutes free-writing associations — other nouns, adjectives, etc. Then use your original word and the results of your free-writing as the building blocks for a new poem." Robert Lee Brewer’s Poem-a-Day prompt: "write a metric poem. Most of the world uses the metric system to measure things out; not so much in the States. But there are meters and liters, and the occasional millimeters. Also, poetry uses metrics (the study of meter in poetry). And metrics, in a general sense, can measure various things by a common denominator — even inches and/or teaspoons." Today, Alan and I are both using Maureen's example poem above, [One need not be a Chamber — to be Haunted —], Johnson # 670 / Franklin # 407; we are both riffing on the word "Revolver" from that Emily Dickinson poem. Revolver When I was 9 my prized possession was a Mattel Colt .45 Peacemaker, a Marshal Matt Dillon chrome revolver, a smokin’ cap gun brought by Santa Claus. I didn’t know about that other Colt .45, the semi-automatic, magazine-fed, recoil-operated, bolt- action pistol used by American troops in the Philippine-American war. It was invented to kill Filipinos! In the ’80s, the DOD changed over to 9mm weapons like NATO’s. But 9mm or .45 inch can still kill my people. Just a hunch. —Draft by Vince Gotera    [Do not copy or quote . . . thanks.] There you go, a sonnet starting with the idea of the revolver, moving from inches to metric. Two kinds of metric because the poem is also in pentameter. The abbreviation "DOD" stands for Department of Defense. I assume you all know what "NATO" is. For those who nerd out on poetics, in lines 2 and 4 of the second quatrain, I'm using enjambed rhyme. The ic-n in "American" (line 4) is rhymed with the ic/m in the middle of the phrase "semi-automatic / magazine" split by a line break (line 2). Fun, huh? Here's Alan's intro to his "revolver" poem today: "Well, the creepy thing is that 'One need not be a chamber to be haunted' got me thinking about gun puns, and the tone of it reminded me a bit of 'Eleanor Rigby' from the Beatles' Revolver album, and I had trouble disconnecting the two, so here we are." Cylinder One need not be a Chamber — to be loaded. Where do they all come from? One need not be surrounded — to be goaded Where do they all belong? Could she be hungry, picking up rice, Given to clean, Returning home where she takes off her face, Living in dreams? Far safer, through an Abbey gallop, The Stones a’chase To follow greatness, Pepper’s wallop, Request all waste? But, earlier, she dies alone To face the world With her jarred face slightly undone, Its edges curled. The Beatles bestow a Revolver That aims and spins At precisely thirty-three and one third RPMs. —Draft by Thomas Alan Holmes    [Do not copy or quote . . . thanks.] Great poem, Alan, thank you. A marvelous Dickinson imitation. Gentle readers, I hope you enjoyed our widely different approaches to that same word revolver. I hope too you got Alan's Abbey Road and Satanic Majesty play. Incidentally, Alan also used enjambed rhyme in the last stanza. The ird in the ending word "third" (line 3) is rhymed with er/th in the phrase "Revolver / That" split by a line break (line 1). So cool that both of us employed enjambed rhyme today. Friends, won’t you comment, please? Love to know what you’re thinking. To comment, look for a red line below that starts Posted by, then click once on the word comments in that line. If you don’t find the word “comments” in that line, then look for a blue link below that says Post a comment and click it once. Thanks! Ingat, everyone.  ヅ

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