Day Six ... NaPoWriMo / Poem-a-Day 2021

Maureen Thorson’s NaPoWriMo prompt today comes from an article by Holly Lyn Walrath: “Go to a book you love. Find a short line that strikes you. Make that line the title of your poem. Write a poem inspired by the line. Then, after you’ve finished, change the title completely.” Since today is Tuesday, Robert Lee Brewer’s Poem-a-Day suggestion is his customary  Two-for-Tuesday prompt:               1. write a change poem and/or . . .               2. write a don’t change poem.               I worked from both prompts today. With the NaPoWriMo prompt, I followed Holly Lyn Walrath’s directions only partially: I excerpted a title from Franny Choi’s book Soft Science, but then didn’t change the title after writing the poem. Incidentally, this collection of poems is a marvelous tour-de-force and I recommend it highly. I have taught Choi’s Safe Science in literature courses several times. stop me if you’ve heard / this one / once / upon a nation everyone got what they  /  were asking for — from Soft Science by Franny Choi change  /  no  change trial of derek chauvin what’s gonna change george floyd / is dead no  change  /  change chauvin / no chauvin convict and/or acquit no one getting / what they / were asking for —Draft by Vince Gotera    [Do not copy or quote . . . thanks.] I am a strong supporter of the Black Lives Matter movement, and I have been watching the Chauvin murder trial with rapt interest. There certainly seems to be a strong possibility this will be a landmark case that could affect our justice system and help make it more fair. But then there is also the long history of injustice. I guess we just have to wait and see. Here is Alan’s poem today, working with both prompts as well. New Artificer Some years ago, before the internet, I knew a poet jealous of a friend who seemed, so young, as if the world would celebrate his work in a short time, and so the jealous poet mailed some doggerel to influential editors and signed the gifted poet’s name. Receiving curt rejections of some work he’d never sent, the gifted poet studied the bad verse and figured out who smeared his name but never said a word; instead, he wrote a chapbook anyone would envy, then submitted it signed with the jealous poet’s name. The jealous poet, now exalted, never matched the power of the chapbook, and his pride would not permit him to confess the truth he could not prove. We went to his debut and saw him realize the trap he set was just a model for the trap he tripped. —Draft by Thomas Alan Holmes    [Do not copy or quote . . . thanks.] The quote from Alan’s “loved book” was, “Old father, old artificer, stand me now and ever in good stead,” from James Joyce, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. Bravo, Alan. Friends, won’t you comment, please? Love to know what you’re thinking. Thanks! Ingat, everyone.  ヅ

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