Day 19 ... NaPoWriMo / Poem-a-Day 2025 // Stafford 93

Robert Lee Brewer’s Poem-a-Day prompt: “[W]rite a persona poem. A persona poem is when you write in the voice of another person, real or imaginary. So maybe a sonnet in the voice of Mickey Mouse, or a sestina narrated by the Wright Brothers (yes, both of them), or a haiku from the perspective of Amelia Earhart. And yes, inanimate objects are fair game too (if you want to craft some free verse in the voice of a toothbrush). Have at it!” Maureen Thorson’s NaPoWriMo prompt: After a mention of “murder ballads (a subgenre of song dealing with a gruesome crime[)],” the prompt continues, ”we’d like to challenge you to write your own poem that tells a story in the style of a blues song or ballad. One way into this prompt may be to use it to retell a family tragedy or story, or to retell a crime or tragic event that occurred in your hometown.” Here's a poem merging both prompts today with a murder ballad — 4-3-4-3 beats per line, abcb rhyme — that's also a persona poem because the speaker is not me but rather a fictional woman companion of a famous rockstar. “Hey Joe” . . . Nuh-uh! I bet you heard the song “Hey Joe.” Been on the airwaves in Jimi’s voice for half a century. Longer from others, but for this story’s provenance, it’s gotta be Hendrix. So yeah, I knew the man. My name is Little Sadie, by the way. A lot of Jimi’s fans think Hendrix and I were hitched. Never happened. I was his old lady, his live-in girlfriend, for just a couple-three months. He wanted the song to be “Hey Jimi” but decided “Hey Joe” was best, in case the pigs came looking. One night while doing blow, Jimi woke me up and said, “Babe, I gotta kill ya.” This gun was in his hand, a crazy look in his eyes. “For the song.” “Where’d you get that piece?” I said and knocked it out of his hands. As it hit the floor, he started crying. “Where’s the rest of the band?” “Still sleeping,” he said. “Well, that’s the craziest idea, hon. Just sing the song as if it happened. And get rid of this gun.” I packed my rags and left that night. And in a few weeks, the man was famous. People thought I’d been “messin’ around with another man.” That never happened neither. I moved back to L.A. and took up with Arthur Lee of Love. He did that song too, never thought of killing anyone. My murder ballad don’t have no killing, baby. And that’s why I’m not famous, darling. No killing anywhere round me. —Draft by Vince Gotera    [Do not copy or quote . . . thanks.] Please remember this poem is fictional; none of this happened in real life. I don't want to cast any aspersions on Jimi Hendrix . . . I'm a big fan, and sometimes perform "Hey Joe" on stage with bands, though I've been avoiding it lately because of the misogynistic subject matter. Gotta admit, though, it's a tasty song for a bassist . . . one of Noel Redding's best basslines, though many fans complain about his bass playing, I think unfairly. Jimi Hendrix with actual girlfriend Roselyn Morris "Hey Joe" was recorded by many artists during those days, both before and after Hendrix's iconic version. One of the most well-known earlier versions was by the band Love, mentioned in the poem. "Love's lead vocalist, Arthur Lee, claimed in later years that it was Love's version that turned Jimi Hendrix on to the song as well as most of the other Los Angeles acts who covered the song." Other artists who recorded the song before Hendrix include Tim Rose, The Surfaris, The Standells, and even The Byrds (Wikipedia). A much older song, recorded by Clarence Ashley in 1930, was titled "Little Sadie" (which is where I got the name of my speaker); it's credited to have been an influence on "Hey Joe." Even more interesting, the first recording was in 1922, under the title "Bad Lee Brown" . . . maybe an influence in turn on "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown" by Jim Croce in 1973? (Wikipedia). "Hey Song" is a blues standard; I saw Christone "Kingfish" Ingram perform it four years ago in San Francisco. Of course, it's also a rock standard. Interesting musicology. Alan told me that he's been grading college essays all day (been there, no fun, glad I'm retired). Perhaps Alan's hard work today led to this ballad — with choruses, yet! The speaker may be one of those college students. Wonder what grade he got? Anyway, notice the abab rhyme scheme . . . and, it's singable! The Ballad of the A.I. Degenerate I used to be a plagiarist. I stole what I could copy, but I was such a lazy ass that all my theft was sloppy. Now I get perfect sentences with language professorial, consistent present and past tenses both neat and editorial. (chorus) I’m an A.I. degenerate, I’m not sure how I feel, except always inadequate and too lazy to steal. I use the best predictive text, and it sounds good to me. A.I. can find what good word’s next and prints it out for free. (chorus) I’m an A.I. degenerate, I’m not sure how I feel, except always inadequate and too lazy to steal. —Draft by Thomas Alan Holmes    [Do not copy or quote . . . thanks.] Did you notice Alan's great use of enjambed rhyme, where the rhyme is completed by the first sound of the following rhyme: in lines 1 and 3 (leading into 4), we have plagiarist rhymed by lazy ass / that. The rhyme is also three-syllabled, and check out the rhyming vowels: pla-gia-rist and la-zy-ass. Friends, won’t you comment, please? Love to know what you’re thinking. Thanks! Ingat, everyone.  ヅ

NaPoWriMo / PAD 2025 • Pick a day: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30