Day 3 ... NaPoWriMo / Poem-a-Day 2025 // Stafford 77

Maureen Thorson’s NaPoWriMo prompt: “[W]rite a poem that obliquely explains why you are a poet and not some other kind of artist – or, if you think of yourself as more of a musician or painter (or school bus driver or scuba diver or expert on medieval Maltese banking) – explain why you are that and not something else!” Robert Lee Brewer’s Poem-a-Day prompt: “[W]rite a short poem. In my mind, I'm thinking of a poem that's like 10 lines or fewer, but there are other ways . . . The poem could be about a short person or object.” I didn't merge the prompts today. Just not in the right mood for the Thorson prompt today (maybe later?). So just doing the Brewer prompt for a short poem. As part of this weekend's Poetry Palooza festival in Des Moines, I'm leading a workshop this afternoon for some seventh graders in Humboldt, Iowa, and I'm going to have us write about food. So I thought I'd warm up (sorta) with this short ditty, two shadormas — a Spanish poetic form in 3/5/3/3/7/5 syllables. Ended up being 12 lines. Oh well. Short-ish enough. I Scream, You Scream Vanilla, chocolate, or else strawberry . . . those three were our only choices as kids in the '60s. Yum. Now we have blueberry sorbet, toffee crunch, bubble gum, Cherry Garcia, and best — dulce de leche! —Draft by Vince Gotera    [Do not copy or quote . . . thanks.] Photo by mandarinMD on Pixabay I think I'll show this poem to the students this afternoon. I suppose they'll be surprised at the lack of ice cream flavors! About his poem today, Alan wrote me, “I just recently moved out of a cubicle, because my department has returned to its renovated building. It is perverse for me to offer a 'tricube,' following Brewer’s challenge for a short poem, as I take Thorson’s cue to write about what kind of artist I am not. Folks can figure out the difference between Appalachian and Southern writers when they think about it.” The tricube is three stanzas of three lines with three syllables. Wow! Why I Am Not a Southern Poet When Darnell Arnoult said, “Come and write,” she gave me permission and some space to love deep in hollers and mountains. —Draft by Thomas Alan Holmes    [Do not copy or quote . . . thanks.] Alan also wrote: “Darnell Arnoult is one of the most generous, loving writers in Appalachia, and there are more than a few folks like that. We love her back. You can find some poems from her latest volume, Incantations, here: https://www.darnellarnoult.net/excerpt-incantations-poems.” Friends, won’t you comment, please? Love to know what you’re thinking. Thanks! Ingat, everyone.  ヅ

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