Hello again, friends! My poem today is #87 in this year's Stafford Challenge (and #452, including the number of poems from last year's challenge).
Maureen Thorson’s NaPoWriMo prompt: a “poem about a remembered, cherished landscape. . . . includ[ing] language or phrasing that would be unusual in normal, spoken speech.”
Robert Lee Brewer’s Poem-a-Day suggestion: “For today's prompt, write a problem poem.”
I'm combining both prompts, again, in my poem today. The "language or phrasing that would be unusual in normal, spoken speech" is the word that jumps across from the second-to-last line to the last line.
San Francisco's Cityscape
—curtal sonnet
Just a year after I finished high school,
the Transamerica Pyramid was
finished in San Francisco. Amazing
structure, just about fifty stories tall,
beautiful spire that transformed the city’s
skyline from mostly square, boxy buildings.
That tallest skyscraper a slim echo
of an age-old shape, tombs of the Pharaohs.
But now the city’s skyline has gone wrong:
the new tallest, Salesforce Tower’s phallo-
centric look — ugly thing.
—Draft by Vince Gotera [Do not copy or quote . . . thanks.]
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The Salesforce Tower is at the top center of this photo. The Transamerica Pyramid is in the foreground, bottom center. (Photo Source)
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Today, Alan is also combining the two prompts. The "cherished landscape" is hinted at, and the "problem" is obvious.
His Legacy
When he is gone,
the country’s needs
will not permit
the funds required
to restore all
he has destroyed.
Rose Garden? Gone.
The East Wing? Gone.
The National
Forests? All gone.
Someone who spends
his life at meals
and golf courses
does not regard
pristine deserts,
crystal water,
verdant meadows,
ancient mountains
as valued for
themselves; he sees
undeveloped
real estate, land
to be taken
and used all up.
—Draft by Thomas Alan Holmes [Do not copy or quote . . . thanks.]
Only too true, Alan. Your poems on you-know-who in DC are so true.
Thanks for reading our poems today. See you again tomorrow!
Friends, won’t you comment, please? Love to know what you’re thinking. Thanks!
Ingat, everyone. ヅ |
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