The Stafford Challenge, Day 35

Today, again an ekphrastic poem, based not on an art image but rather a song from 50+ years ago. A performance video of the song is below . . . maybe watch it before reading the poem? An ovillejo again. A Spanish form: 3 couplets and a quatrain, aa bb cc cddc, with the short lines at the ends of the couplets concatenated in the last line, syllabic pattern of 8/3/8/3/8/3/8/8/8/X (where X is the total of the repeated lines ... typically 9 syllables but could be more because the 3-syllable lines are allowed to to be 4). More on the ovillejo form here. Half Century of Fiery Funk: Bumpty-Bumpty-Bump An ovillejo inspired by "Down to the Nightclub" by Tower of Power (1972) Tower of Power, some funk, please — East Bay grease! Women be righteously pretty, Bump City! You got to, whatever your size, funkifize! “You’re Still a Young Man” and “What Is Hip” . . . the guys on the stage up there living the dream, for 50 years: East Bay grease, Bump City, funkifize! —Draft by Vince Gotera    [Do not copy or quote . . . thanks.] Tower of Power, "Down to the Nightclub" (1972) Friends, won’t you comment, please? Love to know what you’re thinking. Ingat, everyone.  ヅ

The Stafford Challenge, Day 33

Today, I offer an elegy for my old friend, the poet Nick Carbó, who passed away in October 2024. Nick was a Filipino American poet who was proficient in English, Spanish, and Filipino. I included all three languages in my poem; I also chose the ovillejo form because it is Spanish. The poem pays tribute to Nick's quirky sense of humor. Here's an explanation of the ovillejo form in the blog Write Better Poetry by Robert Lee Brewer. Basically, it's 3 couplets and a quatrain, rhymed aa bb cc dccd, with the last line combining lines 2, 4, and 6 (the short lines earlier). There's a challenging syllable count: 8/3/8/3/8/3/888X — X being the sum of the repeated 3 lines) — also, lines 2, 4, and 6 can have 4 syllables instead of 3. Whew! Toast to Nick Carbó: An Ovillejo Ang tunay na lalaki . . . yo, Nick Carbó! Nos haces felices. ¡Salud! You rock, dude. In our hearts, your best endeavors live forever. Your sharp poems and prose will never die, Secret Asian Man. You’re home. Excuse this loko-loko poem. Nick Carbó, you rock! Dude, live forever! • “Ang tunay na lalaki” . . . The real man (Filipino) . . . also the main     character of Nick Carbo's poetry book Secret Asian Man (2000). • “Nos haces felices. ¡Salud!” . . . You make us happy. Cheers! (Spanish) • ”loko-loko” . . . silly (Filipino), cf. “loco” . . . nutty, crazy (Spanish) —Draft by Vince Gotera    [Do not copy or quote . . . thanks.] The photo above is from Nick Carbó's author page on facebook. I'm grateful to RJ Clarken for writing an ovillejo in The Stafford Challenge facebook group a few days ago, my introduction to this intricate poetic form. Friends, won’t you comment, please? Love to know what you’re thinking. Ingat, everyone.  ヅ