Day Four ... NaPoWriMo / Poem-a-Day 2018

Robert Lee Brewer’s fourth Poem-a-Day suggestion is, “For today’s prompt, take the phrase ‘Case (blank)’; replace the blank with a word or phrase; make the new phrase the title of your poem; and then, write your poem. Possible titles include: ‘Case of Water,’ ‘Case in Point,’ ‘Case Study,’ and ‘Case of the Missing Person.’” Maureen Thorson’s NaPoWriMo prompt is, “write a poem that is about something abstract — perhaps an ideal like ‘beauty’ or ‘justice,’ but which discusses or describes that abstraction in the form of relentlessly concrete nouns. Adjectives are fine too!” Maureen continues, “For example, you could have a poem about sadness that describes that emotion as ‘a rowboat tethered with fishing line to a willow that leans over a pond. Rainwater collects in the bottom, and mosquito eggs.’ Concrete details like those can draw the reader in and let them imagine the real world where your abstract ideal or feeling happens. Happy writing!” Here's my merging of the two prompts ... I did cheat a little by making "case" into "in case." And it's a tanka again. Who'd a-thunk it? In Case of Demagoguery break the glass, pull out the coiled firehose, wash away the shredded snakeskin tattered flags and old statues the moldy greenbacked paper —Draft by Vince Gotera    [Do not copy or quote . . . thanks.] Friends, won’t you comment, please? Love to know what you’re thinking. To comment, look for a red line below that starts Posted by, then click once on the word comments in that line. If you don’t find the word “comments” in that line, then look for a blue link below that says Post a comment and click it once. Thanks! Ingat, everyone.  ヅ

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Day Three ... NaPoWriMo / Poem-a-Day 2018

Since today is Tuesday, Robert Lee Brewer’s Poem-a-Day suggestion is his signature "Two-for-Tuesday prompt, which means you can pick one prompt or the other, do both separately, or mix both together": write a (1) "stop poem" and/or (2) a "don't stop poem." And Maureen Thorson’s NaPoWriMo prompt is, "a list poem in which all the items are made-up names": "band names" or "a list of titles for romantic novels? Or new television cop dramas? They can be as over-the-top as you like, because that’s (at least) half the fun." Here's my attempt at merging all three of the prompts. All the President's Names Donald “Stop saying I don't love DREAMers, I do” Trump Donald “Don't stop me saying DACA is dead” Trump Donald “Stop CNN and fake NBC” Trump Donald “Don't stop the Sinclair-Tribune merger” Trump Donald “Stop saying I grab women by the blank” Trump Donald “Don't stop me and beautiful women” Trump Donald “Stop Mueller. Stop Mueller.” Trump Donald “Don't. Stop. Don't. Stop. Mueller.” Trump Donald “Stop saying I love Putin” Trump Donald “Don't stop saying you love me” Trump —Draft by Vince Gotera    [Do not copy or quote . . . thanks.] And here's a clever little snapshot I found out there in cyberspace. Friends, won’t you comment, please? Love to know what you’re thinking. To comment, look for a red line below that starts Posted by, then click once on the word comments in that line. If you don’t find the word “comments” in that line, then look for a blue link below that says Post a comment and click it once. Thanks! Ingat, everyone.  ヅ

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Day Two ... NaPoWriMo / Poem-a-Day 2018

For the second day, Robert Lee Brewer’s Poem-a-Day prompt is, "write a portrait poem. You can use an actual portrait to write an ekphrastic poem. Or think up an image from real life. Or fake life. Or don’t be so literal; instead of writing a poem that describes a portrait, use the poem to frame a moment or lifestyle or whatever." Maureen Thorson’s second-day NaPoWriMo prompt is, "we’d like to challenge you to write a poem that plays with voice." She then gives some examples: "you might try writing a stanza that recounts something in the first-person, followed by a stanza recounting the same incident in the second-person, followed by a stanza that treats the incident from a third-person point of view. Or you might try a poem in the form of a dialogue, which necessarily has two ‘I’ speakers, addressing two ‘you’s. Another way to go is to take an existing poem of yours or someone else’s, and try rewriting it in a different voice. The point is just to play with who is speaking to who and how." Well, let me use perhaps the most famous portrait ever painted, with a little embellishment. That's a little Photoshop parody I made, at the beginning of someone's presidency. I hope Leonardo will forgive what I've done to his Mona Lisa. I like to think he would laugh. (Here's where this image lives, on deviantART.) And now here's today's little ditty, again a tanka. Mona Lisa Tanka I, Gioconda, say #MeToo with Pussy Hat. Even in heaven, gotta keep up with the news. We've got CNN! No Fox. —Draft by Vince Gotera    [Do not copy or quote . . . thanks.] Friends, won’t you comment, please? Love to know what you’re thinking. To comment, look for a red line below that starts Posted by, then click once on the word comments in that line. If you don’t find the word “comments” in that line, then look for a blue link below that says Post a comment and click it once. Thanks! Ingat, everyone.  ヅ

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National Poetry Month / NaPoWriMo / Poem-a-Day 2018

Friends, welcome to National Poetry Month. Here we go again, writing a poem every day! My good friend Thomas Alan Holmes is not able to join me with NaPoWriMo poems on the blog this time, alas . . . "too many spinning plates," he said. Good luck, Alan! Okay, here we go. Maureen Thorson’s NaPoWriMo prompt: "Today, we challenge you to write a poem that is based on a secret shame, or a secret pleasure. It could be eating too many cookies, or bad movies, or the time you told your sister she could totally brush her teeth with soap. It’s up to you." Robert Lee Brewer’s Poem-a-Day prompt: "For today’s prompt, write a secret poem. This poem can reveal a secret, incorporate a secret activity, or involve any other secret interpretation. Poem written in code (acrostic, anyone?) or with double meanings." Here's my first installment for the month. As you may know, I try to merge both prompts in my daily poem. Luckily, today the two prompts were very close! Secret Tanka my secret pleasure my secret shame: HSN, QVC, fashion and make-up, cooking gizmos, just now and then . . . not often —Draft by Vince Gotera    [Do not copy or quote . . . thanks.] Yeah, I know. 5-7-5-7-7. Apologies to my tanka and haiku writer friends who don't feel that that syllabic pattern is at all necessary or even recommended! Friends, won’t you comment, please? Love to know what you’re thinking. To comment, look for a red line below that starts Posted by, then click once on the word comments in that line. If you don’t find the word “comments” in that line, then look for a blue link below that says Post a comment and click it once. Thanks! Ingat, everyone.  ヅ

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Prince ... A Year After

I meant to post a tribute to Prince on the anniversary of his death. But completely forgot! So here goes, a couple weeks late. This is USA Today's tribute to Prince on 21 April 2017, exactly one year after his death. I especially like the graphic at the top showing his Love Symbol guitar with a black mourning band on it. And how it matches the photo of Prince holding that guitar, from his renowned Super Bowl performance in 2007. Can't believe that was ten years ago! Here's my elegy for Prince, which appeared in A Prince Tribute: ...only wanted one time to see you laughing, an anthology edited by Sarah Frances Moran (Yellow Chair Press, 2016). Rest in Purple Prince soared from Paisley Park in a little red Corvette, upward to magenta clouds, bathing in purple rain majestic, radio blasting Dr. Funkenstein slap-and-pop. Riding shotgun: love symbol axe with its Salvador Dalí mustachio. Heading to heaven to jam with Jimi, Janis, James Brown the Godfather of Soul, and Michael Jackson the King of Pop. His third eye staring straight into the liquid light-blaring orb of God. Prince of Purple finally with his Prince of Peace, a dazzling smile. —Vince Gotera, from A Prince Tribute (2016) In the poem, I tried to incorporate Prince's great faith as a Jehovah's Witness. And I also enjoyed all the J's in the heavenly musicians' names. The mention of the "third eye" is a tribute to his last music project, 3rdEyeGirl, a band Prince fronted, with bassist Ida Kristine Nielsen, guitarist Donna Grantis, and drummer Hannah Welton. A Prince Tribute had a really glorious front cover, in purple of course. A truly fitting celebration of Prince both visually and in the beautiful writing contained in the anthology. Friends, won’t you comment, please? Love to know what you’re thinking. To comment, look for a red line below that starts Posted by, then click once on the word comments in that line. If you don’t find the word “comments” in that line, then look for a blue link below that says Post a comment and click it once. Thanks! Ingat, everyone.  ヅ