National Poetry Writing Month, Day #21

Today’s napowrimo.net prompt is to write a poem about a fairy tale from the point of view of a minor character. I forgot about that part once I started writing, so I had to make a couple of small changes after I finished. My poem is about Hansel and Gretel, ostensibly from the point of view of the birds who ate Hansel’s trail of bread crumbs…
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National Poetry Writing Month, Day #20

Today’s napowrimo.net prompt is to write a kenning poem. I ignored the part about ‘kenning-like descriptions of [the] thing or person’ of whatever I chose to write about, since the examples I saw of that kind of poem did not look very interesting. Instead, I chose to substitute kenning-like descriptions of the things that appeared in the poem.
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National Poetry Writing Month, Day #19

Today’s napowrimo.net prompt is to write a ‘how-to’ poem. My poem—a quote of an old typewriter drill (it’s basically a readymade poem)—was inspired by a Facebook post by a Washington state congressman.
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National Poetry Writing Month, Day #18

Today’s napowrimo.net prompt is to write a poem ‘that incorporates “the sound of home.” Think back to your childhood, and the figures of speech and particular ways of talking that the people around you used, and which you may not hear anymore.’ This prompt did not particularly call to mind much, so my poem ends up taking a different turn, into a random recollection.
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National Poetry Writing Month, Day #17

Today’s napowrimo.net prompt is to write a poem using at least ten words from a specialized dictionary. I used International Paper’s Pocket Pal, a pocket-sized paperback of print and graphic arts terms and concepts. (The terms I used are listed in the tags.) I wrote it in the form of a double viator, a six-stanza variation of the viator in which the last line of the first stanza travels up as the first line travels down throughout the poem; by the final stanza, they have switched places.
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National Poetry Writing Month, Day #16

Today’s napowrimo.net prompt is to answer a questionnaire about a place (real or imagined), then write a poem based on one or more of the answers. I ended up writing about my immediate surroundings—more specifically, in the context of my decision to make this what I call a ‘quiet day’. That means no unnecessary conversation, and no devices whose purpose includes producing sound (e.g., telephone, stereo, TV).
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National Poetry Writing Month, Day #14 (revised)

I followed today’s napowrimo.net prompt, which was to write a san san, which the site said consists of seven lines, with an a-b-c-a-b-c-d rhyme scheme, and repeats three words or images three times.

As it turns out, it is actually eight lines, and the rhyme scheme appears to be a-b-c-a-b-d-c-d.

Since my poem was originally written using the errant description, I have made a slight change so that it reflects the correct form.
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National Poetry Writing Month, Day #14

Today’s napowrimo.net prompt is to write a san san, which consists of seven lines, with an a-b-c-a-b-c-d rhyme scheme, and repeats three words or images three times. My poem was influenced by the news of an earthquake in Japan a few hours ago, but uses the idea of earthquakes in more of a metaphorical (allegorical?) sense.
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