Today’s napowrimo.net prompt is to write (ugh!) a sonnet. I know, I know—Shakespeare, blah blah blah…
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National Poetry Writing Month, Day #22
Today’s napowrimo.net prompt is to write (ugh!) an Earth Day poem. I am not a huge fan of Earth Day. I see it the way George Carlin did, as expressed in his ‘The Planet is Fine’ routine from Jammin’ in New York: a lot of it is pure self-interest. We care more about our immediate environment than we do about our planet ‘in the abstract.’ So, I did not bother with addressing any environmental themes in my poem. I went with a more universal theme—one that seems especially appropriate, seeing as how Prince just died…
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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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Coffee Stains update: second proof
Coffee Stains is progressing nicely. After making a few minor edits here and there, I have just ordered a second round of proofs. (I probably could have just approved the latest proof online, but I have found that having an actual printed proof makes the process a lot easier.) At this point, I am going to stick with my original plan to have the book available in January 2016.
(7 December 2015)
Coffee Stains update: proof ordered
It seems my next collection of poems, Coffee Stains, is progressing well. After a few minor edits, I have ordered a couple of printed proofs. (I still have one very slight adjustment to make to the back cover, but I want to have a printed copy so I can more thoroughly go over the interior pages.)
At this point, it is quite possible that I could have the book finished ahead of schedule…
(23 November 2015)
Checking my proofs…
(24 April 2015)
Ordinary Average Thoughts 