Did two micropoems from two prompts today. Poetic Asides asked for a “Social _______ ” poem.
social butterfly
wings clipped by isolation
learns to zoom instead
NaPoWriMo challenged poets to write a poem about a particular letter of the alphabet, taking inspiration from the actual the shape of the letter.
A Beginning
A tip of a pencil
A top of a castle
A hat for a dunce
A tent for us
A ladder to somewhere
A letter to start
the alphabet, arithmetic, and the day we said always.
The last day! Unfortunately, also a day when I am feeling quite under the weather, so didn’t have as much time and energy to devote to the final poem as I would’ve liked. Today’s Writer’s Digest prompt was the very wide open suggestion to write a “The ____” poem. I decided to narrow it down a bit with the NaPoWriMo prompt to write about something that happens again and again.
The Sun & You
the sunrise
missed
when you’re in my bed
hot on my neck
the midday sun
your breath
the sunset
always better
next to you
My last Alberta poet of the month is Edmonton writer and artist Laurie MacFayden. In keeping with the “The ___ ” theme, I thought of Laurie’s stunning poem “The Last Night,” from her book Kissing Keeps Us Afloat. It resonates with me especially well, as it reminds me of things I’ve written (or tried to write, perhaps less successfully) about dealing with my Mom’s death. Listen and watch Laurie give a wonderful reading of it here.
The penultimate day of the poem-a-day challenge! I liked today’s NaPoWriMo prompt, which asked writers to take a noun from a favourite poem, do some word association with it, then use it in a new poem. I went with a classic, T.S. Eliot’s “The Lovesong of J. Alfred Prufrock.” Fun fact: it also happens to be the poem that inspired the name of this blog! Many interesting nouns in that one, but “sawdust” stuck out for me. It also combined well with today’s Writer’s Digest prompt to write a poem that uses the language, or a theme from, the metric system.
Sawdust
Watching you from the open window that summer,
grind and whine of the electric saw a soundtrack
as you worked to build our girls a play fort
drawn purely from your own imagination.
I saw the way your brow furrowed,
as you measured twice to cut once,
sometimes still ending up a centimetre off.
I saw the way your spine straightened, small smile
on your face when you made one piece
fit so perfectly into the next.
I knew when I married you that there were
depths I would get to discover years later, or maybe never.
Surprises that might reveal themselves gradually
in stories you told, or the way your eyes looked
when I told you mine. But I never expected that new tingle
on my lips, a whole seventeen years in, when you came
inside for a glass of water, and leaned over to kiss me,
the scent of fresh sawdust all over your skin.
My Alberta poem today is by Calgary writer Nikki Reimer. With a title like “I suppose the ideal basement tenant would be a quiet retiree in good health, partially deaf, with reclusive but not unpleasant habits. Maybe tenants like that are already all taken,” you have to know the rest of the poem will be filled with wonderful wordplay and wit. Some worldly wisdom in it too. Watch Ms. Reimer read it here.
Today’s Writer’s Digest two-for-Tuesday prompt called for writing a love or anti-love poem. Perhaps this snippet I’ve written in response could be interpreted as a bit of both?
That Time Looking at the Moon From the Balcony
I’ve led us here, under the stars,
so when you ask me
to tell you a secret, I can
hide my eyes in shadows and
take a sip of lemon gin.
Liquid courage helps some
say what needs to be said, but
tonight it’s a tonic
to keep the truth
from slipping through my lips.
My Alberta poet today is Edmonton writer Gail Sidone Sobat. I’ve had the pleasure of meeting Gail on several occasions, but the first was when she was working as writer-in-residence at my local library. I had recently read her poetry collection How the Light is Spent, which I connected with very much, and hoped she might be able to give me some feedback on my own writing. She not only gave me great advice on how to polish my poems, but also reminded me that it’s ok to create — and succeed — as a writer in many different genres. I must also add that she’s helped to hone the skills and spark the imagination of so many writers, young and old(er) as founder of the amazing YouthWrite and JustWrite camps. Scroll down at this link to read Gail’s wonderful poem “Red Sweater.”
The peeps at NaPoWriMo central are trying to spark invention today with a prompt to write a poem that incorporates neologisms. Seemed a good fit with the Writer’s Digest two-for-Tuesday prompt to write a poem about either life or death, or both. My mind went to creation thoughts, of love and words.
Tip of the Tongue
To beatify is to make blessed. I, ungodly, search for it in you. Exalted. Blissful. Words as comely as their meaning. Feathery sounds, like your eyelashes brushing against my thigh. Our names together, sapid on tip of the tongue. Utter the euphonious and climb closer to harmony. Say something into being. Create a word like a life. Melodianic. Symphonosis. Ecstoxication. How many words get us higher in languages we don’t know? In tonguepaths we haven’t traced yet?
Apparently it’s spring, but today’s looking pretty darn wintry in my parts. Thinking about an Alberta writer to highlight today, and wishing for warmth, I thought of this poem, “First Hot Day” by Edmonton-based poet Claire Kelly.
Today’s Writer’s Digest prompt is to write a “______ of Love” poem. I have “not a lot of love” for this prompt, because I found it so difficult! All I could come up with was a micro of sorts, but many of the other creations I’ve read on the site are wonderful.
Parachute of Love
If I had one now
I wouldn’t be
falling for you
so hard.
It was much easier for me to pick an Alberta poet today, and fittingly there’s some lusty humour and masterful wordplay in her poem. Leslie Greentree is a Griffin Poetry Prize nominated writer from Red Deer. Please check out this excellent video of her reading “if I was a gate” from her book go-go dancing for Elvis.
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