Day 5 NaPoWriMo - Cinquain

The prompt from NaPoWriMo:

But now we have a new prompt to deal with! Because I am a rather obvious person at heart, I challenge you to write a cinquain on this, the fifth day of NaPoWriMo. A cinquain is a poem that employs stanzas with five lines. Each line has a certain number of accented or stressed syllables, and a certain number of overall syllables per line. In the “American” cinquain, a form invented by a woman with the highly unfortunate name of Adelaide Crapsey, the number of stresses per line is 1-2-3-4-1, and the number of syllables is 2-4-6-8-2. So the first line would have two syllables, one stressed and one unstressed. The second line would have four syllables, two of which are stressed, and so on. This kind of accent/syllabic verse can be a bit frustrating at first, but it’s useful for learning to sharpen up your language!

The Definition I follow...

Cinquain Poetry has five lines.

Line 1 is one word (the title)
Line 2 is two words that describe the title.
Line 3 is three words that tell the action
Line 4 is four words that express the feeling
Line 5 is one word that recalls the title

__________________________________________________________________________________

1)

Writing

Myriad Words

Thrown On Pages

Trying To Make Sense

Author

2)

Heartbreak

Emotional Loss

Pulled From Within

Where Did We Fail

Farewell

3)

Breathing

Lungs Expand

Precious Air Intake

Chest Feels So Tight

Exhale

4-5-13

Okay, I'm all caught up - Have no internet until Monday - and will have to play catch up again - You all have a wonderful weekend.

NaPoWriMo... Day 4

The prompt:

Our prompt for today (again — totally optional!) is a little odd, but here goes. Recently, I read an article about the Scottish science fiction writer Iain M. Banks. His books often have spaceships in them. And those spaceships have extremely odd, poetic names. Like:
Prosthetic Conscience
Irregular Apocalypse
Unfortunate Conflict of Interest
Gunboat Diplomat
Very Little Gravitas Indeed
A Series of Unlikely Explanations
Just Another Victim of the Ambient Morality
Jaundiced Outlook
Frank Exchange of Views
Lightly Seared on the Reality Grill
Falling Outside the Normal Moral Constraints
Abundance of Onslaught
Refreshingly Unconcerned With the Vulgar Exigencies of Veracity
A Fine Disregard For Awkward Facts

So your challenge for today is to write a poem with a title drawn from one of these spaceship names. Feel free to pick a genuine Banks, like the ones listed above, or to take one from the twitter. And if you think of your own Banks-like spaceship name title, feel free to use that!

__________________________________________________________________________________

Very Little Gravitas:

So
serious...
she
said.

Words
that
strike
me
to 
the 
utmost.

Her
bored
eyes
bare
no
malice,
but
no 
interest
is
born
there
as
well...

I 
know
what
it 
is
to
have
fun.

The
type
ten-
year-
olds
crave
when 
faced 
with
homework.

Avoidance
tactics
serendipitously
performed
when
parents
ask
you
to
take
out
the 
trash...

Or

When 
they 
want 
you 
to 
walk
your
little
sister
to
school
when
you
only
hunger
to 
run 
with 
the
other
boys.

The 
type
of 
boisterous
ballyhoo
that
adults 
rarely
understand
nor 
can 
achieve
without
the 
proper
amount
of 
alcohol
consumed.

I 
know
how
to
have 
fun!

You 
just
don't
know
how
to
recognise
it...

4-5-13

Very first draft, but I'm behind in my posts. So bare with me.

NaPoWriMo Day 3

Okay, the last few days have been hell, and this &%&%^@)%^ prompt for day three of NaPoWriMo drove me insane...

And now, our prompt (remember — these are optional, so if they don’t inspire you or you have an idea of your own you want to work with, go ahead!). I’m playing to my own strengths here, but I challenge you to write a sea shanty (or shantey, or chanty, or chantey — there’s a good deal of disagreement regarding the spelling!). Anyway, these are poems in the forms of songs, strongly rhymed and rhythmic, that sailors might sing while hauling on ropes and performing other sea-going labors. Probably the two most famous sea shanties are What Shall We Do With A Drunken Sailor? and Blow the Man Down. And what should your poem be about? Well, I suppose it could be about anything, although some nautical phrases tossed into the chorus would be good for keeping the sea in your shanty. Haul away, boys, haul away!

___________________________________________________________________________________

I spent two days trying to come up with a Sea Shanty, half a dozen versions which I WILL NOT post here, because they sucked...

But I had an out - You don't have to follow the prompt, so after trying, and trying and trying I gave up and wrote this:

Sea Alt:

A little "c" saw
what the Bering Sea sees
and was over come
with jealousy.

"I'll never be
as mighty
as the raging sea..."
The little "c" said to the lower case "b".

"I know what you mean."
said the lower case "b",
"I want to fly high,
see what the bumble bee sees."

"To fly in the sky,
over long, tall  oak trees
is a dream I still dream."
Said the lower case "b".

"Then, I'll see you tonight."
Said the tired little "c".
"When we sleep and we dream,
and can be what we'll be."

So, off they both went.
The "c" and the "b".
To their own little beds
and to dream mighty dreams,

4-4-13

Okay, it mentions the sea in it, does it count?

It's not done, but it tickled my fancy...

NaPoWriMo Poem - Day 2

Not quite sure this fits the prompt - but what the hey...

The Prompt:

And now, the prompt! Today’s prompt is drawn from an idea that Kelsey Howard gave me — that of a poem that tells a lie. I think you could have a poem that’s all lies (that could be very funny — full of things like “the sun is the size of a nickel”) or a poem that steadily builds to telling one big whopper. I can imagine these being very poignant, or very much like goofy shaggy-dog stories. I suppose it all comes down to what you want to lie about!

The Poem:

Catch me if you can:

Somewhere in the pink ocean

delicate red jays swim,

through Asiago coral

and spaghetti squash sea weed,

nibbling on giggling lady finger flesh.

It tickles their blood streams

to wiggle through the water

torturing  tortellini turtles,

and half-baked bandicoots

in their wake...

Spelunking never tasted

so good.

04/02/13

I'm about to join a friend of mine in the NaPoWriMo. Writing one poem a day for the month of April.

Let's see... They give prompts, but you don't have to use them...

PROMPT:


And now, our prompt! (The prompts are totally optional, by the way — use ‘em or ignore ‘em as you see fit.) Continuing with the theme of firsts, I’d like to challenge you to write a poem that has the same first line as another poem. You can use a favorite poem, pick up a random book of poetry and get a first line that way, or perhaps use one of the following:
Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?
She walks in beauty, like the night
Slowly, silently, now the moon
anyone lived in a pretty how town


Can I find my own in the short time I have to do this?

Poem I like:

from the long hallways
voices of the people rise
in the morning haze
- Oshima Ryota 

Take the first line -

from the long hallways

Then add my lines

cold light seeps beneath locked doors
what lies behind them

My haiku from the prompt...

from the long hallways
cold light seeps beneath locked doors
what lies behind them

Well, that was my first shot - we'll see if i can keep up with them - even though I may not get to post until I'm at work. Limited access to the internet on weekends...

Wish me luck.

Another Great Man Gone...

Yesterday morning I received news that my Ex's father had passed away. First from a friend, and then in an email from my Ex. I don't hear from her often, and it's usually only after something major has happened. The email I received from her last, was one about her struggles with breast cancer. Suffice to say, this has not been a good year for her.

Last night I was supposed to tell a story at Story Salon. I had planned to talk about the days I spent in Fresno, last week for my birthday. It was going to be a short tale about how a large symbol of my childhood had been torn out by the roots, and how a few other small things had chipped away as well.

Instead, I got up and paid a little tribute to her father. It started out all right, but I was then overcome by the emotion of it all. I didn't bawl my eyes out, but tears flowed and I was barely able to get the last words out.

Ron was a good man. A wise man. A patient man and a great father. He had his flaws as all of us do, but of the several things I remember, one particular remembrance stood out. When my Ex had asked me to leave, and was saying some pretty bad things about me, Ron came to me and asked me one question, and I answered him. To his credit, he believed me. He told me it takes two to make a marriage and two to make it end. That it was never one hundred percent one persons fault...

He then said he hoped I would keep in touch...

Sadly, I never did.

That is my fault...

A Couple Of Things...

IRONY

noun, plural i·ro·nies.

1.

the use of words to convey a meaning that is the opposite of its literal meaning: the irony of her reply, “How nice!” when I said I had to work all weekend.

2.

Literature .

a.

a technique of indicating, as through character or plot development, an intention or attitude opposite to that which is actually or ostensibly stated.

b.

(especially in contemporary writing) a manner of organizing a work so as to give full expression to contradictory or complementary impulses, attitudes, etc., especially as a means of indicating detachment from a subject, theme, or emotion.

3. 

Socratic Irony

4. 

dramatic Irony

5.

an outcome of events contrary to what was, or might have been, expected.

Why the definition?... 

Last week I did a story at "The Story Salon" L.A.'s longest running story telling venue. What did I tell? Well, I told the short tale of my doing the Key note speech at that eighth grade graduation in June.

Beverly (the lady who runs it) wanted to hear my speech and a short lead in tale of why I did it. I failed the why portion, but did the speech part as the opening to the night. 

Why the irony?...

I decided to do the speech because out of everyone at the graduation, nobody managed to get the speech on either video, or audio, so I decided to do it again at "The Story Salon" because they video tape every single show... Except this one... The person who normally videos everything was out sick with a respiratory infection... 

Ah, well.

The other Irony? I don't quite know if it's exactly an Irony, but this last weekend I went to The Ronald Reagan Library. 

You ask why?

Because there was a huge  Disney exhibition there...

The Disney exhibit was great! There were a lot of items you don't normally get to see up close a personal...

A Few things I'd seen before...

And a few things I just thought were cool...

My friend and I spent over three and a half hours in the Disney side, about an hour in the gift shop and about an hour and a half in the Reagan side...

The Regan side had a few interesting things like...

Air Force One...

A piece of the Berlin Wall...

and a replica of the Oval Office...

Of course there were a couple of pieces of unintentional humor...

And...

I have to say it was a very enjoyable day over all, but I couldn't shake the feeling that sooner or later and alarm was going to go off screaming "Democrat! There's a Democrat on the compound! But it never happened.

I do want to say that I never thought I'd ever agree with Reagan on anything, but there was one thing...

I do  hope more Republicans will go to the Reagan library and stumble across this piece of signage and then take its message to heart...