Day 22 ... NaPoWriMo / Poem-a-Day

Twenty-second day of the cruelest month. Well, so said Mr. Eliot. But actually, here in Iowa, it's a wonderful sunny day. This morning I got to ride my Yamaha Zuma to church to play bass. So not at all the cruelest day. Or month, for that matter. How ya doin', everyone? Day 22's prompts: (1) Maureen Thorson says, "In honor of Earth Day, today I'd like you to write a poem about a plant. Flowers, . . . a tree, or a shrub, or grass. Maybe even a fictional or mythological plant" (NaPoWriMo.net). (2) Robert Lee Brewer tells us, "For today's prompt, write a judging poem. This is a poem that could be judging others, or it is a poem [of] being judged" (Poetic Asides). (3) Andrea Boltwood suggests "a didactic cinquain" (Circle the Block). I know I said yesterday I was gonna get off prompt, but these prompts seem tailor-made for mashing up! In fact, I'm thinking I could write a didactic cinquain that's also a tanka. So the lines would, in order, contain one word, two words, three words, four words, then one word, while at the same time having this syllable pattern: 5-7-5-7-7. That would be deliciously difficult, wouldn't it? The first word would have to be a five-syllable word . . . wow. The third line would have to be three words that add up to only five syllables . . . double wow. Furthermore, you'd have to follow the thematic rules for each line: (1) a subject, (2) a description of the subject, and so on. I think that might be too much to carry off. Okay, swearing off that. But I will mash up all three prompts above. Wait! Should I also include the Haiku Heights prompt for today: "Still"? Okay, okay, stop, Vince . . . you just haveta stop, buddy. Judge Venus D. M. Flytrap, Esq. Carnivore, Ruthless executioner. Judgmental toward flies? Suppose it was gy FREAKIN normous . . . OMG! —Draft by Vince Gotera     [do not copy or quote ... thanks] Here's Catherine's poem, prompted by Robert's "judging" idea. ======= ===== = ====== ===== === ====== ===== === ======= ===== ==== ====== ==== === ==== == ====== ======== ===== ====== ======= = ====== == ==== = ===== === ==== ===== ==== == =========== == == ========== ===== ==== == ==== ==== ==== === ======= ==== === ===== ========= ====== ============ ==== ======= ==== ======= ====== ==== ======= ==== ==== == ====== ========= ===== ======= ======== === ====== = =============== ====== ======= === ===== ===== == ========== === ==== ==== == ==== == ===== === ==== ===== ======= ========== == ======= ==== ==== ==== ==== ==== ====                         Poem removed for publication purposes. Sorry. It may return at some point. Thanks. —Draft by Catherine Pritchard Childress     [do not copy or quote ... thanks] This afternoon, my wife Mary Ann and I went mushroom hunting with our teenage son Gabe in some nearby woods. And we came home with two and a quarter pounds of morels! Mostly found by Mary Ann (I think I found just one). Mary Ann and Gabe with morels       Two and a quarter pounds of heaven And now, in honor of our morel take of the day, here's another didactic cinquain on the flora theme. (Can't quite get "judging" in there.) Mushroom Hunting in Iowa Woods Morels . . . Brainlike, spongelike. $34.95/lb. commercially. Flour, sauté in butter. Ambrosia! —Draft by Vince Gotera     [do not copy or quote ... thanks] Our featured PAD / NaPoWriMo blog today is Through the Eyes of Meena Rose. I used both "PAD" and "NaPoWriMo" in that last sentence on purpose. Meena is producing (at least) two poems a day: one responding to Robert Lee Brewer's poem-a-day prompt at Poetic Asides and another from Maureen Thorson's daily prompt at NaPoWriMo.net . . . that's amazing! Even more amazing is that Meena is also taking part in NaBloPoMo (National Blog Posting Month), which this April is focused on poetry; so every day Meena's additionally writing a prose meditation on poetry. Two poems and a prose piece each day. And they're consistently good! Brava, Meena. Well, people. The morels are soaking in salt water right now (to get rid of any little bugs). They're waiting to be dredged in butter and fried delicately. Hope you won't mind excusing me now to help with this very important task. Please leave a comment below, okay? Thanks. Ingat. Added 23 April 2012: Here's another picture of the morels we got . . the biggest one here is 9 inches long (the bent one on the right side). They're odd-looking little beasties, aren't they? But SO tasty! POEM-A-DAY 2012 • Pick a day in April: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30