"In preparing for battle, I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable." ~ Dwight D. Eisenhower * "Expect the best, plan for the worst, and prepare to be surprised." ~ Denis Waitley * "A plan is what, a schedule is when. It takes both a plan and a schedule to get things done." – Peter Turla
Hello, Friends. Remember how I told you about my big win at NaPoWriMo last year? How that was the biggest highlight I experienced in 2021? Well, I also told you I hoped to repeat it this year, and guess what, it's about to begin in April. And how does one prepare for this? I don't know exactly how, but I thought I'd give you the heads up and ask you to support my efforts this month. A poem a day! I will try. And hopefully, I'll see some of you inside? Let's do this! We begin on April 1st, and I present to you the first one that initiated me into the fun mood in the business of poetry writing. Read the tremendous first prompt.
burps, farts, and banality specks of colored madness mingled in hallucination it was the kind of chaos that spawned turmoil in its wake, ravaged ribs and limbs and pulled both ways; turned one upside down, inside out, unfurling one in distorted leaps as it danced the fever away until at length... spent, devoid of breath, depleted of earthly frame disjointed and bleak aesthetic in its making my distinct sculpt arises ultimately-- mangled in cosmos rubble, brought to order for the first time, form and space converge into a tunnel suspended like a bridge-- for there's nothing shibboleth about chaos, the mirror and I are jerked to consciousness so my hand I stretch and the entities converge-- burp, fart to human *** Copyright © 2021 selmamartin.com
The prompt is always optional, but on the first day of NaPoWriMo, I opted to use the prompt as inspiration. What a video! For sure, I felt the top of my head severed off, and my thoughts got an unusual stir. In that heightened state, this is the poem that resulted.
Housing one #tanka between prose,
ending the poem with a traditional #senryu would have never occurred to me if it wasn’t for the fantastic poets I’m learning tons from and rubbing shoulders with at Colleen M. Chesebro’s — Word Craft ~ Prose and Poetry.
Thank you, guys. This one’s for you because you rock!
Check out the prompt:
Seductive Fantasy (A Chad Van Gaalen animation)
Music by Sun Ra Arkestra
This mama would be humbled to hear your thoughts on this one. Thanks for reading, and as always, I wish you miracles.
- Day 25: NaPoWriMo 2024–The “Proust Questionnaire” - April 25, 2024
- I’m Practicing: A Positive Double Whammy - April 24, 2024
- Day 24: NaPoWriMo 2024–A “Barrowed” Line - April 24, 2024
I have always enjoyed watching the Cosmos series (both the old and new ones). How the universe swirls, burps and (giggle) farts!
And then spits out a human bean. Because I have tons of humor in my home with the people I love – I thought of how much we love garlic and how much ‘gas’ we expel. Which I heard somewhere that passing gas several times a day if not more is a) quite natural and b) very healthy!!
I haven’t gotten involved with specific daily April poetry a day prompts (like NaPoWriMo). I write every day for myself or a prompt. With your Japanese forms included you’ve also done a haibun. Which is (at least for me) Japanese or other (syllabic or not) included with verse or prose. 😀
I’m going to have to watch the video another time as hubby is working from home these days and now isn’t a good time. Thanks for including it.
Thanks soooo much for sharing your thoughts with me.
This exercise was healthy for me. Thanks for coming to see the results of that. You rock. I wish you miracles
🌹
PS look on the net on how to turn on your post comments if you want others to see all the comments for all your posts (I just don’t recall how to do it and if you are using the new editor I don’t know that system at all. I think there is away to disable comments on single posts if that is what you want for certain posts.
This was lovely, Selma. Well done on day one! 😀 <3
The video was to me a cross between Peter Max and the Beatles’ Yellow Submarine movie… 🙂
“Did Peter Max Inspire “Yellow Submarine”? Many assume that Max created the designs for The Beatles’ iconic 1968 animated film “Yellow Submarine.” While his cosmic artwork is definitely a spiritual cousin to the film’s iconic aesthetic, he only did early consulting work for the project.”
Imagine if the Big Bang is still expanding out? Everything that is in the galaxy, was originally part of that same spark? We are all one of the same and there is no separation. Trees, water, oxygen and humans aren’t separate entities. They rely on each other.
Thusly, we need to abandon the notion of birth and death. We are part of universe. When we look at the stars in the sky, we are looking at ourselves. We are part of the continuing cosmos. Infinite
We are part of that continuation. Yes! Not one iota more important or less so than the rest. Perhaps we are the ones endowed with smarts – perhaps! And if so, we should learn to use that smarts for betterment; not abuse it. We need each other to continue being players of equals here. (Equals with specific purposes)
I thank you for reading and sharing your thoughts with me. I appreciate the visit. I’ll hop over to your universe. Be well. Happy writing and if you observe it, happy Easter.
I wish you miracles.
Hey, Rochdalestu. I cannot find you.
Mind linking me to your blog, or story link please. ‘ Appreciate.
This is quite the interesting poem, made all the more fascinating in read by your opening quotes and interlude notes! Love the middle stanzas and the flow to the end. <3
Hey, Jaya. You bless me. Tremendously happy you read and found those sections to your liking. At the onset, the video gave me the warning: you can’t do that! It warned. But I persevered. In the end. It was fun.
Thanks again, Jaya. xoxo
Selma, this is wonderful! Somehow, you turn burps and farts into a cosmic wonder! :-D. Just delightful to read. This stanza really does it for me:
“ultimately– mangled in cosmos rubble, brought to order
for the first time, form and space converge
into a tunnel suspended like a bridge–
for there’s nothing shibboleth about chaos,
the mirror and I
are jerked to consciousness” – Stunning! <3
Aww. So glad you DID come to visit. Love the response. Thanks much. Xoxo