Day Twelve on APRIL 12, 2024
Happy twelfth day of NaPoWriMo / GloPoWriMo, everyone! (Too bad it’s not like the twelve days of
Christmas – maybe we could have twelve words a-rhyming, eleven stanzas singing, ten poets sighing,
etc., etc.)
Today’s featured participant is salovie, where you’ll find a tender response to Day 11’s monostich prompt.
Our resource for the day is the Poetry Foundation’s Poem-of-the-Day podcast, where – as you may have
already surmised – there’s a new audio recording of a poem daily.
And last but not least, our optional prompt. Today, we’d like to challenge you to write a poem that plays
with the idea of a “tall tale.” American tall tales feature larger-than-life characters like Paul Bunyan (who
is literally larger than life), Bulltop Stormalong (also gigantic), and Pecos Bill (apparently normal-sized,
but he doesn’t let it slow him down). If you’d like to see a modern poetic take on the tall tale, try
Jennifer L. Knox’s hilarious poem, “Burt Reynolds FAQ.” Your poem can revolve around a mythical
character, one you make up entirely, or add fantastical elements into a real person’s biography.
Happy writing!
The five Lopez cousins were
simple guys: machete-wielding
cane harvesters who lived humble lives,
with naught but good looks and vitality.
Unbeknown to all folks, including their wives,
they harbored a dark secret, daunting. The cousins
came upon the fair apparition–by conditions
of pure logic, never divulged, and soon swore each other
to a solemn pact of gag.
Year after year for the harvests:
four reaped from one planting to growers
four! –running from October through mid-March–
they communed with each other. The frequency
gave them enough probability to ensconce
the validity of the fair-skinned fantasma in
the cane fields. Among themselves, they called her Fanta, like the
drink, to ward off suspicion
from other manual workers,
as they clinked and chugged on bottles of
Fanta. But the men started to arouse
distrust in town when none showed signs of aging–
not on their skins, which lay bare to unprotected
airing to UV rays, nor on their vitality.
Their wives were accused of brujeria* and had stones flung
at
the poor
women, till
reluctantly,
the five families
were forced to relocate
to a new town–new disproves.
© selma
A tall tale
*witchcraft.
Spanish pronunciation from Google:
brujería = bru·he·ri·a
nombre femenino Conjunto de prácticas mágicas o supersticiosas que ejercen los
brujos y las brujas.
Similar: magia, hechicería, nigromancia
Poetry Form: Rhopalic Verse
Poetic license by Selma: 3 thick clubs/1 thin stick
*
For Val Murisopsis–NPM Scavenger Hunt –
Poems from Around the World!
(next time I’ll do it the proper way )
Greece:
Rhopalic Verse – A Greek form named for a rhopalon: a club
that is thicker at one end.
The poem is
of unspecified number of lines.
Each line is composed of words that
have one more syllable than the preceding word.
There is no set length for lines.
There is no required rhyme or meter.
How about a theme of growth
since the lines do tend to grow in number
of syllables as you write!
Thanks most sincerely for reading and engaging with me.
Enjoy your weekend.
- NPM Scavenger Hunt – Poems from Around the World - April 30, 2024
- Day 30: NaPoWriMo 2024–Mary Magdalene At The Doctor’s - April 30, 2024
- Day 29: NaPoWriMo 2024–Inside Love Incandescent - April 29, 2024
Hi Selma, this is such n interesting poetic story.
A tall tale fresh out of the oven, Robbie. Glad you found it “interesting”
Happy Writing and all the interesting things you’re doing. Xo
I think I’m going to have to write a Rhopalic Verse as folks are all writing it as an etheree or nonet! I guess that’s my mission for this weekend! I love the tall tale!
Forgive that I messed up the form. Once I got started I kept going. Thinking I was doing it right. Upon re reading the description I was sure I’d got it wrong. But too late: the poem had written itself. 🤣 thanks so much. Bless you.
Hello sweet Selma, I am enjoying your month of creative poetry shares. ✨
Day 12! Woohoo! My daughter is doing SingPoWiMo – Singapore’s very own version. Seeing how hard she is working, I can only imagine what discipline and dedication this endeavour takes. Cheering you on!
Very interesting tall tale Selma. Perhaps a grain of truth in it?