Day Four
on APRIL 4, 2024
Happy fourth day of Na/GloPoWriMo, everyone!
Our featured participant today is Lizzy Burnham, who brings us an appropriately peculiar
— and vinegary — poem in response to Day 3’s surrealist prose poem prompt.
Today’s resource is the Instagram account Read a Little Poetry, where you will in fact find
a lot of poetry.
Our (optional) prompt for the day challenges you to write a poem in which you take your title
or some language/ideas from The Strangest Things in the World. First published in 1958, the
book gives shortish descriptions of odd natural phenomena, and is notable for both its author’s
turn of phrase and intermittently dubious facts. Perhaps you will be inspired by the “The Self-
Perpetuating Sponge” or “The World’s Biggest Sneeze.” Or maybe the quirky descriptions of
luminous plants, monstrous bears, or the language of ravens will give you inspiration.
Happy writing!
I scrolled down to choose a title and instinctively stopped at
The Maddening Tarantula…
The tarantula of southern Europe—a large, hairy spider—long was credited with causing
a weird, infectious madness by its bite.
The first reported effect of its poison—actually quite mild—is said to have been
to put the victim into a deep lethargy from which he could be roused only by music
which set into motion an overpowering impulse to get up and dance. Once the
victim started to dance he could not stop until he fell to the ground from exhaustion.
Then the condition supposedly was cured for a year. On the anniversary of the bite,
however, the dance was involuntarily repeated. From the tarantula’s first victim the
dancing mania allegedly spread like a contagious disease through the surrounding
countryside. The name still is used both for an Italian dance and for the music which
accompanies it. [Pg 31]
The tarantula is a subterranean creature which hibernates in its burrow during the
winter. Bees and wasps are said to be killed almost instantly by its bite. The spider
always strikes at the junction of the head and thorax.
…and that’s all I got out of this exercise.
So, off prompt or on–hard to tell!
I’m writing to (Val’s) Murisopsis’ NPM Scavenger Hunt – Poems from Around the World!
I chose the alternative form: a stanza of 7 lines
April 4th: Scotland:
Scottish Stanza (Burns Stanza) – A single stanza of 6 lines with
a rhyme scheme of A/A/A/B/A/B where the A lines have 8 syllables
and the B lines have 4 syllables.
An alternative form has a stanza of 7 lines with
a rhyme of A/A/B/C/C/C/B and where the A & C lines have 8 syllables
and the B lines have 4 syllables.
Let’s talk about hair – maybe hair color and what it says about you.
The Maddening Tarantula:
though dyed tarantulas nagged and begged,
I would not budge and dye my head:
“grays mirror old maids, empty beds.”
You wanna bet?
Daily new grays sprout and flower
With each strand, oh how they glowered!
Hairs sparked and engines got louder—
li’l red corvette.
© selma
Aside: In my late teens I started showing gray hair.
Everyone around suggested I dye my hair…
I’ve never dyed my hair.
I’m writing 30 poems in April—first drafts.
Thanks for coming along with me. 🙇🏽♀️
- Homage to Dante: What Ails Thee, Trifler? - December 13, 2024
- Do The Southerlies Come For The Wicked Too? - December 12, 2024
- Dectina Refrain: Tinged Living Lessons - December 11, 2024
Wonderful poems Selma. Your writing is so prolific and precise.
Love your take on the hair color theme very wise, grey is honor.
Happy writing you are on a roll. Cheers
Thanks dearly for reading. Xoxo
You are most welcome Selman. God bless you!
A most enjoyable poem, Selma. I wrote a short story about this exact myth.
Thanks for the comment, Robbie. Xoxo
Oh, so enjoyed “Daily new grays sprout and flower ” That’s how I felt about my incoming grey hair, although I was much older than you when mine started to arrive.
Blessing you and your greys 😜 thanks for reading
Woot! Selma this is a great poem – hair color and the joy of living! The tarantula doesn’t have any clue about fashion, I mean such hairy legs and no stockings to hide them!! Hehe!
🥹 🥹 sweet of you.
Funny. No stockings. Xo
Thanks for the prompt
Selma, I love this! I too had greys sprouting when I was a teenager. ❤️
Same-same then. 😁 thank for sharing that
I like the idea of a dance being contagious.
And I think you chose the right path with your hair…(K)
I think so too. Couldn’t keep up maintenance 👩🏻🔧 .
Wonderful poem, Selma. 🙂
Thanks dearly
Always my pleasure ❤️
Wonderful take on the prompts.
Bless you.
😍😍😍
Great take on the prompt, Selma, and I’m grateful that you didn’t share tarantula photos since I have arachnophobia. 😃🩷
Gray hairs are beautiful. 😊