Tag Archives: Carol A. Stephen

NaPoWriMo April 3, 2018

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Day 3 NaPoWriMo

“Today’s prompt (optional as always), is inspired by our interview with Peter Davis. As he indicates there, his latest book is rooted in endlessly writing ideas for band names. Today, we challenge you to try this out yourself by writing a list poem in which all the items are made-up names. If band names don’t inspire, how about a list of titles for romantic novels? Or new television cop dramas? They can be as over-the-top as you like, because that’s (at least) half the fun. Happy writing!”

 

Playbill for a Rock Concert   wikipedia.org public domain

Starring: Five Pound Hammer 
and the Rusty Nails

and their very special guests:

 

Taletellers Out of School
Ahab & the White Wailers
Cinch Bug & the Mealyworms
Three-Toed Cats
Mexican Border Wall
The Five-Fingered Screamin’ Memes
Jabberwock & the Slithy Toves
Quick Start & the Neverendings
Weepy Guitars
Jeremiah & the Bullfrog Trio
Casey & the Seven Bats
The Raving Mad Presidents
Sleepy Eugene & the Narcoleptics
Ringaround & the Five Rosies

and introducing

Tiptoe & his Bloomin’ Tulips

 

Carol A. Stephen April 3 2018

NaPoWriMo 2018 April 2, 2018

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Poem 2 for today taken from the napowrimo.net prompt:

Day 2 NaPoWriMo

“Taking a cue from our craft resource, we’d like to challenge you to write a poem that plays with voice. For example, you might try writing a stanza that recounts something in the first-person, followed by a stanza recounting the same incident in the second-person, followed by a stanza that treats the incident from a third-person point of view. Or you might try a poem in the form of a dialogue, which necessarily has two “I” speakers, addressing two “you”s. Another way to go is to take an existing poem of yours or someone else’s, and try rewriting it in a different voice. The point is just to play with who is speaking to who and how. Happy writing!”

Role Reversal, a poem in two voices

(The Girl and the Bear)

All night I could not sleep
the bed creaking under you
as you shifted to a comfortable spot

In the early morning sun, watery
through window, I think about leaving
but you hold me back, your heavy paw upon
my shoulder, both comfort and shackle.

 

 

Do not go, Calliope, your kindness,
your gentle smile hold back despair.
In this bare bleak room, no place for bears,
this bed a comfort after years of concrete
in that barred cage until you set me free.

Come, now, come back to bed,
I will wrap you in my black fur,
we can sleep away the hours.

Carol A. Stephen

NaPoWriMo 2018 April 2, 2018 Two Sylvias

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As well as the NaPoWriMo.net challenge, I am also following one from Two Sylvias Press.  The prompt for April 2, is to write about superstition, existing or made-up. Here is my attempt for the day;

Cross Your Heart, and Circle Left Three Times Around

  

Very superstitious writings on the wall*
Fear of things that aren’t there at all

what will happen one day if
your ducks aren’t in their row?

The devil works your idle hands
each time you type those words

you bless yourself with spellcheck
(it really is absurd)

the way you step along the path
and over every tiny crack

It isn’t broken backs you fear
it’s unprovoked attack

from Twitterverse and
Facebook page, the endless stream

of his outrage, the Mad King’s smile
on his orange face, the nearness

of his tiny fingers
to that red button.

Carol A. Stephen
April 2 2018

 

*first line from Stevie Wonder’s Superstition

NaPoWriMo 2018 April 1, 2018

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Today’s prompt from NaPoWriMo.net “is based off of Lauren Russell’s collaborative poetry exercise. Today, we challenge you to write a poem that is based on a secret shame, or a secret pleasure. It could be eating too many cookies, or bad movies, or the time you told your sister she could totally brush her teeth with soap. It’s up to you. Happy writing!”

I had written a poem several years ago on a similar theme, but rather than post it, I wrote an update of my sins for 2018.

 

Mea Culpa for my Secret Sins 2018

I confess I have worn a nightgown

under my winter coat to run to the store for milk

I have said no to oatmeal, all cinnamon and spice, feeling

virtuous for half an hour ‘til devouring bowls of potato chips instead

I admit I have taken the last piece of pie

not leaving it for my brother

I’ve walked by donation boxes, head turned to avoid

the gaze of the volunteer hoping I’ll stop to offer some coin

Once I walked through a door marked No Admittance only to be

scolded by a man in a military uniform at the Department of Defence

Most days I play Bingo Bash when I

should be editing old poems

But worst?

I hide away chocolate bars for forbidden snacks, flush away

the plate of dry toast and ten unsalted almonds.

Carol A. Stephen

April 1, 2018