Tag Archives: National Poetry Writing Month

A Nonpareil of Tarts (poem for April 20)

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napo2013button2Day 20 Here is the NaPoWriMo prompt from Day 20. (As always, the prompt is optional). “Today I challenge you to write a poem that uses at least five of the following words:”

owl      generator    abscond    upwind    squander    clove
miraculous    dunderhead    cyclops    willowy    mercurial
seaweed    gutter    non-pareil    artillery    salt    curl    ego
rodomontade    elusive    twice    ghost    cheese    cowbird
truffle    svelte    quahog    bilious

Happy writing!

Clove

Clove (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I managed to use 14 of the words, I think, in this poem. It was the word clove that inspired me to write about a bakery.

A Nonpareil of Tarts

I wandered aimless,
upwind of the bakery this morning, startled
as the door swung open sending the scent
of pies hot from the oven wafting on the breeze.
A squander of clove and cinnamon, fresh apples!
In the window, a nonpareil of tarts, muffins,
and miraculous cakes, each topped with a curl
of fine chocolate.

I passed by twice,
trying to imagine the tastes, elusive in memory, each but a ghost
upon the tongue. I tossed intention in the gutter, turned in defiant
scorn  at an ego demanding a svelte body when just steps away
the prize of salty cheese bread, chocolate torte, cranberry tart,
and yes, that apple pie!

Carol A. Stephen

English: A Blueberry tart

English: A Blueberry tart (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

April 20, 2013

Appple pie

Appple pie (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

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April 16 NaPoWriMo Translation Prompt

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napo2013button2Day 16
The prompt for April 16 was to do a translation poem.
“Go to the Poetry International Language List, pick a language, and then follow it to a poet and a poem. Generally the Poetry International website will present a poem in its original language on the left, and any translation on the right. Cut and paste the original into the text-editing program of your choice (and try not to peek too much at the translation). Now, use the sound and shape of the words and lines to guide you, without worrying too much about whether your translation makes sense.”
Once you have your rough “translation,” you could leave it at that, or continue to shape the poem. It’s up to you. Happy writing!
You can see the whole prompt here: http://www.napowrimo.net/
I chose a poem in Irish by Caitríona Ní Chléirchín.  By clicking here: Craobhlasair
you can view the original poem and its English translation. Here is the poem I came up with as my sound translation. As you will see, the subject is certainly quite different!

Crabapples and Air

Crabapples

Crabapples (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Rotting crabapples, three
on the table at
night lying alone.
My bowl, agate
marred and dented
at the rim and all,
a mere bowl
and me always searching.
I, down on my knees,
sneezing
in Nice
at dinnertime.
On the right, a tunnel near the sea
a multitude of
crabapples and air. A cabin, three ghosts, choirs.

Carol A. Stephen, April 16, 2013

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Poems for Days 11 & 13

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napo2013button2Still catching up. I am writing the other poems too, may at some point post them here.

The prompt for Day 11 was to write a tanka using the 5-7-5-7-7 format. A friend of mine is president of the local Haiku group. I’m told that good North American Haiku is not 5-7-5 because the Japanese form does not use syllables. So the English form of syllable is not an accurate measure. This of course confuses me. And then there is the famous “turn” in the haiku, which I can never get right. And the form called senryu by the Japanese has somehow changed for the English version, so that human references are okay in English haiku. This means that I don’t write Japanese forms because I can’t quite get it right.

Nevertheless here is a short poem that somewhat adheres to the prompt at least!

TATTOO TANKA-esque poem

Along the main street
the town is closing up shop
boarded up windows
a new store boasts neon flash
Discount! TATTOOS WHILE YOU WAIT!

Day 13 was to take an observational walk and write a calm poem. I tried!

Early Spring Landscape

Remnants of snow leach back into
the ground, brown with flattened grass,
green still sleeping off the winter weight.
Early flowers poke above the soil, tentative
and shy, face to leaf with soggy mash
of old news, expired flyers. Nothing beautiful
yet, no faint tinge of spring on trees,
no budding bushes, air still damp and chill.
But the front lawn boasts its first robins,
and the population around feeders suddenly
triples with common redpolls stopping by
on their way even further north than here.

English: Common redpoll Deutsch: Birkenzeisig

English: Common redpoll (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Carol A. Stephen
April 16, 2013

Day 10 Un-Love Poem

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napo2013button2Day 10 poem. I am so far behind with these. I just downloaded a week’s worth of prompts! I skipped the Day 8 one, will come back to that. Here is the un-love poem, though.

One Way Street

The Wrong Version

The Wrong Version (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Loving you was the wrong way
down a one-way street
All go and no return
Direction south without a north
or east with no west.
And you the centre. And me?
Caught half way round the roundabout
with no exits but the wrong one.

Carol A. Stephen
April 16, 2013

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