#NationalPoetryMonth Round-up (Day 14)

Tags

#NaPoWriMo, #NationalPoetryMonth, #NPM15, 32 Poems, Adele Kenny, Aimee Nez, Apparatus Magazine, craft talks, Diane Lockward, Endicott Studios, Heavy Feather Review, Karen Skolfield, Kaveh Akbar, Lawrence Schimel, Lee Ann Roripaugh, Mary Alexander Agner, Miss Rumphius Effect, Negative Capability Press, pink ink press, Poem a Day, Poetic Asides, Poetry Foundation, poetry prompts, science and poetry, the language inside, The Review Review, Thrush Poetry Journal, Tristan Tzara, Wallace Stevens, Wild Violet, women poets

The best of the prompts, poems and news from DAY FOURTEEN of #NaPoWriMo/#NPM15 /#NationalPoetryMonth. I hope you’re still writing.

Best of the Prompts

Poetic Asides P-A-D “2forTuesday honest/dishonest prompt “
NaPoWriMo’s “Dialogue Poems”
Negative Capability Press’ “Family Photo Prompt”
Apparatus Magazine’s “Destination prompts”
Miss Rumphius Effect’s Jumping Into Form: List Poems”
REWIND 32Poems’ “Love Poem as a Traffic Ticket or Other Official Documents”
REWIND “Lockward’s Word Chain prompt” at The Music In It blog
Tristan Tzara’s “Dadaist Cut-Up Poems prompt”
Wild Violet’s “L is for Lanterne prompt”
Pink Ink Press’ “The End of Something prompt”

Poems I Have Loved (Tweeters’ Shares)

Lawrence Schimel| “Journeybread Recipe”
Karen Skolfield| “How to Locate Water on a Deserted Island”
Kwame Dawes| “Tornado Child”
Mary Alexander Agner| “Jump the Chromosome”
Wallace Stevens| “The Poem That Took the Place of a Mountain”
Aimee Nezhukumatathil| “Self Portrait as C-Section Scar”

Miscellaneous
Virtuosic Metaphors: Interview w/ Lee  Ann Roripaugh at Heavy Feather Review
Giving Poets Room to Speak Meaningfully: Chat w/ Kaveh Akbar at The Review Review

POETRY LAB: Dark Subjects Made Bright

Tags

Amelia's Magazine, Barbie, Colossal, Cristian Grossi, dark things made bright, Denise Duhamel, Diane Lockward, dVerse Poet's pub, Elsa Mora, fusion of opposites poem, Hello Kitty, Hollie Cook, Kittenchops, list poems, Look Listen Write, Michael Jackson, My Work, papercut art, Paw Powers Activate, poetry lab, poetry writing workshop, pop culture, Postman, Samuel Peralta, Sandra Faulkner, Slave to the Rhythm, The Crafty Poet, Things Every Woman Should Have In Her Closet, women's magazines, women's poetry, works in progress, Yulia Brodskaya

As my creative forces are converging on poetry once again,  I’m actually trying out a technique used in middle school workshops called “Look, Listen, Write“, but with a twist from Diane Lockward’s The Crafty Poet and a side of Samuel Peralta’s dverse Poet’s Pub blog.

In TCP, Diane presents an exercise called “The Fusion of Opposites Poem” (p. 163) that asks one to construct a scene based on lines built on opposites, such as quiet/noisy, hot/cold, bright/dark. She encourages working towards a prose poem, but I wanted to play with list poems as in Peralta’s forms exercise (linked above).

 

 

Also, I wanted to take something poppish (pop culture-based) and pair it with deeper issues facing women more like Duhamel’s Barbie poems or Sandra Faulkner’s Hello Kitty series.

Applying the middle school workshop model:

LOOKING

I pulled artwork from Colossal, Amelia’s Magazine and KittenChops that had women and this dark vs. bright theme…..

Cristian Grossi

Cristian Grossi

Cristian Grossi

Yulia Brodskaya

Yulia Brodskaya

Elsa Mora

Elsa Mora

Seattle Children’s Surgery mural by KittenChops

Paw Powers Activate–Kittenchops

Kittenchops

**Additional portfolio images here: Elsa, Yulia, Cristianand Zaara aka Kittenchops

and paired it with….

LISTENING

to various combinations of these (2) tracks,  which both layer pop music over deeper cultural issues facing women  [*funny how they give such different ‘feels’ to the art]

 

 

then after this immersion, which should take some quality percolating time…

WRITING

I borrowed headlines from some popular women’s magazines–doozies of higher-thinking like: “Perpetual Boyfriend Disappointments Diary” and “Things Every Woman Should Have in Her Closet”  and ran with it.

Here’s one of the Works-In-Progress from the second tag…..

 

THINGS EVERY WOMAN SHOULD HAVE IN HER CLOSET

 

an ill-fitting skeleton

shit-kicking boots stained with bad blood

a roadmap for sacrifices to whatever curtained god you are

currently worshipping

pinking shears for prettying-up broken hearts

nestled beside nuts& bolts & odd bits of timekeeping devices that

shook free of time

failures with exes napping with cats in neatly boxed rows (you know

for rehabilitation)

90’s haircuts sandwiched between diet books so you won’t go there

again (don’t   go   there  again)

dispatches to future selves that sting like papercuts  waiting

waiting with their metallic arms

pinned

—–C.A. LaRue

 

 

Feel like it’s at least a line short in there somewhere, but that’s why its called  W-I-P.   Please feel free to share what you come up with in the comments section or by emailing bonesparkblog@yahoo.com if you’d like to do your own guest post.

Peace out, poetry peeps!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pielicious POETRY LAB & ‘Milking Your Food’ Mini-Contest

Tags

2sDay Poems, A Piece of the Pie, Becky Tuch, contest, Diane Lockward, Food memoir, food poetry, foodie, foodist, Jambalaya Poets Workshop, Kim Sunee, MFK Fisher, Milking Your Food contest, Mouthful of stars, poetry lab, poetry workshop, Slidell Library, The Crafty Poet, The Literary Foodie, Trail of Crumbs, virtual poetry workshop, women and food

“A Piece of the Pie” Collage by C.A. LaRue

 

The image above is a pared-down version of a collage that I created for a “Women and Food” issue for a UK magazine.  Women, especially it seems, have a complicated relationship with food. Much of our self-image is inextricably tied to it, and beyond that, our concepts of family and home.

Recently, I was moved by New Orleans “native,” Kim Sunee‘s writing on the subject.  Both her diary/cookbook Mouthful of Stars and Trail of Crumbs: Hunger, Love, and the Search for Home  bring up much deeper issues of identity and love. In Mouthful (channeling that other great food writer M.F.K. Fisher), she says

So, in many ways, food is never just about food, is it? Lunch is never just lunch. And supper is more than the sum of its parts.  And so, as we travel and cook and share the gifts of the table, we are also wondering, imagining, answering and asking questions of ourselves and of one another.

Regardless of gender, this week I would like you to take a closer look at your own attitudes towards and issues with food and to respond in the form of a poem. This poem can be tied to the collage above or go off in its own foodist direction. Go with your instincts here.

Either way, those who submit poems (no more than two) will have a chance at a space in the virtual arm of the JAMBALAYA POETS WORKSHOP starting September 17 and running through April 22.

Participants in the group will meet two Wednesdays per month (with the exception of December), and along with its virtual arm, will discuss contemporary poetry and work through much of the exercises in Diane Lockward’s fantabulous The Crafty Poet: A Portable Workshop.  In addition to these exercises, there will be some light journaling and podcasting opportunities.

Diane has graciously agreed to make herself available at some point during the workshop with details to be provided at a later date. We are also awaiting word from a local sponsor for help with the purchase of materials for those participating from the local community.

Details of the virtual “hookup” will be provided by the local community college prior to the September meeting.  Both local and virtual participants will have access to forums and email exchange, and there is a big surprise on for the wrap-up in April (National Poetry Month).

As for the “Milking Your Food” Mini-Contest, those looking for inspiration beyond the photo prompt above should consult the poetry sections of the journals listed in Becky Tuch’s article Yummy! Lit Mags Seeking Food& Drink Writing and/or the Food Memoir list at The Literary Foodie website.

And as always, poets with collections or chapbooks who would like some free exposure should submit details to bonesparkblog@yahoo.com for possible inclusion in the next 2sDay Poems feature.

Ok, people, don’t just sit there staring at my pie, get on with the writing already!!! You are going to want a spot in this group.