#NationalPoetryMonth Round-up (Day 16)

Tags

#NaPoWriMo, #NationalPoetryMonth, #NPM15, 30dpc, Adrian Blevins, AGNI, Black Poets, Books on the Nightstand, Boston Poetry Slam, Cleaver magazine, craft talks, crime poetry, Eric Nelson, Flashbang Writing Studio, found poems, Holocaust Poetry, Imaginary Garden with Real Toads, Jeremy Freedman, Jynne Martin, macaroni verse, Miss Rumphius Effect, mslexia, native american poetry, Negative Capability Press, Nikki Giovanni, On Being blog, pink ink press, Poem a Day, Poetic Asides, Poetry Foundation, Poetry magazine, poetry of witness, poetry prompts, Pooky Poetry, Rita Ann Higgins, Rita Dove, science poems, Sestinas, Sherman Alexie, terzanelles, Theodore Roethke, tweetspeak, W.S. Merwin, women poets

The best prompts, poems and news from DAY SIXTEEN of #NaPoWriMo/#NPM15 /#NationalPoetryMonth.

Best of the Prompts

Boston Poetry Slam “Directions for Putting Inanimate Objects to Sleep prompt”
REWIND 52 blog’s “Macaroni verse (dual language) prompt”
Poetic Asides P-A-D “Science Poems “
Negative Capability Press’ “Documentary Poems”
Pink Ink Press’ “There’s something misleading about clocks prompt”
NaPoWriMo’s “Terzanelles”
Flashbang Writing Studio’s “Back and Forth prompt”
Miss Rumphius Effect’s “Jumping Into Form: Sonnets w/ template”
Mslexia “One Sentence poems”
Imaginary Garden w/ Real Toads’ “Visionary Art prompt”
30dpc’s “Fake Commencement poems”
REWIND Pooky Poetry’s “Poems featuring the Opening & Closing of Doors prompt”
Found Poetry’s “Tax Form prompt”
Tweetspeak” “Sestina prompt”

Poems I Have Loved (Tweeters’ Shares)

Eric Nelson| “Apostrophe to Apostrophe”
Rita Dove| “Ach, Wien” (w/ audio)
Theodore Roethke| “Elegy for Jane”
Jeremy Freedman| “The Duck Lady”
Nikki Giovanni| “Ego Tripping” (video)
W.S. Merwin| “Thanks”
Rita Ann Higgins| “Be Someone”
Adrian Blevins| “How to Cook a Wolf”
Sherman Alexie| “Steel Anniversary”

Miscellaneous

20 Black Poets You Should Know (and Love) at The Root
Celebrating National Poetry Month w/ Jynne Martin podcast at Books on the Nightstand
Catalog of Crime Poetry at The Five-Two blog
Native American Poetry Sampler at Poetry mag
Holocaust Poetry: The Poetry of Bearing Witness at On Being

#NationalPoetryMonth Round-up (Day 13)

Tags

#NaPoWriMo, #NationalPoetryMonth, #NPM15, 30dpc, Apparatus Magazine, Art Critical, artspeak, battle rap poems, Codex Journal, craft talks, Gloria Anzaldua, Hoa Nguyen, Imaginary Garden with Real Toads, Jane Kenyon, Joan Didion, journals that pay for poems, Kantan Chamorrita, Kathleen Jamie, Katie Manning, Kim Addonizio, Latino Poets Video Project, Louise Gluck, Miss Rumphius Effect, mslexia, Osma Alomar, Ploughshares, Poem a Day, poetic wandering, Poetically Speaking, Poetry Daily, Poetry Foundation, Poetry Has Value, poetry prompts, Robert Hass, science and poetry, Scottish Book Trust, stripped poems, Terrance Hayes, Tessa Gratton, The Daily Post, the language inside, Theodore Roethke, Upper Rubber Boot, Wild Violet, women poets

DAY THIRTEEN has arrived with a blanket of rain in NOLA. Wishing you sunny skies!! Here is the  best of today’s prompts, poems and news from #NaPoWriMo/#NPM15 /#NationalPoetryMonth>

Best of the Prompts

Imaginary Garden w/ Real Toads’ “Joan Didion springboard prompt”
Mslexia “Stripped Poems (minus descriptors)”
Poetic Asides P-A-D “Confession Poems”
30dpc “Meta Poems”
NaPoWriMo’s “Riddle Poems w/ Plath”
The Language Inside’s “Turning Points (in present tense) prompt”
REWIND The Daily Post’s “Ode to Things in Drawers w/ Apostrophes prompt”
Apparatus Magazine’s “Exploring Deepest Fears prompt”
Miss Rumphius Effect’s Jumping Into Form: The Ekphrastic Poem
ARTSPEAK #13 picture prompt: A Monday Washing, NYC (artist unknown)
Wild Violet’s “K is for Kantan Chamorrita (form from Mariana Islands similar to battle rap)”

Poems I Have Loved (Tweeters’ Shares)

Kim Addonizio| “What Do Women Want?”
Jane Kenyon| “Let Evening Come”
Theodore Roethke| “Orchids”
Terannce Hayes| “The Deer”
Kathleen McGookey| “Monkey Island”
Louise Gluck| “The Evening Star”
Osma Alomar| 2Poems/Fables

Miscellaneous

On Building a Word-Hoard at Ploughshares
Tessa Gratton on Gloria Anzaldua at Poetically Speaking
Featured Poet: Katie Manning at Negative Capability Press
Poetry and Pho: Hoa Nguyen Shares Lyricism and a Recipe at ArtCritical
10 Books of Scottish Nature Poetry (including Kathleen Jamie’s newest)
Journals that Pay for Poems at PoetryHasValue
Latino Poets Video Project at Codex Journal
Poetic Wandering: Walking Tour Highlights Literary Harvard
The Poetic Species: Sociobiologist E.O. Wilson in Conversation w/ Robert Hass on Science& Poetry

Adder-Mouthed Orchids and Shrooms: Getting Down in the Dirt For the Sake of Good Poetry

Tags

Mary Oliver, mushrooms, nature, nature poetry, orchids, poetry lab, poetry prompt, the private eye, Theodore Roethke, writing prompt

If your town is like mine, then you have seen something called the Private Eye Workshop popping up in parks and local colleges.

No, they’re not trying to teach you how to get in touch with your inner Magnum. But they do look kind of strange running around with all of those jeweler’s loupes and shoving their faces into weird things.

And before your imagination gets the better of you, here’s a link to the book and the facebook page.

See! It’s really all in the name of education, and for the grade school teacher it’s a must-do.

I’m recommending it to the poets out there as well.  At least the part about closely observing nature. You don’t need any special gear, and the regular practice of this skill is what takes a good poet to great.

Just look at the work of the sharply honed Theodore Roethke and Mary Oliver.

Countless hours spent amongst his father’s flowers gave us Roethke’s famous Orchids poem, and Oliver got Mushrooms to us after a lifetime of walks in the woods.

So here’s your challenge for the day: Taking these two poems as your models, try to craft one of your own in a similar vein. Remember to focus tightly on just one specimen and lavishly describe!

Try not to get too hung up on honeybees and spiders. And if anyone knows of some good insect poems out there that don’t sound like they are channeling Shel Silverstein, please post.