poem about my father #3

now i don't call for
anything. which is better?
a refund?...would you find time to love?

poem about my father #2

you say i only
call for money, but you don't
share your love or time. what else is left?

poem about my father

he shut another
door of communication
leaving nowhere for me to enter

Triolet Thursday - Triolet #34

I've been listening to The ArchAndroid repeatedly, so today's triolet comes from Janelle Monae's lyrics. This is like a triolet cento...a trioto, or a centlet. All the words in the poem are from her, except for the part in bold text.

locked inside

I'm locked inside, a land called foolish pride
and I know it's rough, and you've had enough
...I look into the future and see danger in its eyes
I'm locked inside, a land called foolish pride
love...left aside, while music slowly dies
...but one day we'll be happy - now it's tough
I'm locked inside, a land called foolish pride
and I know it's rough, and you've had enough

Bop, bop, bop

Afaa Weaver and Tara Betts plan on creating an anthology of Bop poetry called Bop, Strut, and Dance: A Post-Blues Form for New Generations.

I don't submit my poetry very often because I'm uncertain if it is on par, but I'm going to send my poetry in for this anthology, even if the poems are rancid.

Guess what makes me nervous though? Having to write a cover letter to accompany my poems. I've never done one before. I purposely avoid submission calls that ask for cover letters.

Do you know how to write one?

I found an example on Poetic Asides that I'm going to use as a template:

* * * * * * *

Dear Poetry Editor:

Please consider the enclosed poems--"Watching the Ice Melt," "My Father," and "Relevant"--for possible inclusion in a future edition of Dayton Quarterly. After reading several sample poems online and the most recent print edition (especially work by emerging poet J. Alfred Prufrock), I feel like my work may be a fit with your publication.

I'm the editor of Writer's Market and co-founder/sole contributor to the Poetic Asides blog at http://blog.writersdigest.com/poeticasides. My poems have been published in several print and online publications, including MEAT, Words Dance, Otoliths, and MiPOesias (Cafe Cafe Edition).

Thank you in advance for your consideration.

Robert Lee Brewer

* * * * * * *

When I read that section about previous places he was published, I started to freak out. I haven't really been published anywhere except blogs, but he also included this part for folks like me:

* * * * * * *

I'm a full-time student and part-time ice cream scooper with a passion for reading poetry. Currently, my favorite poets are Bob Hicok, J.D. McClatchy, and Louise Gluck, though I'm also fond of Dr. Seuss.

* * * * * * *

Now, I'm not a full-time student or a part-time ice cream scooper, but I certainly have favorite poets.

I better get to work on writing the poems, I only have one Bop so far that I'd like to send in. I should use Janelle Monae as my inspiration...and if you don't have The ArchAndroid, then you really should get it.

random thoughts at the bookstore

when i see older people
with hands that shake
my heart falls down
to my feet
shattering my immortality

tears follow.

a mercy: chapbook challenge: poem six

The sixth prompt I created for a mercy was to write a triolet poem (in honor of Triolet Thursdays) about chapter three.

The italicized lines I got directly from the chapter.

a mercy: chapter three: vision quest

night comes and i steal a candle.
i watch you sleeping. the flame burns...
careless, the flame i mishandle
night comes and i steal a candle.
to see you, i am a vandal
when our eyes meet, my stomach churns
night comes and i steal a candle.
i watch you sleeping. the flame burns...

a mercy: chapbook challenge: poem five

The fifth prompt I created for a mercy was to write a thirty-one word prose poem about chapter three. The idea of a thirty-one word prose poem came from Evie Shockley.

Here is what I came up with:

a mercy: chapter three: pox

thirty-one words were afraid of a three-letter word. a dangerous three-letter word. like a curse. two turns into twenty-five. death arrives for him, comes for her, but Sorrow manages to escape.

Thirty-one Words

As I'm correcting my last term paper for the night/morning
I've been listening to Evie Shockley reading her poetry
She mentioned having a collection of thirty-one word poems...
which of course got me geeked up to write one.

Here's what I came up with:

Thirty-one words graded term papers past midnight and past plagiarism. They struggled to keep their eyes open, counting up points earned, privately hoping for high marks, preferring this poem over prose.

Listen to Evie Shockley yourself below, her voice is soothing (go to 34:50).

a mercy: chapbook challenge: poem four

The fourth prompt I created for a mercy was to create a haiku using one of the nature scenes in chapter two.

Here is what I came up with:

a mercy: chapter two: jacob's humanity before

young racoon caught in
a tree break, gently released
a show of virtue?

a mercy: chapbook challenge: poem three

The third prompt I created for a mercy was to use several "s" words Toni Morrison wrote in chapter two and create a poem thick with alliteration.

Here is what I came up with:

a mercy: chapter two: jacob

he should have seen the
struggle with surf, sand, and sun
as subtle warnings...
the sticky seduction of slavery

smelling sugar, his soles sank
in mud and Sorrow.

Trapped, in the Composition Book

most of you
will never make it out
of this composition book

some of you
will resist the confines
of these lines
begging for polishing
or publishing
or another person's eyes

the rest of you will relish
in the familiar company
of other unfinished, untitled,
but not unloved
poems.

In Toni Morrison's Head: Vlog Entry

Hard Candy: Interpreting Poetry

This week in my writing class, we have been working on writing an essay that interprets a poem. To get them acclimated to interpreting a poem, I used Taylor Mali's "As far as words go, or, How to revise your paper" as an example.

I thought this poem would be well received by my students, I figured they would be able to relate to the topic. I was incorrect. However, they did feel strongly about how much they disliked the poem, that they were able to at least speak/write passionately about it.

I gave them a specific format to follow:

* The introduction had to include the name of the writer, the title of the poem, two opinions, and a brief interpretation of the poem.

* Next, two body paragraphs need to address the opinions mentioned in the intro, adding a third paragraph that relates a personal experience with the poem's topic.

* In the conclusion they had to say if they like or disliked the poem, and summarize the poem's meaning.

The majority of my students said the poem was confusing, and for that reason they didn't enjoy it. Their next assignment is to pick a poem of their own to analyze, so I hope that being able to select their own poem will aid them in the writing process. For the record though, I enjoy the poem, another reason why I selected it.

I wrote a sample essay for my students, using the poem "Hard Candy" by a young man named Craig from Writercorps. "Hard Candy" is in a collection of poems called Paint Me Like I Am . The poem and essay are below.

Hard Candy

I'm the broken pieces on the floor.
Some people see me, some people just ignore.
And it just goes by.

I'm cold in the wind and there's a fire in a box
But I can't get the key because I'm lost.
I'm the broken pieces on the floor.

I'm a crank with a missing gear,
But I will be fixed some day, some month, some year.
And it just goes by.

I'm the person that needs a helping hand,
But instead you atomize my thoughts.
I'm the broken pieces on the floor.

It is the color of an eclipse, black,
And I can't see it right in front of me.
And it just goes by.

Don't go nowhere, but they know I'm there
In the cracks of hard bitter life.
I'm the broken pieces on the floor.
And it just goes by.


* * * * * * * *

Hard Candy: An Interpretation

In Craig’s “Hard Candy,” he uses the villanelle form to create a poem that is rhythmic and solemn. The speaker in “Hard Candy” is hurting inside and feels hopeless, like the pain will never disappear.

The rhythm in Craig’s poem comes from the rhyme scheme and repetition used in a villanelle. Even though he does not stay with the traditional pattern, the poem is still infused with rhyme. In stanza one, the words “floor” and “ignore” rhyme, and so do “year” and “gear” in stanza three. Line one and three in the first stanza, also take turns being the last line in the other tercets – a three lined poem. In the final stanza, “I’m the broken pieces on the floor. /And it just goes by,” is repeated.

The mood of the poem is glum. “I’m a crank with a missing gear,” the writer states in the third stanza, indicated that something isn’t right in his life. In the very next line it says “But I will be fixed some day, some month, some year,” which shows that the speaker isn’t certain that he truly will be “fixed” any time soon.

When I read this poem, I could relate to the feeling Craig wrote about in his villanelle. I’ve felt sad before and when the sadness is fresh, it does seem like the hurt will never go away. Sometimes it can seem like nobody is willing to help lift your mood from sadness to happiness, like Craig mentions.

In conclusion, Craig has written a poem about a person experiencing a low point in their life. Despite the solemn tone the poet creates in “Hard Candy,” I still saw the beauty in it. His use of the villanelle form made it even better.

a mercy: chapbook challenge: poem two

The second prompt I created for a mercy (by Toni Morrison) was to use a sentence or phrase in chapter one as the first line of your poem, and see where it takes you.

Here is what I came up with:

a mercy: chapter one: florens

The beginning begins with the shoes
my feet are useless, will always be
cause being barefoot, I would refuse
The beginning begins with the shoes
wearing shoes gives minha mae the blues
hands of a slave, feet smooth as tea
The beginning begins with the shoes
my feet are useless, will always be

Gathering Ground

a mercy: chapbook challenge: poem one

The first prompt I created for a mercy (by Toni Morrison) was to create a cento poem using sentences or phrases from chapter one.

Here is what I came up with:

a mercy: chapter one

can you read?
Sorrow cannot
like not reading the garden snake
crawling up to he door saddle to die
don't be afraid

can I find you in the dark?
Sorrow does not say
nor is Sorrow happy to see me

I am happy the world
is breaking open.

Which ones?

Well, National Poetry Writing Month was a success for me.
I was able to write at least one poem a day, sometimes two.

Now comes the time where you look back at the poems you've written
to see which ones are decent enough to revise and which ones should be tossed in the round file.

It's often difficulty for me to identify the good poems, but I know which ones I don't want to claim I wrote.

For example, Sepia is a keeper, but It's an Emergency is a dumper. Poetry, she has many names is probably a keeper because it made me laugh, but my very first Read Write Poem prompt...er, it wasn't me. LOL!

Do you have a favorite?