#NaPoWriMo Return to Normal

Hosking Family at the Phoenix Zoo Lego Exhibit

Peace and quiet gone
Wonder when it will return
Alone together

NaPoWriMo Prompt – And last, but not least, our final (optional) prompt! In some past years, I’ve challenged you to write a poem of farewell for our thirtieth day, but this year, I’d like to challenge you to write a poem about something that returns. For, just as the swallows come back to Capistrano each year, NaPoWriMo and GloPoWriMo will ride again!

Good morning and welcome to the last day of napowrimo – day thirty. At the beginning of all this I posted how my life hasn’t changed much. After all I don’t drive and have not worked outside the house in over twenty years, but then my family started intruding upon my house. First it was Gretchen as ASU moved to online classes. Then Shawn began staggered work days, leaving him more time to be at home. Then Robin moved out of his apartment and back home. Thankfully both Shawn and Robin are working outside the house. But since Robin’s job at ASU is for a student and he graduates in May, the last day he is allowed to work is May 25th. This summer my house could be overly crowded!

We just received word from Michael Crow (ASU president) that they are looking to resume in person classes this fall semester. August 20th should be the first day of class. And Robin is looking at moving up to Corvallis at the beginning of August (Vet school doesn’t start until September). So maybe mom will get her real alone time back by the end of August. It seems so far away. I know I am the total opposite of most people who want a return to normal so they can go out and socialize. I want a return to normal so I can be alone again.

By the way the family photo is a few years old for anyone wondering. Just before all this craziness started, I found out I won a trip to Legoland in California for the family through the ASU rewards app. I got the paperwork filled out and mailed to them before the stay at home order in AZ was given. At first the trip had to be made before today, but it was extended til the end of June. Well when the stay at home order came down, I emailed them and we now have til the end of June 2021. I’m hoping we can make it work as both Shawn and Gretchen are huge Lego fans. There is a reason we had to go to the zoo when they had the Lego sculptures up.

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#NaPoWriMo Pets

NaPoWriMo Prompt – And now for our daily prompt (optional, as always). Today, I challenge you to write a paean to the stalwart hero of your household: your pet. Sing high your praises and tell the tale of Kitty McFluffleface’s ascension of Mt. Couch. Let us hear how your intrepid doggo bravely answers the call to adventure whenever the leash jingles.

Good afternoon and welcome to day twenty-nine of napowrimo. I know I am rather late today, but things conspired to keep me from writing the most aggravating one is my dishwasher conked out on me. I was doing all the dishes by hand this morning, and I still have more to do. The other impediment was the lack of inspiration. This is a house of a veterinary student who has always known he was going to be a veterinarian; which means the one thing this house has never lacked were pets. Currently we have one dog, three cats, a tortoise, a snake and some fish too numerous it was overwhelming. I went with an old haiku I wrote about the life of a cat. I just realized the green vine growing outside the window is cat’s claw.

Needless to say I’m a little frustrated right now to focus on poetry. Hopefully tomorrow I can knock it out of the park for the last day of April.

#NaPoWriMo – Backyard View

Fort
Air Castle
Corner of mind
Place to escape reality
Solitude

NaPoWriMo Prompt – Martha Dickinson Bianchi’s description of her aunt’s cozy room, scented with hyacinths and a crackling stove, warmly recalls the setting decades later. Describe a bedroom from your past in a series of descriptive paragraphs or a poem. It could be your childhood room, your grandmother’s room, a college dormitory or another significant space from your life.

Good afternoon and welcome to day twenty-eight of napowrimo. Shawn had the computer this morning, working on Robin’s graduation photos. So I was out in the backyard enjoying the fresh air before the heat of the day hits. Now that Shawn has a black shade cover over the sitting area, it reminded me of the forts we used to build in the woods behind our house. We used to have a lot of fun going back there and playing make believe. I thought we could all use an escape from reality right now. This poem was the end result. It’s not exactly to prompt, but it was a nice daydream to have this morning.

ASU Class of 2020

Robin at ASU Palm Walk

 

We interrupt the regularly scheduled napowrimo to present the distinguished graduate from the ASU class of 2020 college of liberal arts and sciences. 😀

Dr. Moeur has been honored since 1901 by the now Arizona State University via the Moeur Award. The Moeur Award is given to the student or students with the highest academic standing in terms of GPA, and is thus also considered the equivalent to a Valedictorian Award (which is not directly offered by Arizona State). Wikipedia 

Attend ASU
Crush all four years with top grades
Earn Moeur Award

Smart aleck child thinks he can better his mother earning summa cum laude distinction. I was so excited to see he earned the Moeur Award but Robin feels as though he didn’t do anything. Not many students can boast graduating in four years maintaining a 4.0 GPA, kid! So yeah proud mom moment boasting her kid’s academic achievement. Next stop Carlson College of Veterinary Medicine at Oregon State University!

#NaPoWriMo Poetic Review

Gretchen’s opinion of April 4 years ago

Pandemic

Covid
Shuts down country
Everyone stays home
Days begin to blend together
Virus
Brings economy to its knees
Can we reboot this year
Twenty-Twenty
Subpar

NaPoWriMo Prompt – And now for our (optional) prompt. Today, I’d like to challenge you to write a poem in the form of a review. But not a review of a book or a movie of a restaurant. Instead, I challenge you to write a poetic review of something that isn’t normally reviewed. For example, your mother-in-law, the moon, or the year 2020 (I think many of us have some thoughts on that one!)

Good morning and welcome to day twenty-seven of napowrimo. It just so happened that Gretchen’s review of April popped up in my Facebook memories today. I do believe she was growing tired of mom’s text replies coming in the form of haiku. Of course her not so rave review was also answered in haiku.

Cancel poetry
in April impossible
haiku are catching

Lol! Apparently I used Gretchen’s poetic review as inspiration for my poem on April 28, 2016. The final days of national poetry month also coincide with the last week of the spring semester. This has been one strange freshman year for Gretchen and senior year for Robin, and I’m not all too sure things will be back to normal by the fall semester. Robin’s cap and gown have arrived along with the summa cum laude honor cords. I will at least be able to share some great graduation photos on this blog. Other than that this year has not gone according to plan.

#NaPoWriMo Almanac Questionnaire

Before April ends
Heat radiates off pavement
Spring bids fond farewell

As days grow hotter
Some begin hibernation
Desert breathes new life

Palo verde blooms
Beautiful yellow flowers
Contrast its green bark

Sizzling summer sun
Beats down on desert creatures
Tortoise digs new home

Chupacabra hunt
Late at night, hungry for blood
Exsanguinate prey

NaPoWriMo Prompt – And now for our prompt (optional, as always). This is one that we’ve used before, but one test of a  good prompt is that you can come back to it! For this prompt, you will need to fill out, in five minutes or less, the following “Almanac Questionnaire.” Then, use your responses as to basis for a poem.

Good morning and welcome to day twenty-six of napowrimo. As April is coming to an end, so is the school year. This is the last week of the spring semester. Both Robin and Gretchen are busy with final papers and exams. Which means of course Noodles got a haircut yesterday, someone is trying to procrastinate. Not to worry I told Noodles she and I can commiserate together. She’s going to have an awkward phase, too. And Robin’s book from Changing Hands Bookstore finally arrived! It appears since both orders were made at the same time, the bookstore thought they shipped them together. They did not and somehow Robin’s order got lost in the shuffle when they thought the two orders were combined. But all was set right and Robin is excited to start reading his new book. Yet another excuse to procrastinate. Someone has a serious case os senioritis.

#NaPoWriMo Digging

 

Backyard Seating Area

Tortoise’s Summer Residence

Outdoor Life

Temperatures start to rise
backyard Oasis
now a hot desert
black sunshade hangs over
morning coffee stop
blocking bright yellow sun
how long will this heat last?

Tortoise digs in the
rich brown dirt
moving into his summer residence
triple digits will most likely
stick around til September
ends                 green
bougainvillea thrives

NaPoWriMo Prompt – Because it’s a Saturday, I have an (optional) prompt for you that takes a little time to work through — although you can certainly take short-cuts through it, if you like! The prompt, which you can find in its entirety here, was  developed by the poet and teacher Hoa Nguyen, asks you to use a long poem by James Schuyler as a guidepost for your poem. (You may remember James Schuyler from our poetry resource for Day 2.) This is a prompt that allows you to sink deeply into another poet’s work, as well as your own.

Good morning and welcome to day twenty-five of napowrimo. I read the prompt before I went out to my morning coffee spot. I’ve been sitting out there enjoying my coffee almost every morning since Shawn set up the table and bench at the end of March. He put a black sunshade over it yesterday. This morning as I sat and watched the dog and tortoise I was in a little cocoon. The second photo is of Speedy’s summer residence, notice the hole behind the fallen chair. He moved back into his other residence over the winter and just began digging out his summer home earlier this week.

Anyhow this is life as it occurs in my backyard. I’m not quite sure it answers the prompt exactly but it’s what came out of my free write. It’s almost noon here and I pretty much spent my morning writing, so I have to get going on housework.

 

OCMA – Sound Collage

On April 23rd the Orange County Museum of Art posted a sound collage collaboration put together by Alan Nakagawa. It is an interesting collection of recordings participants made of haiku about the coronavirus. My contribution is in part one near the 4:30 mark.

Festive ambiance
She does not reveal her wish
Quarantine birthday.

OCMA – Sound Collage

The evil twin also did a recording. Her piece is also featured in part one at about 14:40. When I was listening to it Wednesday evening, I didn’t even recognize my voice. I recognized the haiku and for a second wondered who read it. When I played it for my children, they both knew it was me. Then later that night, I played it for Shawn, twice, he didn’t recognize his own wife’s voice either. I suggest if anyone wants to hear me read one of my pieces to check out the link. I have rarely read my work in public, and this may be your only chance to hear me do so.

Well I must be off to work on today’s napowrimo prompt. Some of which will not be too difficult, writing as much haiku and haikuesque poems as I do, I am conscious of the fact it should stay in present tense even when I’m writing about a memory. Will see how well I do with the rest of the prompt. I did flub yesterday’s prompt but at least I wrote something. I was having an off day and those three lines were the only effort I made.

#NaPoWriMo – Fruits

Clementine season
Great source of vitamin C
Small seedless orange

NaPoWriMo Prompt – And last but not least, our daily (optional) prompt! Today’s prompt is a fairly simple one: to write about a particular fruit – your choice. But I’d like you to describe this fruit as closely as possible. Perhaps your poem could attempt to tell the reader some (or all!) of the following about your chosen fruit: What does it look like, how does it feel, how does it smell, what does it taste like, where did you find it, do you need to thump it to know if it’s ripe, how do you get into it (peeling, a knife, your teeth), do you need to spit out the seeds, should you bake it, can you make jam with it, do you have to fight the birds for it, when is it available, do you need a ladder to pick it, what is your favorite memory of eating it, if you threw it at someone’s head would it splatter them or knock them out, is it expensive . . . As you may have realized from this list, there’s honestly an awful lot you can write about a fruit!

Good afternoon and welcome to day twenty-four of napowrimo. There may be a lot to be written about fruit, but apparently not from my mind. I figured I should try to write something before it got too late. I may work on something more later. I hope everyone else had a better time with this prompt. Less than a week to go in this crazy 30 poems in 30 days month of April.

#NaPoWriMo Eeyore Acrostic

   

NaPoWriMo Prompt – Today’s prompt (optional, as always) asks you to write a poem about a particular letter of the alphabet, or perhaps, the letters that form a short word. Doesn’t “S” look sneaky and snakelike? And “W” clearly doesn’t know where it’s going! Think about the shape of the letter(s), and use that as the take-off point for your poem.

Good afternoon and welcome to day twenty-three of napowrimo and I decided to go off prompt. It just didn’t seem to speak to me not as much as Eeyore does anyway. And now I’m trying to mess with the formatting to get the letters to line up how I want. We’ll see if this works.