NaPoWriMo Day 2

Planned Obsolescence

Dear washer,
left in living room
I regret replacing you.
It must have been hard
yesterday
to hear another
machine fill up with water
when unplugged.

Powerless
unable to spume
as new machine takes over
agitating clothes
no secret
planned obsolescence
lesson brave little toaster
learned on Mars.

I tested out my new washer and dryer. They work well but as I posted on twitter yesterday –

I do not like it
Sam, I am, I do not like
high efficiency

The new washing machine is extremely loud in comparison to the old one. 😦 It does use a lot less water and seeing as we live in a desert water conservation is a good thing. But I felt bad as the old washer is sitting in my living room right now waiting to be moved to my mother-in-law’s house.

NaPoWriMo Prompt – And now, our (as always, optional) prompt, provided to us by NaPoWriMo participant Carla Jones. Today, I challenge you to take your gaze upward, and write a poem about the stars. You may find inspiration in this website that lists constellations, while also providing information on the myths associated with each one, as well as other salient information. Your poem could be informed by those myths or historical details, by the shapes or names of the constellations, or by childhood memories of seeing them. Any form or style will do.

Well it loosely follows the prompt since I was reminded of The Brave Little Toaster Goes to Mars. The spin cycle on the new machine makes it sound like it will launch into space. Plus the clip from the movie has the voice of DeForest Kelley. Yes, I have to pay homage to Star Trek.

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Epistolary Rewrite

Dear poet,
How can I relate
my mind a jumbled blank slate
words fall apart as
I struggle
trying to create
perfection an elusive
Absurd state

Nonetheless:
Here I sit to write
letters link together bite
press upon me and
come to bear
sincerely recite
these vacuous lines repel
Disinvite

I’ve been working on a rewrite for exercise 11 this morning. Gretchen is off on her second day of school. Rachael is at her last day of work before she starts school tomorrow.

The final exercise for How Writers Write Poetry is free verse / prose poem. Mary Hickman discusses parataxis. I found a great article explaining parataxis. In my quiet house, I’ve been reading and reworking my previous poem. A few years ago I attended a poetry workshop in Avondale. We studied the narrative poem with Katie Cappello. Today’s video session reminded me of my previous workshop. Still, I’m procrastinating because I like short 140 character sound bites. The thought of tackling a prose poem is daunting. I think I hear housework calling. 😉

Exercise 11 – Looking Outward

Dear poet,

How can I relate

My mind a jumbled blank slate

Words fall apart as

I struggle

Trying to create

Perfection an elusive

Absurd state

Nonetheless

Here I sit to write

Letters link together bite

Press upon me and

Come to bear

Sincerely contrite

Will transparency help or

Disinvite


Exercise 11 for How Writers Write Poetry was to write either an epistolary poem or a poem where each noun starts with the same letter. Years ago I wrote a senryu with the letter P.

People promenade
Past pesky proprietors
Purchasing parcels

I wanted to try something different. Right now my mind is a jumbled mess. We are in the last week of the poetry course. I’ve been back from Buffalo for over a week now and I’m busy trying to prep for school starting tomorrow! I did get the opportunity to purchase the Half New Year anthology from Silver Birch Press. Please check it out. There are some wonderful poets and poetry inside.