NaPM April 05 2016

[ellajam]

Thanks Hes, this is first one I really enjoyed writing this month, I hope I've turned the corner. I think maybe "She's set apart" would be a stronger refrain than what I chose, but that's what May is for..

I'm going to track down what form the Sexton piece is, much enjoyed the read, intersting rhyme scheme, thanks, I hadn't read that in a while.

[milo]

 
As I was coming home one night from Kent
I saw a dozen grackles in a field
and stopped to ponder what this vision meant.
 
For though the night was clear, the grass unbent
I thought, perhaps that something was concealed
as I was coming home one night from Kent.
 
The moon was bright, the crisp air had no scent,
I left the safety of the road then kneeled
and stopped to ponder what this vision meant.
 
A murder, I was sure, the body rent
and left here naked, broken, blood congealed
as I was coming home. One night, from Kent
 
my mind reeled, my heart struggled with lament
as I approached, then tripped, then wildly wheeled
and stopped. To ponder what this vision meant
 
the grackles took to flight and their ascent
showed nothing there and nothing was revealed
as I was coming home one night from Kent
and stopped to ponder what this vision meant.
 
 https://www.google.com/search?q=painting+grackles&safe=off&rlz=1CDGOYI_enUS657US657&hl=en-US&prmd=ivsn&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiBtdHIwvjLAhVFRiYKHT2XB_0Q_AUIBygB&biw=375&bih=591&dpr=2#imgrc=0oFmV3vFPA7yHM%3A
 

[Tiger the Lion]

Big Suck

Quicksand is slow
to the onlooker.
 
There are no horrified pedestrians
diving to your rescue.
 
This sucking depression
by their impression
is only ankle deep—
and it seems you're still smiling
some of the time.
 
You are a common cold
and there's cancer to be cured.
 
You feel the lukewarm puddle’s grasp;
hear the saliva in its teeth—
not quite silently seething.
 
Ravenous,
insatiable.

[milo]

Thanks Hes, this is first one I really enjoyed writing this month, I hope I've tuned the corner. I think maybe "She's set apart" would be a stronger refrain than what I chose, but that's what May is for..

I'm going to track down what form the Sexton piece is, much enjoyed the read, intersting rhyme scheme, thanks, I hadn't read that in a while.

I agree, this is your best (yet) this month.

"but though the husband's near he sees no wife"

terrific.

[QDeathstar]

Life's Climb

Floating aimlessly in endless aggressive
seas searching for some passerby --
a vessel in the distance --
a ray of sunshine before the endless night.

Jutting out from the violence below
the only salvation that can be found
rises up. We climb each step
in an attempt to each the top

to look down on all we've left behind.

So focused gaining elevation
we'd never noticed danger
lurking past the last step

[ellajam]

Thanks Hes, this is first one I really enjoyed writing this month, I hope I've tuned the corner. I think maybe "She's set apart" would be a stronger refrain than what I chose, but that's what May is for..

I'm going to track down what form the Sexton piece is, much enjoyed the read, intersting rhyme scheme, thanks, I hadn't read that in a while.

I agree, this is your best (yet) this month.

"but though the husband's near he sees no wife"

terrific.

I've always loved Chagall and enjoyed spending the day with him.

[Todd]

My Smoking Offends You

I could see it in your Goody Adams smile.
This park bench is Salem, and I’m reminding you 
that you’re the one that needs fire.
The whole world burns, but I’m responsible
for the icebergs melting, for the ozone layer,
for your child’s asthmatic cough.
If I dipped this cigarette in peanut butter, 
you’d probably shower me in epinephrine
I’d have so many pens sticking out of me,
I’d look like a grade school shooting gallery.
Why stop there? I’m sure this cloud I’m breathing
on you causes autism, has something to do with GMOs,
and the death of the honey bee. I’m selfish.
That’s why I no longer sit in your restaurants,
or fly on your airplanes. You won’t be satisfied 
until you regulate pleasure like car emissions 
in your chastity belt generation. No,
I’m not afraid to die. I stare at death,
I count each of his teeth, and then ask for a light.

[Achebe]

Lovely one, Todd! My favourite one so far!
What is your considered position on e cigarettes? In verse, please. Maybe later.

[Todd]

Thanks Achebe. The sestina required for an e-cigarette poem is sadly beyond my capabilities to pull off. I could possibly handle something on Nicorette gum--but am unsure if that's wise.