NaPoWriMo 30/30 April 28, 2018

“Writers are the exorcists of their own demons.” ― Mario Vargas Llosa

NaPoWriMo Day 28, 2018

“A story was a form of telepathy. By means of inking symbols onto a page, she was able to send thoughts and feelings from her mind to her reader’s. It was a magical process, so commonplace that no one stopped to wonder at it.” ― Ian McEwan

And then there were three…..  Three prompts left for NaPoWriMo 2018.  Today is Independent Bookstore Day.  Support an independent book seller or three today.

“I am irritated by my own writing. I am like a violinist whose ear is true, but whose fingers refuse to reproduce precisely the sound he hears within.” ― Gustave Flaubert

NaPoWriMo – 30/30 –  Poem-a-Day prompt for April 28, 2018

Get a list of the Best Selling Non Fiction Books (New York Times or Local Area best-sellers)   Use two titles as they are in your poem and use as many of the words from the titles as you possibly can in the construction of your poem.

Celebrate Independent Book Store Day   Visit and support your friendly neighborhood indie bookstore Saturday April 28th!  BookTree’s Event Page Here 

Keep Writing

“Writing is the only thing that when I do it, I don’t feel I should be doing something else.” ― Gloria Steinem

Poem for Prompt 27  –  Graffiti inspired poem!    (Poem 26 tomorrow… I goofed and posted this one early…. oh well… it’s indie bookstore day and I am juggling like crazy!

Mr. Kilroy, I presume?

By Christopher J. Jarmick

 

He was here, there and everywhere;

not some Fool on the Hill, or  flash-in-the-pan fad toy;

even found his way inside sealed ship compartments

nearly 90 years – a doodle and the name Kilroy.

 

Bald or mostly bald man, large nose

tips of fingers holding onto wall.

How Kilroy could be here, nobody knows

Lots of stories, some even true I suppose

 

Stalin in the bathroom as he zipped his fly

saw the Kilroy was Here graffitti.

Hitler thought it was a code name for a spy

Demanded to know,  ‘Who is this guy?’

 

A song and poem in the 1940’s

References in pictures, radio shows

In a 50’s  Isaac Asimov Short Story

Lucy and Snoopy in Peanuts mentioned him too, don’t  you know?

Styx in the 80’s named their album for him (– groovy).

Popeye, Seinfield, Bugs Bunny even Hogan’s Heroes

mentioned Kilroy and last year Kevin Smith made a movie.

 

George Washington didn’t sleep everywhere

But inside walls, even under the pier,

almost anywhere you might venture

you’ll find  Kilroy was Here.

 

More about Kilroy right Here

Advertisements

NaPoWriMo 30/30 April 27,2018

“To write well, express yourself like the common people, but think like a wise man.”― Aristotle

NaPoWriMo Day 27, 2018

“Literature is strewn with the wreckage of those who have minded beyond reason the opinion of others.” ― Virginia Woolf

Before we mention today’s prompt…. Let me remind you that Saturday is Independent Bookstore Day.   Try to visit three independent bookstores near you in the next few days and of course buy something if you can.  In the Seattle/Western Washington area ( and in many other areas) you can earn a coupon by visiting 3 bookstores!   Read.  Read a lot and support your friendly neighborhood bookstores too!  BookTree’s Independent bookstore day page!  

NaPoWriMo – 30/30 –  Poem-a-Day prompt for April 27, 2018

“You cannot hope to sweep someone else away by the force of your writing until it has been done to you.” ― Stephen King

From Brendan (Cosmic Egg) McBreen :  The writing is on the wall, find a piece of graffiti or a bumper sticker and write about that line, include the line in your poem.

Keep Writing!

“You don’t write about the horrors of war. No. You write about a kid’s burnt socks lying in the road.” ― Richard Price

My prompt poem for the 25^th –  Ted Kooser inspired

Kooser Apples

By Christpher J. Jarmick

Somewhere

under the canopy of billions

of twinkling lights

beyond the shimmering nova light

of the busy city

behind the white picket fence

and lace curtains made by hand

nearly 100 years ago

a saucepan lid shimmies

letting steam escape

and fill the kitchen with the

sweet, fresh smell of apples

and cinnamon turning into what

you crave right now as you read this:

Applesauce.

NaPoWriMo 30/30 April 21, 2018

“Words can be like X-rays if you use them properly — they’ll go through anything. You read and you’re pierced.” ― Aldous Huxley

NaPoWriMo Writing Prompt for April 21, 2018

 “One day I will find the right words, and they will be simple.” ― Jack Kerouac

Let there be light on this 21^st day of NaPoWriMo!  Let the light shine in, shine bright.  Yes, our prompt today has something to do with this of course.  How did you know?  If you are near the Kirkland Wa area, BookTree has a free workshop followed by a free reading and open mic featuring James Bertolino and Anita K. Boyle.  Facebook Event Page Here  

NaPoWriMo – 30/30 –  Poem-a-Day prompt for April 21, 2018

Today’s prompt is from writer/poet Brendan (Cosmic Egg) McBreen:

On a lighter note, write about light. Is it a wave, is it a particle, be ‘sciency’ and write a poem about light. Try to include at least three scientific terms relating to light.

Keep Writing!

“The difference between the almost right word and the right word

is really a large matter

 ’tis the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning.”

― Mark Twain

 

Prompt Poem # 19   An Etheridge Knight inspired write.

 

Apostacy Part 2

By Christopher J. Jarmick

 

His woman done left him

And so… and so…

He be damn angry

F. .  this and that

And damn the sun,

the perfect weather, the breeze,

the ripples on the water on the lake,

because there’s no hand to hold,

no reason to appreciate

no reason to be nice,

to dress up, to be smooth

and talk like candy.

No reason to feel lighter than air

smile, just because,

no reason t’all.

NaPoWriMo 30/30 April 19, 2018

I died in 1960 from a prison sentence and poetry brought me back to life. – Etheridge Knight

NaPoWriMo Writing Prompt for April 19, 2018

Happy 19^th day of NaPoWriMo 2018 as our writing exercise during National Poetry Month continues and celebrate another poet born in April!  I hope you’ll revisit or discover some new poets, poetry this month and do some stretch writing.  Enjoy the exercise.  The muse insists.

To write a blues song

is to regiment riots

and pluck gems from graves.

Etheridge Knight

NaPoWriMo – 30/30 –  Poem-a-Day prompt for April 19, 2018

4/19/18  Happy Birthday Etheridge Knight 1931 to 1991  write a poem that evokes one or more of his poems/quotes.

Keep Writing!

Let all Black Poets die as trumpets,

And be buried in the dust of marching feet. –Etheridge Knight

Prompt 17 poem  –  Listen to a song you know you do not like, or from a style of music you don’t normally listen to and write a poem in response.

Not a Cardi B fan

By Christopher J. Jarmick

Cardi B

on SNL

Green Betty Boop hair,

feathers

back-up dancers

I try to hear the lyrics

I guess Cardi took a man

Someone is upset

I guess her brain is on Offset

Some lyrics bleeped

Slanged

What the hell?

I’m not her audience

People like this?

Could be she puts on

this kind of bragging, raggin,

crude ‘tude

a male rapper thing

turned upside down

that it?

Is there more?

I’m not her audience

Someone is her audience

She’s on SNL.

Cardi B

See ya.

Out.

NaPoWriMo 30/30 April 18, 2018

 “A good poem is a contribution to reality. The world is never the same once a good poem has been added to it. A good poem helps to change the shape of the universe, helps to extend everyone’s knowledge of himself and the world around him.” ― Dylan Thomas

NaPoWriMo Writing Prompt for April 18, 2018

“I write for the same reason I breathe – because if I didn’t, I would die.” ― Isaac Asimov

Welcome to day 18.  British philosopher writer and speaker, Alan W Watts, best known as an interpreter and popularizer of Eastern philosophy for a Western audience, ‘advice quote’ seems particularly apt to share:

“Advice? I don’t have advice. Stop aspiring and start writing. If you’re writing, you’re a writer. Write like you’re a goddamn death row inmate and the governor is out of the country and there’s no chance for a pardon. Write like you’re clinging to the edge of a cliff, white knuckles, on your last breath, and you’ve got just one last thing to say, like you’re a bird flying over us and you can see everything, and please, for God’s sake, tell us something that will save us from ourselves. Take a deep breath and tell us your deepest, darkest secret, so we can wipe our brow and know that we’re not alone. Write like you have a message from the king. Or don’t. Who knows, maybe you’re one of the lucky ones who doesn’t have to.”

― Alan W. Watts

NaPoWriMo – 30/30 –  Poem-a-Day prompt for April 18, 2018

From prompt meister extraordinaire Brendan (Cosmic Egg) McBreen :  Imagine you are at the beach and you find a message in an old bottle. What does the message say? Write a response the message as a poem.

“So long as you write what you wish to write, that is all that matters; and whether it matters for ages or only for hours, nobody can say.”  ― Virginia Woolf

Keep Writing!

“What’s writing really about? It’s about trying to take fuller possession of the reality of your life.”― Ted Hughes

Prompt 16 poem–  Write a poem that evokes or is about Sam Hamill.

The River Crossed (for Sam)

By Christopher J. Jarmick

 

The river crossed

washes away the dirt of the journey.

Stand a moment

be clean, reset.

Breathe deep.

 

Stay a moment in a safe place.

The teaching surpasses the teacher.

Discipline must be learned

and is necessary.

 

When you must eat bitter fruit

to survive,

when isolation brings peace

but the world gets smaller,

louder, meaner;

when the hand you reach for

is no longer near

and you stumble in the mud

let the river crossed

wash away the dirt of the journey.

NaPoWriMo 30/30 April 17, 2018

“Amateurs sit and wait for inspiration, the rest of us just get up and go to work.”― Stephen King

NaPoWriMo Writing Prompt for April 17, 2018

Welcome to the 17^th day of NaPoWriMo 2018. The quote speaks:  “Perfectionism is the voice of the oppressor, the enemy of the people. It will keep you cramped and insane your whole life, and it is the main obstacle between you and a shitty first draft. I think perfectionism is based on the obsessive belief that if you run carefully enough, hitting each stepping-stone just right, you won’t have to die. The truth is that you will die anyway and that a lot of people who aren’t even looking at their feet are going to do a whole lot better than you, and have a lot more fun while they’re doing it.” ― Anne Lamott

Have fun!  Write every day.

NaPoWriMo – 30/30 –  Poem-a-Day prompt for April 17, 2018

 “Poems are never finished – just abandoned” ― Paul Valéry

Oh yes… another prompt courtesy of  Brendan (Cosmic Egg) McBreen:  Listen to a song you know you do not like, or from a style of music you don’t normally listen to and write a poem in response.

 “A professional writer is an amateur who didn’t quit.” ― Richard Bach

Keep Writing!

 “Your intuition knows what to write, so get out of the way.” ― Ray Bradbury

Note:  An excellent poetry reading is taking place this Thursday April 19th at the Edmonds Bookstore at 6:30pm in beautiful downtown Edmonds Washington featuring short readings from  Janee Baugher, Victoria Ford, Michael Hickey, Christopher Jarmick, and Michael Spence  hosted by David D. Horowitz.  Hope YOU can be there.  EdmondsBookStore Calendar of Events here

“How do I know what I think until I see what I say?” ― E.M. Forster

Prompt 15  The I O U poem prompt from Brendan McBreen  Using only the I O U vowels and…

Not Hot Cross Buns

By Christopher J. Jarmick

 

I O U this Mr. McB.

It is a lousy, lousy

lousy thing to do

this prompt.  (Not!)

On off,

in out,

who knows

do U?

I thought not. (Rust.)

 

 

uh uh,

uh-huh,

huh?

Must I?

Oh, must I?

Ok, I must.

 

Is it itsy bitsy sociolinguistics or microsociolinguistics you sing out loud

with or without our crowd of two plus you know who?

 

Goofy stuff I know.

Your doing Mr. McB.

Or U’r doing if I might – right?

 

Not so good but I’m lost without first two vows…

which is short for. . .oh, you know.

Oui, I O U

lots of words

Ok, I know this in or I know it out,

I know how to do much more.

Critic might not put up with using Y though

Oh sh*t. . .Tough nuts.  Sorry old nuns. So sorry.

Now you must sing Glycophosphoinositol without burping.

Don’t know how to sing much.

Don’t punch clock, no OT

Hours doing this

Um, uh, not too dumb though, no.

I’m plumb worn out; your doing

So F. . .  it

I O U nothing now  Mr. McB

tossing this off to you.

NaPoWriMo 30/30 April 16, 2018

“Tears are words that need to be written.”― Paulo Coelho

NaPoWriMo Writing Prompt for April 16, 2018

 

 

From Sam Hamill:  “Poetry transcends the nation-state. Poetry transcends government. It brings the traditional concept of power to its knees. I have always believed poetry to be an eternal conversation in which the ancient poets remain contemporary, a conversation inviting us into other languages and cultures even as poetry transcends language and culture, returning us again and again to primal rhythms and sounds.” ― Sam Hamill

If you haven’t heard, we lost Sam Hamill April 14^th.  He was born of unknown parents in Utah in 1942 or 1943 probably September 5^th.  Quite the early life but ‘poetry and Ken Rexroth saved him’.   Poet, Translator, Copper Canyon Press founder, poets against the war and much much more. Do read about him. Poetry Foundation Biography here   I was fortunate enough to have interviewed him, and hosted a few events that he was involved in.   R.I.P. Sam!    Hayden Carruth wrote: “No one — I mean no one — has done the momentous work of presenting poetry better than Sam Hamill. His editing and publishing, his criticism and translations, his own very strong and beautiful poems have been making a difference in American culture for many years.”

“I believe the poem is a sacramental act, pure devotion to whatever may be revealed only through the music of intuition. The dance of the intellect, the dance of wild imagination, illuminates what cannot otherwise be known.” ― Sam Hamill

NaPoWriMo – 30/30 –  Poem-a-Day prompt for April 16, 2018

Write a poem that evokes or is about Sam Hamill.

Poetry is a very large house with many rooms, closets, attics, basements, bedrooms and kitchens. For me, the practice of poetry is a way of life–as it was for many of the ancient Chinese and Japanese poets I have translated. For me, poetry is for re-reading, a world to be explored and revisited, a world that enriches the quality of one’s life.  — Sam Hamill

Keep Writing!

“I write in my notebook with the intention of stimulating good conversation, hoping that it will also be of use to some fellow traveler. But perhaps my notes are mere drunken chatter, the incoherent babbling of a dreamer. If so, read them as such.” ― Sam Hamill, The Poetry of Zen

Septolet Prompt 14  Write an informal and formal septolet.  I wrote 2 of each.

Formal syllable Septolet 1

Syria Septolet

By Christopher J. Jarmick

 

Bomb

Assad

without long

term strategy.

 

Distraction

needed;

Bomb.

 

Formal syllable Septolet 2

Bookstore Blue Septolet

By Christopher J. Jarmick

 

I

truly love

indie bookstores

so many great books

 

Wish there was

time to

read.

 

Informal Word Septolet 1

 

In under three, Septolet

By Christopher J. Jarmick

 

I really

only need

three words

make that two.

 

Simple, direct

these:

love you

 

Informal Word Septolet 2

Scribbled Septolet

By Christopher J. Jarmick

 

Another NaPoWriMo

Septolet scribbled quickly

to meet daily

deadline

 

can’t use

too many

words.