NaPoWriMo 5 More prompts to keep you writing each and every day.

First… a long but worthwhile quote:

“Lovers and madmen have such seething brains,
Such shaping fantasies, that apprehend
More than cool reason ever comprehends.
The lunatic, the lover and the poet
Are of imagination all compact:
One sees more devils than vast hell can hold,
That is, the madman: the lover, all as frantic,
Sees Helen’s beauty in a brow of Egypt:
The poet’s eye, in fine frenzy rolling,
Doth glance from heaven to earth, from earth to heaven;
And as imagination bodies forth
The forms of things unknown, the poet’s pen
Turns them to shapes and gives to airy nothing
A local habitation and a name.”
― Shakespeare William Shakespeare

Part 5 of 6 parts worth of prompts for NaPoWriMo to celebrate National Poetry Month.  If you need to go back a few to know what this is, I hope you are curious enough to do so.  It’s the curious who create the most interesting art, writing, music etc.  Stretching yourself –   Daring yourself – leads to meaningful art.  It will mean more to YOU when you experiment and learn not worry about how exposed you are.  Perhaps writing every day will help.  Perhaps challenging yourself with prompts will help.   Try it.  Enjoy.   

Here are your prompts.

NaPoWriMo  April 23rd 2024  Prompt 23rd — twisted tribute

twisted tribute to a poet you admire.  

 (twisted tribute?  An affectionate satire, –appreciation of someone’s work.  It should be somewhat upbeat, somewhat flattering—remember you like this poet you are mimicking or doing an homage to.  Yes the poet can be living, current, little known or famous and/or dead)

If it makes you think, makes you chuckle, it is worth writing down, sharing with others and rememberingfor a very rainy day. — CJJ

NaPoWriMo  April 24th 2024  Prompt 24th — list poem

Write a List Poem.    You don’t need to worry about form or meter.  Pick a subject for your list and then try to make it  interesting.

Here’s a few example ideas:  What’s in the  junk drawer?  What’s on the bookshelf other than books?   What’s in the pantry?

“Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.”
― T.S. Eliot

NaPoWriMo  April 25th 2024  Prompt 25 — Missing

Something or someone is missing.  Are you missing something you once had?  Are you missing someone?  Is it a brief or permanent separation?  Write about the missing.

NaPoWriMo  April 26th 2024  Prompt 26 — solo adventure

From Julie Robinett with the white hat writing poetry in Everett comes todays Prompt —  Take yourself on a solo adventure (go all by yourself!) to a place you’ve never been before. (It could be an outdoor excursion, such as a park, or a walk, or a beach) . . . or it could be an indoor place (such as a restaurant or a store . . . even a BOOKSTORE) – and write about the experience, in a poem. 

Miles from the voice of the river, I remained calm beneath the tall old trees needing my breath. – CJJ

“Once we have tasted far streams, touched the gold, found some limit beyond the waterfall, a season changes and we come back changed but safe, quiet, grateful.”– William Stafford

NaPoWriMo  April 27th 2024  Prompt 27 — Bookstore

It’s the start of Seattle  Independent Bookstore Days — 28 stores in the Seattle Area and beyond are participating.  Maybe write a poem about one these bookstores if you know them.   Write a poem about bookstores.. good ones, bad ones, best ones, used ones, dusty ones, quirky ones

memorable ones, bookstores now gone.  Write about Book Stores…. 

 “It is difficult/ to get the news from poems,” but asks, “Who says you can’t get poems from the news?” William Carlos Williams

NaPoWriMo  April 28th 2024  Prompt  28th

And again one from Julie (blame her)….Write a poem that can be read from top to bottom or​ from bottom to top; (a different poem, depending on where you start, but one that makes sense, either direction you go). 

NaPoWriMo  April 29th 2024  Prompt 29  — Friendship

Write about the blessing that is a true friend or the heartache that comes from losing one. Tell us how you are a good friend (or where you fall short). Have you ever betrayed a friend or been disappointed by a friend? Have you ever slept with a friend? Did you marry a friend? Describe one of your actual friends. An old friend. A new friend. An imaginary friend. Remember an adventure you took with a friend or one you’d like to plan. What is it about friendship that we seek so consistently throughout our lives? Think of the ways in which we become friends with people. Think about how we lose touch.

“Poetry isn’t an island, it is the bridge.
Poetry isn’t a ship, it is the lifeboat.
Poetry isn’t swimming. Poetry is water.”― Kamand Kojouri

Do you know Seattle Independent Bookstore Days  begin on Saturday April 27th?  There are 28 participating stores this year! We are celebrating the 10th anniversary of SIBD- YAY.  You can visit 1 or 3 or all of the stores.  Visiting 3 stores gets you a reward and visiting all 28 in a 10 day time period gives you an even bigger award.   There’s a website about it here: Seattle Indie Bookstore Days

BookTree will participate once again.  On April 27th. . . best selling author Robert Dugoni will be at BookStore.  On May 4th, there will be a free writing workshop, reading and open mic.  Look on the website, facebook for more information.

If you find yourself in the vicinity of Kirkland, Washington please drop into BookTree at 609 Market St. Kirkland, WA 98033 and say Hi or talk books and poetry with me.  The store has new and gently-used books.  The website for the store is here at http://www.BookTreeKirkland.com .  

“When I began to listen to poetry, it’s when I began to listen to the stones, and I began to listen to what the clouds had to say, and I began to listen to others. And I think, most importantly for all of us, then you begin to learn to listen to the soul, the soul of yourself in here, which is also the soul of everyone else.”  – Joy Harjo

Several months ago, some friends and acquaintances of mine and I started a brand new website and facebook site to help people living or visiting Western Washington to find various readings and open mics to attend.  This is called WesternWashingtonPoets https ://www.westernwashingtonpoetsnetwork.org/   you can look up by area, by day of the month, what regularly scheduled readings are going on.  I encourage you to attend several readings… especially during poetry month…. many readings are FREE.  There is also a facebook page  western washington poets network you can join and get up to the minute reminders of things going on.  

Keep Writing!!!

“Only with ardent patience will we conquer the splendid city that will give light, justice and dignity to all men. Thus poetry will not have sung in vain.”– Pablo Neruda

“April is the cruelest month, breeding
lilacs out of the dead land, mixing
memory and desire, stirring
dull roots with spring rain.”― T.S. Eliot

The root of the word Poetry is from the Greek   ποιέω (poieō), “‘I

make’”). , poiesis, meaning a “making” or ‘creation’ 

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Poetry is Everything

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©2024 Christopher J. Jarmick All Rights Reserved

NaPoWriMo Part 3 Prompts for April 10th – April 15 2024

“I need about one hundred fifty drafts of a poem to get it right, and fifty more to make it sound spontaneous.”― James Dickey

It’s time for more NaPoWriMo prompts.   Join in and start writing each and every day of the month.  Use the prompts to inspire and challenge you.  Have fun!!!  Post your first drafts if you dare and let me know where they are posted.   

Writing comes from reading, and reading is the finest teacher of how to write.”― Annie Proulx

“If you don’t have time to read, you don’t have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that.”― Stephen King

NaPoWriMo  April 10th 2024  Prompt 10  —  Other Not Very Good Poems

Write a poem about some poems you just read in a book or a magazine that you didn’t like very much.  The poem should be inspired by the poems you read that did NOT inspire you.  Maybe these poems confused you.  Maybe these poems were just dull in your opinion.   You can grumble and complain about the poems… (yes more than one poem  could be different authors, please)  or you can combine the idea and subject of the poems you are NOT impressed with into your own original poem and mention something about the poems that you did not like.    

NaPoWriMo  April 11th 2024  Prompt 11 – Name Game

Don’t worry about writing a 1000 page memoir. Your name is not Barbra . . .” — CJJ

Write a poem about your name. You can use the history of your name, where the root of your name comes from and what it means, or you can make something up about what your name means. You can
write a poem about other people who have had your name and what they did. Write about your name… but not about
yourself. You can do a bit of research on first name etymology and history
right here: The Meaning and History of First Names – Behind the Name .

The Meaning and History of First Names – Behind the Name

• “The idea is to write it so that people hear it and it slides through the brain and goes straight to the heart.” — Maya Angelou

NaPoWriMo  April 12th 2024  Prompt 12  Birthday Poet writing about Movies

It’s MY birthday.  So this year here’s the challenging inspiring prompt for you and for me too!!!   Take a poet that was born in the month of April and write a poem in his or her style about one or more movies that you really like.  

Poets Born in April: 

1 Edmond Rostand 1868
3 George Herbert 1593-1633
4 Edith Sodergran 1892
4 Maya Angelou 1928
5 Algernon Charles Swinburne 1837
7 William Wordsworth 1770
9 Charles-Pierre Baudelaire 1821-1867
10 George William Russell 1867-1935

10 Norman Dubie 1945 * Ordinary Mornings of a Coliseum, 
13 Seamus Heaney 1939
16 Anatole France 1844-1924
16 Sir Kingsley Amis 1922
18 Etheridge Knight 1931-1991 22
18 Louise Gluck 1942
23 William Shakespeare 1564-1616
23 Edwin Markham 1852
23 Vladimir Nabokov 1899
24 Robert Penn Warren 1905
24 George Oppen 1908
25 Walter de la Mare 1873-1956
25 Jay Anthony Lukas 1933
25 Ted Kooser 1939 +
27 Cecil Day Lewis 1904 AKA Nicholas Blake
28 Carolyn Forche 1950

29 Yusef Komunyakaa 1947

29 Constantine Peter Cavafy 1863-1933
30 John Crowe Ransom 1888

30 Annie Dillard 1945

“I think, secretly, that my poems actually do rhyme. It’s just that the rhyme is what I would call ‘conceptual,’ that is, not made of sounds, but of ideas that accomplish what the sounds do in formal poetry: to connect elements that one wouldn’t have expected, and to make the reader or listener, even if just for a moment, feel the complexity and disorder of life, and at the same time what Wallace Stevens called the ‘obscurity of an order, a whole.”
― Matthew Zapruder

NaPoWriMo  April 13th 2024  Prompt 13  — Scrabble Day!   From Julie Robinett the white hat wearing poet from Everett:    April 13^th is “National Scrabble Day.” Find a bag of those letter-tiles and randomly grab ten of them; then see how many words you can make, with those ten tiles. (Next, put as many as you want to, into a poem.) You don’t have to  use only the words from the tiles, (you can add other words, too); but use the words from the Scrabble tiles to inspire the theme or direction of your poem.

NaPoWriMo  April 14th 2024  Prompt 14 –  Quote me!

Your 14th prompt is to be inspired by a quote or two or three. Choose your favorites, ones you have seen recently or …? You can write about the quote, you can re-purpose the quote into your own writing,you can expand the idea, the import of the quote.  Honor one or more quotes  and do give credit to the person whose quote or quotes  have inspired your poem.

NaPoWriMo  April 15th 2024  Prompt 15 —  two syllable words 

Julie with the white hat from Everett (Julie Robinett) wants you to work really hard today….  her challenge prompt is…. make a poem using only two-syllable words…

Challenge yourself to make a poem consisting only of two-syllable words! (Maybe very tricky? Enjoy!) 

More Prompts to inspire and challenge are on the way!!!!   Exercise, enjoy, share….

On  Wednesday 4/10/24 — I (Chris Jarmick) will be one of three featured readers at C&P coffee in West Seattle part of Leopoldo’s long running Poetry Bridge Series. The scheduled features are Chris Jarmick, Arleen Williams and Bonnie Wolkenstein  signups for Open Mic start at 6:45 pm  reading 7 to 9pm.  FREE  You will find a post about this with more info on the Western Washington Poets Network Facebook Page.

“Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart.”
― William Wordsworth

It is almost my (Chris Jarmick) birthday (on the 12th).  I wish for my birthday that all who see this will walk into a local independent bookstore and spend $25. to $100. on books (or get some gift cards).  If you are near Kirkland, Wa.  please visit my bookstore.. BookTree at 609 Market St.     Indie bookstores truly need your patronage and attention.  Most are barely breaking even.  Retail in all sectors is down.  Bookstores will not survive unless the community they do business in supports them, talks about them and considers it is an important business to have in their neighborhood.   Thank YOU!  BookTree’s GoFundMe Page is Here. 

“And by the way, everything in life is writable about if you have the outgoing guts to do it, and the imagination to improvise. The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt.”
― Sylvia Plath

On Thursday April 18th I (Chris Jarmick) will be joining Holly J. Hunter  Joannie Stangeland, Rick Clark and David D. Horowitz for a very special Poetry Night at the Edmonds Bookshop (in Edmonds, Wa.) to celebrate cats and poems about cats that are in the recently published superb anthology  Purr and Yowl (edited by David H. and published by World Enough Writers (Lana Hechtman Ayers).  Free..  More info here: 2024 poetry night!  

Several months ago, some friends and acquaintances of mine and I started a brand new website and facebook site to help people living or visiting Western Washington to find various readings and open mics to attend.  This is called WesternWashingtonPoetsNetwork.org Use the site to look up by area of Western Washington (city, town etc) or day of the month regularly scheduled meetings take place. I encourage you to attend several readings… especially during poetry month…. many readings are FREE.  There is also a facebook page  western washington poets network you can join and get up to the minute reminders of things going on.  

You can’t wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club.”
― Jack London

If you find yourself in the vicinity of Kirkland, Washington please drop into BookTree at 609 Market St. Kirkland, WA 98033 and say Hi or talk books and poetry with me.  The store has new and gently-used books.  The website for the store is here at http://www.BookTreeKirkland.com.  

Keep Writing!!!

The root of the word Poetry is from the Greek   ποιέω (poieō), “‘I

make’”). , poiesis, meaning a “making” or ‘creation’ 

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=–=-=-

Poetry is Everything

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

©2024 Christopher J. Jarmick All Rights Reserved 

NaPoWriMo Prompts Part 2 for 2024

Welcome to NaPoWriMo  and more more more….  prompts to inspire and challenge and keep you writing a poem each and every day.   These are meant to be used one per day but you can of course use them as you wish.

First, another memorable Ted Hughes quote to get things started: “Keep your whole being on the thing you are turning into words. The minute you flinch, and take your mind off this thing, and begin to look at the words and worry about them… Then your worry goes into them and they set about killing each other. So you keep going as long as you can, then look back and see what you have written. After a bit of practice and after telling yourself you are going to use any old word that comes into your head so long as it seems right, you will surprise yourself. You will read back through what you have written and you will get a shock. You will have captured a spirit, a creature.”
― Ted Hughes

Reminder….!!!!  Every First Saturday of the month at BookTree (@ 609 Market St. Kirkland Wa. 98033) there is a FREE writing workshop that begins at 4:24 pm and goes to 6pm follwed by a reading and open mic.  You can attend everything or just one thing.    The one scheduled for Saturday April 6th will be led by David D. Horowitz (publisher, editor, writer, poet) on metrical and rhyming poetry.    Then at 6:15 pm we will have a special reading with several poets from an anthology of Cat Poems called Purr and Yowl… which is then followed by an open mic.  FaceBook Event page right here….   1rst Saturday Workshop, Reading w David D. Horowitz & special guests

Now on to your prompts:

First up –a prompt concocted by the white hat wearing poet from Everett  Julie Robinett   :

NaPoWriMo  April 6th 2024  Prompt 6  —  Statistics

April is mathematics and statistics awareness month. Create a poem which is related to statistics. You could find some statistics, online, (or in a newspaper), and use those statistics as a starting point for your poem; (you could even make up some wild statistics, or some wild math, to take us on a strange journey, in your poem!).

“You must stay drunk on writing so reality cannot destroy you.”
― Ray Bradbury

“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

And on the 7th day — NO we do NOT rest!   

NaPoWriMo  April 7th 2024  Prompt 7 —  Septolet

Write two different types of Septolets today.  (Sep-toe-lay)   1- 14 words – 7 lines  2- 7 lines 16 syllables. 

Septolet 1: Total of 14 words in 7 lines, no line should have more than three words. The poem should relate to one subject, object, thought or feeling. The first four lines create a coherent picture or thought, the last three lines create another. Each could stand separately, but both are related.

Septolet 2: Line 1 has one syllable, Line 2 has two, Line 3 has 3, Line 4 has 4 syllables, space, Line 5 has 3, Line 6 has 2, Line 7 has one syllable. Poem should relate to one thought, feeling, object, place.

Example:

Formal Septolet                                                               Informal Septolet

One                           1 syllable                                          “This

Second                      2 syllables                                       is easy

Or perhaps               3 syllables                                 anyone can do

Four ticking bombs 4 syllables                                 it,”

Blank space

Reminder                  3 syllables                                said

That you’re               2 syllables                                tightrope walker.

Late                              1 syllable                                 “but don’t look down!”

(14 words.  4 words maximum on one line.)

“Music expresses that which cannot be put into words and that which cannot remain silent”― Victor Hugo

And poetry can feel musical, embrace a flow that needs a little sugar to be ingested.— CJJ

NaPoWriMo  April 8th 2024  Prompt 8 –  Use these Words

Build a list of 8 words that you will use in a poem  8 to 10 lines long.  

Pick up a book…  turn to page 8  (or the first page after 8 with words on them)  After the first 25 words… find the very next 6 letter word and write it down.  This is your first word.

2. Turn to page 18. ..  from the bottom of the page  after the the last 25 words….going up the page.. find the very next 6 or MORE letter word (not a name or name of city etc) and write it down.  3.  Page 34  after 30 words  the next 5 letter word  (not a name)  write it down.   4.  Page 50  after 50 words the first 5 letter word.  5.  Page 80  after 8 words  the first 5 letter word … write it down.   6.  Page 88  after 25 words the first 4 letter word.  7.   Page 120  the first 4 letter word you come across (not a name).    8.   Page 180  after 30 words the first  word over 5 letters long.     Now you have your 8 words.  Can you use them in a poem of 10 lines or less in the order you found them?   Have fun…   

“The most valuable of all talents is that of never using two words when one will do.” 

― Thomas Jefferson

NaPoWriMo  April 9th 2024  Prompt 9  number 9… number 9….

Brendan McBreen  an auburn based poet, writer and artist suggested the following prompt based on poet Philip Levine’s practice of the 9-syllable line (mostly), is a syllable off from what the ear is used to with the more common English 10-syllable line, giving the overall composition an uneasy bearing or forward momentum.” 

It’s hard to write 9 syllable line poems as compared to seven or 10 syllable line poems.

So for today’s writing prompt, write at least one eight or nine line poem consisting of 9-syllable lines.

Levine wrote about work, Detroit and the blue collar life often evoking the drudgery and dignity of manual labor. ‘ What Work Is’ is his best known collection; his last collection was The Last Shift.  Levine died in 2015.

“Start writing, no matter what. The water does not flow until the faucet is turned on.”
― Louis L’Amour

On  Wednesday 4/10/24 — I (Chris Jarmick) will be one of three featured readers at C&P Coffee in West Seattle  (5612 California Ave SW, Seattle, WA 98136) part of Leopoldo’s long running Poetry Bridge Series. The scheduled features are Chris Jarmick, Arleen Williams and Bonnie Wolkenstein  signups for Open Mic start at 6:45 pm  reading 7 to 9pm.  FREE

Several months ago, some friends and acquaintances of mine and I started a brand new website and facebook site to help people living or visiting Western Washington to find various readings and open mics to attend.  This is called WesternWashingtonPoets https ://www.westernwashingtonpoetsnetwork.org/   you can look up by area, by day of the month, what regularly scheduled readings are going on.  I encourage you to attend several readings… especially during poetry month…. many readings are FREE.  There is also a facebook page  western washington poets network you can join and get up to the minute reminders of things going on.  

“If you can’t annoy somebody, there is little point in writing.”
― Kingsley Amis

It is almost my (Chris Jarmick) birthday (on the 12th).  I wish for my birthday that all who see this will walk into a local independent bookstore and spend $25. to $100. on books (or get some gift cards).  If you are near Kirkland, Wa.  please visit my bookstore.. BookTree at 609 Market St.     Indie bookstores truly need your patronage and attention.  Most are barely breaking even.  Retail in all sectors is down.  Bookstores will not survive unless the community they do business in supports them, talks about them and considers it is an important business to have in their neighborhood.   Thank YOU!  BookTree’s GoFundMe Page is Here. 

“Painting is poetry that is seen rather than felt, and poetry is painting that is felt rather than seen.”
― Leonardo da Vinci

Several months ago, some friends and acquaintances of mine and I started a brand new website and facebook site to help people living or visiting Western Washington to find various readings and open mics to attend.  This is called WesternWashingtonPoetsNetworkdotOrg right here. https ://www.westernwashingtonpoetsnetwork.org/   you can look up by area, by day of the month, what regularly scheduled readings are going on.  I encourage you to attend several readings… especially during poetry month…. many readings are FREE.  There is also a facebook page  western washington poets network you can join and get up to the minute reminders of things going on.  

And in case you missed it…. I’ll be hosting and reading April 6th at BookTree in Kirkland  (First Saturday Free Writing workshop, reading and open mic.).  I’ll also be reading on April 10th in West Seattle details above. 

If you find yourself in the vicinity of Kirkland, Washington please drop into BookTree at 609 Market St. Kirkland, WA 98033 and say Hi or talk books and poetry with me.  The store has new and gently-used books.  The website for the store is here

Keep Writing!!!

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

The root of the word Poetry is from the Greek   ποιέω (poieō), “‘I

make’”). , poiesis, meaning a “making” or ‘creation’ 

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=–=-=-

Poetry is Everything

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

©2024 Christopher J. Jarmick All Rights Reserved 

“When a poet digs himself into a hole, he doesn’t climb out. 

He digs deeper, enjoys the scenery, 

and comes out the other side enlightened.”
― Criss Jami

Congratulations!!!   NaPoWrimo 2023 is history.   Hopefully you wrote every day or almost every day and you have some poems that will blossom with some additonal work and editing into being ‘keepers’.   

On MAY 6th…  BookTree 609 Market St. Kirkland, Wa. 98033  has a free writing workshop followed by a reading and open mic.  We will be celebrating the new anthology I Sing the Salmon!!!  More details here.            Hope YOU can make it…    I Sing the Salmon Celebration with Holly J. Hughes Free Writing Workshop, Reading and Open Mic. — BookTree Kirkland

“We are the miracle of force and matter making itself over into imagination and will. 

Incredible. 

The Life Force experimenting with forms.

 You for one. Me for another. 

The Universe has shouted itself alive.

 We are one of the shouts.”
Ray Bradbury

Independent Bookstore Days in Western Washington continue! Celebrate the indie bookstore near you!!!! Thank YOU!

A few more prompts to use in the coming days.  You can continue writing each and every day.  
 4 more from Julie Robinett  :

Write a poem that tells a story about something that happened while you were traveling, but in your poem, don’t tell the story like it happened, (make some things up!) Add some wild details! (Or you could imagine how could your story have turned out differently, and take us down a different path that what really​ happened.)

Make a list poem in which each item on the list is somehow connected to the previous item on the list, (it doesn’t have to be in an obvious way); make this list up as you go along, in such a way that you have no idea where you will end up, when you’re done. (Then give the list a title that fits in some way, but it doesn’t have to be an obvious way); give your readers an opportunity to ponder the possible connections!

 Go for a walk outside, (in the woods, in your neighborhood, in someone else’s neighborhood, down a busy street . . . wherever you find yourself!) Write a series of short poems about the things you see. (They could be haiku or septolet or even just short poems of an unspecified format.) The point is to open your eyes, notice what is happening around you — (whether it is boisterous activity, or even just a patch of moss quietly existing) — and turn them into poems!

Write a poem about power tools and punctuation. (This prompt was inspired by a prompt given to me, by a friend) . . . he suggested I write a poem about leaf blowers and double spaces — (such as double spaces at the end of sentences). I broadened the prompt to include all power tools, (not just leaf blowers; why let leaf blowers have ALL the fun!?) And I swapped the double spaces for punctuation . . . (punctuation is not the same as double spaces, but it feels like they are at least in the same neighborhood), and I think there will be more ideas to bite on, related to punctuation; also, I really really really LOVE punctuation. (A lot?) — yes! — (a lot!!!)

“Every heart sings a song, incomplete, until another heart whispers back.

 Those who wish to sing always find a song. At the touch of a lover, 

everyone becomes a poet.”

― Plato

5 more prompts for the days ahead…. because ‘ the writing life is right…alright!” – CJJ

Write a poem that is a series of questions.  Every line is a question…  perhaps all related and leading up to a big question or unrelated.  YOU decide.

Warning Label.  If there was a warning label attached to you… what would it say?  Make it into a poem…

Write a homage or parody poem to one of your favorite poems.Write an embarrassing corny rhyming love poem…. but it’s actually revealed at the end it is about your favorite snack…food.

Write a poem that is made up of absurd lines…but almost makes sense because of the final two lines.

Write a poem about your two favorite spices.  Make it very over the top and dramatic….

Write a poem to a specific plant or tree in nature.

“Poetry is just the evidence of life. 

If your life is burning well, 

poetry is just the ash.”
― Leonard Cohen

Copyright© Christopher J. Jarmick 2023

The root of the word Poetry is from the Greek   ποιέω (poieō), “‘I

make’”). , poiesis, meaning a “making” or ‘creation’

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=–=-=- 

Poetry is Everything

         PIE

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NaPoWriMo National Poetry Writing Month Prompts for Days 25 to 30 – April 25- 30, 2023

“Poetry is the art of creating imaginary gardens with real toads.” – Marianne Moore

In a moment your latest batch of prompts to inspire and challenge — but first:

This Saturday….independent bookstores begin their celebration. BookTree is Kirkland is part of this. Thank YOU for supporting indie bookstores near you!!!

The 2023 Independent Bookstore Day begins on April 29. This year once again the participating Seattle-area booksellers are offering the Bookstore Day Passport Challenge, with ten days to complete the challenge.

What Is Happening for Independent Bookstore Day 2023?

Seattle Independent Bookstore Day (SIBD) has come to mean a great deal to all of us working in the Seattle bookstore community, and we’re glad to say that the Seattle-area indie bookstores are bringing back the popular Bookstore Day Passport Challenge this year. Once again, local book (and bookstore) lovers will be challenged to visit all 27 participating Seattle-area independent bookstores, and this year they will have ten days to complete the challenge.

Independent Bookstore Day is on Saturday, April 29, and the challenge must be completed by Monday, May 8.

Book fanatics who complete the challenge will receive a Bookstore Day Champion Stamp Card, good for a one-time 25% discount at each participating store and valid until April 26, 2024.

This year we are also offering an intermediate reward: those who don’t complete the full challenge get their passport stamped at at least five participating stores during the ten-day period will receive a single 25%-off coupon, good at any of the participating stores.

We are grateful for the support our bookstores receive. The Seattle area independent bookstore community continues to thrive because of you.

SIBD 2023, April 29 – May 8, FAQ Sheet

How do I qualify as an Indie Bookstore Day 2023 Champion?

Visit all 27 participating Seattle-area stores between April 29 and May 8, 2023, and turn in your passport with stamps from all the stores.

PROMPT  25 – Making up a Story.
April 25, 2023  (write this poem on April 25th)

Get 4 different books.
Book mark one of these pages for each book (one page per book) book 1: 16, 24, 36, 42 // Book 2: 81, 102, 124, 139 // Book 3: 88, 115, 142, 160,// Book 4: 51, 73, 101, 205 — Read each page you chose as if they are from the same book and telling the same story. Figure out a way to make sense of the 4 unrelated pages so that they do make a cohesive story or make it work as a story with some embellishment and help from you. Turn this story into a poem — any style … any length

PROMPT  26 – Question    (this one from Everett poet Julie Robinett!!!)
April 26, 2023  (write this poem on April 26th)

Create a multi-stanza poem in which the title is a question and each stanza ends with a question. 

PROMPT  27 –  Personal conversation
April 27, 2023  (write this poem on April 27th)

Write a poem about a personal conversation you had with a friend or partner.  Be revealing.. open, honest, authentic…  Double dog dare you!!!

PROMPT  28 – Family Photo
April 28, 2023  (write this poem on April 28th)

 Write a Poem about a family photograph
What will you write about a family photograph that captured a moment from years ago. Something sweet and sentimental? Something humorous and or revealing? Explore the photograph, and what it evokes in you today through your write. 

 PROMPT  29 – Insect   (oh yes…. this if from Everett’s fines… Julie Robinett!)
April 29, 2023  (write this poem on April 29th)

Research your most favorite-est insect, and write a poem advertising the wonders of that particular insect. (Not everyone likes all of the insects, so this is your chance to really sell us on your favorite!)
PROMPT  30 – four and  a half lines
April 30, 2023  (write this poem on April 30th)

Make every other line of your ten line poem from various poems you wrote in the last month or so.  4 and a half Different lines, from 5 different poems.  The last line is half a line finished for the new poem.   

“Poetry puts starch in your backbone so you can stand, so you can compose your life.”
― Maya Angelou

*Bonus*  ooooh  look here… a special challenge uncovered through the sleuthing prowess of that Everett Poetry Goddess Julie Robinett.   Here’s the link…  enjoy a new challenge possibly a new form.. fun fun fun..  Forget the Limerick and Try a Snam Suad – Tampa Review

Forget the Limerick and Try a Snam Suad – Tampa Review

On MAY 6th…  BookTree 609 Market St. Kirkland, Wa. 98033  has a free writing workshop followed by a reading and open mic.  We will be celebrating the new anthology I Sing the Salmon!!!  More details here.            Hope YOU can make it…    I Sing the Salmon Celebration with Holly J. Hughes Free Writing Workshop, Reading and Open Mic. — BookTree Kirkland

I Sing the Salmon Celebration with Holly J. Hughes Free Writing Worksh…Holly Hughes leads our Take a Walk and Write free writing workshop and presents the I Sing the Salmon Anthology…

Poems where?

by Christopher J. Jarmick

Where are your poems?

where are your poems?

it’s a poem a day . . .

every day a poem.

poems poems poems

downpour of poems,

scribbles of poems,

crowds of poems

marches of poems

in the trees, a murder of poems!

where are your poems?

where are your poems?

Copyright© Christopher J. Jarmick 2023

The root of the word Poetry is from the Greek   ποιέω (poieō), “‘I

make’”). , poiesis, meaning a “making” or ‘creation’

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=–=-=- 

Poetry is Everything

         PIE

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

NaPoWriMo National Poetry Writing Month Prompts for Days 20 to 24 – April 20- 24, 2023

“Poetry is an act of peace. 

Peace goes into the making of a poet as flour

 goes into the making of bread.”
― Pablo Neruda

And now your next 5 prompts to inspire and challenge you during NaPoWriMo 2023. Enjoy!

PROMPT  20 – Write about a recent walk.
April  20, 2023  (write this poem on April 20th)

Write a poem about a walk you have taken recently. Or take a walk today and write about it. Remember something different about the walk, the mood, the sights, the sounds. Capture a few moments about the walk that make it memorable. If you insist… you can use a little poetic license about the walk too.

“If they give you lined paper, write the other way.”
― William Carlos Williams

PROMPT  21 – Apples….   (prompt by Julie – who else?)
April  21, 2023  (write this poem on April 21rst)

“National Apple Day” will be on October 21st. (But that is so long to wait . . . toooo long to wait!) — so, go ahead and write an exuberant poem about apples, today! (It can be about any kind of apples. –Twist…  make up a new name for a new type of apple in the poem…  pssst perhaps a Robinett….)

PROMPT  22 – Jellybean
April 22, 2023  (write this poem on April 22nd)This is from our poet with the white hat in Everett –  Julie Robinett  

 April 22th is National Jellybean Day. Write a poem about jellybeans. (Plot twist: these jellybeans . . . are ALIVE!!!!)

PROMPT  23 – Missing   10 line poem using specific words
April 23, 2023  (write this poem on April 23rd)

Write a Poem about Missing….  Missing You, or  Missing something in particular, or noticing that something missing using  Ten lines and the following six words plus one

number –  island – acorn – score – demand – green and the seventh word is from the last line of the poem you wrote… the longest last word of the poem 4 or 5 or more letters long.

PROMPT  24 – Re-Mix  w/ extra words recipe
April 24, 2023  (write this poem on April 24th)

Take a random list of 50 words…. add a poem you wrote last year.  Take the 50 words and mix them up in a salad bowl.  Draw out 10 or more words…  look at your poem.   Rewrite your poem using the new words and mixing up lines or taking them apart completely.   

“The difference between the poet and the mathematician 

is that the poet tries to get his head into the heavens 

while the mathematician tries to get the heavens into his head.”
― G.K. Chesterton

Copyright© Christopher J. Jarmick 2023

The root of the word Poetry is from the Greek   ποιέω (poieō), “‘I

make’”). , poiesis, meaning a “making” or ‘creation’

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=–=-=- 

Poetry is Everything

         PIE

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

NaPoWriMo National Poetry Writing Month Prompts for Days 15 to 19 – April 15- 19, 2023

“I am the poet of the poor, because I was poor when I loved;

since I could not give gifts, I gave words.”
― Ovid

We are half-way through Poetry month and NaPoWriMo.  Do jump in and begin writing a scribble a day if you are brand new to this.  It’s a good habit to get into no matter what kind of writer you are.  It can be fun! 

PROMPT  15 –  laundry day
April 15, 2023  (write this poem on April 15th)
From the white hat wearing Everett poet Julie Robinett (she is reading in Bothell at Tsuga Art and Frame Saturday the 15th at 7pm) 

I am aware of one very good one, but (generally speaking) there are not nearly enough poems about doing laundry! (note; in particular doing Laundry in machines or laundromats) April 15^th is “National Laundry Day,” so this is the perfect day to write a poem about laundry! 

PROMPT  16 – Ekphrastic
April 16, 2023  (write this poem on April 16th)
Prompt: Write an Ekphrastic PoemWrite an Ekphrastic Poem based on a Painting (work of art). Huh? What? Basically an Ekphrastic poem is a poem inspired by another Art form. Often it is a poem that is either a response to a Painting OR a poem that gives a painting a voice (I like Ekphrastic poems that do this the best). Your poem should go beyond a word description of a painting. One of the most famous Ekphrastic poems is John Keats’ 1819 poem Ode On a Grecian Urn (based on a Greek Urn, Keats saw and sketched). A slightly out of the box example is the song ‘ Vincent by Don McLean (the words are a poem about Vincent Van Goghs 1889 painting Starry Night —  look it up!) 

There is also an excellent 1961 poem by Ann Sexton about the painting called: 

The Starry Night

The town does not existexcept where one black-haired tree slipsup like a drowned woman into the hot sky.
The town is silent. The night boils with eleven stars.
Oh starry starry night! This is how
I want to die. 

Your challenge is to find a painting you like. Use the title of the painting in the title of your poem. Write an Ekphrastic poem. And don’t spend more than an hour composing it (unless you really really insist). The ideal you may want to reach later with your poem involves fine tuning and crafting what you write at a latter time. Right now you are creating a rough first draft. Later you may want to spend a lot more time on your poem. The poet in an ekphrastic poem uses words, and the syntax of language and lines whereas the painter has composition, use of space, color shapes etc. They painter employs a level of abstraction/surrealism in their painting and creates the illusion of movement or energy with brush strokes, color, lighting illusions etc. The poet can play with these ideas too, creating movement and energy with line length, line breaks, meter, rhymes, punctuation. The framing or focus of the poem is achieved as much as what is left out as what is left in… just as the painting may have cropped something out of its view that will now never be seen. An article by Alfred Corn about Ekphrasis some will find worth reading is posted here at the Academy of American Poets  Notes on Ekphrasis“

I want to see thirst
In the syllables,
Tough fire
In the sound;
Feel through the dark
For the scream.”― Pablo Neruda

PROMPT  17 –  Haiku Day
April 17, 2023  (write this poem on April 17th)
From JULIE again…  

April 17^th is National Haiku Poetry Day. Create any or all of the following haiku . . . 

        A haiku that starts with the letter “A” and ends with the letter “Z”

        A haiku with a number in it

        A haiku with a color in it

        A pair of haiku in which the last word in the first haiku is the same as tthe first word in the 2nd haiku

        A pair of haiku in which the first word in the first haiku is the same as the last word in the 2nd haiku
Do check out more about the haiku.  Locally (Wester Washington) we have Michael Dylan Welch.  Start here;  A place to start.

PROMPT  18 – inappropriate
April 18, 2023  (write this poem on April 18th)
Write an Inappropriate Poem. Write something outrageous, dangerous, uncomfortable, inappropriate, perverted, unseemly, irresponsible, politically incorrect, in bad taste. . . controversial, (perhaps) BUT . . . do it PG or at least PG13 style with some sense of restraint and avoiding bad language. It can be dark or flaunt ‘sick humor’. It could be a poem in a creepy, twisted ‘voice’ or something else that you couldn’t, shouldn’t and wouldn’t normally let yourself do. If it comes out immature and stupid. . . allow it to be what it wants to be and have the. . . uh courage. . . to share it in a post. It’s time. Do It! I double dog dare you! Fun fun fun…..

PROMPT  19 – hands
April 19, 2023  (write this poem on April 19th)

Hands

Write a poem that is inspired by Hands. Think of your sense of touch, your fingers, your palm, about what your hands or the hands of others (holding hands, high fiving, massage,) means to you. Think of a hand of cards or an expression – gotta ‘hand’ it to you…. Think perhaps of someone who has lost a hand or both hands or was born without hands. Write a poem about this.
more prompts are on the way….
LOOK    LOOK     LOOK

Julie Robinett is indeed the featured poet on Saturday April 15th in Bothell Wa.  This will be at the Tsuga  Fine Art and Framing Shop on the corner of Main St. and 101st at 7pm.  There is an open mic so if you are so inclined bring something to read. 

“When a poet digs himself into a hole, he doesn’t climb out. He digs deeper, enjoys the scenery, and comes out the other side enlightened.”

― Criss Jami

Copyright© Christopher J. Jarmick 2023

The root of the word Poetry is from the Greek   ποιέω (poieō), “‘I

make’”). , poiesis, meaning a “making” or ‘creation’

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=–=-=- 

Poetry is Everything

         PIE

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

NaPoWriMo National Poetry Writing Month Prompts for Days 5 to 10 April 5th to 10th 2023

“Always be a poet, even in prose.”
― Charles Baudelaire

Your next 5 prompts for NaPoWriMo 2023.    Additional info and prompts can be seen at the official NapoWriMo site:  https://www.napowrimo.net/.   On the first Saturday’s of the month, BookTree bookstore in Kirkland has a free writing workshop (4:24pm) followed by a reading and open mic.  Our next one on May 6th will celebrate the publication of I Sing the Salmon an anthology of Salmon poems published by Punchbowl Press co-owned by poet Holly Hughes who will be leading our workshop.  BookTree’s site is here:  http://www.booktreekirkland.com/  .

And now your prompts…

PROMPT  5 –

April 5^th is “National Read a Road Map Day.” Write a poem that is some way related to road maps — (real paper road maps!) It could be an ode to road maps, a story about traveling while using road maps, or some direction you are inspired to go, poetically, (after looking at, or thinking about . . . real paper maps!) Or even an atlas . . . (those count, too).  Thank you Julie Robinett white hat wearing poetry aficionado of Everett Washington for this suggested prompt!

PROMPT  6 – 

April 6, 2023  (write this poem on April 7th)  Use 6 Random Words in a 6 line (or longer poem)  (Can you used 4 or more of these words twice in the same poem?)
Pick up the book you are currently reading, (or the magazine/book near you) and turn to page 60 (or the first page after 60 that has several paragraphs of text). Write down the 6th and 20th  word from the top of the page. Then, count back from the last word on the page and write down the 10th and 18th word from the end of the page. (Note: if any of these words are an article like the or and, use the next word.)

Turn to page 76 and count down 10 lines…  use word 6 and 12 on that line.

These six MUST be used in the poem you create.
Your poem should have a minimum of 6 lines. It can be much longer than 6 lines if you want.Bonus: can you use 4 of the random words twice in the poem?

PROMPT  7 – 

April 7, 2023  (write this poem on April 7th)Septolet  Septolets (sep toe lays): An informal Word Septolet and formal Syllable Septolet

A Septo… what?

The Septolet is a lesser known short French form of poetry based on music (probably right out of Italian opera).

It has 7 lines. 4 lines ; then an empty blank line, then 3 more lines.

Ideally the first four lines create an image, thought or idea, and the last three lines create a thought, idea or image and they are both related. You can be a purist and construct it as basically one thought or image from two slightly different perspectives/voices/tones or you can keep it simple and have it be one thought/image continued, if you like.

Word Septolet Form

1 word One
2 words Two words
3 words Now Three words
4 words Make that four words

(blank space)

3 words Three words again
2 words Just Two
1 word. One.

Syllable Septolet
1 syllable word What
2 syllables (1 or 2 words) is this
3 syllables (1, 2 or 3 words) Septolet
4 syllables (1, 2, 3, or 4 words) Poetry form?

Blank Space

3 Syllables (1 or 2 or 3 words) I suppose
2 Syllables (1 or 2 words) I’ll try
1 Syllables (1 word it.

Try to write one of each kind of Septolet. They can be on any subject you would like. 

PROMPT   8 – 

April  8, 2023  (write this poem on April 8th)  List poem – things to bring while traveling

And yes another from Julie Robinett of Everett:   Write a list poem which contains a list of “things to bring while traveling.” (These things can be real, real, tangible THINGS; or they can be ideas/attitudes, etc.)  

PROMPT  9 – 

April 9, 2023  (write this poem on April 9th)
A Nonnet :   has nine lines

The first line has 9 syllables, the second 8 syllables, the third 7 syllables until the ninth line which has one syllable.

Should have  an iambic meter (stress every other syllable)  baDAbaDAbaDA  or  BAdaBAdaBAda etc.

PROMPT  10 – 

April 10, 2023  (write this poem on April 10th)

Choose one of these April poets and compose a tribute, homage or parody poem evoking in some way who they were or the poems they wrote;

Maya Angelou was born on April 4th 1928 (died 2014)

William Wordsworth was born on April  7th , 1770  (died 1850). 

 Charles-Pierre Baudelaire was born on April 9th 1821  (died 1867)

“My mouth is a fire escape.
The words coming out
don’t care that they are naked.
There is something burning in there.”
― Andrea Gibson, The Madness Vase

Copyright© Christopher J. Jarmick 2023

The root of the word Poetry is from the Greek   ποιέω (poieō), “‘I

make’”). , poiesis, meaning a “making” or ‘creation’

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=–=-=- 

Poetry is Everything

         PIE

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

NaPoWriMo National Poetry Writing Month Prompts for Days 1 to 4 April 1-4 2023

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails…explore…dream….discover.

– Mark Twain

If you are taking up the challenge for the first time. . . welcome.  You might find that you will develop a new habit of writing every day.  I call my daily writing scribbles.  They aren’t always going to be very good. Some of my better scribbles will be revised and edited into a poem or a poem starter that I will save.   The additional challenge is to share the scribbles you write every day.  Some will be a-w-f-u-l  and you will know the scribbles aren’t very good… but hey you were writing as an exercise, a challenge and if someone judges your scribbles the same way one would judge a published poem well that tells you that person is an extremely overly judgmental person who does not understand the process of creation at all.  Perhaps they will learn more about it.   

This year  I will be using prompts from past years, new prompts and some prompts created by Julie Robinett, a poet friend from Everett, Washington.  

I’ve been participating and offering prompts for NaPoWriMo for about 18 years.    Maureen Thorson has been doing it for 20 years and a few years after she began doing it… she created a website to connect NaPoWriMo participants.   Check out the site for additional prompts and to connect with other sites and bloggers.   

On Saturday April 1st  My bookstore, BookTree at 609 Market St. in Kirkland, Wa 98033 is having a free writing workshop (4:24 pm) followed by a reading (6:15pm) and open mic.  Details on BookTree website or on our Facebook Event Page  if  you are nearby do consider attending! 

To have great poets there must be great audiences too. –Walt Whitman

Poetry is an echo, asking a shadow to dance. — Carl Sandburg

YOUR FIRST 4 Prompts

PROMPT  1

for April 1, 2023

Several years ago I suggested writing a poem inspired by:  Harlequin 

Topic:  Harlequin

 (For April Fool’s day. . .the Harlequin character seems like a good subject for a poem) 

And we’ll take things easy with a free-write approach. 

The Harlequin character evolved from a demon or emissary of the devil character and started becoming a stock theatrical character as far back as 1262 where the character was used in popular French Passion plays.   More development  of the character occurred in the 16^th century where re-interpretation from the devil stock character into the Commedia dell’arte  Zanni of Zani character took place which made the Harlequin into an astute immigrant servant or trickster  (the English word Zany derives from this persona of the character). 

Usually the Harlequin character is characterized by his chequered costume and though clever, witty and a trickster who was often ‘zany’ he was able to act sophisticated.  He really wasn’t a motley fool or silly clown.  The Harlequin’s development is closer to the modern romantic hero  than the court jester.   In the 1860s, the Harlequin character was often paired with a brutish clown figure and the beginning of what would become 20^th centuries slapstick comedy came to be.

 And so let the Harlequin inspire your write on this April Fool’s day.   You can concentrate on the character in any of its personas, or perhaps it’s the costume that included dark mask and chequered patterns that will inspire something in you. 

You’re poem can be any style, any length. 

I suppose if you make a nod or two to its German, Italian, French or Spanish origins in some way, you might get extra boasting rights.   Perhaps you poem should be a bit mischievous in the spirit of the Harlequin 

You decide.

PROMPT  2 – 

April 2, 2023  (write this poem on April 2nd)  Reci-poem

As suggested by that white hat wearing Everett poet, Julie Robinett:    Write a “reci-poem” . . . convey one of your favorite recipes, in poetic form.  Or really any recipe will do and you can be absolutely zany about it or perhaps be detailed enough that someone could actually recreate the recipe and make something with it.  Make it FUN… it’s NaPoWriMo after all and it’s all about a FUN challenge. 

PROMPT  3 – 

April 3, 2023  (write this poem on April 3rd)   Clerihew

A clerihew is a whimsical, four-line biographical poem invented by Edmund Clerihew Bentley. One of his best known is this (1905):

Sir Christopher Wren

Went to dine with some men

He said, “If anyone calls,

Say I’m designing Saint Paul’s.”

A clerihew has the following properties:

It is biographical and usually whimsical, showing the subject from an unusual point of view; it pokes fun at mostly famous people

It has four lines of irregular length and metre (for comic effect)

The rhyme structure is AABB; the subject matter and wording are often humorously contrived in order to achieve a rhyme

The first line contains, and may consist solely of, the subject’s name.

(It’s unbalance meter can be seen as a parody of the eulogy form).

PROMPT  4 – 

April 4, 2023  (write this poem on April 4th) Unusual color

Incorporate an unusual use of color into your poem.  Any kind… short or long.  

I will start  post my poetic offerings later on….rest assured I will be writing each and every day and stumbling to write to the prompts just as many of you will.  I don’t have a lot of time to devote to this practice as I run an independent bookstore (BookTree in Kirkland Wa.   Website:    http://www.booktreekirkland.com/  Facebook: look up BookTreekirkland on Facebook     If you are near Kirkland Wa. Do stop in and say hi.

You should know that on April 1st at BookTree (609 Market St. Kirkland Wa 98033)  There will be a FREE writing workshop, followed by a reading and open mic….   You are invited!!!  Details here:   https://www.facebook.com/events/755102719334498/

Don’t think. Thinking is the enemy of creativity. It’s self-conscious, and anything self-conscious is lousy. You can’t try to do things. You simply must do things.–Ray Bradbury

Copyright© Christopher J. Jarmick 2023

The root of the word Poetry is from the Greek   ποιέω (poieō), “‘I

make’”). , poiesis, meaning a “making” or ‘creation’

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=–=-=- 

Poetry is Everything

         PIE

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

NaPoWriMo 2022 It’s a Wrap!!!! Keep Writing!

“I want to see thirst
In the syllables,
Tough fire
In the sound;
Feel through the dark
For the scream.”

― Pablo Neruda

 It’s a wrap.  Last day of NaPoWriMo 2022, aka National Poetry Writing Month 2022,  the annual project that brings poets together to write a poem each and every day for the month of April.  Congratulations for all the writing you did this month.  May your habit continue.  Scribble… away each and every day!  It’s empowering to be creative and sometimes to have something worth polishing up and showing off to others.  Yes.  

The last Saturday in April is also Independent Bookstore Day in many communities and cities?  The Seattle, Washington  version this year is an exciting  10 day celebration.  My bookstore, BookTree is one of 24 indie bookstores in Western Washington State officially celebrating independent bookstores.  There are some others who jump in and celebrate too….make no mistake ALL indie bookstores count.  Support the one or two near you!   Click here for more info on SIBD!!!

I run a bookstore called BookTree in Kirkland Wa. (at 609 Market St  Facebook site is here).  It keeps me very busy which is why my postings were done in a group.  I absolutely make it a practice to write almost every single day (a lot of scribbling that doesn’t amount to anything… except in reality they do… good with the bad, bad with the good). During poetry month I write every day without fail and usually to the prompts I suggest.   Sometimes (perhaps like many of you reading this) I have only 15 or 20 minutes to devote to writing… some days I have more time.  I figure out a way to make some time to write.   Running a small business is very challenging and consuming.  So I don’t have much time for posting on this blog. The poems I post have been quickly composed and need additional editing and polishing.  A few are pretty damn good…. most… well… they keep me very very humble.

BookTreeBookTree. 1,370 likes · 31 talking about this · 270 were here. BookTree is one of the few remaining independent …

Prompt for Saturday April 30th, 2022 —   LAST OFFICIAL NAPOWRIMO PROMPT.

It’s Independent Bookstore Day (IBD) for many cities and communities around the country.  Celebrate independent bookstores.  In Seattle, IBD, is a 10 day celebration and challenge.  See link about it above.   Today’s Prompt –  write a poem honoring your favorite independent bookstore or stores… if it is still in business… do include a note at the end of where the wonderful store is located.  Have FUN!

Here’s my hot off the press poem….for today’s prompt.

A Bookstore Day Poem!

by Christopher J. Jarmick

Independent Bookstores should be embraced

as the best place to heal. . .

maybe your friend, your neighbor,

a stranger or two

but definitely yourself.

Independent Bookstores are a good place

to dance with the beats of words

languish in the music of the imagination

or the syncopation of history

perhaps absorb the theories of philosophy

and breathe in the charismatic chemistry chorus of science.

Independent Bookstores are a good place

to get touchy feely with portable stories,

essays, poetry, and teachings.

No batteries, recharging needed.

Open one, feel its texture,

smell its age.

Independent Bookstores are portals

into alternate universes, where yesterday

teaches its lessons anew and at the same time

tomorrow is getting ready to fade into a dream

you had, and then you see your former neighbor

or meet a brand new person and everything

seems somehow just right in the world.  

I’m thinking of several bookstores as I wrote this.   Mine is BookTree  609 Market St. Kirkland, WA 98033….  and all those gone but not forgotten bookstores like   Take Another Look Books, Bookworm Exchange in the Columbia City neighborhood of Seattle (both once homes to my PIE readings); and of course Park Place Books in Kirkland;  not to mention: Cinema Books on Roosevelt a few blocks from Scarecrow, David Ishii, Bookseller and Seattle Mystery Bookshop in the Pioneer Square neighborhood, Wit’s End Bookstore in Freemont (once home to Poets West readings), the Book Kennel, Inner Chapters,  Abraxus Books, Balderdash Books, Baily/Coy on Broadway, M Coy, Jackson Street Books, Mockingbird Books and many more no longer with us. 

Tomorrow  do a Wrap up Sunday May 1, 2022 –  If you have the habit now, continue scribbling each and every day.  Perhaps your bonus poem will take 4 to 6 lines from previous poems (no more than one line from a previous poem) and create a brand new 12 line or longer poem.   

Keep writing.

“Ink runs from the corners of my mouth.
There is no happiness like mine.
I have been eating poetry.”
― Mark Strand

Here’s poems I’ve written this past week. . .

Prompt Poem for April 26th…   opposite poem…

Not a smiley-faced poem

by Christopher J. Jarmick

I know you want to smile

to laugh

there are innocent people

being killed by a bully

we need to smile

we need to laugh

I won’t always be able to help you laugh

but I will often try

it makes me happy

to see you happy

if only you were still

here.

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Prompt Poem for April 27th, 2022  . . .   Pickleball

The Pickleball Poem

by Christopher J. Jarmick 

I have never played the  fastest growing sport in the U.S.

I’ve been catching my breath

learning about balance

learning to navigate

putting on a happy face.

It’s called Pickleball  

a combo of ping pong, badminton

and tennis played in a smaller place

with two to four players.

Too bad things changed

didn’t remain the same

would’ve been fun

to get out and learn this game.

So Pickleball was invented

near where I live 

in Washington State on Bainbridge

by two suburban dads in 1965

same year Johnson signed the civil rights

and voting act ending years of suppression

of the black vote.  It was also the year

he started the three year long series of 

air strikes in Vietnam.  Good with the bad,

bad with the good,  I’m still learning

about that too. Some days I don’t even

think of you.  

Pickleball is easier to learn and play

than tennis. It might have been named

after a family dog  they saywho liked to chase the whiffle balls, 

used in the game.

There’s a finesse shot I think

I would like to learn .. .  a slow

lobbing change-up shot

that’s called a dink.

When I have a little more time

I will find someone to call

or maybe meet someone new

and we could play Pickleball. 

Sound good?  How about you?

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“Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.”
― T.S. Eliot

Prompt for April 28th...   Headlines two to four or more combined.

At Fitzgerald the Cat’s Birthday Party

by Christopher J. Jarmick

the fifteen who got Covid wandered

into Cate’s new haunted mansion’s meditation

room  before reuniting an Alabama teen with

his pet Hen lost after a Civil War reenactment

at the local Cracker Barrell which somehow 

had something to do with the Zebra getaway

in Michigan which is a whole ‘nother story.  I know

if it weren’t true you wouldn’t believe it.  I wish

all we’ve been hearing about the Ukraine

was as made up as a tabloid headline regarding

bat boy, but truth is not only stranger

 than fiction, it’s devastating.  

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NOTES…..

Every day in April  I create prompts for poets (including myself to write from if they so choose).  The idea is to inspire AND challenge.   I usually scribble something every day for at least 30 minutes… but this is a bit more purposeful during April for me…  So today…. I took about 45 minutes and wrote these.  I edited them for about ten minutes.  Most will need another edit before I decide if I want them published or not (can I let these babies fly away?). 

Prompt for Friday April 29th, 2022-  Today- in a poem let’s speak of why ART (as in real Art… not just Arty; or Artistic).  

ART SET

Poem Starter 429

by Christopher J. Jarmick

Art was not understood at the bar.

So he bought everyone a round.

Conversation, laughter 

and soon friendship blossomed.

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No Must (or Only Real Men and Women dare make Art) 

by Christopher J. Jarmick

I start my dancing

by walking like Charlie Chaplin

and then my shoulders keep a sort

of rhythm, but it’s my hands,

rolling at the wrist and expressing

a sort of celebratory freedom

that used to make her smile.

Mona Lisa

almost smirks

but no if you really look

you still aren’t sure.

Some days are almost

completely good.

This is the second stanza

it won’t fit in Joseph’s box

of found things and Andy 

isn’t interested in silk screening

it multiple times. Maybe Jackson

will spit on it so it will be worth something

even if it is never understood.

It feels like I should grab some

partial random lines from a popular

song and mix them with an idea

or two borrowed from a folk tale

from Ireland.  Something might

happen that I didn’t quite intend

and take my breath away.

You aren’t seeing it because

when I did this, I knew it was

dishonest and Art that matters

takes courage because it has to be truthful. 

Take that away from what 

you create and you have

nothing.

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“There is no must in art

because art is free.” – Wassily Kandinsky

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Warm Ups

by Christopher J. Jarmick

That freestyle

almost stumble

thing expressed by

dancers;

the indoor run into a somersault

and back onto your feet;

the children throwing themselves

the ground rolling down the hill;

blink really fast, loosen the muscles

in your face and shake your head back

and forth making silly noises.

Warm up exercises

for an artist.

Keep writing!  Keep creating!  Care!

Bonus poem     free write  April 29th 2:15 to about 2:35pm. 

Another Love Lost

by Christopher J. Jarmick

Step right up

to your left were elephants

trained to perform like domesticated dogs.

If you didn’t think how many were mistreated

and how this was an insult to their intelligence

you could enjoy it.

Like the bitter clowns stuffing themselves into 

tiny cars and being so silly.

Laugh and laugh and try not to be

creeped out over their bizarre face paint

and don’t think how many drink themselves

to sleep most nights of the week

Chimpanzees, dogs, Lions, even a bear

or two will perform.  Shoot folks out of a

cannon… look up at the trapeze,

the tight rope, and that one is gonna dive

from way up there into that little bowl of water.

Most won’t die

but there’s risk and danger.

What fun!

If you get serious about risk and danger

try being creative, write, paint, sing

show a bit of your soul

bleed a little bit

even if nobody has any idea

why  you do what you do

it ain’t money,

it ain’t fame

it sure ain’t power

it’s love at it’s core

so hot, so cold

so very very bold

broken heart and all.

———————

“I am the poet of the poor, because I was poor when I loved;

since I could not give gifts, I gave words.”
― Ovid

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Keep Writing!

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