Lucky Cat Comics

Today, the prompt, a Sonnet. And like many sonnets, the theme for the prompt -Love.

spring walk

soft green lawn slopes down to a velvet lake
a loose patchwork of blankets coats the grass
the picnics planted in sunshine and cake
pulse with the hubbub of holidays past 

the chatter of friends now reunited -
the bright laughter of family sharing
the squeals of barefoot children delighted
balls flying, corns holing, frisbees airing

and dogs, dogs, dogs, all wagging in the breeze
the big and the small, some smooth, some poodles
dachshunds and frenchies and the three Burmese 
huskies and bulldogs, mutts, labs, and doodles.

and you, heart repaired, walking all the way
me holding your hand and loving the day

Oh boy. Today’s prompt was originally developed by Jim Simmerman and has 20 different rules to follow, or to add, into a poem. (Here is a link to the prompt and the twenty little rules – https://www.napowrimo.net/day-eight-10/ ) Lots of thought and lots of fun for a one day turnaround. I took a comic turn to a serious subject.

Plagiarism

“Plagiarism is like a sweet and spicy chip”¹
“May I use that, “ I said
“Skrunchy, what’s mine can be yours,
As long as there are proper annotations.”
“You are sweet, my ghost pepper.” she typed.
“I’m the steamy food truck to your appetite.”
“Me pones caliente,” slipped through her lips
“Does that mean I’m spicy? Extra caliente?”
“Picante means spicy. Spicy like plagiarism.”
“Where one rides the sharp curled edge of getting caught,
And indulges in the crisp tang of stolen words.”
She considered his phraseology as her fingers
jumped from keyboard to chip bag.
The bright red chip assaulted her eyes,
but more heinously bloodied the keyboard
with its artificial color Red #6 detritus.
The “P” and “L” keys had become slow to respond.
Is it the build up of cayenne colored snack dust?
Or the laptop’s growing impatience of her
flirtations with sentence theft and revisionism?
“Who said ‘Style is the stuff you get wrong^2’?”
“Neil Gaiman. On Masterclass.” he added helpfully.
“If I use that does it need a footnote?”
“Possibly. I hear he gets Picante if you steel his stuff.”
“He gets Spicy?” she replied, as she saw her thesis
dissolve into the unpublishable heat of scrutiny.
“Every quotable quote came from an aggrieved party,”
he said, licking the red devil’s pollen from his fingers.
“Balderdash!” I cried, slamming the computer closed.
Forget grammar and think about potatoes.³

1 Gillette Moorcroft, Breakfast conversation, 2023
2 Neil Gaman, Masterclass, 2020 (or so)
3 Gertrude Stein, How to Write, 1931

Hello All. The inspiration for today was to make a list, or start a list, or let a list happen. The inspiration was the poem by James Tate “The List of Famous Hats”, which was wonderful. Well here is what happened to my list attempt.

To Do List for a Big Move

A – Apply for bigger apartment
B – Box books, box books, box books and books
C – Credit check so I can pay rent
D – Dump sheets, and curtains, rods and hooks

E – Estimate truck size for the stuff
F – Find a home for platform bed 
G – Good Guy Movers sound cheap enough
H – Hire expensive movers instead

I – Invest in two wheelers and carts
J – Jam bigger boxes with fine arts
K – Kick tires on the loaded van
L – Look for every box you can 

M – Make room in storage for Blue Bear
N – Need new insurance from somewhere
O – Organise the cups and cookware
P – what about the Papasan Chair?

Q – Query a new life on the lamb
R – Respond to new job telegram
S – Sorry, staying just where I am

The prompt today was to find a poem in a language you don’t know, and then try to work out your own version. This prompt draws you in, and shakes you while you try to do justice to words you don’t know.  I found this poem on Poetry International, and was drawn to the title.  I did not read the poem in English until I was done with my version.  Anka Zagar is a Croatian poet, who has published six books of poetry.  I am looking forward to reading more of her work.

VERMEER

usla je sa svih strana 
u vodu koja sa svih strana
osamljuje te. hoce se sjetiti 
kako je usla 
djevojka koja 
stavila bisere

By Anka Zagar

Vermeer

light fills the open window
and she sits in the open window
gazing at you. eyes up slightly
face fills with light
patiently sits
hold your breath

by meg

And by popular request is the English Translation of Anka Zagar’s poem. And again, I did not read it before I constructed my poem. I was happy to see they were both about the same painting.

Vermeer

she has come in from all sides
into the water that makes you from all sides
alone wanting to remember
how she had come in,
that girl that would like to
put pearls on her neck  

by Anka Zagar

The prompt today was to read the poem The Melon, by Charles Simic. It is a lovely poem that, as was said on the NaPoWriMo site, “…illuminates the juxtaposition between grief and joy, sorrow and reprieve.”
This is poem is my result.

Mom

There had been a fall
And the hospital stay
And the decline.
Her mind was slipping 
Faster than her body.
Her spirit was stronger
Than both.

She fought against the 
Soft hospital restraints.
For her own safety 
You told her.
The struggle paused,
“Well,” she said emphatically,
“Then I can’t make the bacon.”

Today’s prompt was to compose a Triolite. An 8 line poem, with 8 syllables per line and lots of other rules. I have been to the zoo recently, so here is my first Triolite.

The Kudu

Picture now the lesser Kudu
So much greater than you knew
But how to prove it to his crew?
Picture now the lesser Kudu
To lock horns is such a to-do
Just who is fluffier than who
Picture now the lesser Kudu
So much greater than you knew

The prompt today was to find a poem and then rewrite it, using an opposite word for every word. After spending a long day away from paper and pencil, I followed the prompt, but in a very elementary way.  Opposites are hard, forgive me.

That big birdie left a desert.
That big birdie flew away.
That big birdie lacked a fish.
That big birdie enjoyed plenty.
But, that big birdie sang eew, eew, eew,
No way from nowhere.

The prompt today consisted of a list of words, questions and answers. It resulted in this untitled poem. Suggest a title if you have one.

Under pressure life squeals
Hot flash to low growl
Layer by layer
Wrapped in discomfort
The soul’s melody slips out of the heart
Swiftly
Silently
With hidden talons

Hello All. Sorry to have been away so long. It has been a busy, trying year. But now it’s April, and again, time for NaPoWriMo! I will try to write a poem everyday of April. It’s going to be tricky, but I’m giving it a stab.

The prompt today was to write about book covers. I channeled some book covers of my youth. Special thanks to Robert Louis Stevenson, AA Milne and Ogden Nash.

Poetry Under the Covers

The big blue book
So colorful and bright
Never noticed faded pages
As it’s read to me at night

On the cover kids from long ago
Run up a far away hill
I know inside there’s a friendly cow
And birdie with a yellow bill

And the words will take me swinging
Up in the air so blue
Oh I still think it’s the pleasantest thing
Ever a child can do

Some nights the small blue book
Is the one sitting on the chair
With its simple ink line drawing 
Of a little boy and a bear

But here the words jump and play
And tickle with rhymes like pleazles
When Christopher Robin is in his bed
Having the wheezles and sneezles

And some poems offer comforting thoughts
So I know I’m clever as clever,
And Pooh will be with me, says Pooh, says he,
He’s a friend for ever and ever.

The dark red book, with no pictures
Seemed like a real downfall
But just wait and you will learn
It’s the silliest book of all

No word was safe, every rhyme was fun
The humor was easily skewed
I learned celery raw, develops the jaw,
But celery stewed is more quietly chewed

These books were my favorites nightly,
My parents did not complain.
The lifetime poetry journey began
In my pleasant land of counterpane.