Gustave Flaubert sees his lover

Gustave Flaubert sieht seine Geliebte

A figure in rotation

Nude with upraised arm

Her second arabesque

The make-up that’s barely there

Multiple exposures of the moon

Double virginal

Our prompt today at napowrimo.net write a poem inspired by one of the odd, in-transition spaces provided by “the perpetually disconcerting @SpaceLiminalBot“. I stuck with the collection of The Met instead, and searched for terms like liminal and transition. I found many lovely pieces of work with great titles. The titles themselves were poetic enough for a poem 🙂 I’ve copied the works that are open access in this post, and provide clickable links to the other ones beneath the pictures. The art piece that provided the first line of this poem is especially liminal.

Oh, and my book is still free today and tomorrow!

Title: Second Arabesque
Artist: Edgar Degas (French, Paris 1834–1917 Paris)

Founder: Cast by A.-A. Hébrard et Cie (Paris)

Date: modeled probably before 1890, cast 1920
Culture: French, Paris
Medium: Bronze
Dimensions: Overall: 11 3/8 × 17 1/8 × 3 7/8 in. (28.9 × 43.5 × 9.8 cm)
Classification: Sculpture-Bronze
Credit Line: H.O. Havemeyer Collection, Bequest of Mrs. H.O. Havemeyer, 1929
Accession Number: 29.100.399

Title: [Multiple Exposures of the Moon]
Artist: Antoine-François-Jean Claudet (French, Lyon 1797–1867London)

Photography Studio: John Jabez Edwin Mayall (British, Oldham, Lancashire 1813–1901 West Sussex)

Date: 1846–52
Medium: Daguerreotype
Dimensions: Plate: 2 1/2 × 2 in. (6.4 × 5.1 cm)
Case (approx.): 5.5 × 2.5 cm (2 3/16 × 1 in.)
Classification: Photographs
Credit Line: The Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation Fund, through Joyce and Robert Menschel, 2019
Accession Number: 2019.47

Title: Double Virginal
Maker: Lodewijck Grouwels (Flemish, active Middelburg, Zeeland, The Netherlands 1593–1600)

Date: 1600
Geography: Middelburg, Zeeland, The Netherlands
Culture: Flemish
Medium: Pine, spruce, paint, gilding, ivory
Dimensions: W. 75 × D. 20 in. (190.5 × 50.8 cm)
Classification: Chordophone-Zither-plucked-virginal
Credit Line: The Crosby Brown Collection of Musical Instruments, 1889
Accession Number: 89.4.1196

Gustave Flaubert sieht seine Geliebte

A figure in rotation

Nude with upraised arm

Her second arabesque

The make-up that’s barely there

Multiple exposures of the moon

Double virginal

A revived writer

Each year in April we experience writing,
we bravely venture on a voyage des mots
minutes past midnight, the mad journey starts
we take our soulfluff, our musings through life
and turn them into a bag of anything

Our ordinary thoughts, scrambled not fried
sculpted mexcessively
turn gibberjabber into peacock poetry
(sometimes the other way around)

Even when too full to write,
we move through cosmic rubble, words that cant
we make our musings survive that charmed chaos,
hoping our thoughts of words beget a seven eyed wonder

With life a teacher, we make able fires
arhtistic license frees us, all

Aloha promises forever
My own garden of verse

Today’s prompt at napowrimo.net: “In some past years, I’ve challenged you to write a poem of farewell for our thirtieth day, but this year, I’d like to challenge you to write a poem about something that returns.” Well, each year, our writing for #NaPoWriMo returns, and the joy of reading fellow participants too.

My poem is built out of blog titles. I started by browsing through all featured participants, and after that added other blog titles from the comments and my WordPress reader.

Here are the links to the featured poets at napowrimo.net that pop up in my poem, including the inviting description of their poems (click on the links if you have time!):

Today’s featured participant is 7eyedwonder, where, from Day 3’s rhymes-and-near-rhymes prompt, a mighty ode to bread has risen (like dough…it’s risen…get it?).

Today’s featured participant is Mexcessive, where the concrete poem for Day Nine opens doors (or maybe closes them?).

Today’s featured participant is Scrambled, Not Fried, where Day Thirteen’s theft-inspired prompt resulted in an ode to the joys of the illicit.

Our featured participant today is Bag of Anything, where you will find a bouquet of humorous clerihews in response to Day Fourteen’s inspirational prompt.

Our featured participant today is The Great Unknown, where Day Sixteen’s over-the-top prompt led to a poem rife with onamotapoeia, superlatives, and ebullient sarcasm.

Today’s featured participant is soulfluff, where the “forgotten technology” prompt for Day 17 engendered an ode to typewriters.

Our featured participant today is My Musings Through Life, where the “small pleasures” prompt for Day 18 gives voice to the joy of flowers, time with family, tea, and hearing the birds sing.

Our featured participant for the day is GibberJabber, which brings us a many-lettered appreciation of the beverage that gets so many of us out of bed in the morning, in response to Day 23’s “look-of-the-letter”-based prompt.

Our featured participant today is Voyage des Mots, where the homophonic translation prompt for Day 21 resulted in some atypical motherly advice.

Today’s featured participant is Ordinary Average Thoughts, where Day 26’s “almanac” poem get entwined in the zeitgeist.

Our featured participant today is Minutes Past Midnight, where the “remembered bedroom” prompt for Day 28 led to a detailed yet not entirely comforting remembrance.

Other blogs that unknowingly co-created this poem:

https://wordsthatcant.wordpress.com/

https://cosmicrubble.com/tag/napowrimo/

https://lifeateacher.wordpress.com/tag/poetry-2/

https://arhtisticlicense.com/tag/napowrimo/

https://alohapromisesforever.com/category/poetry-and-poems/

https://revivedwriter.wordpress.com/

https://experiencewriting.com/

https://toofulltowrite.com/napowrimo-2020/

https://mabel-lee.com/poetry/

https://peacockpoetryblog.wordpress.com/

https://myowngardenofverse.wordpress.com/

https://charmedchaos.com/category/poetry/

It would have been nice to have exactly 30 blogs in the poem, honouring 30 days of writing, reading, commenting and sharing poetic space. Maybe next year!

April 14, inspire me

April 14th, inspire me
scattered everywhere take two	the ghost of I’m not good enough
you won’t like it	you won’t like it
lost property, prompt not included	fracture strength to the none
April 14th, inspired me

The prompt at napowrimo.net today was “to write a poem that deals with the poems, poets, and other people who inspired you to write poems.” After ample consideration, I realised that my biggest inspiration is #NaPoWriMo, and specifically the prompts and community at napowrimo.net.

The poem combines some of the things I learned and developed during 7 years of National Poetry Writing Month:
– The lines are a compilation of titles of poems (in this case all of them published on napowrimo day 14)
– The formatting is a table
– The poem is a cleave poem

Just to be clear: I’m not claiming that I am my biggest inspiration 🙂 I’m just celebrating today’s prompt by leaning into 7 years of napowrimo inspired writing. I was surprised to find out that some of my favourite ones (The ghost of I’m not good enough, Fracture Strength and You Won’t Like It) were born on this very day.

Letter from Zagreb

Dear misfit,

May I please blow your trumpet?
You are needed now
In these days of consent minus one
You –
denied
limited
trumped –
are on a heroins journey
set by praying mantis

nerved by real news
you provide a hard copy
of neat love

In my musical
you’d be a proud member of the NUA
(now the no-unicorns-association)
no soul broker

Misfit
Please be careful
Cynical self help is a dud

Your disposition
may be
obscene
fixed
even heriditary

but if you were me
you’d love me
and
If I were me
I’d love you

till death do us part

Respectfully not yours,
Angela van Son

PS I forgot Inflection. Please remember i is a number, I’m not

One of the prompts for today at the generous octpowrimo page was to create a form of your own and share it with us. I realised I have a tradition that started some poetry months ago, to create a poem from titles (or snippets, or blog titles) from fellow participants and link up to them. A way to keep favourite parts, honour words I love, and express connection. I’m not even sure, but I think I invented this form myself, out of sheer enthusiasm.

Mine today is a variety on that: I’ve created a poem from the titles of my own poems this poetry month. I think I managed to incorporate all!

I prefer the form where I honour other peoples words, but I need more head space and time for those than I have right now. The good thing about todays version, is that invited me to look back at my own work this month and it works well as closure.

Today is our last day. #OctPoWriMo finishes. Again I’ve made great connections, read amazing poems, and got to enjoy my poems being read, liked and commented on. An inspiring and healing month. Thank you organisers, participants and readers!

If you like the idea of title poems, you can find more examples here.

Lost and found

A  bag of anything
A bucket list of dust
Different shades of luck

The last compilation poem for now. Three days in a row of creating a poem by blog titles and posts of fellow participants in #NaPoWriMo. I might do more later, but I don’t want it to become a gimmick. And I’m behind on some interesting prompts, so time for a new challenge!

You can find the poem that provided the title here.

Escape

Roshni the moving finger writes
just another wakeup call

Ride the wave
Unlucky in luck
our mothers and fathers mad heartsmad hearts knew
resilience is a Friday’s fairytale

In the stilly night
The confused angel’s trumpet
blows a night song

(The title comes from this poem by J Luukkonen)

I had such a blast yesterday! It was great to be the featured participant on napowrimo.net. I’ve never had so many visitors on my blog before. It was such a joy to have you visit, like and comment. Thanks to everyone who dropped by.

I also thoroughly enjoyed reading all the bop poems. What a fabulous prompt! I hope to try my hand at it, but not today. I’m still tired from a very long working day yesterday.

I love today’s prompt (alliteration and assonance), but I already had a second poem based on websites and titles of you, my fellow writers (like yesterday’s).

For me this is a lovely way to pay tribute to the gems you create. Again please don’t take it personal if you’re not in it. There are too many beautiful options to use all of them.

I realise I haven’t asked permission, I hope nobody minds that I to linked to their work. If you do, please let me know and I’ll remove the link.

This and other poems

My dearest Grapeling
it could be that
the ordinary average thoughts of us
are but instructions for not living a life

So maybe
yogic release
and looking in the mirror
can wipe the thoughts of words
and bring back the glitters of life

Until that annoying voice
of a bad fairy
in the guise of a poet
whispers – again:

A poem is a machine for making
a writer’s fountain
so write, ally, write your
soul structured lines

Once more we are temporary saints
our faith unlocked
bitten by a timorous beastie

Had I but one more day
I’d heal our elusive verse

We have a thing for words

Did you know there’s poetry in your poetry? This poem is based on websites and titles of you, my fellow writers. It’s an ode to your beautiful words.

Please don’t take it personally if you’re not in this one, it doesn’t mean I don’t like your words. I gathered so many beautiful snippets that I have enough for three or more poems I believe. Today’s is just the story that this poem wanted to tell. Please don’t take that story personally either.

I don’t have a clue yet what the prompt is for day 10 of #NaPoWriMo. I’ll be away all day, so I wrote this in advance.

You can find the website that forms the title of this poem here.