allmimsyweretheborogroves

[allmimsyweretheborogroves]

XXI.  

朝露に In the morning dew, 吹き出している growing, sprouting up and out 青い草 the youngbluefresh grass

うつせみの世に in this cicada-shell world, 春がやってきた！ Spring has thoroughly arrived!

Prompt: write a poem that focuses on a particular color.

#napowrimo #poetry #tanka #nature #allllll caught up! #alas #but 吹き出す doesn't translate well into something with the right syllabic length #生えてしまってる might have been more interesting. Ah well

[allmimsyweretheborogroves]

XX.

To the capital, Hitomaro was called up,  but, in the leaving,

his wife flew up, and,  left him behind. 

Prompt: write a poem that recounts a historical event.  This “event” is recounted in Man’yōshū II:207-212.  You can read Edwin Cranston’s very nice translation online here (p. 224 - 228).  

#napowrimo #poetry #tanka #kakinomoto no hitomaro #man'yōshū #万葉集

[allmimsyweretheborogroves]

XIX. 

Anxiety hunts, nibbling at my toes; hunting, my life each moment.

I would lose this hunting ghost, yet who am I without it?

Prompt: write a poem about something that haunts you.  Then, change the word “haunt” to “hunt.” 

#napowrimo #poetry #tanka #anxiety #I suppose

[allmimsyweretheborogroves]

XVIII.

To become a fern,  her dearest wish—curling green, frond in the forest,

untroubled by former cares:  may this email find you gone.  

Prompt: write a poem in which the speaker expresses a desire to become someone or something else and explains why.

#napowrimo #poetry #tanka #playing catch up #ferns

[allmimsyweretheborogroves]

XVII. 

His guitar riffing, surfing with the alien, Joe Satriani

wins an intergalactic  battle of the bands for Earth.

Prompt: write a poem inspired by a piece of music.

#napowrimo #poetry #tanka #joe satriani

[allmimsyweretheborogroves]

XVI. 

On brown, sunbaked hills, butterscotch ponderosa hiding prickly pears

grasshoppers buzzing loudly— the heart becomes smooth sandstone

Prompt: write a poem about place or object with a final, more abstract line. 

#napowrimo #poetry #tanka #nature poetry #colorado

[allmimsyweretheborogroves]

XV.  

The package arrived, sent to me from overseas, covered with eggplants, 

fifty dollars in eggplants, inside was gifted friendship.

Prompt: write a poem inspired by a stamp.

#napowrimo #poetry #tanka #Back in 2015 or so #japan post #had a fruits and vegetables stamp collection #sending an international package using stamps is an endeavor #You need a fairly large box...

[allmimsyweretheborogroves]

XIV.  

I like the way the rain comes down I like the way it patters on the roof and on the glass I like the way the world goes still I like the way we press our noses on the windows I like the way we read a book all curled up I like the way we wait I like the way the puddles form I like the way the raindrops ripple I like the way water settles into the dirt I like the way the earth smells I like the way it fills with life and greenness I like the way my feet fit into the mud I like the way it squishes between my toes I like the way the rain comes down, but best of all I like the way it makes me live.

Prompt: write a poem of at least ten lines using anaphora.  

#napowrimo #poetry #free form #anaphora #it would be great #if it would rain

[allmimsyweretheborogroves]

XIII.

Waka, they say, must rhyme, Back in Hamanari’s time— Rhyme should be like wine,

There, at the end of line,  Something pure and clear—refined.

Prompt: write a poem with rhyme. n.b. This poem is a joke for me specifically, since I suspect that the average reader is not particularly interested in Fujiwara no Hamanari and very early book of poetic criticism. Instead, I offer three cheers for Hamanari, who, for all his opinions, was an incredibly bad poet.

#napowrimo #poetry #tanka #fujiwara no hamanari #literally no one on tumblr has ever made the #hamanari #tag #but I will do this for us all

[allmimsyweretheborogroves]

The dog on the floor Waits patiently by the door, Longing for a ghost,

Do you bark for your loved one Or is it just the postman?

Prompt: write a poem inspired by a tall tale. Ignored.

#napowrimo #poetry #tanka #dogs

[allmimsyweretheborogroves]

XI. 

The wind blew spring in and the cobwebs out of my heart.

Prompt: Write a monostich (one line poem).

#napowrimo #poetry #monostich

[allmimsyweretheborogroves]

X.

WANT A REAL GOLD FISH? do they make fish of fool’s gold?—shiny and brittle, glittering with falsity: this fish is a fake. or perhaps it comes with a certificate.  or contract.   a proof.  this, here, genuine.  a 14 carat fish. THEY WILL BE GIVEN AWAY free for the low price of your time and energy!  give away,  given away, means no longer wanted.  a loss of value,  poor stock performance.  the investors won’t have it.  better hand it off to the plebs; they won’t know. SATURDAY IN THE PARK saturday, free day, free fish on saturday!  come to the park and get your fish,  fresh from the pond, take any one you like as long as it’s golden. Take a Receptacle With You and the Finny Ones Will be Yours Without Charge. bring a bowl, bring a plate, bring your baskets, any type will do.  the Finny Ones are waiting for you. there is no charge for them, take them.  take the finny ones and go….

Prompt: Write a poem based on one of the curious headlines, cartoons, and other journalistic tidbits featured at Yesterday’s Print.  I used this one.

#napowrimo #poetry #free form #goldfish

[allmimsyweretheborogroves]

IX.  Ode to the Ripe Tomato I Found Out of Season

You,  bright red and surprising, succulent  round and ripe— a tomato, hiding unnoticed, on  the grocery store shelf.  Still  fat with summer’s sweetness.  I took you home, my love,  to sit, treasured on the counter, waiting, for an afternoon snack, eaten over the sink, juice running down  my arms and  dripping off my elbows— the messy manifestation of adoration, us, together.  I ate you plain, no salt required to flatter your taste: sugary  brilliance and I remembered sunlit lifetimes, sweat on the concrete and tomato seeds in my teeth, you,  the taste of sun here in my winter-pale kitchen, a forgotten treasure just for me.

Prompt: write an ode celebrating an everyday object with inspiration from Pablo Neruda.

#napowrimo #poetry #free form #pablo neruda

[allmimsyweretheborogroves]

VIII. 

The butterfly flapped and all the world came undone; a life unravelled

After the apocalypse, my heart was quiet and still.  

Prompt: Write a poem that centers around an encounter or relationship between two people (or things) that shouldn’t really have ever met.  Ignored (?)

#napowrimo #poetry #tanka #at least there're the #butterflies

[allmimsyweretheborogroves]

VII. Wish You Were Here

The weather is beautiful. It rained every day. I lay on the beach, High mountains how I long for you, Drinking piña coladas on the sand. Sipping cold water beneath the trees. I wish you were here. I’ve never been so in love with aloneness.

With credit to Li Bai for his absolutely killer line, 高山安可仰, in “Message to Meng Haoran.”

Prompt: Write a poem titled “Wish You Were Here” that takes its inspiration from the idea of a postcard.

#napowrimo #poetry #free form #postcard poem #With all credit to #li bai

[allmimsyweretheborogroves]

VI.  

Crocus blooming bright, undaunted by a spring snow, coming up golden

can you imagine any other world beyond this one?

Prompt: write a poem rooted in “weird wisdom.”  Ignored.

#napowrimo #poetry #tanka #nature poetry #crocus

[allmimsyweretheborogroves]

V.

the wind blew all night, rattling us in our beds, and, in the morning,

the snow had all blown away and left behind only spring

Prompt: write a poem about how a pair or trio very different things would perceive of a blessing. Ignored.

#napowrimo #poetry #tanka