The prompt today from NaPoWriMo is an assignment that I have already done when I mistakenly ripped off the structure and form of a John Berryman poem as my “golden shovel.” I redeemed myself that day by creating a bonus poem based on the William Carlos Williams gem “The Red Wheelbarrow.” I wish I would have known this one was coming–in which case I would have saved the Berryman rip-off for today and published the Williams thing as my golden shovel. Oh well. I’ve got an excuse to write still another poem. I’m not going to do the whole thing, god no, but here’s a rip-off of the first stanza of one of my all time favorite poems: “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” by T.S. Eliot. I’ll include the original afterwards for the uninitiated.
The Love Song of Bernard Von Scuttlesby
Let us know then, you and him,
When the morning is fished out from inside the bin
Like a statement anesthetized into a fable;
Let us know, of somewhat half-converted treats,
The clamorous defeats
Of topless fights in one-two punch motels
And skid marked pavement in blue oyster cult hell:
Beats that fumble like an obsequious fulfillment
Of idiotic lament
To slide you to an underwear warming question …
Oh, do not dance, “What it is!”
The original first stanza of Eliot’s “Prufrock”:
michael jarmer 
Good job with both rip-offs! The golden shovel seemed to me too overwhelming to contemplate an attempt–because I couldn’t let myself half-ass an assignment–and I think I would’ve been over my head but determined to not give up, drowning with all the dignity I could muster. This kind of ripping off is much more feasible for me. I think I shall try something by Mary Oliver. I love her. Merrily.
Thanks Lorien! I’m a huge Mary Oliver fan as well. “Wild Geese” would be a good one to play with.
That is the exact one I chose! Just posted. It was only a little agonizing.
That’s a nice one! You’ve borrowed her form and managed to say your very own clear-minded thing. Bravo.