Welcome to the very last day of Michael Jarmer’s contribution to National Poetry Writing Month. The optional assignment for this last day of these poetic festivities from the napowrimo website reads like this: “Today, I challenge you to write a poem backwards. Start with the last line and work your way up the page toContinue reading “#172: A Backwards Poem”
Monthly Archives: April 2015
#171: Penultimate Poem for April: A Review of Last Night’s Tantrum
Last night’s temper tantrum was a resounding success. Let us consider the salient features of the tantrum and see to what heights of glory were reached by last night’s specimen. Usually, a tantrum begins with some struggle right before bedtime, typically involving the cessation of play and the transition upstairs. This was most clearly evident. Ad electronics. ThereContinue reading “#171: Penultimate Poem for April: A Review of Last Night’s Tantrum”
#170: Bridges
My mother hated bridges. She hated driving; she would do it if she absolutely had to, but she would never drive across a bridge. She did not trust them to support her or she did not trust herself to drive straight across, afraid of a fatal tack to the left or to the right, into oncomingContinue reading “#170: Bridges”
#169: Freshmen Boys
My 7th period class is chaos. Boys trapped in their teenage bodies don’t know how to do anything; even being human is too difficult. Listening, completely out of the question. Seriousness, a concept that doesn’t register. Respect, never heard the word before. Girls, poor things, are sadly outnumbered, know what’s up and ignore boys. They will wait,Continue reading “#169: Freshmen Boys”
#168: Barack Obama Speaks of Mirrors
Barack Obama Speaks of Mirrors What I see. Damn, I am handsome and my wife is beautiful and my children–exceptional. Hands down, I am the most handsome president in the history of these United States of America. I, too, am perhaps the funniest. Did you see my spiel at the White House Correspondents Dinner? Damn,Continue reading “#168: Barack Obama Speaks of Mirrors”
#167: Sir Spam A Lot (a found poem)
From time to time, believe it or not, I receive spam comments through my little blog site. They are often poorly written, sometimes hilariously so. And they remain a complete mystery to me: Where do they come from? What is their purpose? What could the originator of the message, be it a real live human orContinue reading “#167: Sir Spam A Lot (a found poem)”
#166: A Couple of Clerihews
Senator Elizabeth Warren– she won’t allow any snorin’ but neither will she give us our fun; she refuses over and over to run. Friedrich Nietzsche could not be seen with a pee-chee; a notebook guy, clearly it’s true– how else could he pen Zarathu stra Michael Jarmer has become quite the verse farmer, but attempting some Clerihew funContinue reading “#166: A Couple of Clerihews”
#165: Our Phones Are Too Much With Us
This was too damn hard. Finally, I had to abandon Wordsworth’s awesome rhyme scheme because almost nothing rhymes with seven. At any rate, “The World Is Too Much With Us” is one of my all-time favorite poems and now I’ve gone and ruined it. The poem, exactly as Wordsworth penned it, published in 1807, says asContinue reading “#165: Our Phones Are Too Much With Us”
#164: O Miranda
O wonder! How many goodly creatures are there here! How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world, That has such people in’t. O Miranda O Miranda, I, too, have known tempests; I, too, have been separated from a father; I, too, know the feeling of beauty, goodness, or courage creeping through a bit atContinue reading “#164: O Miranda”
#163: Pastoral
I I’ve taught inside a classroom without windows for twenty-seven years. On the one hand, my work is done on the page and in the mind and with words moving through space between people in a room; through imagination and through language we bring the outside in. And yet, on the other hand, if IContinue reading “#163: Pastoral”
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