In the spirit of April Fools day, here’s the first sonnet of the month. It’s kind of a political thing, which surprised me. I had the first line and had no idea where I would go with it. My standards for what constitutes a sonnet is simply 14 lines with a rough 10 syllable construction.Continue reading “#474: It takes a fool to know a fool, they say . . .”
Author Archives: michaeljarmer
#473: The First Novel I Ever Read
Welcome to the very first day of National Poetry Writing Month, 2024, the goal of which is to write a poem every day for 30 days. I have nearly lost count at this point of the number of consecutive years I have participated in this ritual. I venture to say twelve. For twelve years inContinue reading “#473: The First Novel I Ever Read”
NaPoWriMo 2024: More, More, More, He Cried. With A Rebel Yell.
Well, that’s a nutty title–funny only for those familiar with the Billy Idol song, but appropriate for the year in the National Poetry Writing Month Extravaganza because I’m doing it again and I’m hoping to go big. Last year I vowed to write a sonnet every day for 30 days and I was, lo andContinue reading “NaPoWriMo 2024: More, More, More, He Cried. With A Rebel Yell.”
On the Twenty-first Day of 2024: The Numbers, Again
Number of bicycle rides in 2024: 5 Number of walks I’ve taken: I wasn’t counting. Let’s estimate that I went for a walk with the dogs maybe 7 times in 21 days. Number of alcoholic beverages consumed: 0 Number of times I wanted a drink really bad but nevertheless resisted: 5 Number of dreams I’veContinue reading “On the Twenty-first Day of 2024: The Numbers, Again”
On the Fourteenth Day of 2024: OCD Record Collector
First of all, I needed to incorporate about twenty titles into the collection from the records I acquired from my big brothers who find themselves without turntables. Next, I had to reorder the collection to be in proper alphabetical order. If you look closely at the photo above, you might be able to see thatContinue reading “On the Fourteenth Day of 2024: OCD Record Collector”
On the Thirteenth Day of 2024: Home Alone with Snow and Old Records
My brother and my brother-in-law both bequeathed to me their record collections. In my brother’s case, he let me cull and pick out things I knew I wanted in my collection. My brother in law just gave me a big ol’ box. Finally, after years of storing these things in my basement, I went throughContinue reading “On the Thirteenth Day of 2024: Home Alone with Snow and Old Records”
On the Twelfth Night of 2024: Nietzsche and Saltburn, In That Order
It’s not very often that I do research in order to write a song lyric, but on Friday I find myself digging around in Nietzsche expressly for that purpose. I had written this song with my friend Adam for our Project MA album, and the words I wrote, inspired by a title Adam had givenContinue reading “On the Twelfth Night of 2024: Nietzsche and Saltburn, In That Order”
On the Eleventh Day of 2024: Coffee with a Friend
There are people that I meet, I have found, for whom I have an almost immediate affinity, people who exude an energy, an intelligence, or a sense of humor, or a welcoming presence that puts me at ease, that makes me feel seen, understood, and appreciated. I had coffee on Thursday with such an individual,Continue reading “On the Eleventh Day of 2024: Coffee with a Friend”
On the Tenth Day of 2024: Please Excuse Michael’s Absence
On the tenth day of 2024, after setting up a pattern of daily blogging, while admitting that he was not sure how long he could keep it up, Michael Jarmer Writer Guy neglected to post a blog entry. It appears that everyone survived the catastrophe. There were no angry comments, no demands for a fullContinue reading “On the Tenth Day of 2024: Please Excuse Michael’s Absence”
On the Ninth Day of 2024: Just Sit and Breathe
Sometimes meditation is difficult. You’d think it’d always be easy; after all, one just sits and breathes. Right? How hard can that be? Most of us do a lot of sitting. And all of us are breathing all the time. Here’s the thing–our breathing (for the most part) is not a conscious choice that weContinue reading “On the Ninth Day of 2024: Just Sit and Breathe”
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