I hate teaching and I hate my students. I’m terrible and they’re terrible. What they say is true, that those who can’t teach end up teaching– and that’s me. And my colleagues, they can all just go to hell for all I care. None of them are good company; nor are they good teachers. I’veContinue reading “#116: Pants on Fire”
Author Archives: michaeljarmer
#115: Terza Rima (A Complaint Ending In Banana)
I’m sorry about this one. Written late in the day when the brain is mush, it’s a terza rima, a form invented or popularized by Dante and bastardized by the English: 3 line stanzas in iambic pentameter with a “chained” rhyme scheme that ends in a single line chained to the middle rhyme of the lastContinue reading “#115: Terza Rima (A Complaint Ending In Banana)”
#114: Seven Questions and a Statement (A Sonnet)
The suggestion for today was to write a poem consisting of nothing but questions–until the very last line, a statement. It’s a reversal of an assignment I remember from last year which resulted for me in a poem called “Six Statements and a Question.” This year, I’ve added a little edge to the task: in honorContinue reading “#114: Seven Questions and a Statement (A Sonnet)”
#113: The Child House
The Child House is so called because the children in this building outnumber the adults about thirty-seven to one. Inside over a thousand big children are busy (or not) at some purpose which often remains mysterious to them, but never- theless is perceived by many to be of some importance. Many of the kids love theContinue reading “#113: The Child House”
#112: Ambiguity Racing
Our next entry in the NaPoWriMo festival of fun is a thing called a “replacement” poem. You wiki-search a common noun for a physical thing, copy and paste some text–and then the real fun begins–replace each occurrence of the physical thing-noun with an abstract noun like love or sorrow or happiness. I chose my all-timeContinue reading “#112: Ambiguity Racing”
#111: Of Love and Wine
Today’s poem is an exercise in Anacreontics, something I have never heard about, let alone tried, before today. Anacreon was a Greek poet who made a thing out of writing about Wine and Love, Love and Wine, all the time, in seven syllable lines. I’m game. Of Love and Wine I prefer bourbon, lately, to the wine–itContinue reading “#111: Of Love and Wine”
#110: Shameless Self-Promotion (An Advertisement Poem)
The NaPoWriMo website today suggests that we try an advertisement poem. That’s an actual thing, apparently. As an example, the NaPoWriMo curator provides Exhibit A: Said Farmer Brown Who’s bald on top “Wish I could Rotate the crop” Burma-Shave So rather than create a poem advertising Burma Shave or a made-up product or some thingContinue reading “#110: Shameless Self-Promotion (An Advertisement Poem)”
#109: A Poem from Randomly Generated Song Titles
We wanted something more Pastoral but ended up with the Mother of Violence singing Mr. Blue’s Theme surrounded by the luminous Lights of New York. Nothing But Time, we thought, Great. No longer following the tao, Stuff is Way now, no sign today or any time soon of a True Original, no glowing Blue Moon, only aContinue reading “#109: A Poem from Randomly Generated Song Titles”
#108: The Love Song of Bernard Von Scuttlesby
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 haveContinue reading “#108: The Love Song of Bernard Von Scuttlesby”
#107: Ode To Vinyl
The love poem for my dear wife is forthcoming, especially in light of all she’s been through lately. Need some time to get it right, though, so, today’s assignment from NaPoWriMo is to write a love poem for an inanimate object. Here’s to another love: Ode To Vinyl I was 23 and bought theContinue reading “#107: Ode To Vinyl”
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