Today’s poem is a variation on the Japanese Haiku, but instead of counting syllables, 5-7-5, we count words, 3-5-3. A lune can be, like a haiku, a single one stanza poem, or lunes can be strung together to form a longer poem. For no better reason than for the sound of it (which is asContinue reading “#104: Lunes for the Loon”
Author Archives: michaeljarmer
#103: Third Time’s The Charm (A Self-Spell for Teacher)
Today, on this third day of National Poetry Month, we are encouraged, if we need encouragement (and tonight at 7:45 after a 12 hour work day I DO need the encouragement), to write a CHARM poem. All right. And just in case you thought me incapable of rhyme: A Self-Spell For Teacher After twenty-five yearsContinue reading “#103: Third Time’s The Charm (A Self-Spell for Teacher)”
#102: Coyote and the First Pregnancy
Day two of National Poetry Writing Month, again, following the prompt from the napowrimo website: write a poem inspired by a non-greco-roman myth. There’s been too many poems inspired by the Greco-Romans–so let’s diversify a little. I give thanks and most of the credit for the following to Jarold Ramsey, who’s monumentally important book CoyoteContinue reading “#102: Coyote and the First Pregnancy”
#101: The Snake or the Dove
Once again, happy National Poetry Month, thanks for visiting, and welcome to the first installment of a poem-a-day for the entire month for NaPoWriMo! Let the games begin! Let the poems spew forth from the generative void that is Michael Jarmer’s brain. And let us begin by following the prompt on the NaPoWriMo website for theContinue reading “#101: The Snake or the Dove”
Embarking On Yet Another Forced Creativity Experience
Happy National Poetry Month! Beginning tomorrow (this is no April Fool’s joke), I will attempt for the second year in a row to participate in the NaPoWriMo challenge of writing a poem a day for the entire month and publishing each poem here on the blog site. I promise, no cheating; I will not be publishingContinue reading “Embarking On Yet Another Forced Creativity Experience”
#100: Serious About Poetry
I have just now reached my personal goal of writing 100 poems in a year! I know poets who have written a poem every day for a year, so this may not be the most amaze-balls news of the world, but it’s amazing for me. I think it’s a personal best, a personal record. I’veContinue reading “#100: Serious About Poetry”
#99: It Sucks When There’s No Resolution
Sometimes I argue with my poems. Sometimes, I write things I don’t believe, just to try them on. I just published a poem that claimed that good fiction sometimes has no resolution–and in that way–good fiction mirrors this same aspect of living–that often, more often than we’d like, issues, problems, and conflicts go unresolved. Certainly,Continue reading “#99: It Sucks When There’s No Resolution”
#98: Sometimes the Resolution is No Resolution
In fiction writing, or in reading fiction, it’s important to understand that sometimes the resolution is that there’s no resolution: there’s no way it can be solved or fixed or for all parties to see eye to eye about a situation they’ve disputed. And the reason it’s that way in fiction writing and in reading fiction,Continue reading “#98: Sometimes the Resolution is No Resolution”
#97: Doing the Extra Soul Credit
Is this worth any points? they ask. And I say, of course, but you won’t see them in the grade book; instead, you’ll feel them somewhere inside your head or your heart–that’s why we call it extra soul credit. Very few students are motivated by this. I don’t care. While I’m not opposed to enrichmentContinue reading “#97: Doing the Extra Soul Credit”
#96: An Extra 5 Years To Live
So these folks made a video to call attention to the fact that today’s generation of children is for the first time in history expected to die five years earlier than their parents. The film- makers asked a bunch of kids what they would do with another five years to live. This is a poemContinue reading “#96: An Extra 5 Years To Live”
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