napowrimo #13: smoke a dubie

by the Read Write Poem Staff

Today is Day 13, also known as your lucky day. Sarah J. Sloat has a wonderful prompt for you; it’s bound to get you going! She says:

I’m partial to the tried-and-true prompt that calls for starting a poem with a line written by another poet. For this go-round, it would be interesting to see what poets can launch using a line from Norman Dubie.

In his poems, Norman Dubie tells stories, sets scenes and paints landscape, sometimes lush and sometimes wretched. His writing is sure and vivid, and his language is beautiful. As you’ll see below, his similes are incomparable. If forced to compare him with anyone, I’d be more likely to pick a painter than another writer.

For this prompt, take a Dubie line to jumpstart a poem of your own. Your poem should be titled “Poem Starting with a Line from Norman Dubie.”

I offer a menu of possible first lines below:

1. The lights of the galaxies are strung out over a dipper of gin.
2. His chapel fell into flowers long ago.
3. A kiss is like a dress falling off a tall building.
4. Two houseflies are like two fiddles drying.
5. My favorite pastime has become the imaginary destruction of flowers.
6. In triplicate, he’s sent an application, listing grievances, to the stars.
7. You wondered about skin wrinkled by looking at jewels.
8. Her breasts filled the windows like a mouth.
9. In the near field an idle, stylish horse raised one leg.
10. Worlds are being told like beads.
11. The pearl slapdash of the moon is on the water.

Be sure to use the title suggested and credit Norman Dubie in your post!

Reminders for everyone
Read the Read Write Poem NaPoWriMo Challenge Kickoff post for details on how the challenge works — and how you can engage with Read Write Poem this month, no matter what your personal writing challenge is for the month of April.

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