by the Read Write Poem Staff
Read Write Poem member Sage Cohen has a terrific suggestion for today’s poems: Write a poem in which you combine a speaker and an event that normally don’t go together (such as sports broadcasters and poetry writing), as Jay Leeming does in his poem, “Man Writes Poem.” 
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.
Please read this page to find out how Read Write Poem’s prompt posts work. Remember that work linked from any post this month is shared in precisely that spirit: sharing, as opposed to critiquing. If you haven’t done so already, please read all the pages under About in the navigation bar.
Ok, This should be interesting.
Really silly stuff: The Lizard King Shares
stiletto replied:
April 23rd, 2010 at 1:58 pm
Hi Dan,
You poem with Jim inspired me the one I wrote.
Thanks!
Dan Rako replied:
April 23rd, 2010 at 2:48 pm
I’m flattered! Your work is amazing!
Here’s a Tip: YOU CAN BET ON IT
So I asked myself, what if Martha Stewart was a prosecuting attorney?
Martha’s Opening Statement
angel replied:
April 23rd, 2010 at 3:48 am
loved this
Kelly replied:
April 23rd, 2010 at 9:35 am
Brilliant!
Fantastic prompt!
‘Allen and Will Go Shopping’
http://rallentanda.blogspot.com
Here’s my # 22, I used the prompt from the Wordle
Old Enemies:
http://brokeness.blogspot.com/2010/04/napowrimo-22-old-enemies.html
The sample poem is so funny. Thanks.
Welcome to the PB&J wars, the predecessor to the Skyward Suite, where things that fly come to life… NaPoWriMo #23
erindavis replied:
April 23rd, 2010 at 6:31 pm
Rob, I couldn’t see where to comment on your blog, but I just wanted you to know that I loved your poem–so clever! Had me in stitches.
Vegetarian at a Pig Roast
http://scriptophobe.blogspot.com/2010/04/napowrimo-23-unlikely-couples.html
Elderly bus passengers and laughter seem an unlikely pairing; “Funny”
http://www.redbubble.com/people/nebsy/writing/5054420-napowrimo-23
vivienne Blake replied:
April 23rd, 2010 at 7:31 am
funny it is! Bravo.
pamela sayers replied:
April 23rd, 2010 at 2:05 pm
Maybe you will Nebs!
barbara_y replied:
April 23rd, 2010 at 11:24 pm
I doubt it’ll take that long
Oh dear I’ve gone all silly again o_O
Family Inc.
Kelly replied:
April 23rd, 2010 at 9:39 am
Loved this one!
My poem is from yesterday’s prompt. http://thelaughinghousewife.wordpress.com
It was my son’s graduation today. I surprised myself by using ten of the twelve words from the wordle in a graduation poem for him.
vivienne Blake replied:
April 23rd, 2010 at 7:15 am
A wonderful poem from such a motley collection of wordles. You must be very proud of your son!
I really hate this prompt. No doubt, given some time to germinate something half-way decent might emerge, but here are two daft fantasy pairings which was all I could manage.
1.
There was this she-wolf – I forget her name -
found these two abandoned baby humans.
I don’t know why she didn’t eat them,
they were plump and juicy enough.
Babies are very tasty and nourishing in my view.
But no, the wolf fed and wiped and toilet-trained them,
let them go when they were growed.
And those stupid kids built a city
right over our hunting grounds.
So now, no baby food
and no game, either.
2.
He cannot be serious. He said he would
like to tell me how to save my soul.
I ask you. What would an effing and blinding
tennis player know about salvation?
He knocked on my door at ten pm last Sunday
with that sanctimonious look they all have.
But I’d sussed him. When he started talking
about being born again, I told him not to bother;
once was more than enough.
He went away muttering
‘they should have been called out.’
Stiletto replied:
April 23rd, 2010 at 5:53 am
Your she-wolf poem is very scary, I like it!
vivienne Blake replied:
April 23rd, 2010 at 8:51 am
Thanks Ingeborg: it wasn’t meant to be scary: failed again!
derrick replied:
April 23rd, 2010 at 7:58 am
Crazy Romans and a crazy Mcenroe. Nice pairings Vivienne. I especially like the effing and blinding bit!
vivienne Blake replied:
April 23rd, 2010 at 8:50 am
Thanks Derrick
haikujunky replied:
April 23rd, 2010 at 11:14 am
vivienne, you must be British, nobody else says “sussed out” LOL. love it!
Would you buy a book from this man?
http://melrosemusings.blogspot.com/2010/04/second-hand-car-book-salesman-napowrimo.html
vivienne Blake replied:
April 23rd, 2010 at 5:25 am
Short answer: NO I hate pushy salesmen, but loved your poem.
I also struggled with this one, but my poem is here:
http://ragbone.wordpress.com
Application to be my Lover
Please read all the enclose information
before you apply to ensure this meets your needs.
This lover will love you to the bone,
bare teeth showing, every smell of you noted,
tastebuds rearranged for the shape of you,
ripe as strawberries spilling their seeds.
awakened by your tongue.
Complete the response form remembering to choose
which of the two great designs you’d prefer.
This love can lay back, let you lie on it,flow
or run right through us, an elastic in tug on your hands, a memory of touch tautening each hour.
Stand on the cliff, the rooftop, look down,
it’s strong enough to pull you back.
Double check your response form
Please detail any balance transfers you’d like to make.
This love knows no balance, but will log every small bead of sweat,hold her face to their rain.
My mouth will pay homage, make monuments
of tiny fibres standing up on the back of your neck,
You can transfer every slight to my bare back,
I’m tough enough, every ex that chopped
through your faith like an axe
will be made into a hardwood box by my touch. let’s bury it with moments you can’t yet imagine, once you can there’d no going back.
0% introductory period
This love will cost us both something more than we though, but give surprising returns on cold nights,even when the investment is done,
in single beds, just a stray piece of music
the smell of bread crawls under the sheets.
Suddenly we are awake and the night is hot.
Date the credit agreement, check your details are correct.
I’ll give you unlimited credit for everything,
Until you prove me otherwise.
Inventing an orgasm, turning God
into an anagram of dog, the bitch in me
straining at the leash of dull pleasantry
when I find my feral self in your arms.
You can also confirm whether you’d like optional insurance.
To love with this is to swim
without getting your feet wet,
to touch through a hole in the wall
we’ve built round the smallest parts of ourselves
that quiver best and fear the worst.
(Such applications will be returned in the post.)
Read through everything twice
till you don’t understand it
Turn over the credit agreement, and sign.
kolokolchiki replied:
April 23rd, 2010 at 9:36 am
Well done. I love the mix of voice between the contract language and the lover’s elaboration.
Marie replied:
April 23rd, 2010 at 11:09 am
Good contract speak. Very creative!
Jenna replied:
April 23rd, 2010 at 1:37 pm
Brilliant! I love every line.
angela readman replied:
April 23rd, 2010 at 1:43 pm
many thanks- for once i put receiving yet another ad to apply for a dredit card this morning to some use as least
The Tooth Fairy speaks at Scrambled, Not Fried
Kelly replied:
April 23rd, 2010 at 9:43 am
Very imaginative – nice work.
Good morning!
A new poem inspired by a typo in an essay by Kwame Dawes:
“Light”
http://jasoncrane.org/2010/04/23/poem-light/
Enjoy!
Jason
http://crankymango.blogspot.com/2010/04/shaken.html
http://mothersparrow.wordpress.com/2010/04/23/1485/
Finally, an earlier-in-the-day attempt from me! (I went with a would-be fairy tale rather than sports writing, etc.)
http://www.shicho.net/words/?p=1138
Mine is not about a write but an artist. The unlikely Artist.
http://ingeborgsblog.blogspot.com/2010/04/napowrimo-april-2rd-unlikely-couple.html
The Fyrst Bolognaise. Hope you enjoy.
Sorry, I couldn’t resist… some political humor
http://novaheart.wordpress.com/2010/04/23/poem-42310-sarah-palin-writes-haiku/
Another combo writing prompt poem for today.
My poems are on Facebook and right here:
http://dash30dash.ning.com/profiles/blogs/napowrimo-day-23-poems-writing
One more week of this madness!!! Keep writing!
Thanks for the prompt Sage, Here’s mine: Batman and Alice
I loved this prompt! This was one of those rare times where I took my first idea, ran with it, AND was happy with the result. “Daydream Believing”:
http://caraholman.wordpress.com/2010/04/23/2010-napowrimo-23/
(I’m still working yesterday’s prompt… this needs work but here’s the foundation. Now, on to today’s prompt)
Saffron Reverberations
The Hare Krishnas
Dance to tumbling tambourines
Their chants reverberating
On Boston Common
Stay Away my mother commanded
I stared from behind her skirt
And wondered what possessed
These young men to shave their heads
Dress in saffron robes
And put themselves on display
Like zoo animals for our consumption
As we made our way
To the Paulist Center.
vivienne Blake replied:
April 23rd, 2010 at 11:20 am
Absorbing story and clever use of the wordles.
Today’s poem: http://rhiannonproblematising.wordpress.com/2010/04/23/napowrimo-23-liberal-daffodils/
http://redshoepoet.blogspot.com/2010/04/napowrimo-23.html
Early, quick, not-quite-prompt tanka with just a hint of yaka-wow: http://jasonriedy.wordpress.com/2010/04/23/napowrimo-23/
I’m with Cara – also love this prompt! Not sure mine quite fits it exactly, but thoroughly enjoyed the process – http://widerworldweb.wordpress.com/2010/04/23/poetry-pie/
This was the most fun I’ve had all week!
Thank you for riding the celebrity line
It would help if my link worked.
Let’s try this again
Hope this fits prompt.
taken in battle
This wasn’t that easy. But here it is.
http://flaubert-poetrywithme.blogspot.com/2010/04/jacqueline-and-tom-napowrimo-23.html
Though I didn’t use the prompt precisely as specified — my piece is about the unlikely coupling of a mythological being in a realistic (to us) setting.
http://cosmicmermaid.wordpress.com/2010/04/23/cubicle-horn/
I flipped out on this one!
http://www.synecdochicstuff.blogspot.com/
Here’s mine, “Dorothy Married Willie Nelson”
at http://1965footprints.blogspot.com
Marie replied:
April 23rd, 2010 at 5:35 pm
is it poetry? not sure where the line is
Music Room Tryst
http://tinacelio.wordpress.com/2010/04/23/music-room-tryst/
http://katharinewhitcomb.blogspot.com/2010/04/napowrimo-23-mystery_23.html
Aside from my format issues, this was fun.
A poet calls the 800 at a track meet
http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474978192979
Marie replied:
April 23rd, 2010 at 11:40 am
Exciting finish!
hosking replied:
April 23rd, 2010 at 11:46 am
Thank you for reading. Glad you enjoyed it.
For the Record
http://juliejordanscott.typepad.com/jjspoetry/2010/04/for-the-record-napowrimo-23-poem-.html
(Love and hate this process)
Oh boy…I was a bit shameless and not terribly creative with this one…
http://mylineofwords.blogspot.com/2010/04/napowrimo-23-most-unholy-union.html
http://www.robertlunday.net/2010/04/poem-23-im-listening.html
She’s a banana stalk – and who’s her husband?
In case you didn’t know, the Internet has a crush on you:
Odd Coupling: For the Love of this Internet
Thank you Sage for a fun Day 23 prompt, resulting in Implausible Couplings:
http://jdmackenzie.blogspot.com/2010/04/implausible-couplings.html
(consumer warning: someone once said all poetry is political)
Hi there,
Here mine comes:
http://stiletto.crisopeya.eu/2010/04/23/napowrimo-23-unlikely-couples/
It´s a cleave using a song lyrics as one of the vertical poems. The song is Disappear Here by Moonspell.
Have a nice evening
This was a great prompt! ( Joseph Harker’s Martha piece was very inspiring.) I will be using this prompt with students in future.
Auctioneer calls the eulogy
Welcome everyone. We’re here for a
really solemn event today with some fine items
for you to remember. Be sure to sign the
guest book at the back and let me remind
you that fresh coffee and refreshments
are available. All sentiments are final.
So let’s start this eulogy.
Please direct your eyes to the front where we have a mighty fine casket, solid oak with brass handles,
never been used until today. I happen to know that
Sam’s last wish was he would be wearing
his new suit and polished shoes. That’s
the casket with all the contents. Take a good
look. It’s all in mint condition. Notice the
watch on his wrist is running and I believe
there’s even a good luck coin in his pocket.
So who’ll open the sharing session?
Who’ll give me one-one-one! You at the back, his babysitter. You must have some good stories.
What about the time he fell off the roof?
One! Give me two- two-two… Where’s his boss?
Remember the time he
called in late because his wife was having the
baby? That’s two-two-two.
Who’ll give me two and a half. Come on folks!
This was a good man. Well worth a few extra
stories. You there in the trenchcoat, sunglasses and bleached hair?
Give me three-three-three. Going… going… gone.
A fine man with a fine reputation. May he rest in peace. Kindly pay your respects as you exit
the building.
Next we’ll be heading outdoors to the cemetery to check out the plot…
Joanne Johns replied:
April 23rd, 2010 at 6:25 pm
Haha! Well done
In the library
Dear passengers,
welcome on board
our brand new library.
Your cashier today
will be John Mehoney
who’ll guide you safely
through your check out.
Your average search time
will be 1 hour 15 min.
Our book shop is equipped
with six parallel aisles:
two for contemporary novels
and biographies at the front,
one for history, one for poetry
over at the wings
And two for fantasy and fiction
at the back.
On each shelf
in every place
you can reach
you will find a book.
Please pay attention while our book attendants
familiarize you with its use.
To use a book, open the front cover
and turn the pages to the first one
with the little black spots on it.
Read the so-called letters
from left to right
and top to bottom
turning the pages
until the end.
In case of that event close the cover
and return it to the library.
Dear passengers,
we thank you for your patience
and hope you will have a pleasant
stay upon our library.
Thank you for flying with libra today.
Mrs. M. replied:
April 23rd, 2010 at 2:20 pm
Jaelle, good one!
Too bad these weren’t podcasts! I can imagine
the calm, matter-of-fact tone.
Jaelle replied:
April 25th, 2010 at 4:02 am
Thank you! Glad you liked it.
The Weather forecaster and the caterpillar
A handsome and distinguished pair
Each autumn a festival and parade,
To announce the newest forecast there
For all the people who deeply care
What kind of winter we will have
Will it be fierce or mostly mild?
The forecaster passes on the news
With breathless urgency – Snow days
blizzards, how much salt the roads will
use- all are announced to boos or glee.
All continue to celebrate – the
woolly Bear caterpillar is the man!
Unfortunately his fame grows dim
As winter overtakes the scene
The forecaster announces ice and
Snow have cancelled every basketball
Game. The roads to the ski slopes are
Drifted shut, the fuel supply is running
Low and tonight will be a record
Twenty degrees below.
I’m on prompt. It may or may not be a good poem, but I wrote something different:
http://poemblaze.wordpress.com/2010/04/23/ill-sue-myself/
go figure: i’m on prompt!
http://caroleesherwood.wordpress.com/2010/04/23/napowrimo-23-23-2/
just one more week, kids!!! one more week!
Cool prompt! I … might be on prompt, but it’s totally by accident, since I wrote this before I got to the website. Still plugging away on the villainous villanelles.
http://yearofthebooks.wordpress.com/2010/04/23/poem-a-day-day-23/
Today’s poem, off prompt. Though I like the prompt, I’m wiped out today and went for the shorter option. I’ll try this one later.
http://memali.posterous.com/2330
I’m super short on time today so this is not based on the prompt.
My day 23 poem:
http://paperdreams-jgc.blogspot.com/2010/04/day-23-in-honor-or-erick.html
Here is my poem for today’s prompt – http://umaathreya.blogsome.com/2010/04/23/mad-about-each-other/
I loved, loved, loved this prompt!! Thanks!
Here’s my Epic Battle
http://poiesis3.blogspot.com/2010/04/napowrimo-23-epic-battle.html
Ben Franklin is between makeup and the camera
I wrote a haiku based on this prompt.
http://richelledodaro.blogspot.com
Please welcome my “Unlikely Couple” – “Tim & Spac.”
http://babblingoninbabylon.com/blog
peek
Poem #23. “Ahab at the Aquarium.”
AHAB at the AQUARIUM
Falsehood seemed to follow in the wake of his fervency
yet we were blinded by his believer’s faith
hypnotized by the gold doubloon winding
through his weathered fingers.
His application: impeccable.
His references: deceased yet plausible.
His inaugural day: ostentatious and flagrant
his language peppered with Elizabethan epithets
and King James biblical curses
accompanied by the dancing arms of a carnival barker.
He strayed from his station, strayed from the script
wandered about eating fish and chips, licking his fingers
leaning in toward the glass of each tank
as though waiting for a missive from the briny deeps.
We called the authorities
when he climbed into the tank of our star attraction
Fantasma the Albino North Pacific Giant Octopus
and began to wrestle her, clubbing her with his ivory leg.
—
Ahab isn’t the speaker here, but I still felt it to be in the spirit of the prompt. And, I couldn’t shake it. So…
—
Also posted at: http://troysworktable.blogspot.com/2010/04/found-sticker-art-affixed-to-newspaper.html
Thanks for this one! Wasn’t sure when I read it, but once I got started…
http://just-somestuff.blogspot.com/2010/04/napowrimo-23-naturalist.html
A tribute to odd customers at a “fish store”.
http://www.musetomyeyes.blogspot.com
The prompt took me in an odd direction, a zany direction. You can find it here:
http://word-painting.blogspot.com/2010/04/ambiguity-sits-on-bench.html
This poem is lead singer in the band.
Read ‘Cool Poem’ at http://www.gregoconnell.com
well, I came a little bit closer to following the directions –
http://another2doors.wordpress.com/2010/04/23/the-geese-and-roald-dahl/
I’m in with a limerick about a Pollen-Hating Bee
http://marcieaf.blogspot.com/2010/04/napowrimo-day-23.html
Take 2:
This was rushed, but better than nothing…the skydiver goes underwater.
http://rrosenchang.blogspot.com
Hmm…where is it?
Rushed, but…the skydiver goes underwater…
http://rrosenchang.blogspot.com
Not on prompt and maybe not even a poem: http://thekitchenbitchponders.blogspot.com/2010/04/national-poetry-writing-month-day_23.html
Poetry writing= cat herding
http://freckledwriter.blogspot.com/2010/04/day-23-and-it-feels-like-herding-cats.html