18 | April | 2016 | awritersfountain

The beginning of today’s message (April 2nd) reminds us that NaPoWriMo is about experimentation rather than perfection. It is likely in 30 days of writing (or 12!) that some poems will ‘have legs’ as they say, it is important not to worry about the others.

NaPo is about the writing, the exercise of pen to paper and word flow. It is good not to put pressure on pleasure.

Our poet in translation for today is Indonesia’s Toeti Herati. Born in 1933, she started publishing in her early forties, and her work is known for its feminist bent, using irony to expose Indonesian culture’s double standards. Very little of her work is available in English, but the Poetry Translation Center has posted English versions of seven of her poems online, and also offers a dual-language chapbook featuring her work. © 2016 NaPoWriMo

Today’s prompt a poem that takes the form of a family portrait. I immediately look at the framed pictures of family in my room, nephews, brothers, grandma, weddings, birthdays, lazy mornings. I think about the black and white portraits in the family album beside the bookcase that I started to compile a decade ago, I notice dust where there shouldn’t be any and try to think about poetry instead. I have had a work call and now have less time to write, I know I won’t catch up today and I need to filter everything else to write about family. My manuscript covers a lot of memory and family work so it is a subject I am familiar with, but know that I can’t pop this poem out, like I did for the Lune challenge this morning.

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Pondering time…

an excerpt from Family Portrait Challenge Day 2.

‘moments no longer printed on paper

pixel memories trapped inside our screens.’

I took Easter offline and have been chasing my tail ever since. It was not an intentional break from online activity, but it was a blissful and practically fulfilling decision.

My first full writing day for a while (last Thursday) was spent sorting through the inbox, finding a fair few rejections and also some work accepted for publication. I also discovered a freelance job opportunity – I would have bid but unfortunately it was too close to the deadline. Apart from this and the backlog of social media and emails my time offline has not had any great impact.

It does mean I am 18 days behind with NaPoWriMo and one of the jobs on the list today is to get busy writing. I am mid editorial on my manuscript so in the ‘take a break’ slots I am playing catch up.

I have discovered this year that they are featuring different poets;

As in prior years, we’ll be featuring a participant each day, and giving you an optional prompt. In years past, we’ve also featured a daily new book of poetry, magazine, or poetry-themed website. This year, we’ll be doing something a little bit different. Every day, we’ll be featuring a different poet who writes in a language other than English, but whose work is available in English translation, working our way from east to west.

Our first poet in translation is Japan’s Hiromi Ito. Known for her ability to uncannily represent spoken language on the page, several of her books have been translated into English and, incidentally, she’s a translator herself, having translated Dr. Seuss’ The Cat in the Hat and Oh, the Places You’ll Go! into Japanese. But you don’t need to know Japanese to get to know Ito’s work: Poetry International features translations of a number of her poems into English, as well as audio files and essays. Also, one of her books, Wild Grass on the Riverbank, is available in English from Action Books, as well as a selected poems, Killing Konoko. © 2016 NaPoWriMo

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As well as this they still have a featured participant each day too. I spent some time this morning exploring Veronica Hosking’s poetry vhosking without reading her NaPo work (I like to write mine cold). I will link my NaPo posts to the featured blogs because they are great to share.

DAY 1: The first challenge was to Write a Lune, which is apt as I spent the weekend writing Haikus with my Young Writers Group.

The lune is also known as the American Haiku. It was first created by the poet Robert Kelly (truly a great poet) and was a result of Kelly’s frustration with English haiku. After much experimentation, he settled on a 13-syllable, self-contained poem that has 5 syllables in the first line, 3 syllables in the second line and 5 syllable in the final line.

Unlike haiku, there are no other rules. No need for a cutting word. Rhymes are fine; subject matter is open. While there are less syllables to use, this form has a little more freedom.

There is a variant lune created by poet Jack Collom. His form is also a self-contained tercet, but his poem is word-based (not syllable-based) and has the structure of 3 words in the first line, 5 words in the second line and 3 words in the final line.

I like this genre as it is fun to play with and doesn’t take too long to come up with new poems (unless you are writing to demonstrate the ease to teenagers, then you will struggle to identify multiple syllables and finding words to fit)!

Generally I post excerpts of my NaPo Poems, as these are short form you get to enjoy them fully.

Go have a play!

Robert Kelly Lune

The grey day unfolds

work did not

call. Freedom to write.

The sky is white with

Spring, frozen

bird sits on bare tree.

Faint music. Thin walls

the daily

ghost playlist begins.

Jack Collom Lune

I thought a word count as opposed to a syllable count would be easier to compose, I actually found it trickier and it is quite hard to get the brain to stop counting in syllables.

My Desk (which is messier than this Lune suggests)

Black stapler, pen,

bulldog clip, paperclip, magazine, key,

notebook, receipt, diary.

Now

High flying dreams

catch invisible contours and soar

further than imagined.

April

Numb feet, stinging

toes, fluffy socks, extra layers,

the English spring.