NaPoWriMo Day 10 – Strength of a Spine

Day 10 is a third of the way through NaPoWriMo, I am still hoping I can squeeze the next 20 poems into May. Mathematically it is possible, the diary is full and I have my fingers in lots of pies again, so it will be a challenge.

Day 10’s poet in translation is Pakistan’s Faiz Ahmed Faiz. Faiz was known particularly for his ghazals, a traditional Urdu form of poetry. Six of his poems, translated into English, can be found here, and a number of additional poems are available here.

Today’s prompt encouraged book spine poetry.

I am excited about Book Spine Poetry, although I have never attempted it myself. The easiest place to try it out would be a library. I initially thought I would use my poetry shelf, but I have some obstacles in the way of my bookcase at the minute. Mr G has lots of Art books, so that was my next port of call. Then I remembered a pile of ‘self-help’ books I have been sorting through. I added a few plays and a book of quotes and came up with ‘The Guilty Bystander’.

The photo isn’t the clearest, I found stacking the titles in frame an impossible task. Book spine poetry can be harder than you would imagine. That’s what makes it a poem I guess.

The Guilty Bystander

There’s a hole in my chest,

everyday I pray

you can heal your life.

So long desired,

wake up and dream.

Love is like a crayon because it comes

in all colours.