Day Twenty-one #Na/GloPoWriMo

 Day 21 Prompt: 

And here’s today’s prompt (optional, as always). In her poem, “Names and Nicknames,” Monika Kumar reminisces over various nicknames she has been given, the actual name her mother gave her, and the way both names and nicknames indicate a claim and an intimacy at once. In your poem for today, we challenge you to write your own poem in which you muse on your name and nicknames you’ve been given or, if you like, the name and nicknames for an animal, plant, or place. For example, I’ve always been amused at the fact that red trillium (a rather pretty wildflower that grows in the woods near my house) has several other common names, including the bizarre “stinking benjamin.” The plant grows very short and close to the ground, so I’ve never actually leaned over far enough to get a whiff and see how merited that sobriquet is!

For some reason, not apparent to me, this memory came to the fore after I read the prompt today. It was a busy day and I had an hour to write and post. This article does a decent job of explaining the cultural and political context of the Hijra community in India: The History of Hijras: A Glimpse Into Queerness on the Other Side of the World

Hijra (etymology: Arabic roots meaning separating from one’s kin)

 

I was five when I chanced upon a

new word— so full of respect, it trembled

in my aunt’s eyes like

terror

last seen

in a film when the villain appears on screen

 

I hadn’t touched terror yet

I didn’t know its shape

but they wore it like kajal in their eyes—

all the women, even my grandmother

terror 

gathered in their whispers like

vermillion imprisons the sky, silent first, then a storm

in the courtyard

 

the day after my uncle brought his new bride home

the Hijra came to bless the newlyweds

 

I was too little, too protected

to be allowed to witness the fuss

my imagination filled in all the cracks

and raised a fall-proof wall

where every stone chanted:

Do not trust them. Do not trust them. 

They lift their skirts.

They go naked.

Fear them for they curse.

Trade grains and sarees for their blessings

but other them most of all…

lingered long after the

courtyard was gone

like the left-over smoke-smell

of incense after sandalwood ashes

 

Last year, the Hijra came to bless my nephew

and his new bride

by now, I was deemed old enough to participate in the talks

the talks went on for over an hour

the hijra women grew louder and then one of them

did what was expected of her

she lifted her skirt

 

To save myself the burning shame,

I turned to look upon the one standing next to her—

their older, calmer guru, Ma—

an idol of stillness so deep.

a knowing shimmered and leaked from her

like nothing I have seen,

like the poet Kabir’s Akshar ki Chot

a wound made by a word,

a wounded word

a word wounded—

in a temple, she’d be worshipped

under a banyan, she’d be Buddha

in a song, Dolly Parton’s Jolene

 

She spread out her aanchal

I filled it with rice

 

A roll of dice,

in another lifetime,

she could be me, and I her

 

Day Twenty #Na/GloPoWriMo

Day 20 Prompt: 

For today, try writing your own poem that uses an animal that shows up in myths and legends as a metaphor for some aspect of a contemporary person’s life. Include one spoken phrase.

Notes: In Hindu tradition, Lord Ganesha, the remover of obstacles, the symbol of wisdom, is always shown with his loyal servant and vehicle, Mooshak, the mouse. Ganesha’s mouse represents the restless, desiring mind—small but capable of great destruction if not guided by wisdom. And the laddoos he offers symbolise the surrendering ego.
 

 

Day Nineteen #Na/GloPoWriMo

Day 19 Prompt: 

And now for today’s (optional) prompt. The word florilegium refers to a book of botanical illustrations of decorative plants and also a collection of excerpts from other writings.  In her poem, “Florilegium,” Canadian poet Sylvia Legris gathers together many five-lined stanzas that describe flowers but also play with the sounds of their names, their medical (or poisonous) qualities, and historical aspects of herbalism. Today, pick a flower or two (or a whole bouquet, if you like) from this online edition of Kate Greenaway’s Language of Flowers. Now, write your own poem in which you muse on your selections’ names and meanings. If you’re so inclined, you could even do some outside research into your flowers, and incorporate facts that you learn into your work.

Day Eighteen #Na/GloPoWriMo

Day 18 Prompt:

Finally, here’s our prompt for the day (optional, as always). When I was growing up, there was a book of poems in my house (I believe it was The Best Loved Poems of the American People) that was heavy on long, maudlin, narrative poems with lots and lots of rhyme – the sort of verse that used to be parodied on Bulwinkle’s Corner. As the twentieth century rolled in, poems like this were relegated to the status of stuff-schoolkids-were-forced-to-memorize, and they plummeted even further into our cultural memory-hole as learning poems by heart fell out of educational currency. But while some work in this style is extremely cringeworthy (I’m looking at you, “Bingen on the Rhine”), they can also be very fun to read. Take, for example, Sadakichi Hartmann’s “The Pirate,”  or Alfred Noyes’s “The Highwayman.” The action is dramatic, there’s lots of emotions, and the imagery is striking.

Today, we don’t challenge you to write all of a long, dramatic, narrative poem, but we invite you to try your hand at writing a poem that could be a section or piece of one. Include rhyme, include unlikely and dramatic scenes (maybe a poem about a bank robbery! Or an avalanche! Or Roman gladiators! Or an enormous ball held by mermaids, where there is an undercurrent (hee) of palace intrigue!) Basically, a poem with the plot of an opera (evil twins! Egyptian tombs! Star-crossed lovers! Tigers for no apparent reason!)

Happy writing!

Day Seventeen #Na/GloPoWriMo

 Day 17 Prompt

And now for our (optional) prompt! Sergio Raimondi’s poem, “Today Matsuo Basho Cooks,” plays on the following haiku by (you guessed it), Matsuo Basho:

Crimson pepper pod!
Add two pairs of wings, and look—
darting dragonfly.

For today’s challenge, write a poem in which you respond to a favorite poem by another poet.

Day Sixteen #Na/GloPoWriMo

 Day 16 Prompt: 

And last but not least, here’s today’s optional prompt. In “Ocean,” Robinson Jeffers delivers an almost oracular, scriptural description of the sea not just as a geographical phenomenon, but a sort of being – old, wise, profound, and able to teach those who want to learn. Today, try writing a poem in which you describe something that cannot speak, and what it has taught or told you.

Happy writing!

Thank you for visiting and for your lovely comments. 

Day Fifteen #Na/GloPoWriMo

Day 15 Prompt

And now for our prompt (optional, as always).  K. Siva Reddy’s poem, “A Love Song Between Two Generations,” weaves together repetitions, questions, and unexpected similes with plain language. The overall effect is both intimate and emotional, producing a long-form meditation on what love is, what it means, and how it acts.  Today, we’d like you to write your own poem that muses on love, but isn’t a traditional love poem in the sense of expressing love between romantic partners.

 

Thank you for stopping by and for your comments.