National Poetry Month – Too Tired To Write A Poem Poem – or How I arose to the occasion of Day 25

Posted April 25, 2011 by ManicDdaily
Categories: poetry

Tags: , , , , , ,
I felt pretty sure today that I could not go on with my self-imposed commitment to post a draft poem every day of this April, national poetry month.  (Yes, I know, I’ve already missed some.)
Finally, I followed an old rule:  when lacking in inspiration, try a sonnet!   A poetic form is incredibly useful when you are having trouble writing.  It creates an automatic thread, which, in turn, leads you to some kind of shape and meaning.

Rose

I’m just too tired to write a poem tonight.
The old synapses lie limp and lumpy,
clotted with the vernacular; no sprite
darts from nerve to page, rather a frumpy
dim drags over observation, blotting
out comparison (much less caparison–
the embellishment of the plodding.)

In defense, I say my garrison,
my true home, is found in prose that cares not
how a rose would smell by other name,
but even my dull brain knows what is what,
and that a rose can never smell the same
once read, once heard, once lit by other’s light.
Oh–oh–oh, how I long for that insight.

All rights reserved.   Suggestions welcomed.

Happy Easter (from iPad 2)

Posted April 24, 2011 by ManicDdaily
Categories: iPad art

Tags: , , , , ,

20110424-105549.jpg

With a combination of apps, I am slowly learning to do things on a digital device that are much much easier with good old-fashioned paints and paper, What fun!

Happy Easter! Happy Spring!

National Poetry Month – Day 22- “How to draw an elephant”

Posted April 23, 2011 by ManicDdaily
Categories: elephants, iPad art, poetry, Uncategorized

Tags: , , , , , , ,

Agh!!!!!  Today was a very busy day in which I also tried to experiment with different ways of typing text into drawings.  I really don’t have the right application for this yet, or don’t know how to use what I have.    Any suggestions are welcome.

20110423-100200.jpg

20110423-105137.jpg
20110423-101834.jpg

20110423-100520.jpg

20110423-100545.jpg

20110423-100622.jpg

20110423-105152.jpg


20110423-101027.jpg


20110423-100743.jpg

National Poetry Society – 21st Day – “Ah (in the Savanna)”

Posted April 22, 2011 by ManicDdaily
Categories: dog, elephants, iPad art, Uncategorized

Tags: , , , , , , ,

20110422-102606.jpg

A visual poem? A busy day. Happy weekend all!

National Poetry Month- Day 21- “Sleep-Deprived Ride”

Posted April 21, 2011 by ManicDdaily
Categories: iPad art, poetry

Tags: , , , , , , , ,

20110421-080519.jpg

Here’s another poem written in my favorite venue and time – New York City subway car, a.m. just past rush hour. Today, however, I was not in the best mood. Here’s today’s draft poem, again in honor of National Poetry Month.

Sleep-deprived Ride

Three days of 2 AM
makes for a wan
morning commute.
Brain is mute;
colors blur along edges.
When a child screams–SCREAMS–
at the hedge of his
stroller, the brain
twists at its own edge,
or just pushed over,
‘my purse!’ it panics next;
awareness jerks
to the strap
over arm, wrist, lap,
that stolid mass of care that never
stays up past midnight, holds all.
Still there, thank God
(though barely sensed),
still, there.

All rights reserved.  Suggestions welcomed

National Poetry Month – Day 20 – “Some Things For Which There Is No Compensation”

Posted April 20, 2011 by ManicDdaily
Categories: iPad art, poetry, Uncategorized

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

20110420-084359.jpg

Here’s a kind of grim poem written in my favorite venue–the New York City subway system.  It’s not about the subway system;  I was actually thinking of Marthe Jocelyn’s book Scribbling Women, and Sei Shonagon of Imperial Japan who wrote The Pillow Book, which includes compendiums of insightful and charming lists.  I’m not sure what I wrote qualifies, but the list idea did help me come up with the draft poem of the day.   (Note that the numbers are part of the poem.)

Some Things For Which There is No Compensation

  1. Not feeling loved.
  2. Or loved enough.
  3. One’s own cruelty.
  4. Burial.
  5. Cremation.
  6. Flowers in any of those circumstances.
  7. No flowers.
  8. Loss of memory/memories.
  9. Of one’s own.
  10. Or others.
  11. Worse, neglect of them:  (a) memories, (b) others, (c) flowers.
All rights reserved.  Suggestions welcomed.

National Poetry Month – 19th Day – “The Dutiful Couple”

Posted April 19, 2011 by ManicDdaily
Categories: iPad art, poetry

Tags: , , , , , , ,

20110419-084801.jpg

Here’s a handwritten haiku, draft poem for the 19th day of national poetry month.

20110419-085058.jpg

All rights reserved, Suggestions welcomed.

PS – successfully made, edited, and posted from iPad. (I did it!)

National Poetry Month -Day 18 – “That Same Night”

Posted April 18, 2011 by ManicDdaily
Categories: iPad art, poetry, Uncategorized

Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

I tried to post this draft poem from my iPad just to see if I could.  (I couldn’t.)  The effort may have put a crimp in my poetic style!  (Ha!) On the other hand, mucking about with technology was a great escape from thinking.  Oh well.

All rights reserved.  Suggestions welcomed.

National Poetry Month – Day 17 – Dolphin Dream

Posted April 17, 2011 by ManicDdaily
Categories: iPad art, poetry, Uncategorized

Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Over head

Draft poem for 17th day of April, National Poetry Month:

Dolphin Dream

The hospital required me to cart
the scanner needed to test my heart,
my torso too and abdomen,
the places growths had lodged within.

I carried the scanner in a bag;
those who saw it guessed the sag
that weighed my spirit, slowed my walk,
and, human, they began to talk.

Defiant, I broke for the sea;
the waves that day were high for me.
One forced my dive far far below
what looked to be a crushing blow.

The shelf’s drop was precipitate,
so fathoms deep, I had to wait,
and watch above the crushing bubbles
that I recognized as deadly troubles,

’till, as my lungs o’erswelled my breath,
I saw a sight beyond the rest,
from my cerulean deep sea bed,
a paisley pattern over head.

Stirs of silver, curves of grey,
muscled turns as clear as day,
Sharks? No, dolphins. My heart took flight,
awe subsuming background fright.

Their ease, their grace, were palpable;
to wish them past felt culpable,
though soon my lungs were too compressed
to sense much more than harsh distress.

The need for change brought exhalation,
despite the lack of further ration–
no air down there–and so far down,
I felt that I must surely drown.

I woke up treading toward the light,
gasping, panting, in the night,
afraid to settle back to sleep,
though longing to re-spy that deep.

That I could watch those dolphins twist
without a clutch inside my chest!
That I could sink into that dream,
sparing no thought for scan machine,

or hospital, or sense of tumor
the hush of the half-murmured rumor;
but translucent blue was not enough,
to smooth the diamond of the rough.


All rights reserved.  Suggestions welcomed.   (P.S. – I’m very happy with the painting!  Made on the iPad 2!)

National Poetry Month – Day 16 – “Poetry In Motion?”

Posted April 16, 2011 by ManicDdaily
Categories: elephants, iPad art

Tags: , , , , , , ,

Its elephantary!

Yes, I know.  The above is not exactly a draft poem, but it has repeating lines, that (sort of) scan.   It also has feet!

Enjoy the day!