PAD Day 27: Apollo the Directionless

 Today's prompts from Write Better Poetry and NaPoWriMo: (1) Write an "anapodoton" poem, and (2) write a "poem titled 'The ________ of ________,' where the first blank is a very particular kind of plant or animal, and the second blank is an abstract noun. The poem should contain at least one simile that plays on double meanings or otherwise doesn’t quite make “sense,” and describe things or beings from very different times or places as co-existing in the same space."

I actually suggested today's Write Better Poetry prompt to Robert Lee Brewer, and he coincidentally picked today, my birthday, to use it. What a birthday present! Thanks, Robert. Oh yeah: "What's an anapodoton," you ask? It's the beginning of a well-known saying that is not completed, either orally or in writing, because most people know the rest of it, like "When in Rome...," "If life give you lemons...,"  "If the shoe fits...," etc. I suggested that one of these could be the title of the poem, and the poet can riff on the meaning or implicatons of the whole saying, or change it up a bit with a different ending, like, "...don't drive in the traffic," "...ask for ice cream instead," or, "...your name must be Cinderella." I'd never heard the word "anapodoton" before either, until a couple of weeks ago when I did the New York Times Sunday crossword puzzle and that was the theme of the puzzle.

I thought that, since both prompts today concern titles, I might not be able to combine them, but I figured it out by using a "subtitle." I had fun with this one today. The creative process can be a funny thing. The first thing I came up with was the main title, but I wasn't sure where to go with it, then all of a sudden, for some unknown reason, I got an image of the Greek god Apollo needing a GPS to pull the sun through the sky. I thought that was a good way to introduce the "different things from different times or places" part of the prompt. I also have Apollo making a reference to TV. And I used one of my favorite sayings, which I couldn't get out of my head since I came up with this idea.  (I even made a "birthday" reference.) Hope you enjoy it.

The Kitty Cats of Despair,
or, If You Don't Know Where You're Going...
 
For my birthday,
my dad gave me a GPS
for my chariot.
"Your sense of direction
is atrocious, son," he said.
"Last week they complained
that the sun came up at 3 a.m.
in Alexandria."
 
Hauling that big hot yellow ball
through the sky is a chore, 

especially with no road signs.
Yeah, there's the constellations,
but I can't tell Orion
from Ursa Major, and the gods
are constantly putting up new ones.
 
And then there are
the Kitty Cats of Despair.
I know they never made it
into Edith Hamilton,
but they are deadlier than the Sirens.
Those adorable kittens

with their big eyes and mewing
will pull you off the celestial road
faster than you can say,
"Tie me to the mast."
 
More troublesome than Tribbles,
(I watch a lot of mortal TV)
as slow as quicksand,
those evil mountains of fur
will drown you in cuddles.
The other day they almost caught me
when I got off too soon at Thermopylae,
distracted by their song:
"...any road will get you there,
any road will get you there,
any road will get you there...."