PAD Day 8: Setting the Scene

 Write Better Poetry's prompt today is to write a "homophonic" poem. That means a poem using words that are spelled the same but have different meanings, and sometimes different pronunciations. For instance, "He will console himself by playing with his video game console." (When I first saw this prompt on the blog I thought it said, "homophobic," and my reaction was "WHAT?" but of course Robert would never suggest such a thing.)

I was always fascinated by the fact that's cited in the epigram of my poem, so I went with that and used a word that probably has more homophones than any other in English. (I use it 28 times in this poem, including a few phrases where it is implied.) 

P.S.: I learned after writing this that "set" is, in fact, no longer considered the English word with the most definitions. According to lexicographers and editors of the OED who recently ran a state-of-the-art algorithm, "set" has dropped to third place behind "run" and "put." So I had to add "almost" to my epigram.)

Set for Adventure
 
The word "set" has more dictionary definitions than almost any other English word.
 
All set?
Then let's set out to take a tour of this amazing word.
 
Set your watches for the proper time.
We'll set the pace, but we won't set any speed records.
This is a popular tour with the travel set,
but don't be set in your ways - be adventurous.
 
We may ask you to set your hair, the table,
a fire, some printer's type, a gemstone,
a broken bone, even wait for concrete to set.
Later, relax - go to a club and listen to a jazz set,
or play some tennis - game, set, and match,
or just turn on the TV set.
 
It's all set out in the itinerary,
and later we'll set sail for exotic destinations
where many romantic movies are set.
You Southerners, as you say, can "set a spell"
while we all relax and watch the sun set.
We even give out badges for your achievements -
you can collect the whole set.
 
So set down your luggage and get set for the tour.
We hope you've got your hearts set for fun,
but if you're dead set against it,
we'll soon set you free.

Regarding the NaPoWriMo prompt today, it's the classic "20 Little Poetry Projects," a list of twenty prompts that you must incorporate into one poem. It can be fun, but it's a lot of work, more than I have time for today. (I had to steal time from my busy holiday weekend just to write the poem above.) I've done it a few times before - one of my poems from this prompt was actually published. Maybe I'll come back to it another day, or maybe I'll substitute another prompt of my own - we'll see.