Today's prompts:
WBP: Write a "memory" poem.
NPWM: "...write either a monostich, which is a one-line poem, or a poem made up of one-liner style jokes/sentiments."
PSH: "Many poets have made use of a rhetorical strategy I call “The Quotidian Poem” which consists of a series of mundane chores or errands in a normal day, and then WHAM! Something happens that shocks or enlightens the poet." (Michael Simms)
These three prompts mesh pretty well today. I may not have followed all the parameters suggested by the second and third prompts (some of which I didn't include here), and not all the lines are that poetic, but I'm pretty satisified with the result:
Part of an Ordinary Day
6:00 a.m.
My alarm clock wakes me with a classic rock song, Sympathy for the Devil by the Rolling Stones.
6:07 a.m.
I am in the shower realizing that I am almost out of shampoo.
6:21 a.m.
Half-dressed, I kiss my wife good morning, and she rolls over the other way.
6:28 a.m.
I pour milk over my Special K while my teenage son grumbles through the kitchen, school backpack over his shoulder.
6:39 a.m.
I go back upstairs to brush my teeth and kiss my wife again who is in the shower.
6:48 a.m.
I start my Dodge Caravan to begin my ten-minute commute to work.
6:50 a.m.
I am listening to the traffic and weather on the AM station and driving under a brilliantly clear blue September sky.
7:00 a.m.
I sign in on the office timesheet to begin the workday.
7:03 a.m.
I boot up the computer, take off my jacket and go into the breakroom for a cup of tea.
7:10 a.m.
I chat with Wayne about last night’s Phillies game—they lost.
7:15 a.m.
I look at my pile of incoming work and do some prioritizing, as Vanessa stops by to say good morning.
My alarm clock wakes me with a classic rock song, Sympathy for the Devil by the Rolling Stones.
I am in the shower realizing that I am almost out of shampoo.
Half-dressed, I kiss my wife good morning, and she rolls over the other way.
I pour milk over my Special K while my teenage son grumbles through the kitchen, school backpack over his shoulder.
I go back upstairs to brush my teeth and kiss my wife again who is in the shower.
I start my Dodge Caravan to begin my ten-minute commute to work.
I am listening to the traffic and weather on the AM station and driving under a brilliantly clear blue September sky.
I sign in on the office timesheet to begin the workday.
I boot up the computer, take off my jacket and go into the breakroom for a cup of tea.
I chat with Wayne about last night’s Phillies game—they lost.
I look at my pile of incoming work and do some prioritizing, as Vanessa stops by to say good morning.
7:20 a.m.
I listen to a dozen voicemail messages.
7:30 a.m.
I start whittling at the paperwork, thinking about a poem I may write on my lunch hour.
8:30 a.m.
We have a staff meeting on some new regulations.
8:47 a.m.
Ron comes into the meeting room to say that his wife called to tell him that a plane just hit one of the World Trade Center towers, about 80 miles away.
8:48 a.m.
We are all thinking, “What a terrible accident,” but the meeting continues.
9:04 a.m.
Ron interrupts us again to tell us that a plane just hit the other World Trade Center tower.
9:05 a.m.
Everything from here on will be different.
I listen to a dozen voicemail messages.
I start whittling at the paperwork, thinking about a poem I may write on my lunch hour.
We have a staff meeting on some new regulations.
Ron comes into the meeting room to say that his wife called to tell him that a plane just hit one of the World Trade Center towers, about 80 miles away.
We are all thinking, “What a terrible accident,” but the meeting continues.
Ron interrupts us again to tell us that a plane just hit the other World Trade Center tower.
Everything from here on will be different.
Simms suggested 9/11 as one possible "shock" ending, but that was already on my mind by the time I read that suggestion. Also, note that today is (coincidentally) the 11th of the month. I don't have a photographic memory, so I did try to re-create a typical day at the office. The way I found out about the plane crashes is accurate, though. I also wanted to include a couple of "foreboding" details, like the song I awoke to.
(It could have been that one, but odds are it wasn't.)
1 comment:
Bruce, what a great poem ... an ordinary day upended. Everything from that point on WAS different.
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