Today we had to write a poem for twenty minutes, and in images I show you my role-models in how to work and be together – my parents in their Piran garden.

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Prompt 25: “The prompt, which you can find in its entirety here, … asks you to use a long poem by James Schuyler as a guidepost for your poem.”

This is again one of those monster prompts. This poem by James Schuyler goes on for 35 minutes. First I listened to him read it. Then I started to write my own without much interruption and did it for a bit longer than twenty minutes which the task asked us.

Additionally we were to use present tense even for memories, seek the “unforced flow of words”, introduce little things, include quoted speech, include at least four colours, animate the landscape or nearby object, include weather, use a noun as verb atypically, use 3- and 4-word sentences, make a list, ask questions, and more.

I know that you are dying to know how I managed it. Here it is:

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Twenty minutes

Settled in the unsettling now, before twenty minutes of poem that not many will read, that the world doesn’t need, that nobody asked for. Except they did. As they request Hemistich, Anthimeria, Parataxis, heroes from the Underworld that I haven’t read. Unforced flow of words I know. As I do the little things that are always worthy. I still plan to write a novel in which nothing happens and yet everything is there. Still not certain whether I may call it non-fiction seeing that it is to contain nothing but the thoughts of the dog. See for yourself how it stings when you step on the spiky seed! “Do you know when you lift your paw a little to indicate which one has the seed stuck in, and yet she STILL gets it wrong sometimes?” Here I should quote speech that I have heard but how do you write down cursing in dog? “◙ ≈ ♀” If I lose enough time with these symbols, twenty minutes will pass in a blink. I show the dog ten fingers twice and he lies down to wait. Twenty green, blue, yellow, brown minutes. These are my colours if I look out the window, all except yellow which comes from limoncello and is rare. Do you hear that, limoncello? It’s your turn to speak. Be animate! It’s a treat, another is gelato in the freezer, but these days treats come too regularly. As the little girl said who were told not to keep asking when the lunch was going to be ready: “But it’s the only thing to look forward to.” Masks are on but they are off even more. Things are clearer than ever: How politicians must pretend to be working to earn their pay-checks and how little (good) they do. How useless most of the non-food items are that we used to buy. How much we need culture. Do you know that by line #19 the truth comes along? I will read lines #19 in all your poems and know more about you than you do. So much for the weather within. There is also magnesium, on the outside as well as within. Outside is almost summer and yet today is the first day that I ditch my winter shoes. Do you know that my every step hurts? (I just remembered to ask more questions.) Make a list, as long as you still can. What do you like about walking without pain? 1. I can walk for miles without even realising it. 2. I can see beauty. 3. I can meet people. 4. Maybe I can even run! Very good! 5. Walking is exercise without really planning to. (Dog mumbles something about three- and four-wording my sentences.) Yes, dog. I know. The time is up. We must go.

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This post is also for Friendly Friday photo challenge and this week Amanda asks us to think about working together and community action. First a little joke, one of the favourite cartoons by Gary Larson from his famous and hilarious Far Side series.

And now, here are my role-models for many things but especially how to work together and happily stay together for 50+ years – my parents. Now they are happier than ever in their Garden of Edam and Ava, or Eden in Druga, in Piran on the Slovenian coast. The photos are from previous years, I haven’t been there almost a year. Let’s have a look.

For Day 25 of NaPoWriMo 2020

and

for Friendly Friday Photo Challenge hosted by Amanda from Something to Ponder About: Working together