Poetry Prompts and Inspiration Day 29 April PAD Challenge and NaPoWriMo

 

Image by Daniel Friesenecker from Pixabay

Serendipity! Owls and meat, all in one picture!

https://www.writersdigest.com/write-better-poetry/2023-april-pad-challenge-day-29

Today's April PAD Challenge prompt asks participants to write a sight poem.

https://www.napowrimo.net/day-twenty-nine-9/

Today's NaPoWriMo prompt asks participants to start by reading Alberto Rios’s poem “Perfect for Any Occasion.” 

https://poets.org/poem/perfect-any-occasion

Next, write your own two-part poem that focuses on food. At some point in the poem, describe the food as if it were a person. Give the food/meal at least one line of spoken dialogue.

My poem focused on the age-old "I tried to change my carnivorous ways" conundrum. The food does "speak," but I didn't describe it as if it were a person. I was going for carnivorous, not cannibalistic. 

I'm keeping it brief today as I need to hop on the Editing Express Elevator to Hell.

Going down!

~Ornery Owl Has Spoken~

Hangry Wyrm

Free use image by Clkr Free Vector Images

"I don't like it when my food talks to me, Ornery. How about you?"

Ornery Owl (in Pit Master Mode)

Free use image from Open Clipart Vectors

"I prefer food that doesn't talk back myself, Hangry."

Poetry Prompts and Inspiration Day 28 April PAD Challenge and NaPoWriMo 2023

 

Image by 愚木混株 Cdd20 from Pixabay

This guy seems like the nit-picky type.

It's almost over, and I swear this year April damn near killed me, no joke. It only has two days left to accomplish its mission. 

https://www.writersdigest.com/write-better-poetry/2023-april-pad-challenge-day-28

This prompt from the April PAD Challenge asks participants to write a You Are Blank poem. I almost called my poem You Are A Pillock, but then I decided You Are A Pettifogger is classier. No, I'm not joking. The title of my poem really is You Are A Pettifogger.

https://www.writersdigest.com/write-better-poetry/2023-april-pad-challenge-day-27

The other April PAD Challenge prompt asks participants to write an anapodoton poem. Yeah, I didn't know what it was either. Here's a nice list of English anapodotons. 

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix:English_examples_of_anapodoton

https://www.napowrimo.net/day-twenty-eight-9/

Today's NaPoWriMo prompt asks participants to write an index poem. This prompt definitely inspired the feel of my poem, but in fairness, the poem may be more of a list poem than an index poem. Or it may be neither. I run off anapodotons one after the other, ending them in unique ways while cryptically insulting the kind of critic who nit-picks the hell out of everything and pats themselves on the back for doing so. 

With such lines as 

"If you can’t stand the heat, go sit in the shade,

But don’t you be thinking I’d bring you lemonade."

I think you can get a sense of what I was going for.

I'm not sure why Grammarly thinks I'd want to end the line "don't you be thinking I'd bring you lemonade" with a question mark. I'm not asking a question, I'm making a statement. 

~Ornery Owl Has Spoken~

Image by Daniel Agrelo from Pixabay

Ornery Owl is done with everyone's shyyyyyt. 

Poetry Prompts and Inspiration Day 26 April PAD Challenge and NaPoWriMo 2023

 

Image by gkgegk from Pixabay

Hah--bet you weren't expecting that picture! Nobody expects to see a corpse-flower in a post about poetry prompts. Or anywhere but a greenhouse in a botanic garden, really.

I admit to having a bit of a fascination with this large and smelly bloom. I've written about it before. 

So, what the hell does a big, stinky flower have to do with poetry? Did I write an ode to a corpse-flower?

No, but the corpse-flower does get a mention in today's poem. Let's introduce the prompts. It's all NaPoWriMo today. I'll bundle today's April PAD Challenge prompt with others on another day.

https://www.napowrimo.net/day-twenty-four-9/

This prompt asks participants to write a poetic review of something not usually reviewed .

https://www.napowrimo.net/day-twenty-five-9/

This prompt asks participants to read the e e cummings poem [somewhere i have never travelled,gladly beyond].

https://poets.org/poem/somewhere-i-have-never-travelledgladly-beyond

Having completed this assignment, participants are then instructed to write a love poem, one that names at least one flower, contains one parenthetical statement, and in which at least some lines break in unusual places.

https://www.napowrimo.net/day-twenty-six-9/

This prompt asks participants to write a portrait poem that focuses on or plays with the meaning of the subject’s name. 

I chose myself as the subject for the poem. I critiqued myself and my writing in poetic fashion from the viewpoint of a snooty reviewer, comparing my creative output to the malodorous reek of a corpse-flower. I took the broad meaning of my first name, referring to myself as a "a not well-beloved hack writer". My first name means "beloved" in Italian or "friend" in Celtic.

My middle name is Lorraine, which is a French town. My last name broadly means a stag in a field. Thus, I compare myself to a stag standing in an open field outside a French town during hunting season.

For those who might be preparing to chide me not to belittle myself, the poem is taking the piss. The real target of ridicule is not me but the literary snob who enjoys writing scathing reviews. I imagined what such a person would say about my writing, so I said it first, thumbing my nose at them in verse. 

~Ornery Owl Has Spoken~

Image by sapphoris from Pixabay

https://odysee.com/@TerminalPassage:c/blue-mitchell-%E2%80%93-blue-mitchell-%281971%29:2?r=GTwnGJ4fFBQfzuJgpHVpfKBKaC9b8B16

Poetry Prompts and Inspiration Day 25 April PAD Challenge and NaPoWriMo Day 23

 

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

People, I'm going to tell you the truth, I don't think I can squeeze many more words out of me today. I wrote a bit over 3000 in Captain Sammy's Treasure. I didn't do any poetry yesterday, so I squashed three April PAD Challenge prompts together today and finally wrote that contentious six-word poem! How ya like me now?

https://www.writersdigest.com/write-better-poetry/2023-april-pad-challenge-day-21

I also used the prompt requesting a touch poem

https://www.writersdigest.com/write-better-poetry/2023-april-pad-challenge-day-24

And this month's final Twofer Tuesday prompt, which asks for a dream and/or reality poem.

https://www.writersdigest.com/write-better-poetry/2023-april-pad-challenge-day-25

So, how the hell did I squeeze three prompts into one poem?

I wish I could show you, but then I couldn't submit it for publication, so I'll have to tell you.

I gave the poem the title Dream or Reality.

The poem refers to a cold touch. Is this touch happening in waking reality, or is it a nightmare?

And that's how I did it!

I may write a second poem today or I may not. In the meantime, I'm going to get dinner going.

~Ornery Owl Has Spoken~

Free use image from Open Clipart Vectors

Here's Joe Farrell's cool 1975 album for your listening pleasure. They don't write 'em like this anymore!

https://odysee.com/@TerminalPassage:c/joe-farrell-%E2%80%93-canned-funk-%281975%29:7?r=GTwnGJ4fFBQfzuJgpHVpfKBKaC9b8B16

That album cover is wild, y'all.

Poetry Prompts and Inspiration Day 23 April PAD Challenge and NaPoWriMo 2023

 

Image by John Hain from Pixabay

I guess you can see where my mind and heart are at today. Never mind, I'm pretty sure no fucks are given. Let's get to the poetry prompts.

https://www.napowrimo.net/day-twenty-three-9/

Today's prompt asks participants to:

Start off by reading Arvind Krishna Mehrotra’s “Lockdown Garden.” 

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/poems/154207/lockdown-garden

Now, try to write a poem of your own that has multiple numbered sections.

I have been putting off the Day 21 prompt from the April PAD Challenge requesting a six-word poem. 

https://www.writersdigest.com/write-better-poetry/2023-april-pad-challenge-day-21

In case I never write a six-word poem, I have written a six-verse poem that contains words.

Attempt to have each section be in dialogue with the others, like a song where a different person sings each verse, giving a different point of view. 

I did that...sort of. I don't think anyone would want to sing what I wrote.

Set the poem in a specific place that you used to spend a lot of time in, but don’t spend time in anymore.

I didn't do that. The poem was in my head, a place where I probably spend too much time.

Yesterday's April PAD Challenge prompt asks participants to write a What Blank poem.

https://www.writersdigest.com/write-better-poetry/2023-april-pad-challenge-day-22

The title of my poem is What Is My Destiny?

Today's April PAD Challenge poem asks participants to write a fear poem.

https://www.writersdigest.com/write-better-poetry/2023-april-pad-challenge-day-23

Sadly, fear is an emotion I am all too acquainted with.

That's all for today. I need to get out of the gloomy part of my brain and find the innovative storytelling part. This shit is getting depressing.

~Ornery Owl Has Spoken~

Image by danny moore from Pixabay

https://odysee.com/@TerminalPassage:c/nobu-caine-%E2%80%93-nobu-caine-%281989%29:9?r=GTwnGJ4fFBQfzuJgpHVpfKBKaC9b8B16

Some great jazz from Japan.

Poetry Prompts and Inspiration Day 22 April PAD Challenge and NaPoWriMo 2023

 

Image by Enrique Meseguer from Pixabay

Good morning, afternoon, evening, or whatever. Poetry is why we're here, so let's get to it!

https://www.napowrimo.net/day-twenty-two-9/

Today's prompt from NaPoWriMo asks participants to "find an Emily Dickinson poem – preferably one you’ve never previously read – and take out all the dashes and line breaks. Make it just one big block of prose. Now, rebreak the lines. Add words where you want. Take out some words. Make your own poem out of it!"

I hit the pause button on the April PAD prompt again because this was a big undertaking! After reading my resulting poem, the potential first publisher may wish the undertaker would come for me. Meh, it's not my problem if some people cannot recognize greatness!

Anyway, here are your Emily Dickinson resources, including links to the poems I abused...I mean, gleaned inspiration from.

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/emily-dickinson#about

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/52139/fame-is-a-bee-1788

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/52134/fame-is-a-fickle-food-1702

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/48184/faith-is-fine-invention-202

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/47652/because-i-could-not-stop-for-death-479

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/47651/after-great-pain-a-formal-feeling-comes-372

I hope Emily might appreciate my resulting poem. I dedicated it to her.

I once knew a family where both the husband and wife were related to Emily Dickinson in one way or another. Don't ask me to try and remember how. The husband and my father both taught at the same college, and this is where I knew them from. Since those days, Death has kindly stopped for all of them, including my father.

I've been a right mess this week. I think I may finally be getting back to abnormal. I'll probably feel better after a little breakfast.

~Ornery Owl Has spoken~

Image by Gordon Johnson from Pixabay

I was listening to this great 1978 Japanese jazz album while creating the post. Enjoy!

https://odysee.com/@TerminalPassage:c/bingo-miki-inner-galaxy-orchestra-%E2%80%93:3?r=GTwnGJ4fFBQfzuJgpHVpfKBKaC9b8B16

Poetry Prompts and Inspiration April PAD Challenge and NaPoWriMo Day 21

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

https://www.napowrimo.net/day-twenty-one-8/

Today's prompt from NaPoWriMo asks participants to read Sarah Gambito’s poem “Grace," then choose a word from their list of abstract nouns to use as their poem's title. They also suggest including at least one invented word. I invented two words, because I'm an overachiever like that.

I chose one of the nouns for the title, then used all of them in my short, sharp, choppy poem about, you guessed it, anxiety. Because my anxiety has damn near done me in this month. 

I opted to leave the April PAD Challenge prompt for another day because it asks participants to write a six-word poem. The NaPoWriMo list by itself contained more than six words.

~Ornery Owl Has Spoken~

Image by Kevin from Pixabay

https://odysee.com/@TerminalPassage:c/triumvirat-%E2%80%93-mediterranean-tales:c?r=GTwnGJ4fFBQfzuJgpHVpfKBKaC9b8B16

I hope you enjoy this German prog rock from 1977. I also find it makes a great soundtrack for writing my epic novella about Captain Sammy's treasure.

Poetry Prompts and Inspiration Day 20 April PAD Challenge and NaPoWriMo 2023

 

Image by Markéta Boušková from Pixabay

Good day or whatever. Let's jump right into it. 

Today's April PAD Challenge prompt asks participants to write an animal poem.

https://www.writersdigest.com/write-better-poetry/2023-april-pad-challenge-day-20

Today's NaPoWriMo prompt is an interesting one.

https://www.napowrimo.net/day-twenty-10/

Have you ever heard someone wonder what future archaeologists, whether human or from alien civilization, will make of us? Today, I’d like to challenge you to answer that question in poetic form, exploring a particular object or place from the point of view of some far-off, future scientist.

I didn't write a poem about a literal animal. I postulated about what scientists from a far-off world who come to study the dying Earth might think about all the pills we took to combat our mental health problems. The title of my poem is A Beast Called Anxiety.

For the record, I don't take any psych meds. Not because I don't have psychological issues. I clearly have those aplenty. Not because I think myself superior to people who do take psych meds. I don't take them for one simple reason. For me, the "cure" is worse than the problem. My body doesn't tolerate them.

Here is a nifty resource that I use to come up with things like alien scientist and fantasy planet names. It's a real lifesaver.

https://www.fantasynamegenerators.com/

That's about all for now. I'm still dealing with a mess surrounding my thyroid medication and miscommunication. The guy that's potentially supposed to replace our furnace hasn't called me back either. I'm trying not to let the beast Anxiety defeat me. 

From my current vantage point, I think Anxiety is probably the worst of my psychological problems. It fuels Depression because it makes me feel like a fuckup. I wonder what I could have been without anxiety, but sometimes I fear I might have been really shallow and vain because of my insecurity about my physical appearance. It's pretty much a no-win situation.

~Ornery Owl Has Spoken~

Image by Loyloy Thal from Pixabay

https://odysee.com/@TerminalPassage:c/gomorrha-%E2%80%93-i-turned-to-see-whose-voice:6?r=GTwnGJ4fFBQfzuJgpHVpfKBKaC9b8B16

I was listening to this hard-hitting Krautrock by Gomorrha while creating this post.

Poetry Prompts and Inspiration April PAD Challenge and NaPoWriMo 2023

 

Image by Digital Photo and Design DigiPD.com from Pixabay

Well, boy howdy, I just made myself sad a.f. with my poem. I thought about pouring out my heart here in this space where I pretty much have an audience of one. But then I thought about the lurkers and I remembered my own wisdom.

So, we'll just go to the poetry prompts instead.

Yesterday's April PAD Challenge prompt asks for a love or anti-love poem.

https://www.writersdigest.com/write-better-poetry/2023-april-pad-challenge-day-18

Today's April PAD Challenge prompt requests a taste poem.

https://www.writersdigest.com/write-better-poetry/2023-april-pad-challenge-day-19

Today's NaPoWriMo prompt

https://www.napowrimo.net/day-nineteen-8/

asks participants to read the poem My Grandma Told Me Stories or Cautionary Tales by Marlanda Dekine.

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/poems/155931/my-grandma-told-stories-or-cautionary-tales

I wrote about the fact that I came to love monsters because I am one of them.

Not a "monster" in the sense of being a brutal person who deliberately harms other people and creatures. I've been the target of such people throughout my entire life. Some of these people take on the form of "helpers," such as the nurse on the psych ward when I was sixteen years old who told me I was a freak and would always be a freak and that something like me could never be normal.

I told her "better a freak like me than a bitch like you."

I remain proud of that retort.

I'm a monster in the sense that people have always rejected me and made me feel ugly. The idea of "loving myself" is so foreign to me as to be laughable. I have learned to tolerate and respect myself enough not to put up with other people's abuse any longer. What the fuck does "love yourself" even mean? 

I have spiky armor, and if you try to probe around under it, I will defend myself with extreme prejudice. I don't and never will trust easily. I always expect that people are going to betray me in the end. 

I think the soft center of me is worth getting to know, but people will never bother. All they see is my unbecoming exterior. 

I am not a pretty girl. It isn't what I do. However, I understand why I used to try to be one and why I fell into the snares of empty men who just wanted something to use for physical pleasure and a punching bag. I understand why I fell for the overtures of false friendship from insecure females who desired a companion they could think of as lesser.

I wanted my poem to hit like a short, sharp slap. I had trouble making it fit the confines of a Senryu's syllable scheme. Fate must have been in the mood for a brief, depressing poem because this is what came up in the Carpe Diem archive.

https://chevrefeuillescarpediem.blogspot.com/2012/10/carpe-diem-preview-2-kanshicho-other.html

I wrote my Senryu/Tanka thing in Kanshicho style, which does not have a required syllable count. 

Just for fun, my syllable count ended up being 8-9-7-7-7.

~Ornery Owl Has Spoken~

Image by Clker-Free-Vector-Images from Pixabay

Owl, alone in the dark.

https://odysee.com/@PeaceofMind:9/spooky-spring-music-twilight-rose:f?r=GTwnGJ4fFBQfzuJgpHVpfKBKaC9b8B16

Here is what I was listening to while creating the poem and post.

Poetry Prompts and Inspiration Day 18 April PAD Challenge and NaPoWriMo

 

Image by Hebi B. from Pixabay

Today's NaPoWriMo prompt asks participants to write an abecedarian poem.

https://www.napowrimo.net/day-eighteen-9/

I finally had the selective laser trabeculoplasty procedure done on my left eye today, so I wrote about the intense, out-of-proportion anxiety I had about the procedure. Since I have never had such a procedure before, mild anxiety would be par for the course. It is a brief, painless, minimally invasive procedure. The worst part of it was the lens that had to be placed over the eye so the ophthalmologist could see where to aim the laser. This isn't painful, but it is somewhat uncomfortable. 

I'm one of the 75% of people for whom the procedure seems to have had a positive effect. For about 25% of people, there is no effect. The pressure in my left eye has been sitting at 25 for a little over a year. Even with drops, it wouldn't go lower. Today, after the procedure, it was down to 19. That's a big win. I plan to have the procedure done for my right eye. 

So, why am I writing about this?

My medical anxiety has made my life extremely difficult at times. My ophthalmologist is very patient and understanding. Having someone who doesn't ridicule my fears makes a lot of difference. 

I come from a generation where sneaking up on a kid and sticking them with a needle was par for the course, then scolding them if they cried. I've had far worse than that done to me by doctors. Trusting medical people does not come easy to me.

I'm saving today's April PAD Challenge prompt for tomorrow. I'm going to take it easy for the rest of the evening. 

~Ornery Owl Has Spoken~

Image by Alexa from Pixabay

Okay, you caught me. This owl is obviously not ornery. But it sure is cute!

https://odysee.com/@PeaceofMind:9/magical-fantasy-music-tropical-shell:7?r=GTwnGJ4fFBQfzuJgpHVpfKBKaC9b8B16

Some beautiful Caribbean-inspired music for your listening pleasure.

Poetry Prompts and Inspiration Day 17 April PAD Challenge and NaPoWriMo 2023

 

Image by Clker-Free-Vector-Images from Pixabay

Good day, Class. Professor Ornery Owl here telling you how I constructed a little poem warning people about not eating oleanders.

Today's April PAD Challenge prompt asks participants to write a nerve poem.

https://www.writersdigest.com/write-better-poetry/2023-april-pad-challenge-day-17

Ornery Owl is nothing if not a bundle of nerves today.

https://www.napowrimo.net/day-seventeen-9/

Today's NaPoWriMo prompt asks participants to Sayuri Ayers’ poem “In the Season of Pink Ladies.”

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/159476/in-the-season-of-pink-ladies

Ornery Owl must confess that she did not do this. She also did not follow this portion of the instructions:

Today’s challenge asks you to write a poem that contains the name of a specific variety of edible plant – preferably one that grows in your area. 

Nay, instead this contrary owl wrote a pointed little limerick about the consumption of oleanders being bad for one's nerves and every other part as well.

Seriously, don't eat oleanders. If chowing down on oleander doesn't kill you, it will certainly make you miserable. 

This is probably going to be a miserable day for me. I am THAT asshole who waited till the last minute to do my taxes. 

My rule next year is get that shit done in March. April is too much of a cluster fuck to have to deal with taxes on top of everything else.

~Ornery Owl Has Spoken~

Image by Clker-Free-Vector-Images from Pixabay

Ornery PSA

Eating oleanders is a dumb idea. Don't do it. It will kill your crazy ass.

Poetry Prompts and Inspiration Day 16 April PAD Challenge and NaPoWriMo 2023

 

Image by Sarah Richter from Pixabay

A good whatever time of day it is for you, Poetry People. It has certainly been volatile in this little space during the past few sessions. You never know exactly what you're going to get around here. Will it be the sage wisdom of Ornery Owl? Will it be the feminist outrage of Sly Fawkes? Or will it perhaps be something like the above?

https://www.writersdigest.com/write-better-poetry/2023-april-pad-challenge-day-16

The Writers Digest prompt for today asks participants to write a Blank of the Blank poem.

https://www.napowrimo.net/day-sixteen-10/

The NaPoWriMo prompt asks participants to use their poems to describe what something isn't.

To make a long story short, my poem is called Witch of the Prairie, and it contains lines such as "I am not your pet" and "I will never be your girl." So, yeah, Sly snuck in there again. Sly will never rest as long as society continues giving her so much material to work with. 

Sometimes I think I'm too old to still be fighting this shit. By "this shit," I of course mean misogyny. Couldn't I just leave that battle up to younger warriors who aren't as tired as I am?

The answer is no, I cannot.

Older women are constantly informed that we're useless. We're out of touch with the times. We have nothing relevant to say. Certainly, we have no sex appeal.

I call bullshit on that crap. Older women have wisdom and experience, and we don't put up with anyone's shit. If someone tries to shame me for my lack of sex appeal, I'll laugh. I don't give a damn about sex. I've been done with that nonsense for years. Ditto caring about being perceived as attractive. 

I have more important things to concern myself with, such as learning how to turn misogynists into toads. Toads are better than mansplainers any day. 

~The Wicked Witch Has Spoken~

Image by Square Frog from Pixabay

https://odysee.com/@PeaceofMind:9/relaxing-spring-music-fluffy-clouds:f?r=GTwnGJ4fFBQfzuJgpHVpfKBKaC9b8B16

Here is what I was listening to while creating this wicked post.

Poetry Prompts and Inspiration Day 15 April PAD Challenge and NaPoWriMo 2023

 

Image by 愚木混株 Cdd20 from Pixabay

I'm really not feeling that great today. I feel like I'm failing with everything except the poetry part of this month's goals. I always hit a big slump in the middle of the month, so I'm trying to take it with a grain of salt. 

I know nobody is really interested in these posts, but maybe someday someone somewhere will find them helpful. Anyway, I don't make them for you fuckers. I make them for me. Because reasons. So, there's that.

Let's start with the easy prompt. The April PAD Challenge prompt asks participants to write a shadow poem.

https://www.writersdigest.com/write-better-poetry/2023-april-pad-challenge-day-15

The NaPoWriMo prompt 

https://www.napowrimo.net/day-fifteen-9/

asks participants to Begin by reading June Jordan’s (1936 - 2002) “Notes on the Peanut.” 

https://poets.org/poem/notes-peanut

Now, think of a person – real or imagined – who has been held out to you as an example of how to live, but who you have always had doubts about. Write a poem that exaggerates the supposedly admirable qualities of the person in a way that exposes your doubts.

Ms. Jordan wrote an amusing poem about the legend of George Washington Carver. I did not select a person; I selected a supposedly progressive ideology that is, at its core, extremely regressive and has upended much of the hard work accomplished by both second-wave feminists and gay rights activists. My poem is not amusing. 

For a long time, I kept my thoughts on this situation to myself. But after gathering four pages of tweets yesterday from people appalled by the advertising choice made by a certain beer company, I know I'm certainly not alone. 

These people are not far-right gay-bashing Fundamentalists, mind. Most of them are left-leaning progressives. They are men and women of various races and nationalities with ages ranging from young to elderly. Some are bisexual, some are gay or lesbian, and some are straight. 

I am a 58-year-old heterosexual disabled white American woman. I am an agnostic and a feminist. I have been a registered Democrat since 1984. I have always been pro-gay rights. I support same-sex marriage. I've always leaned to the left on most social issues. 

This is not about hating anyone. Transsexuals should be afforded the same rights and protections as anyone else. Adults have the right to do what they want with their bodies. Adolescent emotions tend to be hyperbolic. This does not mean that the concerns of adolescents should not be taken seriously, only that the medical community should not be leaping to offer cross-sex hormones and surgeries to gender-nonconforming and gender dysphoric youth.

I have no problem with men who want to wear dresses and makeup. I have a problem with the idea that wearing dresses and makeup makes these men into women. Women are not dresses and makeup. That idea is a stereotype of womanhood. Women range from presenting in a hyperfeminine fashion to presenting in a more stereotypically masculine way. A butch lesbian is as much a woman as a straight woman who looks like Marilyn Monroe.

I have long hair, but I'm not a particularly "feminine" woman. I don't wear makeup or shave my legs. I hate wearing dresses. That doesn't make me a man.

In the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, there was pushback against regressive sex stereotypes. Men could have long hair and wear makeup and "feminine" clothing. They were still men. Women could have short hair, wear no makeup, and prefer "masculine" attire. They were still women. 

My problem with today's #BeKind, pronouns-in-the-bio ideology is the fact that it reinforces the awful sex stereotypes that people fought so hard against. It is not a progressive ideology. It is regressive, misogynistic, and homophobic. Referring to people who are same-sex attracted as "genital fetishists" is disgusting, and I won't stand for it. 

These thoughts will probably not make me very popular with the #BeKind crowd, who are, in fact, only kind to those who agree with them 100% on everything. Uppity women who disagree with them are unpersoned and branded with dehumanizing slurs inviting those so inclined to abuse said women. 

Meet the new boss. It's the same as the old boss, now with pronouns in the bio and covered in glitter. 

Ornery Owl stepped aside for this one. This is 100% Sly Fawkes.

Image by OpenClipart-Vectors from Pixabay

Poetry Prompts and Inspiration Day 14 April PAD Challenge and NaPoWriMo 2023

 

Image by NoName_13 from Pixabay

Good morning, afternoon, evening, or whatever! Today's April PAD Challenge prompt asks participants to write a "And Now For Something Completely Different" Poem. Surprisingly, I did not write a poem about a man with three buttocks, although I certainly could have.

https://www.writersdigest.com/write-better-poetry/2023-april-pad-challenge-day-14

Today's NaPoWriMo prompt asks participants to write a parody or satire based on a famous poem.

https://www.napowrimo.net/day-fourteen-10/

I didn't use a poem. I satirized the lyrics to Blurred Lines while telling a story that is, unfortunately, completely the same. It is the story of a woman (me) enduring harassment while walking down the street minding my own business. 

This incident happened in 1984 when I was nineteen years old. I never wanted to leave my apartment because I couldn't even walk a mile to catch the bus without morons catcalling me. I did not find this "flattering." I found it disgusting and depressing. I was always on edge.

Sadly, misogynistic crap like Blurred Lines shows that we really have not come a long way, Baby.

~Ornery Owl Has Spoken~

Image by Enrique Meseguer from Pixabay

This gal doesn't look like the sort to put up with any Blurred Lines bullshit.

https://odysee.com/@Rave_Archive:e/Gatecrasher-Trance-Classics-1993-2009:4?r=GTwnGJ4fFBQfzuJgpHVpfKBKaC9b8B16

As you probably already guessed, I was most assuredly not listening to Blurred Lines while creating this post. I was listening to actual good music instead.