Image by Nanne Tiggelman from Pixabay
Good afternoon, Poetry People! I must admit that my first thought on seeing today's NaPoWriMo prompt was, "Well, what the hell am I supposed to do with that?"
The prompt asks participants to use one of ten words from a list of words used in Taylor Swift songs, then include the word in the title of the poem.
I have a quibble with the reference to these as being "Swiftean words." She did not invent these words any more than I invented the words ornery, sarcasm, or snark. She just used them.
I'm pretty sure Lemmy invented the word Orgasmatron. Lord Iffy Boatrace's butler Butler invented a rather horrifying sex machine called the Pelvotron in Bruce Dickinson's naughty and nutty novel The Adventures of Lord Iffy Boatrace. So, Orgasmatron may well be a proper Kilmisterian word, while Pelvotron is a Dickinsonian (as opposed to Dickensian) term. Bruce Dickinson, or at least his band, Iron Maiden, will figure into this post again at a later point.
Today's April PAD Challenge prompt asks poets to pen a proper Until Blank poem.
Scanning the list of words used in Taylor Swift's songs, I found Albatross and Elegy, and things started to click.
Read here for some myths and legends about the albatross.
One of my favorite songs is Albatross by Judy Collins. However, I also recalled The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, a lyrical ballad written in 1797 by Samuel Taylor Coleridge and published in 1798 in a collection of lyrical ballads by Coleridge and William Wordsworth. 186 years later, Iron Maiden recorded a 13-minute tribute to the ballad for their 1984 album Powerslave, and lo, a nineteen-year-old me was grateful yet again for Steve Harris and his love of history and literature.
I used the word elegy in today's poem, which touches on the topics of my pig-headed persistence until the day I go tits up, whether anyone will be inspired to write an elegy for such an ornery cuss, and the fact that I would prefer to listen to the songs of Judy Collins or Iron Maiden over Taylor Swift. This actually isn't done in the manner of a dig at Taylor Swift, it's simply factual information about me.
I honestly don't care much about Taylor Swift one way or the other. I find it ridiculous that some man-children who either frequent incel forums or use religion as a cudgel to keep women in their place have their tighty whiteys in a bunch about the fact that a thirty-four-year-old woman is unmarried and childless. I find Ms. Swift's reported carbon footprint rather outlandish, but I don't have any vehement dislike for her.
I'm no Swiftie, but let's give Taylor a fair shake. The Lakes is a pleasant enough melody with rather evocative lyrics.
Albatross was first released on Judy Collins' 1967 album Wildflowers. I've always felt like she could have written this song about me. I had overly romantic ideals for much of my life. I learned the harsh lesson that fairy tales aren't real. No prince is coming to your rescue. You have to save yourself.
The lyrics also speak to my struggles with sometimes debilitating depression and extreme loneliness. I've learned over time that being an outlier like I am means that I will never fit in with other people. It's taken most of my life for me to be sort of okay with that.
Two things you can always rely on:
Bruce Dickinson never mincing words.
Iron Maiden kicking ass and taking names.
Ah, the good old days of men in tights playing shredding riffs! If Heaven doesn't have music like this, I ain't going.
And now for something completely different.
No, not a man with three buttocks.
It's Sir Ian McKellan reading The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.
This is an orchestral rendition of Iron Maiden's The Rime of the Ancient Mariner with some illustrative AI images. Some of these are pretty cool, but the pirate in a dress at 4:01 and 5:00 is just funny. However, if a pirate wants to wear a dress, why shouldn't he?
I hope you enjoyed this extended penultimate post of prompts and songs. I'll be back tomorrow for the grand finale!
~Ornery Owl Has Spoken~
I'd rather play chess with an octopus and a bunch of weird mutant aquatic squirrels underwater than sail on a cursed ship with a dead albatross around my neck.
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