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.
This prompt asks participants to write a poetic review of something not usually reviewed .
This prompt asks participants to read the e e cummings poem [somewhere i have never travelled,gladly 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.
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~
