To NaPoWriMo, or not to NaPoWriMo? Much of my time in the last few weeks has been spent in queasy contemplation of this question. Every few hours, I felt the familiar vise of fear and terror and joyous expectation that accompanies any contemplation of a plan to dedicate myself to writing a poem a day for a month. And not just any month: April. April, that most hellish of months, when the papers pile up, the exams demand to be made and administered, the students realize that spring has sprung and each class requires one hundred and sixty times more energy in order to get them to focus on Krapp’s Last Tape and The Wasteland rather than the sight of seventy or more of their closest friends sunning themselves on the lawn outside the window. April, the academic’s nightmare, the month that usually leaves me comatose on the couch watching America’s Next Top Model marathons for days — and a poem a day, on top of this?
At the end of NaPoWriMo last year, I felt like Martin Sheen at the end of Apocalypse Now. I had traveled down the terrifying river, I had seen the horror, the horror. There’s no sequel to Apocalypse Now, and there’s a reason for that. I decided no, no thank you — I might try this in a more amenable month, like June or even August, but NaPoWriMo during NaPoMo? No thank you. No thank you very much indeed, sir.
Or so I thought. My mouth, of course, often does not first discuss things with my brain, and this leads me into trouble — this time, of the poem-a-day-during-the-busiest-month-of-the-year kind. Yesterday, I drove to Valley for my outreach program. Whitney and I had decided to find a way to ease the students into form, and I designed a whizbanger of a class plan based on Nice Hat. Thanks. It went remarkably well. Miraculously well. You could practically see the light bulbs flashing in a fluorescence brighter than they’d ever flashed over the students’ heads. Poetry was fun! Poetry was sheer joy! Poetry was exhilarating! And at the end of class, Whitney and I talked to the students about the importance of regular practice, of writing even when the school is overtaken by the testing aliens.
And then it happened. My mouth opened. My tongue went into position to form sounds which would make themselves into words. And the words were as follows: “April is National Poetry Month, and a lot of poets do this thing called NaPoWriMo, where they write a poem a day. Let’s do it together! I’ll do it, if you’ll do it! A poem a day! For a month! Who’s interested!” And the hands shot up, waving with joy — my hand included.
D’oh.
So, it looks like I’m going to be part of the NaPoWriMo crowd again, this time, sadly, partnerless, as Ross White has abandoned me, cruelly, on the side of the road with no shoes and no map. Oh, the horror. The horror
I do have to post some of the poems from our Nice Hat. Thanks. exercise, as they’re hilarious. Here’s an example written by Whitney, my co-teacher, and myself:
Your patchwork overcoat got you thrown in the well.And one from a student and I:
Flawlessly the man walks into a power line.
What a picture! — I can’t get the vision of an Emma/Martin hybrid rising from the misty waters, a muddy face w/ bangs…
I’d love to see the poems from your students and know more about the lesson based on Nice Hat–what you did, etc. And good luck with NaPoWriMo! I envy your stamina.
Oh, Emma.
I’ll try to keep up with you but I can promise I won’t make it every day. Can we do it by e-mail this time?
mariegauthier — and believe me, the bangs do not look good when wet, muddy, and misty.
Hi Pamela! I’ll be posting some of the Nice Hat poems on my outreach blog: artofwritingprogram.wordpress.com. I’m excited to see what the kids came up with! I’m using this exercise as a (hopefully non-terrifying) way to introduce them to form. We’re slowly building to the biggies: we did Nice Hat-like couplets with six syllables (each student wrote five first lines, then switched with a partner and added second lines) per line this week. Next week, we’re going to have a renga party! Then, after that, either the pantoum or the villanelle — I haven’t decided. Eventually, we’re going to move to some light lessons on free verse line breaks. Very exciting!
My dearest Ross, it is no problem at all. I have a map, and I not only have shoes, I have very fashionable high heels which I got a helluva deal on. I would love, love, love to see any of the poems you come up with this month over e-mail. And I’ll send you the link to my secret blog!
I am sorry it has taken so long for me to comment — as you know, I was islanding this weekend (I never grow weary of using “island” as a verb). But I am late on the comment mostly because I cannot get past the most fabulous photo that mariegauthier wrote of a few posts above.
The two Nice Hat pomes are FABULOUS! Fabulous and FIERCE!
I’m joining in the craziness that is NaPoWriMo but it is already 3pm on the first day and not a line has met the page! But at least I have a rough idea of what I am going to do
Good luck to everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Don’t worry, Jessie! I can’t tell you how many times I logged in to post at 11:30 p.m. last year. Have no fear, and good luck!
Emma, I’m looking forward to seeing what you come up with this month — I could use a little fresh poetry in my life. It’ll be a sort of poem harvest month, this April, or like a poem vitamin, one a day. xo
Bloglily, a poem vitamin, absolutely. Or, have you ever read Once Is Not Enough by Jacqueline Susann (everyone should, really.)? In which January Wayne gets the dangerous yet revitalizing vitamin shots? That’s NaPoWriMo. One dangerous yet revitalizing vitamin shot a day.
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