Monday, April 27, 2015

PAD Day 27: Powers of Two


Today's prompts from Poetic Asides and NaPoWriMo:
(1) Write a "looking back" poem, and
(2) Write a "hay(na)ku" (more on that below).
Since it's my birthday today :) , it's easy to "look back". In keeping with my tradition from most recent years, I wrote a birthday poem:

26 


I don’t remember much about 21 or 22,
but by 23 I was a precocious second-grader
with three little sisters.  At 24,
I was a geeky sophomore in high school
who was into Dylan Thomas
and thought Jefferson Airplane was groovy.
By 25 I was married, well into my career,
and already raising 21 boys.
Now I’m 26, the last time I will be
a power-of-two years old.
Unlike the Beatles’ prediction,
I don’t rent a summer cottage
in the Isle of Wight. I have 20 grandchild,
but her name isn’t Vera, Chuck or Dave.
I’m proud of my 22 grown-up sons,
and I still have all 25 of my teeth.
I could make it to 34, but for now,
I’m just counting on the power of two,
and you’re the best part of that power.



Now for poem #2. The "hay(na)ku" was a form invented by poet Eileen Tabios, and named and popularized by my poet buddy Vince Gotera.  The form is simple: one word in the first line, two in the second, three in the third. You can string them together in inventive ways too. This one is in a form that Vince calls the "hay(na)ku sonnet". Pardon the reference to the same Beatles song:



What to Do on This Birthday 


work
like it’s
any other day 


but
take it
a little easier 


accept
good wishes
gracefully, and smile 


have
a small
celebration at home 


listen to Beatles’
“When I’m Sixty-four”



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