W3 Prompt #44: Wea’ve Written Weekly

Intro

Dear friends,

Welcome to our W³ Poetry Prompt, which goes live on Wednesdays at The Skeptic’s Kaddish.

You may click here for a fuller explanation of W³; but here’s the ‘tldr’ version:

Part I

The main ingredient of W³ is a weekly poem written by a Poet of the Week (PoW), which participants read before participating in the prompt.

Part II

The second ingredient is a writing guideline (or two) provided by the PoW. Guidelines may include, but are not limited to: word counts, poetic forms, inclusion of specific words, and use of particular poetic devices.

Part III

After five days, when the prompt closes, the PoW shall select one participant’s poem as the W³ prompt for the following week, and its author becomes the next PoW.

Simple enough, right?

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Okie dokie ~ Let’s do this thing!

I. The prompt poem:

‘In The Past, They Were The Hum, Now, Its Prisoners’, a ‘Haibun’ by Selma Martin

Come what may, the tourists came, like Santa, like migratory birds. Lugging big suitcases and pale faces wreathed in wrinkles of pleasure, they came– content at the intensity: sun worshipers. And the coconut trees pointed in their direction and laughed at how fast their faces turned: from white to pink, to red, to purple– like turnips! But after sundown, those tourists couldn’t sit still like the locals, who sat in appreciation of the hum of slow days– oh, no –couldn’t; wouldn’t sit with the hum. They needed to stimulate the flesh. Dully so, after all that sun, they wanted their nights cold. So on every trip, they carted air conditioners they helped install. And the locals got hooked on that fake air. No one remembers a time without the hypnotizing hum of air machines. And the coconut trees now laugh at the couch potatoes that stroll outside occasionally.

staunchly they mimicked
stars, moon, hum, breeze forgotten
corralled in paradise

II. Selma’s prompt guidelines

Hiya, all. What do you know? Beginner’s luck is real… It’s me, Selma. My cup runneth over with gratitude for this lovely honor. Thanks, Kerfe, David, and all.

First, I’d like to make you aware of Sundress Publication, an Instagram account, that posts writing prompts all year long. This week’s prompt for W³ comes from a Sundress prompt to which I once responded:

The prompt

• Write a ‘prose poem’ in the form of a news article you wish would come out tomorrow (imagine it will come out tomorrow).

Rules

• Format your ‘prose poem’ like breaking news;
• Give it a bold attractive title;
• A beginning/middle/end;
• Make it a Good News account of something that will benefit us all. Use strong, positive VERBS;
• Add enough detail to make it believable/relieve us of some stress;
• Not short, but not too long;
• Have fun. Happy Writing!

III. Submit: Click on ‘Mr. Linky’ below

In order to participate and share a poem, open up this blog post, outside of the WordPress reader. At the bottom, just below these words, you will see a small rectangular graphic with the words ‘Mr Linky’. Click on that to submit.

Submissions are open for 5 days, until Monday, March 6, 10:00 AM (GMT+3)

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Last week’s W³ poem

This week’s W³ prompt poem (above), composed by Selma, was written in response to last week’s W³ prompt poem, which Kerfe Roig wrote:

‘Changes’, a ‘Puente’ by Kerfe

On an empty block west of Central Park
rose twelve houses–not a dead end street,
not wild, but quiet–perfect for the well-to-do.
They proceeded to fill the line of brownstones
with their unquiet and disorderly lives.

~Time changes the faces and the facades~

Homes are bought and sold and sold again.
Doors are replaced, stoops deleted, details erased.
A school opens, caters to the well-to-do.
Only the guardians remain to trace the years–
older now, but still fascinated by human folly.