DAY TWENTY-SIX
April 26, 2018
Hello, everyone! Happy twenty-sixth day of Na/GloPoWriMo.
Today we bring you a new craft resource, in the form of this essay by Josh Roark exploring engagement of the senses, and of the notion of embodiment, in the poetry of Ocean Vuong. Roark argues that the key to the success of Vuong’s poems is his particular ability to make the reader feel a poem as a visceral object, and not one that is removed or merely intellectual. If you’d like to check out some more of Vuong’s work, you might look at this poem that, fittingly for our purposes, is titled Essay on Craft.
And now for our prompt (optional as always). Taking our cue from today’s craft resource, we’d like to challenge you to write a poem that includes images that engage all five senses. Try to be as concrete and exact as possible with the “feel” of what the poem invites the reader to see, smell, touch, taste and hear.
Happy writing!
Velvety Night
velvety tropical night
pool under starlit sky
splash into the water wade
no one there alone delight
sink chin-deep liquid embrace
smooth luscious body-warm
float limit-& weightless grace
unfold sea anemone charm
sample whiff of chlorine
passing fishing-boat’s gasoline
savor smell of salty sea
sun-lotion vanilla & tea-tree
hear waves lap against stone
boat tucker by
palm fronds rustle in the breeze
ear pierced by water bird’s cry
see lamps’ doubles slither in pool
moon shimmer on infinite teal
mirrors flicker flee respool
reverberate behind lids’ seal
Living Lives 