Day Seven

Welcome back, all — we’ve now hit the one-week mark in this year’s National/Global Poetry Writing Month!

Also, thanks for your patience as we work through the continued over-enthusiasm of our Disqus comment-moderating system. We’re trying to keep on top of when it flags comments as spam (on bases that defy understanding), and then marking affected commenters as “trusted users” accordingly.

Our featured participant for the day is Veronica Zundel, whose response to Day Six’s slightly-surreal promp takes us through a list of lovely-sounding plants, with a casual glance at a “hot French gardener.” Ooh-la-la!

Today, our resource is the Ode & Psyche podcast from the Ruth Stone House, a nonprofit that celebrates the legacy of the Vermont poet Ruth Stone. Hosted by Ruth Stone’s granddaughter, the poet Bianca Stone, the podcast features interviews with poets, close readings of poems, and explorations of how poetry is made and moves.

Finally, here’s today’s prompt — optional, as always. In her poem, “Front Yard Rhyme,” Cecily Parks evokes the sing-songy beats that accompany girls’ clapping games, and jump-rope and skipping rhymes. Today, we challenge you to write your own poem that emulates these songs – something to snap, clap, and jump around to.

Happy writing!