April Poetry Madness 2024 April 21 to April 25, 2024
This is the fourth batch of my April Poetry Madness challenge poems, (for April 21 to April 25), following daily prompts supplied by Poetry Superhighway, Writer’s Digest, Writing Com Dew Drop Inn, and NaPoWriMo. I am not posting any more PSH poems as I need to keep some unpublished for future submissions.
I have included the poem, the prompt, and occasionally a bonus poem or comment or two. I am also cross-posting this on All Poetry, Blog Lovin, Cosmos Funnel, Facebook, Fan Story, Instagram, LinkedIn, Medium, Substack, Wattpad, Writer’s Digest, Writing Com, and Twitter. This is probably my last time doing this. Just getting too old to keep up.
You can find my previous entries here:
April 1 to April 6 Poems 2024 Poetry Madness
April Poetry Madness 2024 April 7 to April 14
Writers Digest April 2023 Poems
https://wp.me/p7NAzO-2QB April 15 to April 20
https://wp.me/p7NAzO-2Rm April 21 to April 25
Comments are welcomed but keep it civil.
Part One
April 1
PSH Ode to Durian
WD Optimistic Letourneau
WC Dew Drop Inn
Easter Bunny -warm up March 31
Sarang pabo love fool
NaPoWrMo Springtime Flowers Blooming Love
April 2
PSH The Words of the Year 1955 PSH
WD Sad and happy days
WC Dew Drop Inn
NaPoWrMo Cage
NaPoWrMo It Can’t Happen Here
April 3
Berkeley Mad Psychotic Pineapple Burns Sonnet
PSH 2 AI Version Traditional Sonnet
WD My Musical Street
WC Dew Drop Inn
NaPoWrMo Ode to Coffee
April 4, 2024
PSH The Cosmic Dog from Goa
WD Don’t Make a Mistake Vote for Jake
WC Ending Daily Shaving in Retirement
NaPoWrMo The Parliament of Owls Decree Death to All Humans
AV version The Parliament of Owls Decree Death to All Humans
April 5, 2024
PSH Love Expressed Through Food
WD Tell Me No Lies
WC Make Baseball Great Again!
NaPoWrMo Resurrecting the Dodo Bird
April 6
PSH Cosmic Dog From Goa
WD Meeting My Fate Minimum Poem
WC Daily Ritual Drinks
NaPoWrMo Only In SF
Part Two
April 7
PSH Visiting My Father’s Grave
Bonus: Yakima Dessert Blues
WD Meeting My Fate Minimum Poem
WC Why Trump?
NaPoWrMo Planetary Nut Re-Configuration Program
April 8
PSH Area Codes
WD My Lucky Number
WC Economic Perception Delay
NaPoWrMo Wish You Were Here
April 9
PSH Dearly Beloved
WD the Major Event of My Life
WC Death to All Humans
NaPoWrMo My Dysfunctional Family
April 10
PSH You Can’t Write That!
WD Better Political Discourse Needed
WC Green Trees Don’t Make It
AI Bing Version
NaPoWrMo Ode to My Coffee Pot
April 11
PSH Quote Poem About 9-11
WD Crazy Love Nonet
WC April 11—Eclipse/d two Lunatic Lune Poems about the Eclipse
NaPoWrMo Tribute to John Dean
April 12
PSH Subway Journey
WD Old Man Lost In His Old Memories
WC Civil War 2.0
NaPoWrMo 11 One Liners
April 13
PSH First Time to Eat Kimchi
WD Five Trumpian Humor Poetic Fragments
WC April 13—Discovery Shooting Down the Alien Visitors
NaPoWrMo Saga of Big Daddy
April 14
PSH 99 Haiku TBC
WD Life Worth Living
WC Tech Peeves
NaPoWrMo Shy Man Fishing
Part Three
Writer’s Digest Poems
April 15 New Middle Poem Middle Of Political Silly Season In The U.S. Trigger Warning Mild Political Rant
April 16 Trump Shardona Poem
April 17 New Tuesday prompt write a Shadorma poem about recent tech layoffs CEO To Labor Units of Production Shardona – You are Not Wanted
April 18 WD pessimistic Poem -not the Way to Fire People New Rules in the New Corporation World
April 19 Emotion Poem -Fears of Falling
April 20 The Circus Bear Escapes
Bear in collar hears praise while rambling
alt. bonus poem Met And Married My Dream Lady
Writing Com Dew Drop Inn Prompts
WC April 15 Lament Drifting Towards Civil War 2.0
WC Prove Something – God’s Demented Sense of Humor
WC Question something -The Basic Decency and Sanity of Americans
WC Scumbagology
WC Comedy – The Donald Trump Show is Getting Old
NaPoWriMo Prompts
April 15
My stamp collection
April 16
late Night Earthquake blues
April 17
What is Hip?
April 18 It’s A Dog’s Life for Me
April 19
Hunting the Monsters in Hell
Day 20 Trail of Tears – My Family Connection
Begin Poems
Writers Digest Prompts
April 21 PAD Challenge: Fairy Tale Romance
Sam Adams often thought
Of his true love story
As a fairy tale romance
That somehow became real.
He had dreamt of meeting
His dream lady
For eight years.
He joined the Peace Corps
Traveled to Korea
To look for her.,
Then one day
She told him
In his dream
“Don’t worry
We will meet soon”
That night
She walked off a bus
Into his life
Becoming his wife.
They were from different worlds
She was a Korean college student
From a middle-class family.
And he had grown up
As the son of a college professor
And politician in liberal Berkeley.
Yet despite their different backgrounds
And different personalities
He was not very practical
Lost in his world at times
Not that ambitious.
She was very practical
Money minded woman
Determined to make her mark
On the world
And they did not see eye to eye
On many things
But on the things that really matter
They were there for each other
Understanding each other
And their love grew
Day by day.
Until one day
Sam realized that they had
Been together 42 years
And were still in love.
And that had made all the difference
In their fairy tale true love story.
Write a poem every day of April with the 2024 April Poem-A-Day Challenge. For today’s prompt, write a trope poem.
Once we get through today’s poem, we’ll be finished with the first three weeks of this challenge. Where has the time gone?
For today’s prompt, write a trope poem. For most people, tropes are common plot devices used in certain genres. In romance, for example, the “different worlds” trope brings together two characters from different walks of life and/or cultures. Meanwhile, a popular trope in horror fiction is to split up, which usually doesn’t end well for many of the characters. Mysteries frequently feature the “unassuming suspect” trope. Pick a trope or mix a few in your poem today.
If you need help getting started, check out these lists of popular tropes:
check out and save for future use
21 Popular Romance Tropes for Writers.
21 Popular Thriller Tropes for Writers.
21 Popular Science Fiction Tropes for Writers.
21 Popular Horror Tropes for Writers.
21 Popular Mystery Tropes for Writers.
21 Popular Fantasy Tropes for Writers.
2024 April PAD Challenge: Day 22 Gaii’s Calls for Revenge Against Humanity Earth Day Nightmare
The spirit of the ancient trees woke up
after thousands of years of slumber.
They woke up and marched on Washington
demanding an end to logging, pollution, mining
and other assaults on the planet earth
by the mad human creatures.
They said that Gaia, the guardian angel
of the planet had summoned them
with this warning to the people of earth.
Your time on this planet is coming to an end
i have decreed it, and no one can oppose my will.
Gaia kept her word, unleashing a supper plagues
wiped out 99 percent of humanity.
The few who remained lived under
the watchful eyes of the tree spirits.
Today is Earth Day, so…
For today’s prompt, write an earth poem. The poem can be about nature or the planet. But it can also be about anything or anyone on the planet. Or dirt (aka, earth); feel encouraged to write a poem about dirt. Or earthlings!
2024 April PAD Challenge: Day 23 The Heart of the Matter
Donald Trump’s Trials the Heart of the Matter
The heart of the matter
With Donald Trump’s numerous trials
Is simply this
Is the former president
Above the law
Can he do what he wants
And not be held accountable?
Is the former president
An authoritarian leader
A potential king?
Or is he simply
An everyday citizen now?
Is he a strong leader
a visionary revolutionary populist?
As he constantly proclaims
Or is he broken-down
Pathetic old loser ?
That is the heart
Of the matter.
Today is our fourth Two-for-Tuesday prompt, which would usually mean it’s the final Two-for-Tuesday prompt of the month, but we’re lucky this year: five Tuesdays!
For today’s Two-for-Tuesday prompt:
Write a “(blank) of the Heart” poem, and/or…
Write a “Heart of the (blank)” poem.
Not sure what I’m talking about? Replace the blank in either of these phrases with a new word or phrase, make the new phrase the title of your poem, and then, write your poem. Possible titles might include: “Total Eclipse of the Heart,” “Coney Island of the Heart,” “Heart of the Champion,” and/or “Heart of the Night.”
2024 April PAD Challenge: Maximum Cruelty in the Name of Jesus in the Point
I don’t understand
Why are so many Christian evangelical leaders
And politicians
Are so cruel to everyone!
It seems as if displaying
Maximum cruelty.
To the marginalized communities
To the poor, to immigrants
To the black and brown community
To Asians and other foreigners
To women, and especially
To the LGBTQ community
Is the point.
And all done in Jesus’s name.
By this self proclaimed
Christians.
This is something that Jesus
If he came back
Would not approve
As it violates the core principles,
Of the Christian faith.
Jesus would say,
“Where is the love?
Where is the compassion?
Where is the mercy ?
That I proclaimed
Was the core of my teachings?”
He would say to them,
“You are not Christians”
And he would drive them
Out of the Christian church.
Write a poem every day of April with the 2024 April Poem-A-Day Challenge. For today’s prompt, write a maximum poem.
Well, we’ve only got a week of April remaining, so let’s poem the heck out of the rest of this month.
For today’s prompt, write a maximum poem. Some people may recall that we wrote a minimum poem back on day 6; this takes that concept and brings it back the other way. In fact, one possible way into today’s poem would be to see what you did on day 6 and turn it on its head. Or go somewhere completely new. Whatever you do, take it to the max.
Day 25 Insight into Trumps Incite
One of the many things
That the former President
Has been accused of is
His calls for his followers
To rise up and riot,
An incitement to violence
On his behalf
Like on January 6th.
My insight into
this incitement rhetoric
Is simply this,
The former president is
The ultimate con man
An authoritarian wannabe
And inciting violence
Is part of his stock in trade
Hoping that his MAGA nation
Will help him take power again.
Writing Com Dew Drop Inn Prompts
April 21—Salient Image (poem based on one concrete thing you remember at day’s end)
Every evening when I fall asleep,
I see my wife of 42 years
Coming to me.
And every morning
I wake up
Feeling her love.
.
And I realize
That the one good thing
I have done in this life.
Is marry the lady
Of my dreams.
April 22— Serio-comic dilemma
2024 Election Choices Trigger Warning -Anti-Trump Rant!
The election of 2024
Presents an existential choice
Which old white grandpa dude
Both past their prime time
Do you support for president?
Friendly, grandpa
Who has been president
For the last three years?
Presiding over a decent economic expansion
Amid war in Europe and the Mid-east.
Or the former chaos president
Facing multiple court cases
Owing settlements for fraud
Sexual assault and defamation?
Who promises more chaos
And retribution against his enemies
In the deep state, and media.
Calling them all communists
As if an international communist threat
Was it still a thing?
Promising to deport
Illegal aliens
And possibly withdrawing from NATO
And other alliances,
and impose crippling tariffs
on all imports?
Yet to his supporters
Has been anointed by god
To vanquish his enemies.
or vote for RFJ, JR
or Cornel West
or Jill Stein
or the libertarian candidate
or just boycott the election.
staying home in disgust.
Sadly, that is our choice
On election day.
The obvious choice for this prompt was the current re-match in the U.S. pitting Trump Vs Biden and three to four third parties. what a farce it is in my mind. In a country of 335 million people, these are our choices?.
April 23—Let Shakespeare be your inspiration
My true love story
Almost seems like
A fairy tale romance.
Romeo and Julian almost.
Two lovers met
From different worlds
And find themselves.
Also has elements
Of “Mid-summer night dreams”
Sonnets and poems.
And other classic romance
Dramas, poems, and stories.
And classic romcoms.
Including Sleepless in Seattle
And Bollywood and K dramas..
But in my story
I dreamt of meeting
And marrying my dream lady
Traveled to Korea
Where she was waiting for me.
And despite opposition
From her family.
There was a happy ending
And we are still together
42 years later.
I likened my true love story to a Shakespearean drama or sonnet as it had elements of Romeo and Juliet and Midsummer’s Night Dream among other plays and sonnets. I have written a lot about my fairy tale dream romance in my portfolio and on my blog.
April 24—Unexplored Desire
As one gets older
One often looks back
At all the things you did
In your life.
The good, the bad, and the ugly
And we all have those moments
Because we are human.
And some things you desired
But never pursued.
For me, it was a dream
Of becoming a famous writer
While I can write poems
And short stories,
My greatest desire
Was to write
The Great American Novel.
And sadly it will remain
An unfulfilled desire
As I don’t have the patience or energy .
To edit my six rough draft novels
Turning them into something publishable
And they may die when I die.
And I am in good company.
The rule of ten rule applies
Of one hundred people
Who want to write a novel
Less than ten percent finish it
Of those less than ten percent publish it
Of those less than ten percent make any money
Of those less than ten percent make a living
At writing their novels.
The rule of ten is a meme that applies to many things. I have seen it applied to novel writing, acting, politics and sports. The point being that most people fail to achieve their dreams and there are only a few professional athletes for example although there are millions of people who have played the game in high school or college, few ever make it to the major leagues. Similar thing applies to novelists, only a few people ever make money from writing a novel. Among Actors they call it the 1 percent rule, of people who try acting, only 1 percent will ever make a living from being an actor full time, and politics. Of all those who aspire to be President, only 45 have ever made it, and 44 were white males, and one black man.
April 25—TV series
One of my favorite shows as a child
Was the Rocky and Bullwinkle Show.
Featuring Rocky the squirrel.
Bulwinkle the Moose
And associated bad guys.
Including Boris Benioff
And Natasha Fatale
Vaguely Eastern European communists.
who worked for the Fearless Leader
perhaps East German or Russian?
Rocky and Bullwinkle
Like the Simpsons, Futurama,
American Dad and Family Guy
Were children’s show
They were also quite subversive
Satire on modern life.
But Bulwinkle remains my favorite
Years ago I binged watched episodes
And remember every episode
Even though I had last seen them
Almost 50 years before.
Bing Co-Pilot provided useful background information
Certainly! The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends, commonly referred to as simply Rocky and Bullwinkle, is an American animated television series that originally aired from November 19, 1959, to June 27, 1964, on the ABC and NBC television networks. Produced by Jay Ward Productions, the series is structured as a variety show, with the main feature being the serialized adventures of the two title characters:
Rocket J. (“Rocky”) Squirrel: An anthropomorphic flying squirrel.
Bullwinkle J. Moose: A moose.
The main antagonists in most of their adventures are the two Russian-like spies:
Boris Budanov
Natasha Fatale
Both Boris and Natasha work for the Nazi-like dictator Fearless Leader. The show also features several supporting segments, including:
Dudley Do-Right: A parody of an old-time melodrama.
Peabody’s Improbable History: In this segment, a dog named Mr. Peabody and his boy Sherman travel through time.
Fractured Fairy Tales: Classic fairy tales retold in comic fashion.
The series has left a lasting cultural impact and continues to be beloved by audiences. Although the current blanket title was imposed for home video releases more than 40 years after the series originally aired, the show was broadcast under different titles during its television run:
Rocky and His Friends (1959–1961)
The Bullwinkle Show (1961–1964)
The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show (or The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle) in syndication123.
Another interesting factoid the writers of the show were Berkeley High school students in the late 50’s when I was born.
NaPoWriMo Prompts
April 21 News Gives Me the Blues
Watching the news
As the sun rises,
Drinking a cup
Of snarling coffee.
Often causes me
To feel the blues.
As I watch the gloom
And doom the blues
Comes knocking at my door.
Then I look outside
And see the blue sky
Inviting me
To go for a walk.
As I walk with my wife
The love of my life
By the blue waters
Of the Gimpo Korea canal.
Near my house.
Enjoying the blue sky
And the blue neon sign displays,
A bluebird of happiness
flies overhead
And the blues fade away.
And now for our (optional) prompt! Today, we’d like to challenge you to write a poem that repeats or focuses on a single color. Some examples for you – Diane Wakoski’s “Blue Monday,” Walter de la Mare’s “Silver,” and Dorothea Lasky’s “Red Rum.”
April 22 Coffee and Tea endless argument – which is better?
Coffee and Tea
Two old friends from way back
Were having an argument
In their favorite coffee shop
the Original Peets
on Walnut and Vine
in Berkeley’s gourmet ghetto
It was a long-standing argument
Dating back thousands of years ,
Which is better for you,
Coffee or tea?
Mr. Carl Coffee maintained
it was better
For you with antioxidants
Flavonoids and some caffeine.
Ms Angela Tea maintained coffee
Was overrated,
Had too much caffeine
And cost too much
In fancy coffee shops.
Like Peets.
The two friends
Concluded their argument.
And went out and had
A few shots of Mt. Guy rum
In a bar near Campus.
Carl Coffee was paying
As coffee was better paid.
Based on following article
Certainly! Here’s an article from The Washington Post that compares the benefits of coffee versus tea: Why coffee is healthier than tea. It explores the research and explains why coffee comes out on top. ☕🍵
Last but not least, here’s today’s optional prompt. This one comes from the poet and fiction writer Todd Dillard, who provided this idea on his twitter account a few months ago. The idea is to write a poem in which two things have a fight. Two very unlikely things, if you can manage it. Like, maybe a comb and a spatula. Or a daffodil and a bag of potato chips. Or perhaps your two things could be linked somehow – like a rock and a hard place – and be utterly sick of being so joined. The possibilities are endless!
April 23 Batman Feeling the Blues Kojiki Poem
On a winter’s night
Batman was in the Bat Mobile
on his nightly drive
he was feeling his age
no longer the batman he was
now just an old man
driving in the bat mobile
tired of fighting criminals
just feeling the blues.
info from Fan Story Japanese Poetry group
This week we are learning how to write a KOJIKI poem. You may use the event’s picture or your own.
KOJIKI is the oldest poetic form that dates back to the 712th century. It’s divided into three parts: upper 5/7/5 – middle 5/7/5 – lower 7/7/7 syllables. Originally, KOJIKI was about religion but for this challenge, you can use any theme. It doesn’t rhyme. It uses a kigo (seasonal reference).
HISTORY
The Kojiki is one of the two primary sources for Shinto, the Japanese national religion. It starts in the realm of myth, with the creation of Japan from foam. Innumerable gods and goddesses are described. The narrative moves from mythology to historical legends and culminates in a chronology of the early Imperial line.
And now for our (optional) prompt. Today, we’d like to challenge you to write a poem about, or involving, a superhero, taking your inspiration from these four poems in which Lucille Clifton addresses Clark Kent/Superman.
April 24 the Dream of the Sphinx
In the shadowed desert night,
The Sphinx stirs from her slumber,
Her eyes half-closed, half-open,
Ancient riddles etched upon her stone.
She dreams of forgotten empires,
Of pharaohs and their fleeting glory,
Of sands that whisper secrets,
And winds that carry
echoes of lost civilizations.
Her paws, once mighty and fierce,
Now cradle the shifting dunes,
Their touch a memory of power,
Their weight a burden for eternity.
The Sphinx dreams of travelers,
Bold souls who seek her wisdom,
Their footsteps leaving imprints,
Brief as the morning dew on desert blooms.
Her gaze pierces time’s veil,
Seeking answers in the constellations,
As if the stars hold the key
To unlock the riddles of existence.
And so she waits, patient and silent,
Guardian of forgotten truths,
Her dream a bridge between epochs,
Her secret hidden in the sands of time.
based on Emerson’s Poem the Sphinx
The Sphinx
Ralph Waldo Emerson1803 (Boston) – 1882 (Concord)
The Sphinx is drowsy,
The wings are furled;
Her ear is heavy,
She broods on the world.
“Who’ll tell me my secret,
The ages have kept?–
I awaited the seer,
While they slumbered and slept;–“The fate of the man-child;
The meaning of man;
Known fruit of the unknown;
Daedalian plan;
Out of sleeping a waking,
Out of waking a sleep;
Life death overtaking;
Deep underneath deep?”Erect as a sunbeam,
Upspringeth the palm;
The elephant browses,
Undaunted and calm;
In beautiful motion
The thrush plies his wings;
Kind leaves of his covert,
Your silence he sings.”The waves, unashamed,
In difference sweet,
Play glad with the breezes,
Old playfellows meet;
The journeying atoms,
Primordial wholes,
Firmly draw, firmly drive,
By their animate poles.“Sea, earth, air, sound, silence,
Plant, quadruped, bird,
By one music enchanted,
One deity stirred,–
Each the other adorning,
Accompany still;
Night veileth the morning,
The vapor the hill.“The babe by its mother
Lies bathed in joy;
Glide its hours uncounted,–
The sun is its toy;
Shines the peace of all being,
Without cloud, in its eyes;
And the sum of the world
In soft miniature lies.“But man crouches and blushes,
Absconds and conceals;
He creepeth and peepeth,
He palters and steals;
Infirm, melancholy,
Jealous glancing around,
An oaf, an accomplice,
He poisons the ground.“Outspoke the great mother,
Beholding his fear;–
At the sound of her accents
Cold shuddered the sphere:–
‘Who has drugged my boy’s cup?
Who has mixed my boy’s bread?
Who, with sadness and madness,
Has turned the man-child’s head?’”I heard a poet answer,
Aloud and cheerfully,
“Say on, sweet Sphinx! thy dirges
Are pleasant songs to me.
Deep love lieth under
These pictures of time;
They fad in the light of
Their meaning sublime.“The fiend that man harries
Is love of the Best;
Yawns the pit of the Dragon,
Lit by rays from the Blest.
The Lethe of nature
Can’t trace him again,
Whose soul sees the perfect,
Which his eyes seek in vain.“Profounder, profounder,
Man’s spirit must dive;
To his aye-rolling orbit
No goal will arrive;
The heavens that now draw him
With sweetness untold,
Once found,–for new heavens
He spurneth the old.“Pride ruined the angels,
Their shame them restores;
And the joy that is sweetest
Lurks in stings of remorse.
Have I a lover
Who is noble and free?–
I would he were nobler
Than to love me.“Eterne alternation
Now follows, now flied;
And under pain, pleasure,–
Under pleasure, pain lies.
Love works at the centre,
Heart-heaving alway;
Forth speed the strong pulses
To the borders of day.“Dull Sphinx, Jove keep thy five wits!
Thy sight is growing blear;
Rue, myrrh, and cummin for the Sphinx–
Her muddy eyes to clear!”–
The old Sphinx bit her thick lip,–
Said, “Who taught thee me to name?
I am thy spirit, yoke-fellow,
Of thine eye I am eyebeam.“Thou art the unanswered question;
Couldst see they proper eye,
Alway it asketh, asketh;
And each answer is a lie.
So take thy quest through nature,
It through thousand natures ply;
Ask on, thou clothed eternity;
Time is the false reply.”Uprose the merry Sphinx,
And crouched no more in stone;
She melted into purple cloud,
She silvered in the moon;
She spired into a yellow flame;
She flowered in blossoms red;
She flowed into a foaming wave;
She stood Monadnoc’s head.Through a thousand voices
Spoke the universal dame:
“Who telleth one of my meanings,
Is master of all I am.”
Finally, our (optional) prompt for the day is another one pulled from our 2016 archives. Today, we’d like to challenge you to write a poem that begins with a line from another poem (not necessarily the first one), but then goes elsewhere with it. This will work best if you just start with a line of poetry you remember, but without looking up the whole original poem. Or you could find a poem that you haven’t read before and then use a line that interests you. The idea is for the original to furnish the backdrop for your work, but without influencing you so much that you feel as if you are just rewriting the original! For example, you could begin, “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day,” or “I have measured out my life with coffee spoons,” or “I miss them, but it wasn’t a disaster,” or “they persevere in swimming where they like.” Really, any poem will do to provide your starter line – just so long as it gives you the scope to explore.
Day 25 Proust Questionnaire
What is your idea of perfect happiness?
I am most content and happy
when I am hanging out
just being with
the love of my life
What or who is the greatest love of your life?
Angela Lee is my Dream Lady
she haunted my dreams for eight years
then came to life
walked off a bus
in South Korea
42 years ago
a fairy tale romance
come to life
What is your current state of mind?
My current state of mind
is quiet contemplation
and sense of inner peace
When and where were you happiest?
The happiest day of my life
was the day I met my wife
42 years ago
Which talent would you most like to have?
I would have liked
to have been able
to drive a car
play the piano professionally
sing in a blues band
finish my novels
better skills
at learning languages
better vision
more coordination skills
If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
I would have liked
to have been born
without a learning disability.
better vision
better teeth
better hearing
more coordination
less socially awkward
but still genius level IQ
and never had the accident
that left me with life-long fibromyalgias
and arthritis, to boot.
What do you consider your greatest achievement?
My greatest achievements include
Joining the State Department
Joining the Peace Corps
Graduating from UW graduate school
graduating from college
Teaching College for three years overseas
and the most important thing of all
is marrying my dream lady
What is your most marked characteristic?
sense of humor
sense of adventure
incurable romantic
poet, writer, dreamer
What do you most value in your friends?
understanding, empathy, sense of humor
sense of wonder
Last but not least, here’s our optional prompt for the day. Today, we’d like to challenge you to write a poem based on the “Proust Questionnaire,” a set of questions drawn from Victorian-era parlor games, and adapted by modern interviewers. You could choose to answer the whole questionnaire, and then write a poem based on your answers, answer just a few, or just write a poem that’s based on the questions. You could even write a poem in the form of an entirely new Proust Questionnaire. We have a fairly standard, 35-question version of the questionnaire laid out for you below.
What is your idea of perfect happiness?
What is your greatest fear?
What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?
What is the trait you most deplore in others?
Which living person do you most admire?
What is your greatest extravagance?
What is your current state of mind?
What do you consider the most overrated virtue?
On what occasion do you lie?
What do you most dislike about your appearance?
Which living person do you most despise?
What is the quality you most like in a man?
What is the quality you most like in a woman?
Which words or phrases do you most overuse?
What or who is the greatest love of your life?
When and where were you happiest?
Which talent would you most like to have?
If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
What do you consider your greatest achievement?
If you were to die and come back as a person or a thing, what would it be?
Where would you most like to live?
What is your most treasured possession?
What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?
What is your favorite occupation?
What is your most marked characteristic?
What do you most value in your friends?
Who are your favorite writers?
Who is your hero of fiction?
Which historical figure do you most identify with?
Who are your heroes in real life?
What are your favorite names?
What is it that you most dislike?
What is your greatest regret?
How would you like to die?
What is your motto?
The End
