Since 2013, I have been trumpeting my international participation under GloPoWriMo” or “Global Poetry Writing Month. This was my twelfth year of participation. I am grateful to Maureen for launching this creative project in 2003 and gathering us every year since its inception. I also thank Aaron Compton, who coined the term “GloPoWriMo” or “Global Poetry Writing Month” in 2016.
For 2025, the prompts centered around the loose theme of ekphrastic work – that is, poems that engage with other art forms in some way. I was shocked and equally elated that my poem ‘Written by a Skirt’ was featured on day 6. To read it, scroll further below.
If you are curious about my previously featured poems, I list them below too:
2024: The Grace to be Myself
2024: In my Next Life, I Want The Courage of Our German Shepherds
2022: Table of Farewells
2020: The Return of the Rose
2019: Allegory of Dancing
2017: Spring Wedding
2014: Berry-Ho, Merry-Ho
Happy reading and poeming.
DAY 5
Today’s prompt challenges to write a poem inspired by musical notation and particularly those little italicized –and often Italian – instructions you’ll find over the staves in sheet music, like con allegro or andante. Write a poem that takes inspiration from your musical genre and notation, and uses the word or words you picked from the third column. My poem is inspired by “improvisatory screaming” of death metal and these words: sharks, butterflies, vanilla, vampire, shadow, clock, centaur, banquet, and snow.
WRITTEN BY A SKIRT
after Feuer Frei by Rammstein
my edges are sharks
I bruise butterflies
I’m a metal at will
my centaur is real
hooves and growls
twirl, twirl
the clock chimes
a banquet is laid
no hymns to pray
‘cos I am a prayer
of guitarish vanilla
I’m a dance at will
twirl, twirl
I need no wind
twirl, twirl
I need no stitches
twirl, twirl
I fear no vampires
twirl, twirl
I slay my shadows
twirl, twirl
time is my ally
I growl the skin
I’m a kill at will
my death begins
if still as snow
twirl, twirl
Very cool, Gloria–a sentient skirt’s battle hymn!
Thank you, Romana. The skirt appreciates you audibly.
Congratulations on the featured poem accolade–well-deserved!
Thank you, dear fellow poet. You are a word-weaver magician and inspire me to catch up ☺️
You’ve done it again, my dear fellow-child!
Thank you, Fellow Child. Your comment lead me to the news of the day. I am grateful to be in your company.
That twirling chorus is a dish of genius that gave me pounding drums and saw teeth guitars. Congratulations on being a well-deserved feature.
Thank you, Graham. I have loved the Feuer Frei song and never thought it would lead me here.
Hi Gloria, Lovely to see you are a featured participant. I’ve enjoyed your poems over the years. And this one! What a title! And that opening line. Love the concept and rhythm it creates. I hear the ‘twirl, twirl’ like the fast tempo of Death Metal. A manic repetition.
Thank you, Nina. I was trying hard to avoid the brutal language of metals without losing the touch of it.
“I slay my shadows” I believe that ever punk show I’ve ever attended has been, in part, to mosh at the collective and individual thrum of shadow slaying. Thanks for this image!
Thank you for being here, Tom. I have never been to concerts of most genres. But I am grateful of other means to enjoy music. Yes, I am that introverted 🙂
Wonderful!!! twirl twirl i see you there, you are a prayer, gorgeous x
Thank you, Ruth:)
Well-done! Like you, I often use word banks as a challenge to use all of the words on the list. (Not this time, though.) Have you ever tried The Sunday Whirl? They post a twelve-word bank every Sunday. https://sundaywhirl.wordpress.com/
Thank you, Bruce. No, I haven’t tried the Sunday Whirl. I will have a look – English being my second language I frequently run dry on words.