Practicing What I Preached

True to what I implored all of you to do for the National Day on Writing, I wrote today.  (Most of) My students did, too.  They came away with quite a few projects that they are anxious to pursue, too.  A successful day if a do say so myself.  Here's my draft:

“Melancholic Block”

I flip blankly

through the curling blue-covered notebook

in my hands—

seventy pages of college-ruled nothingness—

and chew the end of my eraser,

along with my thoughts,

spitting out nothing—

digesting even less

Memory’s phonograph drones

its nondescript tune

until it reaches the inner-most

circumference of the aged vinyl—

song over;

the needle, abandoned and forgotten,

trips incessantly—

going nowhere

Melancholy wanders over

and notices that I

don’t look up

she drapes her dusty arm

over my shoulder,

her wispy tresses trailing

like a metaphoric afterthought

that means nothing in particular

and listens to the same slow symphony:

sad

a glance from her ashen eyes

clarifies:

words won’t work today—

the muse is absent—

home with a sore throat

but even without words,

understanding exists,

as she places a

tepid hand over mine—

not grabbing

not holding

not squeezing—

just there

it’s reassuring,

knowing these doldrums

of unmoving lines,

will be weathered,

but for now…

I break out the oars

and strike for the other side

As always, comments and criticism are welcome.

It's That Time of Year Again!

Time for zombie haiku.  To kick off SFJH's 4th annual zombie haiku contest, I have penned ten new zombie haiku for your reading pleasure/disgust.  Please feel free to try your hand at this undead tradition by dropping a limb, I mean a line or three in the comments.

“let’s give her a hand”—

zombie’s attempt to find a

snack for his daughter

hand and foot in mouth

is a meal for young zombies

not another plague

watching The Walking

Dead reminds zombies of old

fam’ly videos

rude teenage rebel

learned painful lesson; she told

zombie, “Just bite me.”

zombie kids always

fight over the human prize

hiding in the box

philosophers turned

zombie are often tempted

to split their own skulls

refrigerated

remains are never as good

as fresh flesh served raw

intestinal tug-

of-war ends when zombies hit

the end of the line

when sunbathing near

zombies, be careful or else

more than skin might peel

the hunger games are

undeniably zombie’s

favorite pastime

Reminder and a Plea for Help (or The Well is Running Dry)

First and foremost, I need to remind everybody that next Sunday, October 20th, is the National Day on Writing.  Since it falls over the weekend, I am going to celebrate the day twice.  First, I will celebrate on that day individually.  Second, I will celebrate on Monday with my students.  Awesome, huh?

I just have one problem.  I'm not sure how I want to celebrate this year.  I started this blog for the NDoW back in 2009.  In 2010 I asked for feedback for help with a publication decision.  Only two people responded.  I guess not that many people read this blog.  The next year was a complete bust, and I blamed it on Fall Break.  Instead of celebrating on October 20th, I began my first of two failed attempts at NaNoWriMo.  2011 definitely doesn't make the writing highlight reel.  Last year, in 2012, I reminded everyone else to celebrate.  I gave my students the assignment to "impress me."  That actually produced quite a bit of good student writing across multiple genres.  I also decided to share the story behind Average Joe--a little history behind the name.

And that brings me back to now.  I have a couple ideas kicking around in my brain.  There's a presentation that my colleague and I are working on that I'd like to squeeze an article or two out of.  The muses have also whispered a poetic line or three; they just didn't show me how to connect the dots.    My committee chair would probably be happier if I buckled down and finished my dissertation proposal.  I'm trying to figure out how to approach NaNoWriMo.  And, like always, sixty-three and a half assorted ideas remain percolating on the back burner.

If any of you have any ideas, please feel free to share.  Anyone have a challenge or something?