April PAD Challenge: Day 15
After today’s poem, we’ll be half-way there. 50% of the way. It’s all downhill from here. And other half-way stuff. (For some reason, I’ve got Bon Jovi’s “Living on a…
After today's poem, we'll be half-way there. 50% of the way. It's all downhill from here. And other half-way stuff. (For some reason, I've got Bon Jovi's "Living on a Prayer" song running through my head. "Ooooooo, we're half-way there; woooooo-oooo, living on a prayer; take my hand, we'll make it I swear..." Err, or something like that.) ;)
For today's prompt, I want you to take the title of a poem you especially like (by another poet) and change it. Then, with this new altered title, I want you to write a poem. An example would be to take William Carlos Williams' "The Red Wheelbarrow" and change it to "The Red Volkswagon." Or take Frank O'Hara's "Why I Am Not a Painter" and change it to "Why I Am Not a Penguin." You get the idea, right? (Note: Your altered poem does NOT have to follow the same style as the original poet, though you can try if you wish.)
Here's my attempt for the day:
"O Baby! My Baby!"
O Baby! My Baby! You bend me
and shake me like a ragdoll ghost
of a lover you once had. It ain't
bad, but I've noticed a hook or two
stuck in my heart leading to you.
O Baby! My Baby! Our bed must
hate us--the way we get crazy
one minute, then totally lazy. If
we had the time, it'd be working
all day. Even with nothing to say,
O Baby! My Baby! You're the Coca-
Cola of my mornings, the cheesecake
of my evenings. When I'm dreaming,
you're always right by my side, smiling
and happy to be along for the ride.
(Original title "O Captain! My Captain!" by Walt Whitman)
*****
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Robert Lee Brewer is Senior Editor of Writer's Digest, which includes managing the content on WritersDigest.com and programming virtual conferences. He's the author of 40 Plot Twist Prompts for Writers: Writing Ideas for Bending Stories in New Directions, The Complete Guide of Poetic Forms: 100+ Poetic Form Definitions and Examples for Poets, Poem-a-Day: 365 Poetry Writing Prompts for a Year of Poeming, and more. Also, he's the editor of Writer's Market, Poet's Market, and Guide to Literary Agents. Follow him on Twitter @robertleebrewer.
