April PAD Challenge: Day 2

Wow! Y'all came through in a big way yesterday. I'm so pleased that I nearly had a heart attack coming in this morning and seeing the response. Woo-hoo!

Before I get into the prompt, I wanted to address a few questions that came up yesterday. First off, yes, you can add your poem after midnight of the day of the prompt. That means you can play "catch up" later in the month if you ever fall behind. Thinking long term, all poems should be in by the first weekend of May at least.

Second, I don't care if you post previous poems if they align with the challenge, but just remember: That kind of defeats the purpose of this challenge, since we're concerned with writing new material. As we would say in track practice, "You'll only be cheating yourself."

Third, poems should be posted in the Comments here. If you try multiple times and still have problems posting, feel free to email your poem to me (robert.brewer@fwpubs.com) with "Poetry Prompt Response" in the subject line--along with which prompt (by number) it goes with and your name. Then, I'll paste those into the comments myself.

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Okay, then. So here we go with Prompt #2: Put yourself in someone (or something) else's skin and write a poem about the experience. Who (or what) ever you become, please make that the title of the poem. If you're Buddy Holly, your poem should be called "Buddy Holly." If you're the Bates Motel, your poem should be called "Bates Motel." And so on.

Think hard on this one. My first attempt did not work out as well as I thought it might (imagining I was Dolly Parton). However, I think I'm good with my second subject, which is...

"Godzilla"

I was raised by whales--
maybe why I hide under water;
that and the fact those people always--
and I mean always--
shoot stuff at me.

Bad enough I'm constantly catching their little buildings--
awkward as they are--
between my toes,
but when I try to speak,
when I try to say,
"I just want to get along,"
all that comes out is my mother tongue,
straight up whale,
which,
contrary to popular belief,
sounds terrifying out of water.

For instance,
I love you becomes,
"Aaaiiiaraiargaiaiarrrrrr..."

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For another example and an even better Godzilla poem, check out this one by Aaron Belz. (If I'd known this existed earlier, I would've written a King Kong poem.) ;)