Saturday, June 29, 2013

Prompt #152 – Over the Moon


Writing poems about the moon is probably as old as written language and might seem a bit “done.” However, inspired by Midsummer Night on the 21st, immediately followed by a “supermoon,” I thought it might be interesting to have a go at “lunar” poems this week—not the typical or expected fare but, rather, moon poems that speak to the ways in which we can take a familiar theme and make it “new.”

The goal this week is to approach the moon from a fresh perspective, with memorable ideas and images that startle (and, hopefully, delight) your readers. Be aware that your poem should address the actual subject and should contain a deeper meaning as well. Remember that really good poems often contain the shock of discovery—something life-illuminating that happens when you write and when your poem is read.

Some Ideas to Consider:

1. A honeymoon (a get-away taken by a man and a woman immediately after their marriage).

2. Moonshine whiskey (illegal liquor, made by a “moonshiner” in a secret still).

3. An eclipse of the moon (when the moon appears darkened as it passes through the earth’s shadow).

4. Being moonstruck (so in love that one cannot think clearly or behave normally).

5. A mooncalf  (a pejorative used to suggest that someone is stupid, a blockhead, a fool, or otherwise not very intelligent).

6. Being “over the moon” (extremely delighted about something).

7. “Shooting for the moon” (being highly ambitious).

8. “Mooning about” (as in hopelessly in love).

9. “Once in a blue moon” (something that happens very rarely).

10. “Casting beyond the moon” (making wild speculations).

11. “Moonlighting” (in the US, having a night job in addition to day-time employment—in Australia, riding after cattle at night—in the UK, illegal work—and in Ireland, once used to describe violence carried out at night).

12. The famous line from the old Honeymooners show in which Ralph Cramden (Jackie Gleason) says to his wife, “To the moon, Alice!”

13. The man, or the rabbit, in the moon.

14. The old silliness about the moon being made of green cheese.

15.  The old fad for “mooning” (referring to a bare, moon-like posterior displayed to passersby).

Examples:


Click on the Titles to Read the Example Poems

At a Lunar Eclipse by Thomas Hardy
December Moon by Brenda Hillman
Honeymoon by Louis Simpson
I'm Over the Moon by Brenda Shaughnessy
Moon Gathering by Eleanor Wilner
Moonlight by Sara Teasdale
Moonrise by H. D.
The Distant Moon by Rafael Campo
The Harvest Moon by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
The Moon in Time Lapse by David Rivard
The Wind and the Moon by George Macdonald
The Wind and the Other Moon by Robert Gregory
Under the Harvest Moon by Carl Sandburg






15 comments:

  1. Brilliant, Adele!

    I'm on holiday at the moment, enjoying a few days in the Cotswolds. Glorious (as is the moon image you used for this prompt).

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    Replies
    1. Thanks, Jamie!

      I love the Cotswolds, so lovely and picturesque, like spending time in a different century.

      Enjoy your holiday!

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  2. Just visited your blog to check out the new prompt and noticed the "Dog Poetry" video in your sidebar. Too funny!

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  3. I forgot to say that what you always call the "dismount" was hilarious.

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  4. H.E. Mantel-O'HaroHalolaJuly 4, 2013 at 9:05 AM

    - PEBBLE IN THE POND -

    Out, out they go in
    rippled waves, undulating
    smokey-mirrored rings

    these concentrics, like
    Orbs in clouded Spaces there
    about Diana

    E'er Supernal,
    now circles for Faces gone
    to places else... Yet

    out they go & go...
    these rings apulse aquivered
    beyond this Sun and

    Antipode, awash
    in clouded Moonslight...out &
    out - Oh!, not-so-brief

    Candles - beyond Space
    Antivort, as sponge Re-re-
    flections of an-

    nulus Consequence!
    Unicentric wavepercusses -
    Bom!...Bom!...Bom!... Eurhyth-

    mically "Telltale Poets"...
    Time... Non Esse! And yet they go...
    out...&...out....&...out...

    from cloudy-headed
    Places... Echoes through soundless
    Space, these filaments

    to a Billions Years'
    devolution, alas the
    Pebble in the Pond

    To what Heaven this
    Hell hath wrought from throbbed circums
    of our obliqued Lives!?

    H.e.m-O’H’H.
    1.12.MMvii.
    (Ad Astra Per Aspera)
    Two Shea

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    Replies
    1. Thanks so much for posting, Haro! I was wondering where you were. Hope all is well.

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    2. Thanks for sharing!

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    3. H.E. Mantel-O'HaroHalolaJuly 5, 2013 at 1:06 PM

      AK & JM - Pleased you're pleased; I'd been "de-commissioned," as It were. This piece travels, however we ought not ever attempt (try) to out-distance our Self, for in the theory of Universal Circularity - like radio waves - It returns to serve notice.

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  5. C' était, dans la nuit brune,
    Sur le clocher jauni,
    La lune
    Comme un point sur un i.

    Alfred de Musset (1810 - 1857)

    Was,in the dark night,
    on the faded steeple,
    the moon
    like a dot on the i.

    trad. A Pancirolli (1954 - ??)!

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    Replies
    1. Brilliant, Jago! I like your translation better than the original!

      Thanks so much for posting.

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    2. Jago,

      It's always such a pleasure to read your translations! Thank you for sharing with us. (What an amazing image at the end.)

      Delete
    3. H.E. Mantel-O'HaroHalolaJuly 5, 2013 at 1:09 PM

      Tres bien!

      Delete
  6. Máire Ó Cathail (Ireland)July 5, 2013 at 7:10 PM

    Lovely, Adele, brilliant example poems, and a beautiful image of the moon to inspire the writing.

    Máire Ó Cathail (Ireland)

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