My poem “Lovely Darling, Hot and Fair” has been posted among today’s offerings of the Tupelo Press 30/30 Project (9 poets have agreed to write 30 poems apiece in 30 days, to raise funds for Tupelo Press, a non-profit literary publisher). I am grateful to Mary Tang, who provided the title and has also translated a number of my poems and recorded them in Cantonese.
Lovely Darling, Hot and Fair
I no longer compare but allow them
to multiply in each vowel I speak,
expanding through the night’s coat and its hem
of ghostly stars dotted through the oblique…
Click here to see the rest of the poem.
Tomorrow’s poem, “I’m Not With Her,” was sponsored by Stephanie Kaufman, who also sponsored last year’s “Bent.”
If you need something to read, Think Dink! A $30 donation will get you my 2015 chapbook If Your Matter Could Reform, Barton Smock’s Infant Cinema, Jamie Hunyor’s A New Sea, and Tim Kahl’s full length work, The String of Islands, thanks to the generosity of Dink Press founder and editor Kristopher Taylor! A limited quantity is available, so order earlier rather than later.
Title sponsorships and 3-word sponsorships are still available. And remember, you can combine the two (as in Sunday’s poem) to force me to use not only your title, but also three words that I’d likely not use on my own. And can anyone challenge last year’s co-winners of Worst Title in the History of the 30/30 Project, Ron, Plain Jane and Mek?*
The sponsored poems are a blast to write, and the titles lead me to poems I’d not otherwise conceive. If you’re inclined to sponsor a poem, Donate to Tupelo, and please let me know as soon as possible what your title is or which three words you’ve foisted upon me.
For information on sponsorships (and my other incentives), click here.
Thank you for supporting poetry! Only 21 poems to go!
* The titles are, respectively, “Calvin Coolidge: Live or Memorex,” “Your Armpits Smell Like Heaven,” and “Reduce Heat and Simmer Gently Without Cloud Cover, Till Sundown. Serves 2 – 7 Billion.” “Nose-Picking Reese’s Hider” is definitely a strong contender for this honor.
O at the Edges 
Lovely Darling, Hot and Fair–stellar! Good luck on the 30/30 ‘marathon’!
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Thank you, Linda. So far, so good, and only three weeks to go!
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You are one quarter of the way!
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The days are zooming by!
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You seem to be handling the pressure well, taking it all in stride.
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It’s fun, and a lot easier than roofing a house or transplanting kidneys or… 🙂
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Especially during August in Texas, although the hospital is cool.
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Oh, yeah. The hospital’s cool, but the pressure to perform perfectly is pretty strong.Poetry is much more forgiving.
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My favorite sentence from this poem is “Your smile,/ then as now, unleashes lightning in me.” So much power!
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Thanks, Joanne. A shocking experience… 🙂
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Bravo! You recognised the words in the title I gave you as those from Shakespeare’s sonnet, ‘Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day’. 🙂 You did them proud.
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My mind first leapt to a non-Shakespeare sonnet, and then I realized the error of my ways! And of course I had to produce a sonnet. How could I not?
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Of course I wanted a sonnet – anything less and I’d want my money back! 🙂 But this is so much more…
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It’s a good thing I didn’t attempt a sestina! 🙂 And thank you!
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So unfair! Just as well I checked in and caught you out! Haha. I liked this poem and scrolled doen and read tupelo trip tik too. I liked the intersection of music and fruitcakes 😊
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Unfair? Accurate! Ha. This has been a good challenge thus far, with interesting titles. Only 20 to go!
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Ok…😊
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But of course I never said that I didn’t adore it!
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Nice! “The night’s coat and its hem of ghostly stars” made me think of Yeats’ “Aedh Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven.”
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Thanks, Linnet. Now I have to look up the Yeats poem. A poet’s work is never done. Ha!
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It’s short and sweet:
https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poem/aedh-wishes-cloths-heaven
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Thanks, Linnet. A sweet poem, indeed. But of course it’s Yeats!
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Thank you for writing poetry for me to support!
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I’m honored you find it worth supporting!
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My mom is a writer, and I’ve tried writing poetry in the past. Though I don’t think I’m that great, I appreciate reading other people’s poetry. In reality, we grew up on poems. If you’ve ever read a nursery rhyme, it’s poetry. Poetry surrounds us, honestly. It’s just that a few people took the time to put into words what has always been right in front of us.
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I agree – poetry is everywhere (if you bother to look). 🙂
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What a noteworthy project – 30/30 – I enjoyed this post today and glad you gave my blog a “LIKE” so I found you! This is really a fun project you are doing.
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Thanks very much. It is a marvelous project, and while I’ve completed my run, it continues with a new batch of poets each month.
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