Day Eleven, Tupelo Press 30/30 Project, August 2016

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My poem “I Danced with a Platypus Twenty Years Back” 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 Kris, who provided the title and also sponsored last year’s “Happy Circuitry.”

I Danced with a Platypus Twenty Years Back

Which is of course a metaphor pointing out
disparities in function and form, and the dangers
inherent in assumption: despite its cute appearance,
the male platypus delivers venom through an ankle…

Click here to see the rest of the poem.

Tomorrow’s poem, “Nanukatukitsukatsu,” was sponsored by Patricia Wolfkill, who also sponsored last year’s “28 Rue St. Jacques.”

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.

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.

For information on sponsorships (and my other incentives), click here.

Thank you for supporting poetry! Only 19 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.

14 thoughts on “Day Eleven, Tupelo Press 30/30 Project, August 2016”

    • Thanks, Leigh. I never knew that about male platypuses! Each sponsored poem is a gift – none would have been written without the title or 3-word prompt, and then I learn something new with each one. Much fun.

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      • I only found that out recently about male platypuses myself; I don’t know why I was reading about them, but I was. Such a nice way to say it (and it almost sounds religious!): each poem as/is a gift. I’m toying with a title (late, I know), but it’s so absurd and I hate the idea of pinning you down to my title. I go crazy and pull out hairs over titling sometimes; I don’t think it’s one of my strong suits, so to speak.

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