My poem “Nanukatukitsukatsu” 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 Patricia Wolfkill, who provided the title and also sponsored last year’s “28 Rue St. Jacques.”
Nanukatukitsukatsu
“What we’ve got here is failure to communicate.”
The Captain, in Cool Hand Luke
“Don’t you speak Ing-u-rish?”
Mom
How to explain the difference in knowing and
knowing. Observe your hand and the slipper in it.
Despite love, despite anger, accept the consequence
of misdeeds and careless action, of playing hooky…
Click here to see the rest of the poem.
Tomorrow’s poem, “It’s Not with Us,” was sponsored by Debbie Fuller, who had the misfortune of being my boss not once, but twice. It’s hard to find good help…
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 18 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 
Could pass for an Inuit dialect, I guess. Wow. You are really being challenged with these, Robert. Little mercy from your supporters, but well worth the cause. Great job.
LikeLiked by 2 people
It’s Japanese, of a sort. Might be dialect, or a pidgin. Dunno. But I am enjoying this month. Twelve down, eighteen to go!
LikeLike
It didn’t look/sound(in my head) like it. I lived in Okinawa for a year and developed an ear or sense for that dialect.
I’m having a ball with prompts myself lately. Something I used to shy away from. You’re almost halfway!
LikeLiked by 1 person
It’s something my mother used to say when she was upset with me or my sister. She refused to explain what it meant or if it indeed meant anything.
LikeLike
Yep, cuss word. I know a few of those in more than a few languages.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I don’t generally work with prompts, but find them incredibly helpful during the 30/30.
LikeLike
That is one great title! Sounds like a chant, which seems appropriate for an angry mother…(K)
LikeLiked by 3 people
Oh, yes!
LikeLiked by 1 person
these sounds
are rather
convincing 🙂
LikeLiked by 3 people
They convinced me!
LikeLike
Wow, by coincidence a post I’ve been thinking of writing lately, on the subject of cicadas, has the title “Tsukutsukuboshi” which is almost as much of a mouthful as this! Seriously, I may never be able to see Strother Martin in the same light again, but I consider my life enriched for this. 🙂
LikeLiked by 2 people
Tsukutsukuboshi makes more sense to me, but what do I know? And I’m so pleased to have shed a new light on Strother Martin for you. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person