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

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cicada emerging

My poem “You Say Cicada” will appear 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 Sunshine Jansen, who sponsored the poem and provided these three words: instar, ecdysis, and sap-sucking.

You Say Cicada

I say cicada, the difference lurking in the middle,
like the shortest dancer in an off-Broadway musical,
or a note hidden between two reams of legal paper
in the supply room of a well-appointed dentist’s…

Click here to see the rest of the poem.

Tomorrow’s poem, “White Mules and a Column of Smoke” was sponsored by Natalie Butler, whose photo inspired me.

I still need title sponsors for the 25th and 26th, and don’t forget about the 3-word sponsorships. Remember, you can combine the two (as in today’s poem) to force me to use not only your title, but also three words that I’d likely not use on my own. Be gentle. Be kind. Or not. 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 a $15 donation, I’ll send you a signed copy of one of my 30-30 poems. Your choice!

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. I hear that Kristopher Taylor is providing a little something extra with the collection. You can read about it here, thanks to Ken at RIVRVLOGR.

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

Thank you for supporting poetry! Only 10 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.

25 thoughts on “Day Twenty, Tupelo Press 30/30 Project, August 2016”

  5. Pingback: Via O at the Edges: “You Say Cicada” | Fairy of Disenchantment

  10. Bonjour, Monsieur Robert! I am working my way backward from Day 23 to Day 9, now that I have a chance to breathe! It’s been the #1 item on my to-do list (which, granted, is more theoretical than actual) upon returning to a life of relative (ab)normalcy.

    Cicadas is my favorite so far. “Burrowing up” (THIS climbing transcends, yet neither abandons nor forgets the depths that inspired it…) is an enterprise I’m becoming more and more acquainted with lately, though sans the much-needed ecdysial factor, at least at this juncture… Perhaps, by the time I get to Day 9, that will change, as well? 😉

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