Article #4 October 6, 2011

Some Montreal Portuguese chicken would be great right about now.

Humans like patterns, and researcher David Zhang believes he’s found one such pattern that could help illuminate some possible side effects of global warming, it’s all in Brian Handwerk’s National Geographic article, “Little Ice Age Shrank Europeans, Sparked Wars.”

We are lucky to have a wonderful piece this week from Kathleen Frances, who is currently working in French Guiana. We are also hoping to receive a later submission from Anran Luo, who struggles with our time difference from Hong Kong. Can’t wait to read these international responses!

Article # 4 October 6, 2011 Stefan Rinas

Everything for the children born in those years existed as rumor longer than anyone had hoped. Their language was uncompromised by the influence of foreign accents and their stories went unchecked against the attention spans of listeners who had seen a real spring.

Can I blame failing the bar exam on my inability to memorize the elements of proximate cause as the clapping that I first heard coming from the building across the street earlier hasn’t slowed? I’ve been told there hasn’t been less than two people there doing so yet. The name of their organization is the same as the only two words comprising the one book every participant appears to love unequivocally: HERE ENSUES

Northrop Frye’s readings of Shakespeare has characters acting out a continual drama of the seasons and As You Like It opens with dialogue that provides a context guaranteeing that the exchange cannot be maintained (the action that brings physicality into focus is not an abstract gesture).

In the foreground is the beginning of a spatial problem said to have been resolved coherently. This is a citation. Here is a plan for three shapes placed under the banner of National Geographic you had taken from the library and tried to argue for it’s already having been deformed.

Article #4 October 6, 2011 Kathleen Frances

less

the cold is bigger as i’m smaller
(but) the years are not so many
so i am not so big, neither.
not bad
not growing so much
small times

small times
cold thwarts land who thwarts me
i who, unchecked by ice,
would (otherwise) grow outward
up and inward forever.

i thought (i) was responsible
i thought others did not grow because
I gave orders
but
we know now who (dunce!) wears blame.

i can prove it.
we can blame home–
home houses blame/
is only so slowly articulate
in defending itself.

if home contracts you find a new home
or grow smaller
for fitting into it.

getting-smaller homes are now!
the leading cause of food requiring more of time
and more time meaning less love
and less love meaning
less

Article #4 October 6, 2011 Annik Adey-Babinski

The Maunder Minimum

This is your excuse?

My ancestors had to hunt
in the half-desert too.
They weren’t immune
to lifespan
capped at thirty.

You’re past your prime
already.

I can only imagine how you’d deal,
perverted,
forced out onto virtual steppes,
if the internet reverted
to its pre-millennium
camp-abilities.

 

Prompt #4 Is in the Oven

The view from Tunnel Mountain

Here you have it folks, the prompt for week #4. The most recent headline in the National Geographic’s Environment section is Brian Handwerk’s “Little Ice Age Shrank Europeans, Sparked Wars.” This should be interesting!

Just a reminder of how things work for anyone new to our challenge:

– You have 24 hours to write a poem inspired by the article above.

-Please send your poem to poetsandnews@gmail.com by Friday morning.

-All of the pieces inspired by “Little Ice Age Shrank Europeans” will be displayed here for your reading pleasure.

Tomorrow We Go National

Don’t forget- it’s our fancy one-month anniversary tomorrow morning.

I’m waking up at 6am my time to get the prompt to you on time, so I expect to see a million responses on Friday!

 

In other news, it’s so beautiful in Banff! Off to climb Tunnel Mountain

Prompt for the One-Month Mark

Last week’s prompt went very well!! I hope that you are getting excited for our one-month anniversary, because we have a great prompt up our sleeve for you.

To celebrate four weeks of sweating poetry, we’ll use a prompt that relies heavily on images, and beautiful ones at that. The headline of the National Geographic’s Daily Environment News section will provide our fourth prompt this Thursday morning. I hope it’s a good one. I saw that we missed September’s Best Pictures, I’ll have to remember to return to the site for our last prompt of October.

Hyper for Banff

I’m so excited! I leave for the Banff Center this evening.

I’m going to be spending two weeks in the mountains participating in their Wired Writing Studio.

Don’t worry, though, we will still have our weekly prompts. In fact, I’m hoping to involve some of my fellow participants, our instructors, and maybe even some big names who’ll be in town for Wordfest!

Wish me focus and productivity- I’ll need it in a place with so many social opportunities!