Just One Word: Etiquette

etiquette
noun
et·​i·​quette | \ ˈe-ti-kət

Definition: the conduct or procedure required by good breeding or prescribed by authority to be observed in social or official life

From Merriam-Webster: One definition of the French word étiquette is "ticket" or "label attached to something for identification." In 16th-century Spain, the French word was borrowed (and altered to "etiqueta") to refer to the written protocols describing orders of precedence and behavior demanded of those who appeared in court. Eventually, "etiqueta" came to be applied to the court ceremonies themselves as well as the documents which outlined the requirements for them. Interestingly, this then led to French speakers of the time attributing the second sense of "proper behavior" to their "étiquette," and in the middle of the 18th century English speakers finally adopted both the word and the second meaning from the French.

April Come She Will

Toads and Friends, welcome to April and High Poetry Shenanigans!

April, come she will
When streams are ripe and swelled with rain
May, she will stay
Resting in my arms again

June, she’ll change her tune
In restless walks, she’ll prowl the night
July, she will fly
And give no warning of her flight

August, die she must
The autumn winds blow chilly and cold
September, I’ll remember
A love once new has now grown old

                              © Paul Simon 1965

What could be more inspiring than this? We are kicking off April easy and beautifully, friends. Write a poem about love! Or about the seasons changing, love affairs growing old, streams swelled with rain, memories of Simon and Garfunkel in Central Park, or anything else that comes up for you while watching and listening to this perfect, perfect song. Enjoy!

An Antic Disposition

It always seems to me that a kind of madness takes over the toads during the month of April, as many of us attempt to write 30 poems in 30 days. We get to the fourth week and wonder why we set ourselves such an insurmountable task to begin with.

Since today is the anniversary of Shakespeare's birth and death, I have delved into the archives to read up on what he had to say about madness... a favoured theme in several plays and poems. I came across an interesting article, to be found HERE for those who are interested. I have also provided a few memorable quotes, but they are by no means prescriptive.

Laurence Olivier as Hamlet (1948)

Hamlet:

But come—
Here, as before, never, so help you mercy,
How strange or odd some'er I bear myself—
As I perchance hereafter shall think meet
To put an antic disposition on—

Hamlet Act 1, scene 5, 168 - 172

Theseus:

Lovers and madmen have such seething brains,
Such shaping fantasies, that apprehend
More than cool reason ever comprehends.
The lunatic, the lover and the poet
Are of imagination all compact.

Midsummer Night's Dream Act 5, scene 1, 4 - 8

Macbeth:

Canst thou not minister to a mind diseas'd,
Pluck from the memory a rooted sorrow,
Raze out the written troubles of the brain,
And with some sweet oblivious antidote
Cleanse the stuff'd bosom of that perilous stuff
Which weighs upon the heart?

Macbeth Act 5, scene 3, 40–45


Our focus for this prompt is The Mind: those troubles of the brain, shaping fantasies and antic dispositions which make us human.

April SECOND

Second Sight?

To those writing a poem every day this month- congratulations! You made it through Day 1 and here you 

are--already up for seconds!

And ''second," in any of its forms, is your prompt for today.  To name a few: second helpings, second chances, coming in second, seconding a motion, second sight, a second set, second in line, second child, second growth, second to none, only a second, seconds to go.....  (Of which there are approximately 2,505,600 left in this month.) 

Second growth? 

Seconds have many permutations.  Land on one and write a poem about.  

Second to none? 

Second in line?  (Probably not duelling second.)

Remember the prompt is a jumping off place only. You do not actually have to make your poem about the variations of seconds--use what comes up. And good luck! 

PS - all the pics in this prompt are recent charcoal drawings of mine - Manicddaily, Karin Gustafson.  You are very free to use any, but please do give proper attribution.  Thanks!  

The Tuesday Platform

Welcome to the Tuesday Platform, mid-April edition! Poetry Month has been so inspiring, thus far, don’t you agree? Today is your free-range day of the week, your chance to link up a poem not written for a prompt (do we have any of those this month?!) or to share any poem you like, old or new. We want to read it!

Extra Added Non-Compulsory Bonus: This morning a sign on the highway implored drivers to 

PLEASE DON’T LITTAH! KEEP MASS CLEAN!

Makes me smile. Sometimes those clever highway sign people say USE YOUR BLINKAHS because, well, you know. Where I live in western MA, the Boston accent is not quite so prevalent and despite living here for almost 20 years, I still find the whole thing charming. And I grew up near Pittsburgh, PA where people talk funny too. Yinz guys know what I mean?

So, if you need inspiration today (and again it’s optional as today is the OPEN platform), feel free to write a poem containing some kind of local vernacular, slang, or pronunciation. Yinz guys have fun!

The Tuesday Platform

It’s Tuesday, your free-range day of the week here in the Imaginary Garden. Share with us, something old, something new, or your April 5 entry for NaPoWriMo. And then hop around to read what other pond-dwellers have shared.

For those who need a prompt today, or who just want to revel, I offer this *optional* extra challenge: VILLANELLE, a lovely form I have never attempted, let alone mastered. I know some of you enjoy writing villanelles--I'm thinking of Bjorn in particular. Check out Bjorn's villanelles for inspiration.

And here are my heroes They Might Be Giants with a SONG that is a villanelle. Showoffs!

April is for Fools and Poets

Welcome to April in the Imaginary Garden! We will be celebrating Poetry Month by offering prompts each and every day, supporting and encouraging all poets who want to attempt writing 30 poems in April or any fraction thereof. Enjoy!

Naturally, today’s prompt to kick us off is... FOOL

I am two fools, I know,

     For loving, and for saying so

         In whining poetry--

(John Donne, The Triple Fool)

Write about being a fool or being fooled, not being fooled again, or foolin’ around, All Fools’ Day, fool’s gold, foolish behavior, foolish words, fool me twice, you fool!

Ready, set, go! We can do this, no foolin’ neither.

The Tuesday Platform

Welcome to the Tuesday Platform, end of April edition! You are almost there, friends. It’s the home stretch. Here’s your chance to link up a poem not written for a prompt (do we have any of those this month?!) or to share any poem you like, old or new. We want to read it!

I will confess to having run dreadfully behind in writing this month (just caught up yesterday, but that feeling is fleeting in April), and most especially I have lately been mostly unable to keep up on reading and commentary. Still, your writing and your energy is motivating to me, and I hope everyone feels that way! Let’s all visit each other with gusto this week.

Write like the wind! Read like the… wind! Ah, I got nothing new. YET. Enjoy, friends!

The perfect love poem

Dear Toads, how have you all been?

You haven't seen much of me around, I know, April happened to be a freaking busy month in my professional life, I'm getting ready for a CELTA course and have never been so poetically dull. But I read about this idea in February, when I was foolishly in love with this guy who turned out to be someone else's soul mate instead of mine - the perfect love poem.

British poet Julia Bird analyzed England's 10 most popular love poems to develop a formula for the perfect romantic verse, and here's what she came up with:

x (p + b + c + o)

P = Pattern. All 10 of the English favorite love poems are boldly metrical and have strong rhyming patterns.

B = Brevity.

C = Comparison. The desire to compare and describe the love is a common thread through love poetry. What’s your love like? Why, s/he’s like something else.

O = Obstacle. The analyzed love poems examine the difficulties inherent in a love affair.

X = Mystery

Julia still recommends that to write the perfect verse, we need to read lots of poetry, and just then write. But she advises: “Leave behind the language of the past. Some poetic phrases are woven so deeply into our culture (‘Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day’/‘What light through yonder window breaks’) that we reach instinctively for the archaic poem-sounding words to add gravitas to our writing. Let go of ‘thee’ and ‘yonder’, and instead find the poetry in the fads and fashions of today’s dictionaries."

So my dear friends, today's challenge is pretty obvious by now, isn't it? I'm asking you to write the perfect love poem. You can choose to use Julia Bird's formula or not, maybe you can't write form poetry (I can't), maybe whatever it is you choose to say, you need it to be long, maybe you know the secret for the completely happy relationship and would like to share it, no mystery involved. If that's the case, I'll be thankful!

The poetry you link today must be written specifically for this post. Thank you!

Please, add your link to Mr. Linky, leave a comment and visit other poets.

(Image credits: all the photos on this post are mine and are free to borrow. They were taken during the last performance of Romeo and Juliet by the Brazilian Drama Company Galpão in 2012 in a local park. The performance marked the end of a 20-year staging)

Every Day I Write the Book

Don’t tell me you don’t

know the difference

between a lover and a fighter

with my pen

and my electric typewriter

even in a perfect world

where everyone was equal

I’d still own the film rights

and be working on the sequel

Take a listen to this gorgeous version of Elvis Costello’s iconic song, his explanation of his relationship with the song, and its rescuing by Ron Sexsmith.

Dear Toads, your challenge today is to write about the experience of falling out of love with something you have written, even when others like it and want to hear or read it. If you have had the pleasure of someone else rescuing your work, you can write about that, too.

The Tuesday Platform: NaPoWriMo Eve

Toronto Music Garden Park Stage

It's the last day of March, and here in my part of the world, Spring seems finally to have shown herself. Appropriately--no time for resting, now--we Toads are getting ready for a Spring marathon. April is National Poetry Month, and we will be offering daily prompts, as well as support and encouragement, for anyone who wants to play along by writing 30 poems in 30 days. Yippee!

So, please feel free to link up a poem of your choice today for the Tuesday Platform, NaPoWriMo-Eve Style. And then come back tomorrow and throughout April to join in the chaos. Please don’t neglect to visit other Tuesday Platform participants this week; as you know, it can be the feedback from and interaction with our fellow writers that keeps us going.

2015 National Poetry Month poster, designed by Roz Chast, featuring a line of poetry from Mark Strand's "Eating Poetry"