The Plague Diaries and the Annals of the New Utopia (IFT)

[BrianIsSmilingAtYou]

cookala, thank for your generous read.

I, too, felt that the triolet fit the form well. The Plague Diaries focused more on the personal as time went on (though that had always been present), and as I found writing the long free verse narratives wearying, I turned to forms, which are much easier for me.

Dreams- not thinking of Hamlet when i wrote this, but I suppose the connection could be made.

They Know Too Well –no, you need not say more

Planning for the Funeral, Season 20, Episode 37 – Mom has spoken of this before, the death of Uncle Ed brought it to the fore again

A Wandering (Wondering) Wordsmith –I'm glad you like the word play in this. It started out purely as word play on the wander/wonder thing, and I just kept writing, and extracted bits that made sense, and took them as a starting point for what eventually became the poem. What you said stood out - "The ticker is ticking—the tocker won't tock" was one of my favorite bits as well.

Small Talk – small talk started as a bit of word play on the weather, but more quickly came into shape.

Speaking to Mother of Saint Luke - this has received more praise than I expected.

On Ashen Winds –a friend on Facebook quoted the same lines

Pastichio Pistachio – more word play, yes. This quickly became a short bit of metrical fun.

Bluer Skies –I'm glad you got to see them. I was inside with Mom, dealing with a minor crisis. Again, writing to a form (Sonnet) was a bit of a crutch.

A Poem in Black and White – I originally wasn't sure where this would go, and the idea of one line flowing to the next came to mind. Another sonnet, when I needed to go the easy route.

The Change – I like the idea of this, but I get the feeling that it either needs a lot more revision and development or to be trashed. That it has resonated with you might make revision more likely.

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new leaf, thanks for you reading and your perspective.

Thank you also for your condolences. There have been a number of losses to those I that. My cousin, whose father was Uncle Ed, has lost 4 friends to COVID in addition to losing her father. I thought of writing about that, but I knew less about her friends, and felt that I could not do it justice. A musician friend has a father who is on a ventilator. A poet friend has several in her family. New York and New Jersey (where I am with Mom) were particularly hard hit.

Your kindness and loving spirit shine through it all, and your humor, along with your anger and impatience with hypocrisy.

I'm glad you mentioned humor. I felt at times that I wanted to scream. I think that my next project might have to just be silliness, like when I did the A to Z alphabet poems years ago.

The new Utopia is a strange place, but if it's more like The Change and less of an outpost in space, I think I could welcome it. You've offered us a double scoop of NaPo this year, delicious.

The New Utopia is still quite an enigma to me. I might still have to attack this idea, and discover what it really means.

More to come.

BrianIs AtYou