Sorella Was Here

[prokopton]

Can this half a litre
of not-quite 'The Famous
Grouse'

add, say, half a meter
and make me a Seamus?
Our house

is all out of good stuff.
The guests downed our best.

I don’t mind the foodstuff,
but as for the rest!

To start NaPo late
is one thing to hate,

but to start with bad whisky
is seriously risky!

Sorella

----

So, that's how it is to be?
I like it, a fun piece to start the party,
sets a tone. I enjoyed the sonics and the rhyme
we're here not for a long while but
surely to have a good time.
litre-meter, grouse-house
why not souse-mouse?

Hoping for more,
Goffe

[cookala]

oyu! I absolutely love the NaPo pieces - full of Sorella humor and clever puns and word play as is your usual! remind me to get you a proper whiskey in The Hole at the end of our one month maximum ( so darn clever, that 2nd poem - and such wonderful metaphors, too. yummy) The first two made me lol. I truly do love the wit and joie de vivre, which you express so well in your writing. April 3rd - a twee bit sad, as we age we tend to get melancholy about the way things used to be, yes? well, I do, and esp about the physical part of aging - which truly sucks bad eggs. but such is life. so good to be reading you again, sistah.

[Scrow]

Hi Karin! It is good to see you!

I love ‘risky whisky’ - it’s not risky at all, it’s great - and fab that you made it. I hope you didn’t have a headache the next day.

I love ‘April fluff’ requiring allergy meds - it’s so fun.

‘Like the old days’ is pithy but also poignant despite its shortness. It’s a good line to leave us thinking on.

...and mostly, I'm just glad you are here!

Sarah

[SP Singer]

Karin number two should be included with the instructions for how to play. It's perfect. So let me ask you, could "behind" be NaPo code meaning: the erection of this one day coliseum is taking a tiny bit longer because everyone seems to need another drink first, and I'm the hostess/barkeep again?

Honor your own time within this 30 day life. I know you do, and we're all the better for such honor. Can't wait to hear that roar approach, SP

[Sorella]

Thank you, kind callers! Several pleasures in NaPo: Reading and fluffing, writing pomes under the gun (even when it ends up nothing, nothing, three in a day) and being read and fluffed, all intensively and with 34 fellow poets!
Steve, Handwriting drafts can add something new -- even if the visuals, on the screen, line lengths for instance, are so different.
Mike, Meta is my saviour!
Brian, I think the daunting first day leaves NaPo itself foremost in everyone's consciousness, hence the topic.
Andrea, Burn this! only works on paper. Delete is so humdrum.
Scavella, Would be honoured to have a poem tacked over your desk!
ofGef, You're calling me a souse? So be it, as long as I can catch my mouse-a-day!
Cookie, You are a super fluffer -- with magic pollen I will not grow allergic to! Great to have you here. Yes, a bit sad, the last masterpiece, heh.
Sarah, Nice of you to go for specifics in the fluff, very helpful. Looking forward to visiting your interesting project this NaPo.
Singer, So glad you liked no. 2. When I said 'Behind' in my fluff to you, I was not behind the bar (alas! or fortunately, on a Friday evening) but two poems short, now three! The reason will be in the next poem, maybe.
So ... let me see ...

Thanks again so much, all visitors.
Sorella

[Sorella]

All quiet booths are taken.
A corner's found on that long bench,
a free-for-all right by the busy door to the toilets.

The poet reads a poetry collection, stares
idly at regulars along the bar. Ideas on tap fill
up her phone, she types, foam settles on her pint.

'Keep an eye on my bag?" A fellow drinker
next to her stands up, the poet nods. Two minutes
peace, then, "Thanks. You from round here?" "Yup."

"You feel like talking?" "Ummm..." Courtesy kills poem.

Sorella

[Sorella]

Two light baskets dangle
outside our window to the garden

Sunflower Seed is served today
As much as you can eat.

Silk-suited, Mr Blackbird heads the queue,
wife's in brown tweed. The Bullfinches are next,
he in a bright-red waistcoat, she in pink and grey.
That silly single Bluetit jumps the queue,
our paunchy Great-Tit nearly bursts his necktie,
scolding him. Two couples from the Greenfinch clan
are late, wait in the Rose-Bush Bar below and gossip
cheerfully. The Magpie Squad polices the event
from our apple tree. We love the table turnover,
at a terrific speed, and we are paid in joy.

Sorella

[cookala]

Sorella! happy to see you back, missed your presence here for a bit! methinks you mus be busy as a bird at the moment.

Back to the Wall - nice little slice of life here, Sorella style, great word choices and solid images. def you!
Birds Buffet - love this one - what a smorgasbord of bird life - I like the way you personify them, so clever! love the images, tone, pacing, sounds...and you know how particular I am to birds. Baby taught me birdlove and I think of him every time a birdy subject comes up, so thank you for writing this!!

[Featherless Biped]

Trout, grouse, I think I grasp the difference now!

I really enjoyed “conceived in a one-night stand” as a description of our poems this month. Your advice is sound.

Funny thing about the old days; as usual I am glad not to have been born then! After repeatedly flunking handwriting and finally learning to type in sixth grade, I have never looked back!

“Back to the Wall” is definitely the best place to sit in a cafe. “Courtesy kills the poem” is a great punchline, and one whose truth I also feel.

Love the parade of bird citizens in “Birds’ Buffet!” I chose it to send to my partner as one of the two poems I share with them each day.

[5th column]

Back to the Wall like an assassin, a mafia Don… or a poet. I’d never been aware of the relationship until you pointed it out but once you see it.. On a similar topic but on the other side of the fence (pun intended), the magpies as coppers is really nice. Perhaps you can teach them the nee-naw-nee-naws as they fly by?

As always your observations are accute, clear and enjoyable.

[Sorella]

Thank you for calling with fluffy support! Much appreciated, especially at the low points, as reached today -- witness Found Poem to follow.
Cookie -- Nice to be reminded of Baby! Birds are endlessly entertaining close up. Seems the glasss in the window makes them feel safe.
Ray - - Wow! Selected! (almost like you for Best American Poetry -- I tell everyone I have a poetry friend in there! )
Neil -- I would love to be a mafia boss, just for a day, in the Sidetrack (the barman is very strict, he'd thrown me out!

[Sorella]

From an email about a book order:


‘When collected and prepared, you
will receive an email regarding payment
information and the amount to be paid.’

My reply:
'It must be a very expensive book indeed.
I am sitting down. Go ahead.'

----

Sorella

[Louisa Lander]

Hi Sorella. Catching up with you at last. I'm smiling my way through your astute and witty thread . My favourite so far is " Bird Buffet" . Full of personality, these feathered guests....whimsical and endearing.

[kristalynn]

I'm catching up. I really like the Bird Buffet. So funny, those colorful details. "Wife's in brown tweed." That's great!

[SP Singer]

I have a suspicion that courtesy kills a whole lot more than poems, but the poems might be their worst offense.

Your bird feeder poem is wonderful. Highlights were the silk suit and, Rose-bush bar (love!) and paid in joy. This one reminds me some of what Kirsty is up to with her cat poems, the form of the first 3 after Johnathan Swift I think. She makes them seem more human. I hope you keep working on this one.

The found poem is hysterical! You're closer now, and right where you should be, don't fret like a bird with too tight a waistband. SP