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Thursday, July 29, 2010

HEROES …?

For Big Tent Poetry


This week’s prompt
We all have heroes — icons whose greatness we aspire to,
whose larger-than-life personalities (or pretty faces) we are drawn to.
Fresh out of graduate school, filled with feminist fire, I wrote several poems re-imagining
the life and times of Barbie. (Denise Duhamel has an entire collection devoted to this blond bombshell.
You can check out Kinky here). A few years later, never having seen an episode of “Leave It To Beaver,”
I nonetheless began channeling June Cleaver when married life didn’t turn out the way I imagined.
This week, start with a list of pop culture icons that interest you. Imagine one of them in a mundane setting:
Marilyn Monroe doing the dishes, Elvis mowing the lawn, Lady Gaga carpooling the kids to soccer practice.
Poem an icon into a situation they may never, in real life, appear.
Need some inspiration? Check out Tony Barnstone’s The 167th Psalm of Elvis,
David Trinidad’s clever Chatty Cathy Villanelle or Kate Durbin’s haunting prose poem
Marilyn: Leftovers, chronicling Marilyn Monroe’s personal effects.

I put a Rock ‘n’ Roll superstar
(take your pick)
to work in a factory


WORK SONG

Strange town
Longsight M13
What difference does it make?

Working 9 to 5
Money for nothing
A means to an end

The hardest thing in the world…

Something better change
I don’t like Mondays

Help!
I wanna be sedated

(Yeah, yeah) Industrial estate


Acknowledgements:

WORK SONG – Cannonball Adderly http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBxAC4ywaJ4

Strange town – The Jam http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4tEX8tm6qw

Longsight M13 – Ian Brown http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LV70kw7S7xQ

What difference does it make? – The Smiths http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5DE8UQnM5Y

Working 9 to 5 – Dolly Parton http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpKAA2VxWY8

Money for nothing – Dire Straits http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5ZEzWwKJnY

A means to an end – Joy Division http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPG_TCX2Z0k

The hardest thing in the world - The Stone Roses http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLser2OWa74

Something better change – The Stranglers http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oSEOzimKnEY

I don’t like Mondays – The Boomtown Rats http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Er5uuCYi7q4

Help! – The Beatles http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TU7JjJJZi1Q

I wanna be sedated – The Ramones http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rxJroWIg1Y

(Yeah, yeah) Industrial estate – The Fall http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKECj238-Lo
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24 comments:

  1. Maude LynnJuly 30, 2010 at 10:37 AM

    Anything that includes The Ramones is definitely cool!

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  2. Stan SkiJuly 30, 2010 at 12:05 PM

    Thanks Mama Zen; Gabba gabba hey, I agree...

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  3. rallentandaJuly 30, 2010 at 1:32 PM

    I found 5 lines that I knew from songs. Not bad for an golden oldie! Help! I wanna be sedated.
    (giggles smirles snork!)

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  4. Stan SkiJuly 30, 2010 at 2:04 PM

    Thanks Rall; They're all song titles; some mainsteam - some a little obscure. Most of them 20 yers old or more.

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  5. AnonymousJuly 30, 2010 at 2:58 PM

    I only found two! But it sums up accurately the drudgery of so many 'normal' jobs.

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  6. Stan SkiJuly 30, 2010 at 3:07 PM

    Thanks ViV; Still got the 'Titles' theme in my head... and I've had my share of factory work.

    Sorry about the 'a' in years, Rall - I know how to spell it really.

    ReplyDelete
  7. AnonymousJuly 30, 2010 at 4:02 PM

    Cleverly done, Stan.

    http://thelaughinghousewife.wordpress.com

    ReplyDelete
  8. rallentandaJuly 30, 2010 at 4:07 PM

    It takes yers and yers Stan.Sorry about the k in smirkles!

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  9. Stan SkiJuly 30, 2010 at 4:55 PM

    Thanks to:
    TLH; I was struggling with the prompt, so I just played some tunes...
    Rall; Looks like we both had a bit of a rough spell!

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  10. MaryJuly 30, 2010 at 8:25 PM

    Yes, the prompt was a bit rough for me too...until I came up with an idea. You can always be depended on to come up with a unique slant!

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  11. markJuly 30, 2010 at 8:54 PM

    A puzzle piece poem! Wonderful!

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  12. flaubertJuly 30, 2010 at 9:35 PM

    Stan I see you still have titles going through your head as well! Nice one!
    Pamela

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  13. ElizabethJuly 30, 2010 at 9:37 PM

    I like the combination and blending of the new and old prompts. Makes for a very good weave.

    Elizabeth

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  14. Cynthia ShortJuly 30, 2010 at 10:01 PM

    Great idea here! Love your imagination...

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  15. mareymercyJuly 31, 2010 at 4:21 AM

    Love it, sadly didn't "get it" until the Ramones line. Ah well. Well done!

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  16. Stan SkiJuly 31, 2010 at 6:25 AM

    Thanks to:
    Mary; My main problem was putting the icon on unfamiliar ground. Most either have 'normal' backgrounds, or have served 'community service' sentences.
    Mark; It nearly didn't happen.
    Pamela; More local flavour to this one.
    Elizabeth; For a last resort, I think it works OK.
    Cynthia; Those song titles helped a bit...
    Twitches; Not exactly Greatest Hits, but a couple of well known songs in there.

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  17. Wayne PitchkoJuly 31, 2010 at 11:22 AM

    nice one Stan

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  18. Stan SkiJuly 31, 2010 at 12:51 PM

    Thanks Wayne; Gissa job...!

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  19. brenda wJuly 31, 2010 at 8:48 PM

    Love it Stan! That title prompt got me thinking about writing another piece, too. It's fun, and fills in those blanks in my head. I like how you worked it into the Big Tent prompt.
    Hey..I saw a question of yours somewhere. Yes, coriander is cilantro. mmmm mmmmm I'm still thinking about it. ha!
    ~brenda

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  20. Stan SkiJuly 31, 2010 at 10:01 PM

    Thanks Brenda; Whenever I get a 'block', I put on some tunes, and it comes...
    Yeah, thought I got the cilantro/coriander thing right... thanks.

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  21. Francis ScudellariAugust 2, 2010 at 9:12 AM

    Quite a few of my favorites in this mix... nicely mashed :)

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  22. Stan SkiAugust 2, 2010 at 12:58 PM

    Thanks Francis; I like a bit of almost everything.

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  23. Tumblewords:August 3, 2010 at 12:05 AM

    Amazing use of titles - reads real!

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  24. Stan SkiAugust 3, 2010 at 8:22 AM

    Thanks Tumblewords; You don't have to be a rock 'n' roll superstar to know the feeling.

    ReplyDelete

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