NaPoWriMo 2023

 NaPoWriMo Day 30

…suffrage city…

¡Che, boludo! 

Hey, man!

that seems so unusual

saying ‘man’ but meaning 

everyone, what more

can we say, when 

I’m back from Suffrage City

where the lights look so fine

such a beautiful place 

but has it’s ‘quilombo’

it has its problems

it’s chaos, knows it’s mess 

you know I said

‘No adios’? not strictly true!

it’s a brief adios

Suffrage City may be out of sight

¡Che, man! Suffrage City is all right

I’ve been there 

there’s a part of me that’s still there

I still go there

in my words

in my memories

where Evita stirred for rights

there’s more than room for one

and here she comes

your Lady Stardust

does your legacy remain?

it ain’t easy and it’s no game

Suffrage City may be out of sight

¡Che, man! Suffrage City is all right

we’ll go back there

see what it is we’ve missed

we’ll still go there

in our words

in our memories

Buenos Aires

may be out of sight

¡Che, man! Buenos Aires is all right.

The last prompt of the year (still optional is the challenge to write a palinode – a poem in which you retract a view or sentiment expressed in an earlier poem. For example, you might pick a poem you drafted earlier in the month and write a poem that contradicts or troubles it. This could be an interesting way to start working on a series of related poems. Alternatively, you could play around with the idea of a palinode by writing a poem in which the speaker says something like “I take it back” or otherwise abandons a prior position within the single poem.

Photograph: 'Night City' by Peter Longden Buenos Aires April 2023.

NaPoWriMo Day 29

This one carries a spoiler alert for vegetarians as it is all about the traditional Argentinian parrilla: the barbecue that provides the country with the culinary experience that is a major part of the country’s diet and social experience. Apologies to non-meat eaters, thanks to the parrilla-chefs for the delicious asado!

And oh! What a presence he has

as he sits upon his wooden throne

still sizzling like a hot tango

the smokiness of a Hemingway masterpiece

three cuts as precise as by Michelangelo’s hand

charred to perfection by Salta’s sultry summer sun

the taste is another memory as he melts

a kiss to the parrilla chef for the asado experience

he is everywhere, in gardens, on terraces,

the beach, no elusive pimpernel,

he’s everywhere in Argentina there to stay.

“Hey, I know I’m not so popular with Veggies,

I've got nothing against them, in fact, 

some of my best friends don't eat meat,

and without the ruminators where would we be?

but I am what I am: morcilla and chorizo,

salchichas parrilleras, ribs or sirloin,

skirt, T-bone and tenderloin, running with

it’s own red wine to accompany

one of Mendoza’s finest,

chimichurri spices me up but not until

after a taste, don’t want any disrespect;

I am gaucho, even Messi loves me

at Don Julio in Buenos Aires their queue

is a few months long out of the door!"

Today’s (optional) prompt, start by reading Alberto Rios’s poem “Perfect for Any Occasion”, then challenges to write your own two-part poem that focuses on food or type of meal. At some point in the poem, describe the food or meal as if it were a specific kind of person. Give the food/meal at least one line of spoken dialogue.

Photograph by Peter Longden, La Boca, Buenos Aires April 2023

  NaPoWriMo Day 28

Within this fabulous creation—

Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius—

literary Garden of Forking Paths

lined with flowing pages

growing glowing flowers 

hiding the way not to 

dusty Death without the Compass,

but perhaps, to Pierre Menard,

Author of the Quixote,

trying his luck, in

The Lottery in Babylon,

of rewriting,

by Secret Miracle,

The Writing Of the God:

Cervantes, where remote

he tilts at The Circular Ruins tower—

its contents The Library of Babel, where Funes

the Memorious keeps the

Shape of the Sword sharp

in cutting verse

with Argentine Themes of the Traitor and the Hero

speculative in fiction

to be shelved

in El Ateneo Grand Splendid

beside payadores and gauchesque verse:

canon to the countries

literary prowess

stand beside contemporary

broader, universal themes;

El Ateneo majesty,

labyrinthine in its

gold-plated rise

as The Sector

of the Phoenix with

Immortalised beauty

in which to find

Averroes' Searching

la magnífica librería

de Buenos Aires.

Today, the challenge is to write an index poem. Start with found language from an actual index, or invent an index. My index is from the Argentinian writer Jorge Luis Borges’ ‘Labyrinths’.

Not sure if this is on prompt as I've used the contents list of a book (different to 'index'?) Anyway, Labyrinths by Jorge Luis Borges (the brilliant Argentinian writer of speculative fiction, magical realism and essays) is my choice of book as the basis for this poem - a tribute to Buenos Aires as book capital of Latin America and its stunning converted theatre bookshop

Photograph by Peter Longden, El Ateneo Grand Splendid, Buenos Aires April 2023

NaPoWriMo Day 27

They exist—

though disappeared

someone knows

where they are 

together their mothers

hope as they 

protest their 

petition in

Plaza de Mayo

white scarves 

symbolic of their 

child’s care

They exist—

las madres resist

the politics that 

gives them lies

denied their

demands though 

stated simply

in words 

as blunt as the nose

on a capybaras face

they won’t disappear

without a trace

They exist—

las madres show

their loyalty 

to the mara’s truth

faithful to 

lifetime kin

as mothers in grief

rally against politics

though their extremities

look frail and thin

quick and strong 

to protest

They exist—

their silence loud

against diktat 

and military rule

not quieted as 

absence speaks to 

human rights

broken in 

atrocities when 

speaking might 

mean fight 

or flight 

They exist—

las madres 

protection in numbers

recalling desaparecidos 

where they exist 

on the unfound 

plain of truth—

the innocent

revealed are

final proof

for mothers

for justice

Today begin by reading Bernadette Mayer’s poem “The Lobelias of Fear.” then write your own poem titled “The ________ of ________,” where the first blank is a very particular kind of plant or animal, and the second blank is an abstract noun. The poem should contain at least one simile that plays on double meanings or otherwise doesn’t quite make “sense,” and describe things or beings from very different times or places as co-existing in the same space.

Photograph by Peter Longden Plaza de Mayo, Buenos Aires April 2023

 NaPoWriMo Day 26 

…portrait of a traveller in Argentina…

Covid did
to us
what it did
to many others
 

restricted travel
for travel’s sake
out of practice
long-haul virgin
 

Argentina bound
Buenos Aires
the good airs
and graces to give
 

bienvenido
gracias
confidence
to speak
 

your good winds
walking paths
quickly familiar
European eclectic
 

European selective
familial presence
buenos historia
no rose tinted view
 

real— so good
founded twice
photogenic
instantly sharing
 

autumn wrapped
warm winds
confidence grows
abundant florigenic
 

feeling at ease
parks and gardens
spirit please
avenues of trees
 

best air cleaned
feel the street
level perspective
hidden highs
 

city to ciudad
paints its picture
a personal journal
portrait journey

Prompt for the day asks you to write a portrait poem that focuses on or plays with the meaning of the subject’s name. This could be a self-portrait, a portrait of a family member or close friend, or even a portrait of a famous or historical person.