The Friday Dispatch: April 4, 2025
Wow, NaPoWriMo comes earlier every year
Happy Friday! It is the first Friday in April, which means it’s the first Friday of National Poetry Writing Month! During NaPoWriMo, I write a poem/day, every day, for 30 days. It’s a lot of fun! Some of the poems from years past have wound up included in my first book, and one was the basis for a poem I read at Herbal Supplments reading series earlier this week (thank you all who came out, for supporting me!)
Here’s a preview of NaPoWriMo 2025. This poem, called “Day One,” is the first poem I wrote on, aptly, the first day of National Poetry Writing Month 2025.
Day One
And on the first day, God created creating.
The magnificence was not magnificent.
The magnificence was—existence.There was, at that point in time,
not much to look at. In factthere was nothing, and then, there was hairspray.
Mistletoe, and trilobites. Thunder. Cows’ milk,
cherry pits and aurora borealis, speeding tickets,
and emancipation, and rubber gloves. All of it.It was the only thing for the situation,
He said. A miracle. An act and then, everything.
Well: not everything.
Not at first. First the promise of everything,
in its time, and time, a separate
creation for our sake mostly, entirely
distinct from the everything of it all.But a miracle. Polar bears. Solar radiation,
these things, wholly novel. Call me easy,
being impressed. But all I ever made
has come from something. From sand
and a tripped wire in the box of my brain,
rootloose and intentional, sure, years of
decoding, varying penetrability and still, decidedly,
something.Call me easy. It makes sense to look up to God
who made everything from the great empty hollow
lonely impossible ___________________, and did not
name it. Could’ve. Didn’t, named nothing, not from
a lack of care—generosity. In all that suddenly
everything, He remembered, man would need
something to do. And the something was names.
And the names, when they found their named,
would be fitted together in infinite everything ways,
a new way for us to feel close, to know the suddenly.
And so it was poetry. And indeed, it was good.
In honor of NaPoWriMo, here are a few resources from the ol’ newsletter that may be helpful if you’re hoping to embrace your inner poet (or, hell, an outer poet!):
A list of my favorite poems, including entries from Mary Szybist, Howard Nemerov, Marlon Hacla, Ellyn Maybe and June Jordan (I need to upload an updated version of this list! I know more poems and more poets now.
If you only have a few minutes to give to poetry today, try a timed writing exercise, like this one developed from a poetry workshop I taught a few years ago
Or this weirder poetry prompt, based on a Far Side cartoon (COW TOOLS HIVE, RISE UP)
Two behind-the-scenes looks at poems I’ve written:
“Tornadoland,” one of my favorite poems of all those I have written, which was included in the Hell Is Real midwest emo anthology and nominated for Best of the Net
“The Morning In My Chest,” a poem about my asthma! :)
And finally, a BUNCH of advice on taking writing workshops
[Twin Peaks Voice] It Is Happening Again
It is happening again! And by “it,” I mean a week where I am in TWO comedy shows at UCB. As per usual, I’ll be singing a parody song in one of ‘em, acting in sketches in the other one! Continue reading for more info.
At We Stan Together on Sunday, the theme is “flower ceremony!” To “give someone their flowers” is to publicly acknowledge and appreciate their accomplishments, especially if the person being honored is often overlooked or their achievements are swept under the rug. Unfortunately for everyone ever, I will be using my three minutes of allotted musical chaos-time to honor the Golden Age of Cannibalism and extoll the virtues of consuming human flesh! But. In comedy. You know. Like…comedy. And likely via country-western music.
Ahem. If that appeals to you, or if you are appalled and want to watch this performance out of sheer horror, livestream the show from home or come to UCB and throw tomatoes at me! ( I love tomatoes)
And WEDNESDAY! Oh, boy, do I have something to say about Wednesday. It’s the SECOND-EVER Prop in the Bucket show! In many ways, it is more exciting to attend or livestream the SECOND show, because that is how you determine whether the first one was a fluke. Our first show was really good, too, so the stakes are high!
The writers of Prop in the Bucket were randomised to assorted props in a double-blind study, and then they had one week to meet the primary endpoint (writing sketches based on the props). Then, actors (including me) had a week and change to rehearse those sketches. And now we put the show on! Will you be there? In person, or spiritually, by livestreaming the show? Please, watch the show! Tickets are here and cheap! You don’t even have to put on pants!
And, hey, speaking of rehearsals, I gotta get out the door to go run these sketches. So, I leave you with…
WIDNBTW
That’s right, it’s America’s favorite game show everyone’s favorite not-quite shopping column! Here is What I Did Not Buy This Week:
Tickets to this touring Sailor Moon stage show, which is, according to the website, presented in “groundbreaking 2.5D.” Two point five D? As in…two-and-a-half dimensional??? What? I have to lose 0.5 dimensions to see this show?! This sounds unsafe.
This Spottie Dottie crewneck sweatshirt, which, every time I look at it, activates a feral toddler living inside me who really really REALLY really really wants to wear it to her Pre-K class (full disclosure: I am going to find a coupon, and I am going to buy this) (and the Spottie Dottie Nintendo Switch case)
This Cinnamoroll varsity jacket which is less demanding of my attentions but still very cute!
A second cart for my desk’s notebook overflow (I got it as a gift from Jake, thank you Jake)
A plush bean
The Lush x Minions face mask
Any of the several YSL lipsticks on sale at Nordstrom right now
The very pretty Dolce and Gabbana Devotion perfume, which I have seen but not sniffed—I want to get an empty bottle and dump my cheapo Dollar Tree cotton candy stuff in there, though
Okay! That’s all for now. I did also train Dottie to sit in a basket at my desk. She is so good. Remind me next week to tell you about seeing Naomi Watts and Carla Gugino and how nobody cared because there was a big dog present! BYE!
