I'm featuring two poems today about puppets, and, marionettes--puppet worlds on a string! The first I sent to Joy Acey as part of Tabatha Yeatts' poem swap in the summer of 2012.
This second one is new. I woke up on Saturday and said to myself, "What should I work on today?" And, out of the blue myself answered, "Puppets!" Okay! Who am I to argue with myself? Looking for pictures online, I found a photo at Wikimedia of a Punch and Judy show, taken more than 100 years ago. I remembered seeing a Punch and Judy show in Lowell, MA and all the bashing made me uncomfortable, yet, the verbal humor made me laugh. What a strange, unsettling experience!
My illustrator friend, Patrick Girouard, told me, "Puppets are cool." He posted a great illustration of a marionette on Facebook last Sunday, which I thought was pretty freaky (the coincidence, not the illustration). Check it out here. If anyone knows why puppets have been lurking in the subconscious this past week, please let me know!
Okay, back to poetry: this has been a busy NPM week for me! On Monday I posted the first of this month's Ekphrastic Monday poems, and, I contributed a guest post about "root poems" at Laura Shovan's Author Amok. On Wednesday I added a line to the 2014 Progressive Poem! And today, I have a poem featured at Tabatha Yeatts: The Opposite of Indifference.
More poetry celebrations are taking place today and they're being rounded up in Florida by Michelle at Today's Little Ditty.
Unbeknownst to you, this whole post is being used as an excuse for slipping in a favorite song!
[Note: if you ever get the opportunity to see Michael Buble perform live, take it. He puts on a fabulous show (and I've got pictures to prove it). Don't be fooled by the television special he appeared in at Christmas. It was so bad, I had to turn it off half-way through. Buble's manager should have been fired for agreeing to let him take part in a mish-mosh of half-songs and cheesy skits.]
Great post, Diane. I especially liked your poem in the voice of Pinocchio. The image of the splintery sneeze will stay with me!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Laura!
DeleteNo strings on you in this post either, Diane-- from Disney to Buble, you're definitely unstrung! ...and I enjoyed every bit of it, especially your own poems, of course . My mother saw Buble in concert and had a similar response to his live performance.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Michelle! That reminds me of the expression "ain't no flies on you." What a strange expression that is!
DeleteThe letter is especially appropriate now when things are blooming and some are sneezing, Diane. I don't think I've ever seen a real Punch 'n Judy, even like this video. They did hit a lot! You have that wonderful 'punch' at the end of your poem!
ReplyDeletePollen is just barely starting, but I expect the next two months are going to be wicked!
DeleteHi, Diane! I can't offer any Jungian puppet connections, but I love the way your mind works. And what a fun Pinocchio voice - have you seen the latest GEICO commercial with Pinocchio as a motivational speaker? (It's on YouTube, too.)
ReplyDeleteNo! My interest is piqued. And now I have to wait until after work to watch! :-(
DeleteMy (19-year-old) son and I crack up each time it's on. I think we're a little warped. Enjoy....
DeleteI just watched it! Here's the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R5_Gtm6VW2g
DeleteTee hee!
DeleteHow fun to wake up and think "Puppets!" You really keep your imaginative muscles strong with all these poetic workouts!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Tabatha, but I should give my real muscles a workout. That's my goal for the next month--to start exercising now that the weather is better.
Deletehttp://tinyurl.com/q6ksbyx
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ReplyDeleteWhat fun! I enjoyed following your string of thoughts through this post!
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