2016 Found Object Poem Project: Day 18, Poetry Friday

It’s Day 18 of our month-long daily writing project.This year’s theme is FOUND OBJECTS. For those of you who are new to the project, please read my introductory post. You’ll find more information and all of the Week 3 FOUND OBJECTS at this post.We’re also celebrating Poetry Friday. This week’s host is Donna Smith at Mainely Write, who hosted our project earlier this week! If you’re enjoying the poetry community we’re creating with this project, I know you’ll have fun getting to know the Poetry Friday blogging community as well.It's a special Poetry Friday for me and my niece, Madeline. We are guests at Penny Parker Klostermann's blog series "A Great Nephew and a Great Aunt." Madeline drew a Keith Haring inspired scene and my poem accompanies her art.FOUND: SCULPTUREJan Annino Godown of the blog Bookseedstudio contributed our Found Object today.I was tempted to go searching for more information about this sculpture, but waited until my poem was drafted. From what I can tell, there are several versions of this giant eraser in sculpture gardens around the country. I found more information at the National Gallery of Art's website. Here are the basics: "Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen, American, born 1929, Sweden / American, born 1942, The Netherlands Typewriter Eraser, Scale X, 1999 stainless steel and cement."In looking at today's found object, I wondered whether teens and twenty-somethings would recognize the everyday object it's supposed to represent. It looks like Diane Mayr was wondering the same thing.Field Trip to the PastBy Diane MayrI heard her incredulous cry,“What is that?”She grew up with laptops and printers.I grew up writing papers by longhandthen typing them out on a clunkyportable typewriter.There was a backspace key,but no delete button.White-out invented bya Monkee’s mother had yetto find a market.There was only the eraser.Round, slender, and pink.With a brush of sorts at the oppositeend used to whisk awaythe erasure crumbs of mistakes.“Well? What is it?”she asked again.And realizing I had no formal nameto associate with the pink rolling eraser thing,I honestly answered,“Damned if I know.”***What stuck out (pun intended) at me was the blue bristles, so my poem focuses on that part of the sculpture.Blue HairBy Laura ShovanImagine it shooting from the top of my headlike a bamboo forest sprouting on Neptune.Spiky as blueberry licorice, an upside downwaterfall of frozen blue icicles, a crownof Bluebeard's bristles. Imagine it pulled tight,held in place by a silver elastic, chargedby enough volts of lightning to kill a giant.Each strand reaches up, as if Medusatraded in her snakes for a setof Moray eels, their hungry blue eyeswondering what everyone's staring at.***Like me, Donna Smith used the sculpture as a jumping off point for some wild imagery.Mr. E-RacerMod unicyclistWith spiked blue hairFlashes byAs if to dareUs to stop himIn mid flow,As he erasesTo and fr…Over jumps,Wheel a-spin,Writer’s blockWill not win;Watch him roll,See him race,Making correctionsAll over the pl…He’s braveAnd daring,And paperBaring,Helping pencilRevise writing;There he goesHe’s so exci…!Hey, stop erasingAll my lett…This isn’t gettingAny bet…If you don’t letMe finish a thoug…I cannot fix whatYou have wroug…Okay, off that unicycle,Mr. EAnd let me writeSo I can seeAnd I can readBefore erasing;Slow down now andStop a-racing!©2016, Donna JT Smith, all rights reserved***Carol Varsalona has a narrative poem in response to the sculpture. She is blogging alongside us at Beyond LiteracyLink. Magic Eraser rolled into town.Looking silly as a blue-haired clownerasing all that was in his sightcausing a stir and a great fright.The townsfolk turned a shade of whiteas all was lost in broad daylight.Who would stand up for property rights?A hero came with the speed of lightand took a very fanciful bite.So limping away in domestic flightMagic eraser left the suburbanitesand found other towns to rub out that night.©CVarsalona, 2016Carol writes, "You have to turn to the blog post to find out the moral of my tale."***I like the way that Mary Lee Hahn focuses on the outlandish size of the object in her poem.Live Big/Fail BigAre you willing to risk it?Will you go for broke?Take a chance,Take a dare,Try that limb?The payoffs are huge!Beyond ginormous!Take the chance,Take the dare,Chase the win!©Mary Lee Hahn, 2016Please visit Mary Lee's blog, where she is posting about our project.***Several people got some good advice out of the sculpture. Linda Baie's counsel is specific to writers.DreamingAdvertisement: Poets & WritersFor sale: This splendid little wheel:–rolls along the hasty scribbles–rubs away the tired rhymes–brushes out the crumbs of stale wordsRush order available!Linda Baie ©All Rights Reserved***Catherine Flynn writes, "My high school typing teacher was a stickler for perfection ('Proofread like the page was typed by your worst enemy!') so I thought about that angle... I decided to create an erasure poem giving a little history about this giant eraser."“Typewriter Eraser, Scale X”Monuments commemorateobjectsremembered from childhood.A youngsterplaying in his fathers office,a typewriter eraserfallingalightedin a graceful, dynamicgesture.By Catherine Flynn***It seems fitting to have an acrostic for an object that's meant to help us with our words. Here is Margaret Simon's contribution.An acrosticBy Margaret SimonEasyRacingAcrossScribblingsUndoingRandomErrors***Jessica Bigi turned the round part of the sculpture into another object, a Frisbee. I'm really enjoying the cartoons Jessica has been creating to go along with the poems.FrisbeeBy Jessica BigiSquinty eyesFlick of wristZooming loopsPlastic wingsLooping zagsFloppy saucerHooking windsWailing crowdsSecond windSwooping winWinWin***I can see that the object is making a lot of us feel old nostalgic. Here is Buffy Silverman's poem.Homework in the Dark AgesBy Buffy SilvermanRubbing, rubbing, rubbingbrushing, brushing, brushingshe tries to undo her careless words.The pink eraser squeaks,the gritty pile of crumbs grows on her desk blotter,sticking to the back of her hand.The smudged paper gets thinner and thinneruntil it tears…..She crumples the paper,hurls it in the trashand starts again.***Matt Forrest Esenwine knew what functional object the sculpture represented. He says, "I wore those things down to the bone in another lifetime! Another busy day today, so another haiku – well, more senryu, actually."If only mistakescould be so easily brushedaway. If only.– © 2016, Matt Forrest Esenwine, all rights reserved***Charles Waters makes a great connection to a topic most children are familiar with. I see a character emerging here!FIRST DAY OF SCHOOLBy Charles WatersBlue spiked hair,pierced eyebrows,nose, and bottom lip,fire red lipstick,tight biker jacketmade with fake leathercause I love animals,ripped black jeans,rainbow colored sneakers.I look awesome!And no one canconvince me otherwise!***More poems coming in from this prompt. Thanks again, Jan, for sending in such a great object today! I think most of us can relate to Jone MacCulloch's poem.ErasureOh to takeback the wordswrittenin anger, in hasteno eraserno matterhow largecan retrievethe diatribeafterpushingthe send button© 2016 Jone Rush MacCulloch all rights reservedIf I missed your poem in the comments, please let me know. I will add it as soon as possible.See you tomorrow for Day 19.Interested in what we’ve written so far? Here are links to this week’s poems:Sunday, February 14FOUND OBJECT: Hot PotatoPoems by: Violet Nesdoly, Jessica Bigi, Laura Shovan, Carol Varsalona, Heidi Mordhorst, Diane Mayr, Linda Baie, Jone Rush MacCulloch, Mary Lee Hahn, Donna Smith, Charles Waters.Note: You will find links to all of  the Week 1 and Week 2 poems at this post.Monday, February 15 at My Juicy Little UniverseFOUND OBJECT: Coffee MugPoems by: Jessica Bigi, Matt Forrest Esenwine, Catherine Flynn, Laura Shovan, Mary Lee Hahn, Heidi Mordhorst, Diane Mayr, Buffy Silverman, Carol Varsalona, Linda Baie, Donna Smith, Julieanne Harmatz, Jone Rush  MacCulloch, Charles Waters.Tuesday, February 16FOUND OBJECT: SculpturePoems by: Victoria Costa, Jessica Bigi, Laura Shovan, Carol Varsalona, Mary Lee Hahn, Donna Smith, Catherine Flynn, Diane Mayr, Linda Baie, Robyn Hood Black, Buffy Silverman, Jone Rush MacCulloch.Wednesday, February 17 at Mainely WriteFOUND OBJECT: Hot  Pink SandalPoems by: Diane Mayr, Jessica Bigi, Carol Varsalona, Linda Baie, Catherine Flynn, Mary Lee Hahn, Buffy Silverman, Donna Smith, Jone Rush MacCulloch, Laura Shovan, Heidi Mordhorst, Margaret Simon.