Hello, world citizens! GloBoHoMo 2023 is finally here, and we hope you are feeling lyrical and ready to speak words into poetic action.

Our featured poet today is Femi Abubakar whose stunning sub-Saharan verse has been curated by First Nations poet Harrison Tsinakut-O’odla for online journal Crowflake Dancer.

Founded in 2011, Crowflake Dancer publishes quarterly e-chapbooks, reaching over 17 readers, twelve of whom chair MFA Creative Writing programs. I would also like to point out Winifred Bong-Herschowitz’ poem “Menses Room” which I found tragically relevant, and Julio MacDougal’s poem “Woke As Mansplained By Those Who Never Picked Cotton,” which is a whimsical jab at privilege, power and poverty of alliteration.

And now, our prompt, from a bin of late-70s prompts I found behind a Goodwill parking lot. It is based on the idea that poetry is the random and meaningless juxtaposition of drivel.

The form itself is loosely based on the charming medieval Portuguese Trintanéscia. (Trinta means “thirty” in Portuguese). Here’s how you do it:

1. Find a text and (gently, lovingly) rip 6 pages out.

2. With scissors, cut out 6 nouns, 6 adjectives, 6 verbs and 6 prepositions as individual words.

3. Write down 6 of your favorite foods on 6 small individual pieces of paper.
   (could also be favorite poets, diseases, light armaments—
   let it reflect your own singular and quirky weirdness)

4. Place all 30 words in a paper bag and shake it up.

5. Empty bag on floor and find ways to combine them into six poems supplying filler and transitions.

6. End result should be 6 barely-readable incoherent stanzas.

7. Give your Trintanéscia a title containing 30 letters

Got scissors? Let’s go!
Or, as they say in Portuguese, imprestável !

PROMPT #4

write a poem in the form of a poetry prompt