Lucky Thirteen
On April 13, 2014
Happy thirteenth day of NaPoWriMo, everyone!
Our featured magazine for the day is Rattle, which has published poems by NaPoWriMo-er Catherine Esposito Prescott. Rattle is open for poetry submissions all year long.
Today’s featured participant is Cartography. The poem for Day 9 (about an interview) made me laugh!
Our optional prompt for today is to write a poem that contains at least one kenning. Kennings were metaphorical phrases developed in Nordic sagas. At their simplest, they generally consist of two nouns joined together, which imaginatively describe or name a third thing. The phrase “whale road,” for example, could be used instead of “sea” or “ocean,” and “sky candle” could be used for “sun.” The kennings used in Nordic sagas eventually got so complex that you basically needed a decoder-ring to figure them out. And Vikings being Vikings, there tended to be an awful lot of kennings for swords, warriors, ships, and gold. But at their best, they are suprising and evocative. I hope you have fun trying to invent your own. Happy writing!
