Day 3

Hello all, and welcome back for the third day of NaPoWriMo! If you’re just joining us now, that’s all right too. Just jump in and start writing!

Today’s featured link is to the Academy of American Poets’ tumblr, where they are posting writing advice from a different poet for each day in April. I very much like Elizabeth Robinson’s advice for April 2, in which she encourages poets to start their own magazines, etc. It’s sometimes better to host a party than to sit around waiting for someone else to invite you to one!

Our featured participant’s blog for the day is Seditious Libel, where the poem for Day 2 involves an unlikely emperor.

And now, our prompt (remember — these are optional, so if they don’t inspire you or you have an idea of your own you want to work with, go ahead!). I’m playing to my own strengths here, but I challenge you to write a sea shanty (or shantey, or chanty, or chantey — there’s a good deal of disagreement regarding the spelling!). Anyway, these are poems in the forms of songs, strongly rhymed and rhythmic, that sailors might sing while hauling on ropes and performing other sea-going labors. Probably the two most famous sea shanties are What Shall We Do With A Drunken Sailor? and Blow the Man Down. And what should your poem be about? Well, I suppose it could be about anything, although some nautical phrases tossed into the chorus would be good for keeping the sea in your shanty. Haul away, boys, haul away!