Day Thirteen

Happy thirteenth day of NaPoWriMo, everyone!

Our featured participant today is Room for Rafflesia, where the index poem for Day Twelve took its inspiration from an algebra textbook! I know some of the prompts have been a little wacky, but I’ve been very gratified to see how much fun participants have had with them — and this one was no exception.

Today’s poet in translation is Alexis Stamatis of Greece. Stamatis is a prolific poet, playwright, and novelist. While a few of his novels have been translated into English, very little of his poetry has been. But you can find two of his poems, translated into English here, and a third poem, along with a short story, here.

And now for today’s (optional) prompt! The number 13 is often considered unlucky, so today I’d like to challenge you to beat the bad luck away with a poem inspired by fortune cookies. You could write a poem made up entirely of statements that predict the future (“You will meet a handsome stranger”), aphoristic statements (“The secret to getting ahead is getting started)” or just silly questions (“How much deeper would the ocean be without sponges?”) Or you could use a phrase you’ve actually received in a real fortune cookie as a title or first line. However you proceed, I hope you will feel fortunate in the results (do you get it? Do you get it? Rimshot, please). Happy writing!