post-match analysis

finally getting round to doing some graphs, because graphs are important.

here is a graph comparing my poem writing rate (in green) to my poems required rate (in pink)

and here is a wiggly line showing how my cumulative running totals compared to the pace i should have kept up

there were a few times the task didn't look achievable, but it's amazing what you can manage when you're prepared to compromise on quality.

i don't feel i wrote anything as good as the best things i wrote last year, but i reckon there were about the same number of quite good things, only a small-ish increase in pretty dreadful things and mostly a much larger swathe of mediocrity.

at the time of writing, the most viewed poem was 52 and the blog had been hit around 900 times.

thank you to anyone who read, especially those who said something nice about it



Stats - Day 30

poems written = 75

poems written per day = 2.5

poems remaining = 0

required poems per day = 0

75PoWriMo - LXXV

anticlimactic finale


    i've never felt less inspired  to write a poem
      i've never felt less desire  to write a poem
     i've never felt less on fire  to write a poem
but i've never been more required  to write a poem
   not even that time i was hired  to write a poem
            and even if i aspired  to write a poem
        i really am far too tired  to write a poem

75PoWriMo - LXXIV

sometimes i wish you weren't so hard to let go of


         there's still a part of my arms
                that continues to feel wrapped around you
      there's still a part of my nose
            where the smell of your hair lingers
   there's still a part of my chest
         warmed by the mist of your breath
there's still a part of my heart
      that will never leave your side

Stats - Day 29

poems written = 73

poems written per day = 2.5172

poems remaining = 2

required poems per day = 2

75PoWriMo - LXXIII

especially if they try to help


even worse than cleaning
up disgusting
things they did
the folding
of tiny washing
is the worst thing
about having a kid

75PoWriMo - LXXII

the girl


i have this little sister
            she is small and very funny

she was my childhood accomplice
   and scapegoat
      and stooge
         and companion
            and opponent
               and ally
                  and victim
                     and confidante
                        and assistant
                           and substitute
                              and buffer-zone
                                 and co-conspiritor
sometimes i think it must have been hard for her
you know, what with her being
the talented one
   and the popular one
      and the outgoing one
         and the sensible one
            and the mature one
               and the smart one
                  and the attractive one
                     and the useful one
                        and the friendly one
                           and the versatile one
                              and the driven one
                                 and the together one
                                    and the good one
                                       and the likeable one
and the one who makes the kind of choices
      that aren't constantly being called into question
my life wouldn't have been the same
      without her in it
            and probably worse
                  probably

                   

75PoWriMo - LXXI

you think it's funny? well you're drowning in it too



everybody hurry
down to the shore
there's a whole ocean of slurry
with breakers of gore
before the fetid swell
so we'll dive right in
you'll get used to the smell
as we're going for a swim
and you'll get used to the burning
sensation on your skin
the corrosive murk is churning
as it dissolves you in
and soon you will become it
as you melt like gruyere cheese
and once everyone has done it
we'll form the stinking seas

Stats - Day 28

poems written = 70

poems written per day = 2.5

poems remaining = 5

required poems per day = 2.5

75PoWriMo - LXX

head:gear


that
is a beautiful hat
i mean, sure
it makes your head look much more
mushroom-like than it did before
and somehow makes your
face
look strangely out of place
but that
really is a nice hat

75PoWriMo - LXIX

on etienne cabet's equation


both
have failed
when imposed
upon people
from above
and could
only ever
work
when grown
from within

75PoWriMo - LXVIII

lacking


rationing
my passion
maybe if i could sleep
long and deep
i wouldn't be too tired
to be fired
up

Stats - Day 27

poems written = 67

poems written per day = 2.4815

poems remaining = 8

required poems per day = 2.6667

Stats - Day 26

poems written = 67

poems written per day = 2.5769

poems remaining = 8

required poems per day = 2

75PoWriMo - LXVII

take


as i take
a step back into real life
i will take
care not to forget that
things i take
for granted in this bubble
i must take
with me into the world
no mistake

75PoWriMo - LXVI

i am well aware i looked like a twonk


i don't think
i'm ever going
to admit
to most people
i even did that
let alone
how much i enjoyed it
i doubt
i'll even admit it
to myself

75PoWriMo - LXV

running into old friends


how do you precis
your life to someone you may see
once or twice a year
but whom you know genuinely cares?
do you speak of grand sweeps
the many blessings that keep
descending
or of any of the unending
parade of tedious minutiae
the things that stress and test and try?
i feel 1 thousand things a day
so how should i know what to say
the millions i've tried to forget
since we last met

Stats - Day 25

poems written = 64

poems written per day = 2.56

poems remaining = 11

required poems per day = 2.2

75PoWriMo - LXIV

displacement displacement



i sat down
to write a poem
to distract me
from all the things
i didn't want
to have to do
but the draws
of assorted
glowing screens
ate my mind
ate my time
all
i scrawled
was this

75PoWriMo - LXIII

words fail me



i'm starting to hate
poetry by sixty-three;
words are failing me