On January 21st of this year, Rocket Lab (on their debut launch) orbited several satellites, including a secret payload. This (no longer secret) object is named the Humanity Star - and it has the potential to be one of the brightest objects in the night sky (as noted here).
My usual reaction whenever I see science and art brought together is glee. I am a scientist and an artist, and I love both. But I don't feel gleeful about this particular piece.
As both an astronomer and an education/communications specialist, I have some strong feelings about this object now orbiting our planet - especially because of the way it was launched. A secret launch means no important conversations take place about the object, how it will be perceived, and its eventual consequences. I'm going to repeat that, because this is the whole point of my post: critical conversations with all stakeholders must take place as space exploration moves forward. And if what you are doing can affect the whole planet, then the world becomes your stakeholder.
In the Quartz article on the Humanity Star, Peter Beck, the CEO of Rocket Lab is quoted as saying, "For us to thrive and
survive, we need to make big decisions in the context of humanity as a
whole, not in the context of individuals, organizations or even nations.
…We must come together as a species to solve the really big issues like
climate change and resource shortages.”
These sentiments are certainly fine things, and I completely agree. But the Humanity Star may not inspire this kind of thinking. Will a person in another space-faring country, say India or China, look up, and upon seeing a new, bright satellite, think about our communal responsibilities for climate change? Will they imagine themselves as part of a global community? Will they be angry for an overbearing demonstration of technology? Will they be afraid at what we might do next? Will they be appalled at our lack of respect for the sacred night sky? Well, we don't know. We don't know because those conversations did not happen in advance of launch.
What about other kinds of stakeholders, say like space scientists? Well, that conversation didn't take place before launch either, since astronomers are expressing displeasure. Some people are describing it as "litter" or even "vandalism." This article in mashable.com gives some details about the feeling of astronomers, and how Rocket Lab appears to be scrambling to put minds at ease. This reaction might have been completely avoidable had the conversation with this group of people happened as it should have.
I am astonished at the last few sentences of the Quartz article on the Humanity Star, which unintentionally serve to underscore my point. The article states: "The first artificial satellite, Sputnik, was a mission with a similar
effect: Its radio broadcast was designed to say “I’m here!” to the
world, as well as provide data to scientists on the ground. It turned
out to be a harbinger of a space race that created most of the space
infrastructure we have now. Is the Humanity Star a herald a new age of
commercial space flight and ambition?"
This is an eye-popping interpretation of the intention and result of the orbit of Sputnik. The satellite was launched at the height of the cold war, and it engendered anxiety, fear, and apprehension in half of the world. It indeed began the space race - but this was not a time of good-natured exploration. It was a time of governments flexing their muscles and each attempting to demonstrate ideological superiority through technological advancement and achievement. Our space infrastructure came at this high cost. Will the Humanity Star have this kind of legacy? We don't know, because again, no one was asked how they might feel to have this object over their heads.
Successful programs in space science education, communications, and outreach all have formal evaluation as part of their structure. Such evaluation allows a program, especially in the crucial beginning phases, to react and respond to input from stakeholders. The eventual program may look very, very different from the initial concepts because you found out things from your stakeholders that never occurred to you. (For example, when Gene Shoemaker's ashes were sent to the Moon, the Navajo expressed displeasure, and NASA formally apologized. Such a disconnect is avoidable if channels of communication are open.) Why didn't the Humanity Star have an engaged, international evaluation program that allowed it to learn what would indeed inspire global unity? Why didn't it build a positive audience ahead of time? With the goals as stated by the CEO, such evaluation was essential to success. Evaluation didn't happen. Why?
A few more things of note. The Humanity Star will burn up in our atmosphere within the year, so this situation is temporary. Yet the artist is planning to launch yet another, larger piece of space art. There is no indication that critical conversations have happened around this piece.
As we move forward with space exploration, we need to be as inclusive as possible, or the voices of most of the planet will not go forward with us into space. We need to have the tough conversations before each endeavor. If we do this right, we will indeed engender unity. As we have these conversations, we will discover our global vision for space exploration. It will be something amazing, a vision we cannot even conceive without the input of all kinds of people. So let's take the responsibility to seek out and have the conversations now.
J.A. Grier
Showing posts with label Poetry and Art. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Poetry and Art. Show all posts
Thursday, January 25, 2018
Tuesday, October 10, 2017
HallowRead - Skeleton Key Swag!
HallowRead is coming up fast! As you may recall from last year, this is the mini-con in Ellicott City, Maryland (October 20-21) celebrating all things horrorly and writerly. I'll be presenting a horror poetry workshop on Friday the 20th and and doing some spooky reading Saturday. Check out the events here!
One of the great perks you'll get for your attendance is a bag of swag from all sorts of writers. Last year my bag contained a book chapter, a pair of earrings, candy, promotions, coupons, and lots of ideas for where to find new reading by local writers.
I loved looking through my swag bag so much last year, I decided this year I'd contribute to it! As a beaded jewelry maker already, I thought I'd use those skills - and then came up with a great idea for a Skeleton Key. It's a silver key that is also a bottle opener, paired with a nicely creepy skull charm. I decided I'd add a card explaining what it is all for, and that has the URL to my website. Of course given last year I thought I'd be making 50 at the most. I didn't realize that the numbers expected were bigger this year, and I'd need to make 150 of the things!
So off I went, figuring out what I wanted my swag to look like, and then purchasing stock. I had to find stock on Amazon as well as from beaded jewelry dealers. I also had to take a trip to the local Michaels to get a few items as well. Not to mention I needed to print out appropriate cards, which I had done online. I didn't want to just use my business card, I wanted something that also included a little explanation of the key - that it was for unlocking both creativity and bottles :)
I got all the stock together back in September, and designed a working case that I could carry all the stuff around in, and work on whenever I had a moment. The basic charm was what I put together first, and it included silver tone metal pins, beads, and spacers, a nicely glinting crystal red bead, and then the final carved white howlite skull. A skull charm made here or there added up, along with a few marathon runs of 20 or 30 at a time. Eventually I had a pile of glittering skullys!
At that point I had to put 150 skully charms on key rings, along with each skeleton key. This took awhile, and I was worried at one point because I ran into a few deformed keys. I thought I wouldn't have enough. Fortunately the vendor had included extra keys at the start, and so it came out to exactly the number I needed.The last step was getting the cards, punching holes in 150 of them, cutting string for 150 of them, and tying them to the 150 key rings. My hand was sore from the hole punch, but I did that all in one evening, and then immediately boxed them up.
And off they go today in the mail to eventually wind up in your swag bag. Hope you like them! See you at HallowRead!
Image Credits: HallowRead from Hallowread, and all others are my pix!
Sunday, April 30, 2017
NaPoWriMo 2017 - Prompt #30 - Endings
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| The trail ends 1500 feet above the canyon floor of Zion National Park. Not for the afraid-of-heights. What is the reward when the climb ends? |
Fittingly, today our theme is "Endings." Of course in fairy tales there is always the story that ends with "happily ever after" - which of course is not an ending at all.
Providence by Catherine Barnett
The jaywalkers
walked slowly, a cigarette warmed
someone’s hand.
Some of the best sermons
don’t have endings, he said
while the tires rotated
unceasingly beneath us.
Expectations can be shifted with endings - birth as an ending to pregnancy, the first day of school as an ending to summer, and marriage as an ending to bachelorhood. "Leaving" can be leaving to end something, or to start something new. The same is true of graduation, divorce, and perhaps even death. Beginnings and endings have a complicated relationship.
Mountain Time by Kathryne Stripling Byer
While prophets discourse about endings,
don’t you think she’d tell us the world as we know it
keeps calling us back to beginnings?
This labor to make our words matter
is what any good quilter teaches.
Many words that can describe endings come to mind, like finality, closure, finishing, and conclusion. Endings may be satisfying or frustrating, planned or unexpected, and exciting or dull. But as with all endings, there is something or some experience that has stopped or is no longer happening. Assuming we really reach the ending ... and do not, like really almost all writers, just keep on rewriting ...
Lot's Wife by Dana Littlepage Smith
And so I chose this brine,
now crystals shift. The salt dissolves
and I want to speak.
Whore of all hopes, I now believe
some stories survive
in order to remake their endings.
Prompt #30: Choose some aspect of the concept of "endings" and write a poem. What memories do you have of endings? Are they happy, sad, bittersweet? Do endings always come with opportunities for new beginnings? Are there rewards at the end, or losses - something left behind? What changes have happened because something has ended? Are there lasting implications or impacts? Can the ending really be achieved? What holds us back from endings? Consider answers to these questions as you craft your poem.
Ok, the big extra challenge today is craft your poem in a classic form you have never used before (like a pantoum, villanelle, sestina, etc.)
Endings will be a good theme to follow for sci-fi, fantasy, and horror.
Did you use this or one of our other prompts? You can post your poem in our comments, if you like.
Happy Writing!
Prompts crafted by:
J.A. Grier, Senior Scientist and Education Specialist, Planetary Science Institute
Amy Grier, Managing Editor, Solstice Literary Magazine
Image Credits: Angels Landing CC 3.0 Wikimedia Commons
Saturday, April 29, 2017
NaPoWriMo 2017 - Prompt #29 - Life Elsewhere
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| Life elsewhere - our imaginations conceive of things both very alike and very different from life we know. |
The first thought one might have about another place for life is other planets. (Of course as a planetary scientist this is my first thought, anyway :) What would life look like if it were found on a very cold world, or in a world of dunes and dust, or a world where the surface is so hot it could melt lead? Would it resemble life as we know it (with a few modifications) or would it be completely unrecognizable?
[American Journal] by Robert Hayden
disguise myself in order to study them unobserved
adapting their varied pigmentations white black
red brown yellow the imprecise and strangering
distinctions by which they live by which they
justify their cruelties to one another
The White Fires of Venus by Denis Johnson
They know all about us on Andromeda,
they peek at us, they see us
in this world illumined and pasteled
phonily like a bus station,
But there are environments on Earth that are also "elsewhere" - places that are quite different from what we normally consider. What about the possibility of life inside of rocks, up in the clouds, deep inside of glaciers, or boiling away in natural hot springs? We have found life in these places. But don't limit yourself to the scientific facts, here. What about life inside of the Sun, for example?
Take the ideas and feel free to run with them in whatever direction your mind takes you. Elsewhere includes other dimensions, other planes of being, different realms, and even other universes.
Prompt #29: Choose some aspect of the concept of "life elsewhere" and write a poem. Would life in these places grow to be intelligent? Would it evolve the same way we do? How would society and culture come to pass? Would those concepts have any meaning? Would we be able to visit, even communicate? How? Consider answers to these questions as you craft your poem.
For something more specific, let the form of your poem in some way reflect the kind of life you have envisioned - ordered, simple, complex, free-form, wiggly, small, big or whatever.
This theme is a natural for expression in a sci-fi, horror, or fantasy context!
Did you use this or one of our other prompts? You can post your poem in our comments, if you like.
Happy Writing!
Prompts crafted by:
J.A. Grier, Senior Scientist and Education Specialist, Planetary Science Institute
Amy Grier, Managing Editor, Solstice Literary Magazine
Image Credits: Ethereal Wikimedia Commons CC 3.0
Friday, April 28, 2017
NaPoWriMo 2017 - Prompt #28 - Artificial
 |
| The Hoover Dam - a construct associated with both positive and negative impacts on people, nature, and civilization. |
- humanly contrived (artificial limb)
- caused or produced by a human and especially social or political agency (artificial price advantage)
- lacking in natural or spontaneous quality (artificial smile)
- imitation or sham (artificial flavor)
The implications for many of these definitions can be negative - like the artificial smile or a "sham." But other definitions bring to mind positive responses. Humans have contrived many critical advances like vaccines and built important constructs like weather satellites. And poets have long included the artificial in their examinations of life and living. Here are a few lines ...
Ruin and Beauty by Patricia Young
Through the open window we hear nothing--
no airplane, lawn mower, no siren
speeding its white pain through the city’s traffic.
There is no traffic. What remains is all that remains.
My Proteins by Jane Hirshfield
Yet I, they say, am they—
my bacteria and yeasts,
my father and mother,
grandparents, lovers,
my drivers talking on cell phones,
my subways and bridges,
my thieves, my police
who chase my self night and day.
Lake Havasu by Dorianne Laux
the TV on: seven dead
from Tylenol, the etched black wedge of the
Vietnam Memorial, the Commodore Computer
unveiled, the first artificial heart, just beginning
to wonder if something might be wrong.
Prompt #28: Choose some aspect of the concept of "artificial" and write a poem. Consider the feelings of wonder and awe that we often associate with the natural world, and apply them to our artificial world. Think about why we look at nature and see beauty, and use those same eyes on artificial constructs. Look at what it is that contributes to the "making" of artificial things - A bulldozer or crane? A glass beaker in a laboratory? A metal file in a machine shop? What are the implications of the human ability to invent, to create, and to manipulate and change the natural world? Consider these ideas as you craft your poem.
For something more specific, use a form like haiku that is often used to contemplate nature.
And naturally I'll be thinking of what I can do with this theme in a sci-fi, horror, or fantasy context.
Did you use this or one of our other prompts? You can post your poem in our comments, if you like.
Happy Writing!
Prompts crafted by:
J.A. Grier, Senior Scientist and Education Specialist, Planetary Science Institute
Amy Grier, Managing Editor, Solstice Literary Magazine
Image Credits: Hoover Dam Wikimedia Commons GNU Free Documentation License
Thursday, April 27, 2017
NaPoWriMo 2017 - Prompt #27 - Adulthood
 |
| Young women celebrating their 15th year - QuinceaƱeras A traditional entry into adulthood celebrated in many Latino cultures. |
Many cultures have gateways, rites, or celebrations to mark the entry of a person into adulthood. But each culture has its own ideas of what it means to be an adult. For some cultures, it is expected that people might do any of the following: marry, have children, get jobs, make important decisions, take full care of themselves, or take care of older relatives. Some people say they are "adulting" when they are fixing the dishwasher, making a dentist appointment, paying bills, commuting to work, and other tasks.
And here, of course, are a few lines about adulthood, and what it means to be an adult, as found in poetry:
Our Never by Benjamin S. Grossberg
Is the never of childhood, deeper
than the never of adolescence,
which has a whining, stammering
quality, which is a stamped foot
followed by huffing steps, and wholly
unlike the never of adulthood,
has none of the bright spider
cracks of reason multiplying
along its roof, threading its dark
dome with fine lines of light.
from Citizen, VI [My brothers are notorious] by Claudia Rankine
Then there are these days, each day of our adult lives. They will never forget our way through, these brothers, each brother, my brother, dear brother, my dearest brothers, dear heart—
Your hearts are broken. This is not a secret though there are secrets. And as yet I do not understand how my own sorrow has turned into my brothers’ hearts.
You Can’t Have It All by Barbara Ras
You can speak a foreign language, sometimes,
and it can mean something. You can visit the marker on the grave
where your father wept openly. You can’t bring back the dead,
but you can have the words forgive and forget hold hands
as if they meant to spend a lifetime together. And you can be grateful
for makeup, the way it kisses your face, half spice, half amnesia
Prompt #27: Choose some aspect of the concept of "adulthood" and write a poem. What are the characteristics of people who are acting as adults? What happens when people are treated as children even when they are adults? What happens to children forced to be adult-like? What are the responsibilities and requirements of adults? What are the implications for culture and society, as they define adulthood? Consider these ideas as you craft your poem.
For something more specific, write about a rite of passage that signifies adulthood.
And naturally I'll be thinking of what I can do with this theme in a sci-fi, horror, or fantasy context.
Did you use this or one of our other prompts? You can post your poem in our comments, if you like.
Happy Writing!
Prompts crafted by:
J.A. Grier, Senior Scientist and Education Specialist, Planetary Science Institute
Amy Grier, Managing Editor, Solstice Literary Magazine
Image Credits: The Garden Wikimedia Commons CC 2.0
Wednesday, April 26, 2017
NaPoWriMo 2017 - Prompt #26 - Coming Home
 |
| "Coming Home" Artwork depicting a lighthouse stretching into the distance to guide a lost sailing ship home. |
We All Return to the Place Where We Were Born by Oscar Gonzales
Then, crickets would forge in the wind
their deep music of centuries
and the purple fragrances of Grandmother
always would receive without questions
our return home.
Our House by Sophie Cabot Black
As we enter our home, the way we enter love
Returning from elsewhere to call out
Each other’s names, pulling the door closed behind us.
Where You Live by Jonathan Wells
Imagine you are coming home. Your front
steps are scattered with fresh petals or no
they are not there and you return in your
regular shoes from your regular leather chair.
The feeling is the same.
Prompt #26: Choose some aspect of the concept of "coming home" and write a poem. What or who awaits you there? What is different upon your return? How has home changed? How have you changed? What aspects of home are longed for, and which are undesired? What do you bring with you or what have you lost since your last visit? Coming home can also be something that occurs entirely in the mind - a coming home to ourselves. Consider these ideas as you craft your poem.
For something more specific, write your poem in a standard form, using both meter and rhyme.
And naturally I'll be thinking of what I can do with this theme in a sci-fi, horror, or fantasy context.
Did you use this or one of our other prompts? You can post your poem in our comments, if you like.
Happy Writing!
Prompts crafted by:
J.A. Grier, Senior Scientist and Education Specialist, Planetary Science Institute
Amy Grier, Managing Editor, Solstice Literary Magazine
Image Credits: Coming Home Wikimedia Commons CC 3.0
Tuesday, April 25, 2017
NoPoWriMo 2017 - Prompt #25 - Travel
 |
| Traveling in the ultimate vehicle - the Lunar Rover. Used by astronauts to traverse the surface of the Moon. |
Flying by Sarah Arvio
“In the face of technological fact,
even the most seasoned traveler feels
the baffled sense that nowhere else exists.”
Travel by Edna St. Vincent Millay
My heart is warm with the friends I make,
And better friends I’ll not be knowing;
Yet there isn’t a train I wouldn’t take,
No matter where it’s going.
The Burn by Naomi Shihab Nye
Such a swift lump rises in the throat when
a uniformed woman spits Throw it away!
and you tremble to comply wondering why
rules of one airport don’t match another’s,
used to carrying two Ziploc bags not just one
but your pause causes a uniformed man to approach
barking, Is there something you don’t understand?
and you stare at him thinking
So many things
Travel brings to mind so many experiences and images. Travel can be as simple as stepping a few paces down the road, or as complicated as a rocket launching to the Moon. Modes of travel include using feet, bicycles, buses, motor boats, rickshaws, carriages, horses, balloons, motorcycles, planes, wheelchairs, elephants, trucks, trains, camels, race cars, canoes, and much more. The experience may be brief or long, exciting or dull, and well-trod or unknown. It may have a goal or purpose, or may be done simply for the act of the travel itself. There may be one destination, many, or none. It can be done solo or with many people, and be done in haste or well thought out.
Prompt #25: Choose some aspect of travel and write a poem about it. Consider the reasons why one might choose or need to travel, and the modes of transportation one might use. Think about what might be seen on a trip. Consider what it is like to deal with new experiences, like new languages, food, accommodations, manners, and more. Both positive and negative feelings may be associated with any aspect of travel - why were these associations made? Consider these questions as you craft your poem.
For something more specific, use a memento from a past trip, a photo you took, or a particularly clear memory, as the inspiration for your poem.
I think I'll have an easy time working this prompt into one of my themes of sci-fi, horror, or fantasy. Maybe a good, old fashioned broomstick ride :)
Happy Writing!
Prompts crafted by:
J.A. Grier, Senior Scientist and Education Specialist, Planetary Science Institute
Amy Grier, Managing Editor, Solstice Literary Magazine
Image Credits: Lunar Rover, NASA
Monday, April 24, 2017
NaPoWriMo 2017 - Prompt #24 - Music
Many people have strong associations with music, as some do with particular smells. Here are a few lines from Katrina Vandenberg's poem, Record:
I regret giving up
your two boxes of vinyl,
which I loved. Surely
they were too awkward,
too easily broken
for people who loved music
the way we did. But tonight
I’m in the mood for ghosts,
Music is made by people across all cultures and has been made down through all of recorded history (and no doubt a lot longer than that.) The variety is limitless. Some music is made with instruments, and these can be created from material on hand like wood, or manufactured material like metal. The human body is also an instrument, used for percussion sounds and also of course for singing. Music can be composed ahead of time and preserved for generations, or it can be spontaneous, lasting just for that moment. It can be performed solo or in groups. Some music has strict rules, rhythm, and tune, while other music is more free form. In many societies, the ability to perform music is a valued skill. And of course some music never seems to get out of your head (ear-worm). Music can make a strong cultural and generational statement.
Prompt #24: Choose some aspect of the concept of music and write a poem. What forms of music do you enjoy? What instrument do you wish you could play? What are your memories of music from major life events such as weddings? What place does music have in your life? What about the concepts of dissonance or being out of tune? What are the implications for someone who does not hear music, or does not enjoy music? In what ways is music viewed positively or negatively? Consider these questions as you craft your poem.
For something more specific, write a poem that is inspired by the lyrics of a song, or a particular piece of instrumental music.
My mind is already bubbling with ideas to explore this theme in sci-fi, horror, or fantasy!
Did you use this or one of our other prompts? You can post your poem in our comments, if you like.
Happy Writing!
Prompts crafted by:
J.A. Grier, Senior Scientist and Education Specialist, Planetary Science Institute
Amy Grier, Managing Editor, Solstice Literary Magazine
Image Credits: Cello Player Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain
Sunday, April 23, 2017
NaPoWriMo 2017 - Prompt #23 - Silence
 |
| Poster encouraging people to refrain from talking about war specifics. Silence here is equated with security. |
The silence of the falling vase
before it strikes the ļ¬oor,
the silence of the belt when it is not striking the child. Prompt #22: Write a poem that includes some aspect of the concept of silence. Consider how it is that people "confront" or "deal" with silence. Think about silence as signs of both power and of weakness. In what cases is complete silence an achievable ideal? What are the implications of "being silenced" or as a child, not permitted to make noise?
 |
| Image from the Women's March 2017. Personal sign equating silence with violence. |
As usual, I'll be exploring this topic through sci-fi, horror, or fantasy.
Did you use this or one of our other prompts? You can post your poem in our comments, if you like.
Happy Writing!
Prompts crafted by:
J.A. Grier, Senior Scientist and Education Specialist, Planetary Science Institute
Amy Grier, Managing Editor, Solstice Literary Magazine
Image Credits: Women's March, Wikimedia Commons, CC 2.0; WAAC Securiity, Wikimedia Commons, National Archives Cooperation Project
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Saturday, April 22, 2017
NaPoWriMo 2017 - Prompt #22 - The Sun-Earth Connection
 |
| View of the sunrise from the International Space Station. |
In the early 1600's, Galileo found himself at odds with the Roman Catholic church when he said his telescopic observations (like the phases of Venus) were inconsistent with the Earth being at the center of the solar system. This was critical evidence for the change from the paradigm of the Ptolemaic system (with the Earth at the center of the solar system) to the Copernican system (which is centered on the Sun.)
The energy from the Sun drives many cycles on our Earth, such as the water cycle. So you can blame the Sun-Earth connection for rainy days, as well as other weather phenomena such as storms, hurricanes, and tornadoes. Without the charged particles streaming off of the Sun, which subsequently hit our Earth's magnetic field, there would be no aurora. The geometry of the Earth, Moon, and Sun are also responsible for solar and lunar eclipses. And of course life as we know it requires what the Earth has to offer, such as liquid water, as well as the abundant energy of the Sun.
Here is an excerpt from the poem "Ah! Sun-flower" by William Blake
Ah Sun-flower! weary of time,
Who countest the steps of the Sun:
Seeking after that sweet golden clime
Where the travellers journey is done.
Prompt #22: Choose some aspect of the Sun-Earth connection and write a poem. Consider which of the societal, cultural, historic, or spiritual, or scientific aspects of the Sun-Earth connection resonate with you. What if the Earth had been paired with a much different star? What would happen if there was too much sunlight? What if the Sun became dim or disappeared? Consider topics as varied as: using solar power, getting skin cancer from overexposure to the sun, the worship of Sun deities, the the fear of the nighttime absence of the Sun, telling time with a sundial, and the eventual fate of the Sun and the Earth.
For something more specific, try writing about the Sun-Earth connection without mentioning the name of Sun or Earth directly.
As usual, I'll be exploring this topic through sci-fi, horror, or fantasy.
Did you use this or one of our other prompts? You can post your poem in our comments, if you like.
Happy Writing!
Prompts crafted by:
J.A. Grier, Senior Scientist and Education Specialist, Planetary Science Institute
Amy Grier, Managing Editor, Solstice Literary Magazine
Image Credits: Sunrise. ISS. NASA.
Friday, April 21, 2017
NaPoWriMo 2017 - Prompt #21 - Dystopia Utopia
 |
| Some believe King Arthur will return and once again bring about the mythical utopia that was Camelot. |
Imagining strict utopias or dystopias means delving into all of the implications for people, families, food production and consumption, music, child-rearing, transportation, employment, and more. What do cities look like in these cases, or do they even exist? How about countries, continents, or the entire Earth - what do these things look like in a utopian or dystopian world? How do things function, or has all function broken down?
Prompt #21: Choose the concept of dystopia or utopia and write a poem. Consider what caused this state. What brought about the utopia or dystopia? What are the features of this place? In either case, is it possible for people to find happiness there? How are these states maintained over time? What pressures exist to change them, and how could they be made to break down? Consider some of these ideas in your poem.
For something more specific, try to match the form of your poem to the theme. If you are writing abut a rigid society, choose a strong meter and rhyme scheme. If you are discussing an Eden-like Earth, choose a form that flows more freely.
Dystopias and utopias are both common themes to explore in sci-fi, horror, and fantasy, so I have it easy today.
Did you use this or one of our other prompts? You can post your poem in our comments, if you like.
Happy Writing!
Prompts crafted by:
J.A. Grier, Senior Scientist and Education Specialist, Planetary Science Institute
Amy Grier, Managing Editor, Solstice Literary Magazine
Image Credits:Marriage of King Aurthur Wikimedia Commons Public Domain
Thursday, April 20, 2017
NaPoWriMo 2017 - Prompt #20 - Money
More Money than God by Richard Michelson
But still he checked each lottery ticket which littered
the empty lot next door, praised their silver latex glitter,
praying to the beautiful unscratched, like little gods.
Money by Howard Nemerov
The nickel: one side shows a hunchbacked bison
Bending his head and curling his tail to accommodate
The circular nature of money. Over him arches
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, and, squinched in
Between that and his rump, E PLURIBUS UNUM,
A Roman reminiscence that appears to mean
An indeterminately large number of things
Prompt #20: Write a poem about money. Does it represent safety and comfort, or does it seem there is never enough? What about the imagery of debt - being in the red or the black? How about different economic models such as capitalism? It also has implications for what you then purchase with that money. What ideas about money seem to resonate with you? Include those in your poem.
For something specific, use some words in your poem that you find on actual forms of money - bills, cheques, coins, or credit cards.
Money in a sci-fi, horror, or fantasy aspect will be very interesting to explore!
Did you use this or one of our other prompts? You can post your poem in our comments, if you like.
Happy Writing!
Prompts crafted by:
J.A. Grier, Senior Scientist and Education Specialist, Planetary Science Institute
Amy Grier, Managing Editor, Solstice Literary Magazine
Image Credits: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:USCurrency_Federal_Reserve.jpg Money, Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons
Wednesday, April 19, 2017
NaPoWriMo 2017 - Prompt #19 - Body
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| The face - a part of the body that garners much attention. |
Poets have long celebrated and castigated the body in verse. A classic example is Walt Whitman's poem The Body Electric:
"To be surrounded by beautiful, curious, breathing, laughing flesh is enough,
To pass among them or touch any one, or rest my arm ever so lightly round
his or her neck for a moment, what is this then?
I do not ask any more delight, I swim in it as in a sea.
There is something in staying close to men and women and looking on them,
and in the contact and odor of them, that pleases the soul well,"
Also then there is Lucille Clifton's poem Homage to my Hips:
"these hips have never been enslaved,
they go where they want to go
they do what they want to do.
these hips are mighty hips."
Prompt #19: Write a poem that features some aspect of the body. Think about the senses, illness versus wellness, what the body can do and how it enables or inhibits how we interact with the world. Imagine bodily experiences that create a strong impression, such as childbirth, running a marathon, injury in a car accident, a heart transplant, or the first dance at a wedding. Also imagine experiences such as dissociation that take us away from our body. What does it mean to "live in the body" or to be "grounded in the body?" Think of the general concepts we have surrounding the body such as nudity, shame or pride, body shapes and sizes, how body relates to concepts of beauty, etc. Consider these questions as you craft your poem.
For something more specific, use a standard form to write this poem that includes both meter and rhyme.
As always I will be considering the body as my theme while looking at sci-fi-, fantasy, or horror poetry.
Did you use this or one of our other prompts? You can post your poem in our comments, if you like.
Happy Writing!
Prompts crafted by:
J.A. Grier, Senior Scientist and Education Specialist, Planetary Science Institute
Amy Grier, Managing Editor, Solstice Literary Magazine
Image Credits: Venus of Arles CC 2.5 Wikimedia Commons
Tuesday, April 18, 2017
NaPoWriMo 2017 - Prompt #18 - Games
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| The game of Go. More than 2,500 years old. |
Games may include items that are manipulated, like balls, pieces, or dice - or they can be played entirely without props of any kind, like a game of "twenty questions" or chase games like "it." There are usually some kind of rules to the game, and often a strategy or approach that is expected to yield a good result. Some games have an aspect of luck or chance, while others do not. Some require physical ability while others emphasize knowledge or other skills.
Prompt #18: Write a poem that includes a game. This can be a formal game, like a board game or game of skill, or it can be something more subtle, like a power play between people. What about this game interests you - the rules, the structure, the interplay, or the outcome? How does the game play out in your poem? Does there have to be a winner or loser? Is someone cheating or breaking the rules? Consider these questions as your craft your poem.
For something more specific, write your poem from the point of view of someone watching the game from the outside, not one of the 'players' (however you choose to define that). Then shift the point of view to be from one of the players' perspectives.
Games will be a good prompt for something sci-fi, horror, or fantasy, which makes things easy on me for this poem :)
Did you use this or one of our other prompts? You can post your poem in our comments, if you like.
Happy Writing!
Prompts crafted by:
J.A. Grier, Senior Scientist and Education Specialist, Planetary Science Institute
Amy Grier, Managing Editor, Solstice Literary Magazine
Image Credits: Go Game. Wikimedia Commons, CC 2.0
Monday, April 17, 2017
NaPoWriMo 2017 - Prompt #17 - Choices
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| Actual paths diverging in an actual wood. With an actual copy of Frost's poem posted there. |
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
A search for choices in poetry reveals many gems ... here are a couple of stanzas.
Choices by Tess Gallagher
saw in hand, I see a nest clutched in
the uppermost branches.
I don’t cut that one.
I don’t cut the others either.
Choice by Emily Dickinson
When figures show their royal front
And mists are carved away, --
Behold the atom I preferred
To all the lists of clay!
Prompt #17: Write a poem that includes an important choice. Is this a choice that defines a future fate? Does this choice influence relationships with people, animals, or the Earth? Or perhaps it is a choice that elucidates or reinforces some aspect of character? Consider these questions as you craft your poem.
For something more specific, make your poem very short. Choose each word with great care, thinking not just about the words you are choosing, but the ones that are not being chosen, as well.
As as always I'll be using the prompt somehow in a sci-fi, horror, or fantasy context.
Did you use this or one of our other prompts? You can post your poem in our comments, if you like.
Happy Writing!
Prompts crafted by:
J.A. Grier, Senior Scientist and Education Specialist, Planetary Science Institute
Amy Grier, Managing Editor, Solstice Literary Magazine
Image Credits: Woodland paths Wikimedia Commons CC2.0 Tony Atkin
Sunday, April 16, 2017
NaPoWriMo 2017 - Prompt #16 - Supernatural
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| The Raven - Good or bad omen? |
Themes such as these are common in classic poetry, such as represented in this last stanza from "The Raven" By Poe:
And the Raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting
On the pallid bust of Pallas just above my chamber door;
And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon’s that is dreaming,
And the lamp-light o’er him streaming throws his shadow on the floor;
And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor
Shall be lifted—nevermore!
Prompt #16: Write a supernatural poem. What elements will you include that are beyond the usual conception of the natural world? Will your poem be uplifting, dark, or will it strike a balance? How does the use of a supernatural element in the poem free your creativity, and on the other hand, how does it limit you? In what ways does using supernatural elements change how you approach writing a poem? Consider these questions as you craft your poem.
For something more specific, shape the bones of your poem to reinforce the theme. Do something unexpected with the line lengths or spacing.
Supernatural is of course a perfect prompt for sci-fi, fantasy and horror - lots of options.
Did you use this or one of our other prompts? You can post your poem in our comments, if you like.
Happy Writing!
Prompts crafted by:
J.A. Grier, Senior Scientist and Education Specialist, Planetary Science Institute
Amy Grier, Managing Editor, Solstice Literary Magazine
Image Credits: female raven, GNU Free Documentation, CC 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
Saturday, April 15, 2017
NaPoWriMo 2017 - Prompt #15 - To Make Human
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| The Easter Bunny is an anthropomorphized rabbit. |
Oh my God, what am I
That these late mouths should cry open
In a forest of frosts, in a dawn of cornflowers
The poppies now possess mouths that can cry like human mouths. It emphasizes the speaker's feelings, their astonishment at being in just this place, at just this time, to witness this spectacle.
So what's the difference between "personification" and "anthropomorphism?" Everyone seems to have their own answer for this, as the two terms are so closely related. The Merriam Webster Dictionary says this about personify: "to conceive of or represent as a person or as having human qualities or power" or "to be the embodiment or personification of : i.e. a teacher who personified patience." Anthropomorphism is defined as "to attribute human form or personality to things not human." A lot of Disney sidekicks are animals that have been completely anthropomorphized such as Jiminy Cricket from Pinocchio or Sebastian the crab from The Little Mermaid.
Prompt #15: Write a poem in which an object, deity, animal, or other inhuman object is given human traits, or acts as a human being. How has it become the embodiment of human characteristics? What is this object thinking, doing, and feeling? How does this personification or anthropomorphism work in your poem? Consider these questions as you craft your poem.
For something more specific, try following a rhyme scheme in your poem.
There are so many options for "to make human" in fantasy, horror, or sci-fi i hardly know where to start ...
Did you use this or one of our other prompts? You can post your poem in our comments, if you like.
Happy Writing!
Prompts crafted by:
J.A. Grier, Senior Scientist and Education Specialist, Planetary Science Institute
Amy Grier, Managing Editor, Solstice Literary Magazine
Image Credits: Easter Bunny Postcard 1907 Wikimedia Commons. Public Domain
Friday, April 14, 2017
NaPoWriMo 2017 - Prompt #14 - Nature Haiku
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| Japanese pond in a garden - with lily pads and frog. |
"Haiku began in thirteenth-century Japan as the opening phrase of a renga, a form of spoken poem, generally 100 stanzas long, which was also composed syllabically. The much shorter haiku broke away from renga in the sixteenth-century, and was mastered a century later by the poet Matsuo Basho, who wrote this classic example:"
An old pond!Basho executed the form with subtle perfection, including moments of reflection, joy, and even humor:
A frog jumps in—
the sound of water.
now then, let's go out
to enjoy the snow... until
I slip and fall!
The traditional form is generally viewed as three lines with five, seven, and then five syllables each. Although breaking the form is common in modern poetry. There are many other aspects to a haiku, not just the length and form. For example, a "haiku traditionally contains a kigo, a word or phrase that symbolizes or implies the season of the poem." The specific words in Japanese were proscribed, and each pointed to a specific season. Frogs, cherry blossoms, and swallows signify spring. Summer is indicated by words such as the lotus flower, cicada, and the rainy season. Autumn is denoted with the full Moon, crickets, and colored leaves. Finally, the cold, fallen leaves, snow, and winter holidays all indicate the winter season.
Prompt #14: Write a nature haiku based on a natural scene either before you, in your memory, or in a picture. Include as many aspects of a traditional haiku as you can - the syllable count, a word or phrase for the season, and a 'surprise' moment for the end. As you ponder your scene, consider what will evoke it in the shortest number of words. What is the 'ah-ha' moment that comes to you, the twist or surprise that will make a reader nod or gasp, reading your poem?
For something more specific, write four haiku about your scene. Each should reflect the view in a different season.
As usual, I'm pondering nature haiku from a sci-fi, horror, or fantasy point of view. I think this one will end up as another werewolf poem, but what can you do?
Did you use this or one of our other prompts? You can post your poem in our comments, if you like.
Happy Writing!
Prompts crafted by:
J.A. Grier, Senior Scientist and Education Specialist, Planetary Science Institute
Amy Grier, Managing Editor, Solstice Literary Magazine
Image Credits: Japanese Garden CC 3.0 Wikimedia Commons
Thursday, April 13, 2017
NaPoWriMo 2017 - Prompt #13 - Inspired by Nature
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| Akaka Falls State Park in Hawaii. Our parks have a long, complicated history between humans and nature. |
Prompt #13: Write a poem inspired by nature. You can use memory of a place you have been, or a photo of a place you would like to visit, to inspire you. Find unique ways into the scene or the natural experience using all of your senses, what you see, hear, feel, smell, and even taste. Consider the relationship between humanity and nature that you encounter in the scene. Craft your poem using as many concrete images as you can.
For something more specific, consider how your natural scene changes or will change with time and the seasons, and include those changes in the poem.
Today I might focus on the science end of sci-fi by using the universe as my natural scene. But if that fails, as always there is a fantasy or horror element in there somewhere to explore :)
Did you use this or one of our other prompts? You can post your poem in our comments, if you like.
Happy Writing!
Prompts crafted by:
J.A. Grier, Senior Scientist and Education Specialist, Planetary Science Institute
Amy Grier, Managing Editor, Solstice Literary Magazine
Image Credits: My pic of Akaka Falls.
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