Huffington Post Reviews The Daily Poet: Fuck Yeah!!!

There I was ... doing a little research on Saint Francis of Assisi, working on a poem about toxic outgassing of ordinary household furniture, when the text came in:

We r on the huff post for the daily poet. Fuck yeah!!!

It was Kelli, of course.

My response was simple.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhh. 

(So much for on-screen eloquence.)

But okay, what if they canned it? What if the reviewer went all snarky and wiseass about the prompts we worked so hard on these past five years, all those drives up and down I-5, all those ferry trips?

I clicked. I read. And no, they didn't can it.

Instead, reviewer Jeb Harrison makes the case that "in today's screen culture where the written word ... has become the prevalent mode of communication, people are starting to realize that those that can write well are more likely to be heard. Not just folks that make their living by the pen, but ostensibly everybody that communicates via the screen; smartphone, tablet, laptop, desktop, or smart TV--it makes no difference, we're all writers now."

Yep, we're all writers. And by that line of reasoning, "we need professional tools; we need 'prompts' to loosen up the gray matter. We need The Daily Poet by Kelli Russell Agodon and Martha Silano."

Did he really say that? Did he really suggest our book could be used to help people at a loss for words on a first, second, or third date? During uncomfy moments at the dinner table?

He DID.

He suggested we should turn to our tablemates and ask:

What do you hate? I'm not particularly fond of guavas ...

(which happens to be the prompt for June 29, the Hate Prompt!)

Here's the full text:  Writing Prompts, Conversation Starts, and Good Screen Livin.'

And, just in case you want to try it:

June 29

Hate

What do you hate? I'm not particularly fond of guavas, synthetic fabrics, or costume jewelry. Fashion a poem from your list of things you'd rather not eat, drink, wear, hear, or see. For more inspiration, do a quick Internet search to find Charles Simic's poem "Our Salvation" to get your invective juices flowing.