N is for nyctalopia and nympholepsy – Poem: Catch and Release

Crater Lake July 4th 2015
The hummingbird moth drinking after dark. photo by Maria L. Berg.

Today’s new word:

nyctalopia n. night blindness.

nympholepsy n. 1. an ecstasy supposed by the ancients to be inspired by nymphs. 2. a frenzy of emotion, as for something unattainable.

National Poetry Writing Month prompt:

Write a poem that uses the form of a list to defamiliarize the mundane.

Writer’s Digest April PAD (poem a day) challenge:

It’s two for Tuesday

  1. Write a catch poem. Catch a cold, a ball, a fish, or someone’s eye.
  2. Write a release poem. Release your anger, a ball, a fish, or someone’s head (from a head lock while wrestling, of course).

My poem

Catch and Release

Catch a nympholepsy for the mundane
the light switch, the space heater, the ceiling fan

Release disinterest, boredom and shame

Catch a glimpse of the unknown
in the spiders’ webs that cling to the walls

Release dust while opening and retying the curtains

Catch my breath when I discover the long lost piece
of something I threw out long ago

Release carbon dioxide and stress with each breath

Catch nyctalopia while remembering the times spent
enjoying it before I lost that piece

Release regret, expectation and need

Catch fire with a new idea
Collect the mundane, your mundane
and turn it to gold

Release preconceived notions, cultural norms, and beauty ideals

Reading

Today’s poetry book for inspiration is Hourglass Museum by Kelli Russell Agodon.

Happy Reading and Writing!

Published by marialberg

I am an artist—abstract photographer, fiction writer, and poet—who loves to learn. Experience Writing is where I share my adventures and experiments. Time is precious, and I appreciate that you spend some of your time here, reading and learning along with me. I set up a buy me a coffee account, https://buymeacoffee.com/mariabergw (please copy and paste in your browser) so you can buy me a beverage to support what I do here. It will help a lot.

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