Day One: Book cover

Here we go! Another NaPoWriMo is upon us, one whole month of poems a day. It will be my 6th such April in a row, but the campaign is 20 years old. Extremely well done! And none of it is a joke.

Prompt 1: They say you can’t judge a book by its cover, but they never said you can’t try to write a poem based on a book cover — and that’s your challenge for today! Take a look through Public Domain Review’s article on “The Art of Book Covers.” 

Ten times one is ten
 
I used to think I could sell my photos
for book covers.

She – blonde, tall, viscous,
on a horse, maybe – 
and her ten lovers,
implied.
There is moss,
there must be moss.
Glossy.
Screaming:
Oh, the passion,
oh, the time of my life.

I even told mother to bring change of clothes.
We would go to the woods
and I’d shoot.
Oh, how we laughed.

Just like people, 
book covers used to imply more 
than reveal.
Just like us,
now they lie.

And yet,
and still,
10 X 1 = 10.

From our prompt, The Art of Book Covers (1820–1914)

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