Hello everyone!

Welcome to my first dVerse pub-tending stint this year. I draw my inspiration for today’s challenge from this post by Heather, who writes excellent, insightful verses. For most of us born in the previous century, newspapers have been an integral part of our lives. Call it a habit, call it an addiction, call it what you will…but I need newspaper with my tea first thing in the morning. If I recall correctly, while I was in school, I was only interested in the Sunday supplement. It had comic strips, crossword puzzles, a couple of recipes and some book reviews/movie reviews. My siblings and I would squabble over who would solve the crossword first with dad’s help. Those were the days when the entire family would pore over the papers, quite unlike today when everyone is staring into their own device. Sigh…

I got seriously into reading the newspaper when I was staying in a hostel studying for my bachelor’s degree. Two newspapers, one in English, the other in the vernacular, would be shared between 25-30 girls (two to a sheet) before rushing off to breakfast where we would piece the news together!

People who grew up reading newspapers still read newspapers because they like the feel of the paper in their hands, the anticipation of what’s on the next page, and most of all, especially in my case, the smell of the newsprint. It is a large part of my morning ritual and even though I can now read the news on desktop/laptop/tablet/mobile, I don’t. I know I am kind of an anomaly in this digital age,  but I don’t enjoy reading newspapers online even though I have a couple of subscriptions. There is something about opening the broadsheet and read about the previous day’s happenings sans the opinionated view of the news anchor of the TV. I did swear off the newspapers for a while, when I felt the news articles and the editorials were biased. I started looking beyond the local paper and found a few that report as it should be and I am happy to start my day with the paper in my hand, even though I know it will not bring any good tidings, but there are tidbits here and there, that are not at all dark.

Let the Darkness Out by Francie Lynch

John wrote

I read the news today...

He recounted accidents, wars, ***-holes.

I did too…today.

Iread about charity runs,

Music under the Bluewater Bridge,

Teachers receiving National Awards.

Pope Elopes by Bonnie Cuber

I was riding the bus to work

One day

When the fellow sitting next to me

Turned to say

There’s an interesting article

In the newspaper today.

The News by Emilie Lygren

Each morning we listen for what is breaking—

the sound of a thousand tragedies fills the air,
shattering that never stops,
headlines, a fleet of anchors tangled at our feet.

I know in this digital age, print newspapers are a dying breed. So today I would like you to bring the newspaper to your poetry. For today’s poetics you can create a cut-out poem, write a newspaper blackout poem, you can use the headline from your local newspaper as a springboard and write a poem on it or you can simply write why you love or hate reading the newspaper. You can also write your poem as a comic strip or create a collage poem from cuttings from your local paper. Your poem should have some link with the newspaper.

You can read this post by Austin Kleon regarding blackout poems or visit Sunra’s post here. If you checkout her website, you will find more exquisite erasure poems.

For collage work you can visit Kerfe’s site for some amazing inspiration.

After you have written a poem on your blog, please link your post to this post. Don’t forget to leave a link of your post at Mr.Linky below. Whenever you find time, do come back to read what other poets have shared. It is not just about reciprocity only, it is also about expanding our own horizons by reading varied responses. Remember Mr. Linky will close on 23rd (Thursday) at 2.00 pm (EST).

Have fun!