A LITERARY IMPULSE PROMPT

Mixing Up a Poem

My attempt at a descort poem

Image created with Bing Image Creator and edited in Canva.

What is a spurtle* you ask
And speaking of mixing metaphors
With the crunching munching gnashing and gnawing
Your dentist tells you to floss every day
To dislodge those pesky pukey pieces of alliteration
Stop
Back to the spurtle
A spoon
Or spatula perhaps

*In case you wondered:

There are two kinds of spurtles: the rod-shaped, single-use original Scottish version and the newer American design, which is a cross between a spoon and spatula. The Scottish version, which is shaped like a dowel, is used exclusively for stirring porridge. Before rolled oats existed, porridge had to cook for a long time, and the spurtle helped in curtailing lumps. Tommy Werner, epicurious.com August 6, 2018

Well, I’m slightly embarrassed because I don’t want to seem like a copycat! I saved the link from Somsubhra Banerjee for the Literary Impulse prompt “Unusual Poetic Forms” when I read the Carolyn Hastings poem that accompanied her story “Covid-19 Finally Got Me in 2024.” When I was looking at her poem just now so I could give her a nod for…