FaBoStaMe (NaPoWriMo)

I took part in today's FaBoStaMe 2009 (FAceBOok STAtus MEssage), a way to kick off NaPoWriMo (NAtional POetry WRIting MOnth), on Wednesday 01 April 2009. I have been describing it (to those who ask) as a 24-hour All Fools' Day writing "carnival," which I primarily swiped from its official website. The goal was for each participating writer to update their Facebook status message thirty times in thirty minutes. The status messages were intended to be poetic lines or smaller pieces of a larger half-hour-long work.

I had the 9:00 to 9:30 p.m PDT time slot. Below are the posts as they appeared on Facebook in real time.

[1] Here begins another minor exploration of Rikard Skager, adventurer & explorer:

[2] Rikard is a dead man, a marked man

[3] trapped in the vast and arid expanse of his mother's painted canvasses / Scandinavian sunlight, a sickly green

[4] and a dim off-white / a day of interminable sun / of perpetual day and long shadows

[5] This is not one of Walz's canvasses

[6] For the paintings of Doktor Walz are bright and equatorial / filled with fruits that can be named both singular and plural— / mango guava pineapple

[7] the colors of Indian orange and curry yellow / browns the color of Raju's skin / or that of Rikard's savior Esquimaux

[8] And then, lying here, dying / questions arise

[9] How does one enter without being seen, felt / in a rapine undertaking?

[10] (The voyeuristic possibilities boggle his mind / even as they must be eliminated.)

[11] How does one extricate one's self gracefully / find the wherewithal within to flee?

[12] (Remember this is business, Rikard / he tells himself as he steels up.)

[13] How does one avoid implication / avoid the confines, the connotations of the task at hand?

[14] (One shifts the blame to the loyal lapdogs / the unfortunate few that one has gathered to one's self.)

[15] The aftermath of the job is like the lichen that Rikard will steal

[16] It's movement is glacial yet certain

[17] Noticeable in the long-term

[18] Like the brisk brushstrokes of both Walz and mother

[19] once the paint dries and solidifies

[20] But those things matter little when the mouth gapes and the breath gasps / out a final breath into the arctic wind

[21] and the corneas color / opaque with the subzero temperatures

[22] eyes that will never again rest their gaze upon the soft face of Raju

[23] the tender face of Raju / crying out in the open air markets of Kerala

[24] Mango! Guava! Pineapple!

[25] hawking his produce, his spices, his wares to the white men and women / in perfect English

[26] Pepper! Tumeric! Neem! Cinnamon!

[27] hawking his produce, his spices, his wares to the brown men and women / in perfect Hindi, perfect Urdu

[28] This is the voice that Rikard hears, these are the words

[29] as the frigid wind punches at his ears / as he exhales his

[30] final breath...

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Here is the description of FaBoStaMe from the official site:

In addition to doing NaPoWriMo in April -- which is a commitment to write a poem every day during the month of April -- I have decided to do FaBoStaMe. I made it up just now. On April 1, I am going to update my Facebook status message 30 times in 30 minutes. My updates are going to be poems, or poem-like things, but FaBoStaMe is open to all types of writing. Anything that fits in the Facebook status message box is acceptable.

Yes. I mean it. This has never before been attempted. It could be dangerous, so watch out. (Wear goggles or something: Words will be flying.)

It looks like some folks are joining in! Woohoo! I am listing participants below, along with the time slot during which they will be posting.

If you want to take part in FaBoStaMe 2009, let me know and I will add you to the list. And if you don’t want to participate, you can kick back and marvel at people’s rapid-fire updates by tracking them down on their profile pages during their appointed FaBoStaMe time block.

Let's all get creative with this event. Why not write micro poems as status updates? Or draft a short story that unfolds from update to update? Or creatively define a list of made-up words?

You can also work collaboratively, if you dare, in any number of ways. Trade 30 writing prompts with someone and write Rorschach-like responses to each of the words you swap. Write messages in response to each message another participant has written during his or her 30-minute time block. Partner with someone whose messages are all questions. Your messages can all be responses.

There’s no limit to what you can do. Surprise us. Surprise yourself.

I will update the schedule below as people sign up for the event. Send me an email or leave a comment letting me know what time slot you want.

Breaking news! Dave Bonta will be watching FaBoStaMe 2009 unfold in hope of finding gems to post over at www.openmicro.org.

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It was a blast!