A Sense of Doubt blog post #2013 - Writing about Superstitions, Phobias, Taboos, and other furry birds

https://www.gizmodo.com.au/2020/03/which-superstitions-are-based-on-facts/

A Sense of Doubt blog post #2013 - Writing about Superstitions, Phobias, Taboos, and other furry birds

Greetings reader. Thanks for tuning in.
Here's a writing prompt I devised for my creative writing class, followed by a poem from 1987 (which probably needs rewriting), followed by the year in number, which is 2013, and so I have things to share about that year.

Choose a subject area and then choose a topic.

SUBJECT AREAS
- superstitions
- taboos
- obsessions
- phobias
- magic spells and/or prayers

For instance, if you choose superstition, you could choose a broken mirror or walking under ladders. Good taboos could be things, like eating human flesh (as we have already had poems about this one) or polygamy.

You get the idea.

Focus your poem on your topic choice, such as the superstition of "Knock on Wood" that was the focus of my poem reprinted here.

Don't judge me. I wrote it in 1987.

Also, I didn't really hit the target of ONLY knocking on wood, but it's here among other superstitions.

KNOCK ON WOOD
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I sit at the window sill for days.
Blackbirds ornament the trees.

I press clover in wax paper,
hang horse shoes -- points magneting sky.

Hour by hour, I telescope a lake
doing a triple-time swing, like Benny Goodman
played, to fill my windowside days --
legs cast in old sheets. I remember picking
briars off my corduroys, and hiding hundreds
under the roots of a birch, twisted like a head
of snakes. The stockpile of burrs protected
the seams of my childhood from spectres
unearthing themselves from the cornfields
and unmown back-lots after nightfall.

Now, I hide the fragments of an oval looking glass
under the pink rolls of fiberglass and mildewed
pressboard in the attic of this farmhouse.
And then I knock on wood (a pine table)
that it will be atonement enough for what lurks
in my adult nights.

At my window, I have rotted. From treeholes
shaped like seedpods split along the breast bone
the crows, two round black spots in the tar
of the tree's insides, watch my deterioration -- waiting.

Until three wise fates break bread in my house
and steal me into their warm bosom,
heather, garlic clusters, and rosemary
will garland my stained glass
window which depicts wizened nuns casting salt
over shoulders and priests drinking their holy vows.

The glyphs I have painted will ward off witches
who come to call, their heads thick with roots.
Knock on wood.


versions:
(8703.17, 8704.20) (re: 8712.18)

http://egitalloyd.blogspot.com/2014/11/new-discovery-exorcism-love-spells.html

THE YEAR IN NUMBER: 2013

https://abcnews.go.com/US/13-unforgettable-things-year-2013/story?id=21234950

https://www.theverge.com/2013/12/30/5224680/the-year-in-review-the-biggest-stories-of-2013

http://www.thepeoplehistory.com/2013.html

In January of 2013, I was cleaning my things out of my parents' house on Richland Woods. I noticed that I had A LOT of t-shirts. Yearning for some kind of writing project, I wonder if I could count through writing. I could create a blog and write about a different t-shirt every day, sharing what it signified, why it was special. Would I get to 365 without adding any? Did I have fewer or more than a year's worth of t-shirts worn on a daily schedule?

I rejected the idea. I felt that the narcissism of writing about myself every day was more than I could bear let alone how much others could tolerate.

Two months later, in early March, I found out I had prostate cancer. Two weeks or so later, a t-shirt came in with my weekly order at Fanfare, and I thought of the blog again. I no longer cared if it was self-involved, self-absorbed, or even a lot narcissistic, I was going to do the blog.

Not sure if I had 365 to start as I added many along the way.

here's the blog:

https://365-tshirts.blogspot.com/

here's the first post:

https://365-tshirts.blogspot.com/2013/03/t-shirt-1-son-of-satan.html

 T-shirt Number One: An auspicious beginning, yes? The subject matter/name of this T-shirt is likely to turn away many potential viewers/readers. This may be part of the clever intention. I am mad for comic book themed T-shirts. Retro images from the 1970s are my new kick. The day I passed on ordering a retro Machine Man shirt, this one arrived at the comic book store. I had forgotten that I had ordered it until I saw it in my weekly comic book pull, which is part of the fun (and the endorphin addiction) of ordering, buying, and owning T-shirts. However, the tales of Damion Hellstrom from the Marvel Comics of the 1970s are among my favorites. I am a little surprised that there is no mention of the controversy such a comic character stirred up in the 1970s, though I have no direct knowledge of any Bible thumping disapproval.

Daimon Hellstrom on the cover of Marvel Spotlight #13

I wasn't sure if I wanted to reveal that I had cancer.

Eventually I did in this post:

T-shirt #77: Narcissism
That year changed my life. I had surgery and had my prostate removed. My wife was a great supporter. And Once I recovered, we took a trip to Hawaii, which was spiritually transforming.

I also learned that I could produce a blog entry every day, and if I fell behind (like now as this one is being posted a day late), I could catch up.

BOOM!

And so to showcase the year, here's many photos. Some of me, some of family, and some I just added to my main folder in 2013, which I think shows a great progression of ideas and thoughts in 2013.

First, some family.

Mom at Christmas 2013, that's the new CONDO.

See the T-shirt?
That was this post:

https://365-tshirts.blogspot.com/2013/05/t-shirt-41-advanced-dungeons-and.html

Turkeyville May 2013

Turkeyville November 14th, 2013

And Mom had a visit to Bronson June 15th, 2013.

My parents, prepared for Halloween 2013:

New condo: 8209 Pattiwood

My 51st birthday!

Various photos

WANT!!

Purchased and some (not all) consumed the day I learned I had cancer:

Unfortunately, we got CHICKENS.

FRIENDS!!!
Me, Jeff "Jafe" Waldeck, Steve Curl.
Note the T-shirt:

https://365-tshirts.blogspot.com/2013/06/t-shirt-81-starship-enterprise.html

HAWAII

at Mauna Loa Volcano

atop Mauna Kea

working in Detroit hotel
Note the t-shirt
https://365-tshirts.blogspot.com/2013/09/t-shirt-185-black-panther-1978.html

After prostate surgery

Leaving hospital

My friend SAM MEYERS

Many eras of K-Grads and current K students

my friend Tom meets Ian McKlellan

TOO MANY PICTURES OF SATCHEL

NEW CONDO

Wife buys treadmill; Satchel adopts treadmill

I see this many times a day

Hiding under the bed because of fireworks

Satchel's #4 favorite thing: going places!

Did some fermenting!

Satchel does not like being left on the side line when dad plays Ultimate

Satchel with her sister Lucy

SPECIAL TIME!!!!!!!!!!!!

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- Bloggery committed by chris tower - 2008.22 - 10:10

- Days ago = 1877 days ago

- New note - On 1807.06, I ceased daily transmission of my Hey Mom feature after three years of daily conversations. I plan to continue Hey Mom posts at least twice per week but will continue to post the days since ("Days Ago") count on my blog each day. The blog entry numbering in the title has changed to reflect total Sense of Doubt posts since I began the blog on 0705.04, which include Hey Mom posts, Daily Bowie posts, and Sense of Doubt posts. Hey Mom posts will still be numbered sequentially. New Hey Mom posts will use the same format as all the other Hey Mom posts; all other posts will feature this format seen here.