Month: February 2019

Anagrams!

Have you played a game where you’re given some letters and you have to see how many words you can make out of them? For today’s poem, you can only use words that you can find in the title of the poem. You might want to spend a few minutes with your title, listing as many words as you can before you start writing.

You can come up with your own title or use one from the list below.

A Walk in the Garden
Birds Fly over My House
The Bus is Late–Again
Snow Falls in Silent Forests

Here’s my attempt:

The Last Time I Went to Town

The last time
I went to town,
the lawn was mown.
I lost a shoe,
the steam was mean.
It went to
a test to see what the mist meant.
Now was the time to stow meat low.
In the lost mantle, I settle.

The Stuff of Me

Write a poem describing where you are from, your ancestors, roots, family, and or your own personal journey. Scroll down for one shining example by and the link to #iamfromproject.
Begin with the words:
Where I’m From . . .

“Where I’m From” by George Ella Lyon

I am from clothespins,
from Clorox and carbon-tetrachloride.
I am from the dirt under the back porch.
(Black, glistening,
it tasted like beets.)
I am from the forsythia bush
the Dutch elm
whose long-gone limbs I remember
as if they were my own.

I’m from fudge and eyeglasses,
from Imogene and Alafair.
I’m from the know-it-alls
and the pass-it-ons,
from Perk up! and Pipe down!
I’m from He restoreth my soul
with a cottonball lamb
and ten verses I can say myself.

I’m from Artemus and Billie’s Branch,
fried corn and strong coffee.
From the finger my grandfather lost
to the auger,
the eye my father shut to keep his sight.

Under my bed was a dress box
spilling old pictures,
a sift of lost faces
to drift beneath my dreams.
I am from those moments—
snapped before I budded —
leaf-fall from the family tree. ”

— http://www.georgeellalyon.com/where.html

• Help expand the river of voices. Send your I Am From poems and other creations to: http://iamfromproject@gmail.com
• Find it on Facebook at Facebook at iamfromproject
• An interview with I Am From Project founders George Ella Lyon & Julie Landsman

 

• Where I’m From Poems from Project Hope

 

 

Contrapuntal Poems

Contrapuntal is defined as two or more independent melodic lines in music. You can write a contrapuntal poem by combining two independent poems—one line of one and then one line of another. Try it!

1) Find two poems you’ve written that are of a similar length.
2) Alternate your poems by writing one line of one and then one line of the other. If it doesn’t seem to be working, try it using the opposite one first.
3) Change what you need to change to make sense. Sometimes that’s just capital letters and punctuation, but sometimes you might need to add or delete a word.

Here’s my attempt:

I could have made dinner tonight, but instead
alone with the elements of craft,
I read a good book and cleaned under the bed.
I wonder why
I sorted my yarn and picked up the craft table
to grow this garden better.
I folded the laundry and now I’m not able
to cook any food.
Outside the window, there’s crackers and cheese
and fruit if you like.
I see my history.
I’ll have some please.

World Read Aloud Day

Let’s celebrate in style. For today’s prompt, instead of taking 7 minutes to write a poem, let’s read poems aloud. Grab a collection of poems, click over to one of the poetry links below, or if you’re feeling truly brave, flip back through your notebook and reread some of the poems you’ve written. Then, take a deep breath and read—aloud! To someone or something else. After all, poetry is best shared!

World Read Aloud Day Links:

1. LitWorld.org
2. Famous Poems & Poets
3. Poem Hunters
4. International Poetry Digest
5. The Writer’s Almanac NPR
6. Where The Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein

Set the timer for 7 minutes.

Start Reading!

(Be warned: You just might get carried away!)

*Kelly Bennett and I began this 7-Minute Poetry Challenge over 1000 days ago. We now take turns creating our own prompts to share with you. If you join us in the 7-Minute Poetry Challenge, let us know by posting the title, a note, or if you want, the whole poem in the comments.