Month: May 2020

 Popsicle Daze                                 

National Grape Popsicle Day: https://nationaldaycalendar.com/days-2/national-grape-popsicle-day-may-27/

It rarely freezes in San Francisco, but boy, when it does . . . Grape Popsicle!

Here’s the story: in 1905, 11-year old Frank Epperson “was outside on his porch, mixing water with a powdered flavoring to make soda. Upon going inside, he left it there on the porch with the stirring stick still in it.  That night something that rarely ever happens in San Francisco happened: temps dipped below freezing! The following morning, Frank discovered the drink frozen to the stick.” *

Popsicles are now as much a part of summertime as, well, the sun! Who hasn’t sat on the steps hot afternoons slurping ice treats? Trying to catch the sweet syrup as it drips down your hand. Or maybe you’ve made your own popsicles, the way we did. We used to fill ice cube trays with whatever sweet drink was on hand: cola, root beer, Kool aid, lemonade—and yes sometimes grape juice—stick in toothpicks for sticks and wha-lah!  What about you? What memories come to mind when you think of popsicles? What was your favorite flavor? Grape?

Try writing a Tongue Twister about Popsicles. A tongue twister is a phrase that’s hard to say multiple times in quick succession or sometimes even once. Sally sells seashells by the sea shore, and Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers are two tried trustworthy tongue twisters.

Tongue Twister Tips:

There are three key elements in the twistiest tongue twister: alliteration, consonance, & confusion.

• Alliteration: words that begin with the same-sound. Lucky Lucy liked_____ or tricky twisters twist ____.
• Consonance: repeated consonants within a word or phrase. Think “pitter patter” “slippy splinter splitter”…
• Confuse the reader’s eye and trip up their tongue with consonant combinations that are almost the same, but not… as in soldier’s shoulder or chains clang. And change the endings of words—s ending are really slippery.

With these elements in mind, begin by brainstorming phrases that come to mind when you say grape or popsicle. Wait! I think I hear the ice cream truck now…

*The rest of Frank’s story: Fast forward 17 years to a Fireman’s Ball in 1922, Epperson introduced his frozen treat-on-a-stick and the guests went wild. Knowing he was onto something—cheap to make, fun to slurp, Frank began selling “Epsicles” in an amusement park and finally, in 1924 he patented the “Epsicle,” which he renamed “Popsicle.”

Set your timer for 7 minutes

Don’t think about it too much; just do it!

Start writing!

Kelly Bennett and I began this 7-Minute Poetry Challenge over 1400 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.

Rescue Dogs

Have you ever rescued a dog or do you know a rescue dog? The ones I know are wonderful—and lucky. They have nice homes after starting out in less than perfect situations. They’re smart and happy and full of love.

An ode is short poem praising something. Today’s prompt is to write an ode praising a rescue dog. Think about what it looks like, acts like, anything that makes the dog special. You can write it to your dog friend if you want!

Set your timer for 7 minutes

Don’t think about it too much; just do it!

Start writing!

Kelly Bennett and I began this 7-Minute Poetry Challenge over 1400 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.

National Frog Jumping Day

Three Ribbits for National Frog Jumping Day! Ribbit! Ribbit! Ribbit!

As long as toads have been croaking, frogs (and kids) have been jump-jump-jumping, and, every May 13^th, in honor of Mark Twain’s first published short story, Jim Smiley and His Jumping Frog (better known as The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County or The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County) folks have been celebrating frog jumping day.

According to the Guinness Book of Records, the longest frog jump on record is 1.21 m (3 ft 11.64 in)—compared to the frog jumps recorded at the Calaveras County Frog Jumping Jubilee, a mere hop.  The 2019 Calaveras Country winner “The Webbed One” jumped 18 feet 6 inches! Seeing a frog jump that far is surely the stuff of poetry!

It Jumped How Far?

Let’s invoke the spirit of Mark Twain by writing a hyperbolic poem about a long-high-far jumping frog, or a person who jumps like a frog, or a frog-jumping contest—creator’s choice. See how many words for jump you can include in the poem. And don’t forget to add a ribbit or three:

April Pulley Sayer’s book: Being Frog http://www.aprilsayre.com/2020/01/31/being-frog/

Calveras Country Frog Jumping Jubilee: http://lace23.wixsite.com/frogjump/history

*According to the Guiness Book of World’s Record, that 1.21 meter frog jump was achieved by Noa Möller (Sweden) at Palatset in Stockhom, Sweden, on 19 November 2011.

Guiness World Record: https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/longest-frog-jump

Longest Frog Jump: https://www.livescience.com/40480-biggest-frog-jumps-calaveras.html

“In 1865, Mark Twain published his first short story, Jim Smiley and His Jumping Frog. Later, he changed the name and published it as The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County.  This same story also had a third title, The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County.

“Mark Twain’s story about a pet frog named Dan’l Webster and a casual competition between two men betting on whose frog jumps higher, is the origin of National Frog Jumping Day.  The annual Frog Jumping Contest, which began in 1849 in Calaveras County, California, is also an origin of this holiday.

Use #FrogJumpingDay to post on social media.

National Frog Jumping Day: https://nationaldaycalendar.com/days-2/national-frog-jumping-day-may-13/

Set your timer for 7 minutes

Don’t think about it too much; just do it!

Start writing!

Kelly Bennett and I began this 7-Minute Poetry Challenge over 1400 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.

Revision

One of the best things to do to make a poem better is to read your poem aloud. Find a poem that you’d like to make better and do the following:

1) Can you replace weak words with more visual words? Words like “that” or “was” or “is” can usually be replaced with something stronger. Try to make every word count.

2) Listen to the sounds of each word. Is there a sound that’s repeated in your poem? Can you replace words to add more of that sound?

3) Read your poem very slowly. Pause at the end of each line. Is that the best word to end on? Play with your line lengths and with punctuation. Make readers read it the way you want them to.

4) Repeat these steps until you’re satisfied and then read the poem once more aloud.

Happy revising!

Set your timer for 7 minutes

Don’t think about it too much; just do it!

Start writing!

Kelly Bennett and I began this 7-Minute Poetry Challenge over 1400 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.