Poetry Challenge #9-Time for a Cool Change

The Spring Clock is ticking! Blossoms are busting out all over North America! It’s almost time. This Sunday, March 10, Daylight Savings Time 2024 begins.

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Saturday night tick-tock change your clocks! Spring Forward!  

Once the clocks reach 2 a.m. CST, they will "spring" forward to 3 a.m.

(Or if you live in the few places in the US that don’t Spring Forward take note.)

If you wonder why these places don’t observe DST, here’s the reason. As for the rest of us . . .

Yes! Daylight Savings Time, Spring Forward does mean you’ll lose an hour of sleep…

. . . But you will also gain an hour to what???

Poetry Challenge #10

Time for a Cool Change

Spring is a time of change, regrowth, renewal.

When you think of spring changes that are coming…or changes you might make…what springs to mind?

Let’s celebrate by crafting a five-line pyramid poem.

A Pyramid Poem is a five-line poem, growing in line length, 1-2-3-4-5, so the finished poem is shaped like a pyramid. That’s it…

But not so fast! We’ve added some specific instructions for each line. (Note: by definition a Pyramid Poem doesn’t have to have these specifics, but we’re changing things up.)

Line 1: 1 word (a noun)

Line 2: 2 words (include a description)

Line 3: 3 words (include sensory)

Line 4: 4 words (include action)

Line 5: 5 words (surprise)

Set the timer for 7 minutes.

Start writing!

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

For inspiration here’s the Little River Band singing “Time for a Cool Change.”

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Cindy Faughnan and I began this 7-Minute Poetry Challenge 2700+ days ago. Now we take turns creating prompts to share with you. Our hope is that creatives—children & adults—will use our prompts as springboards to word play time. If you join us in the Challenge, let us know by posting the title, a note, or if you want, the whole poem in the comments.

Click on Fishbowl link and sign up to receive email notifications from Kelly's blog (aka The Fishbowl):

Poetry Challenge #1-First Things First

I've got a proposition for you. A challenge. A dare. AGAIN!

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Three hundred and twenty-nine weeks ago, we began sharing the 7-Minute Poetry Challenge with you all, dear subscribers & friends. Some of you have taken up the gauntlet and joined us in the committing 7 minutes a day (sometimes less, sometimes more) to giving the sometimes stagnant creativity pot a stir.

Some have even shared them.

But few if any of you, Cindy and myself aside, even saw those early Challenges (called The Seven Minute Stretch Back then.) So, to kick off a brand new year of creative living, quixotically on the 2nd week of 2024 we are giving those early prompts and second go around. Looking forward to seeing what we—and YOU—come up with!

First things first—Challenge Rules:

1. Read the prompt.

2. Set the timer

3. Write a poem, a paragraph or a story —creator’s choice!

Don't think about it too much; just do it. If the prompt moves you, follow it. If it sparks something else, go with it! Our 7-Minute Poetry Challenge is not about writing great poetry; or writing what is expected; it's not even about writing anything good. It's about one thing, writing IT!  

Gavin & Keira's 1st Day of School 2017

Gavin & Keira (yes the same now bigguns featured in last week’s Christmas jammies post: Festival of Sleep) were our guinea pigs for that first shared 7-Minute Challenge, Sept. 6, 2017. Weren’t they cute!

For a treat, you’ll find a snap of Keira and Gavin’s results afterwards. But first, the prompt:

Poetry Challenge #1

The First Day

On the first day of school what things do you bring? A backpack? Pen? Paper? Maybe you’ll wear a new pair of jeans or shoes? 

Think about it: Not only will it be your first day of school, it will be that “things” first day of school too. How do you think those “things” feel about going to school for the first time? Write a “First Day of School” poem from the point of view of one of those things.

Note: It can be the first day of anything. Just tell the story from the point of view of one of the thing you bring with you that first day.

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For Inspiration read: SCHOOL'S FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL by Adam Rex, illus. by Christian Robinson (Roaring Brook Press, 2016), the story of the first day of school as told by Fredrick Douglass Elementary—a brand new school building!

Set Your Timer for 7 Minutes

Start Writing!

Don’t Think About it, Write It!

And now the promised treat: Gavin's Binder shared. Keira's dress was "shy" on that first day:

Happy Creating! We look forward to reading you!

Cindy Faughnan and I began this 7-Minute Poetry Challenge 2700+ days ago. Now we take turns creating prompts to share with you. Our hope is that creatives—children & adults—will use our prompts as springboards to word play time. If you join us in the Challenge, let us know by posting the title, a note, or if you want, the whole poem in the comments.

Click on Fishbowl link and sign up to receive email notifications from Kelly's blog (aka The Fishbowl):

All who subscribe, comment or share a poem will be entered in . . .

Poetry Challenge #85-Yes, You May!

It’s May! It’s May! Flowers are blooming, birds are chirping, grass is growing, trees are branching out—and so are we! Hooray! Hooray!

Ring around the May Pole

Taking a cue from the musical Camelot’s Lusty Month of May song, in which merrymakers prance about singing “It’s May! It’s May! The month of Yes, You May!” we’re giving ourselves permission to break a few rules.

 

 

Poetry Challenge #85*

“Yes, You May!”

With “Yes, You May” as the title, write a poem giving someone (or something)—maybe yourself—permission to be naughty, mischievous, daring—in other words, to do something he, she, it—YOU—would never, ever do. As this poem is a celebration of May, use flowery, colorful, provocative language. And, if you’re in the mood to be extra daring, give permission to go all out by having every line begin with “Yes, You May” . . .

Set the timer for 7 minutes.

Start writing!

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

As if you need permission

“Yes, You May!” Playlist:

Lusty Month of May from Lerner & Lowe’s Camelot

 *Full disclosure: This is a repeat of #33. We had so much fun we decided to do it again, because…We Can!

*Cindy Faughnan and I began this 7-Minute Poetry Challenge over 750 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 dang poem. Scroll down and click on the comments!

Want the 7-Minute Stretch sent to your email? Click on SUBSCRIBE  to receive email notification when entries are posted on Kelly's Fishbowl

Poetry Challenge #37-Put Me In Coach!

The “Kansas Comet,” Gayle Sayers, considered “one of the greatest players in NFL history,” was born on May 30, 1943.

(I don’t recall ever actually seeing Gayle Sayers play. In my mind he’s Billy D. Williams from the 1971 movie Brian’s Song. If you haven’t seen it, you should—bring tissues.)

Sayer, who played for the Chicago Bears, said, “I had a style all my own. The way I ran, lurchy, herky-jerky, I kept people off-guard…”

“Lurchy, herky-jerky” works! Football fans take note: For the record, Sayer piled up “4,956 yards rushing in his 68-game career and was voted to four Pro Bowls. Sayers scored 22 touchdowns and 132 points in his first season, both then-rookie records.”

Poetry Challenge #37

Put Me in Coach

Write a poem about football in your own “Lurchy, herky-jerky style.”

Or . . .

Write a poem to the “Coach” of your imagination asking to be “Put in” to something you really, really, really want.

Set the timer for 7 minutes.

Start writing!

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

Cindy Faughnan and I began this 7-Minute Poetry Challenge more than 800 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. Scroll down and click on the comments!

Want the 7-Minute Stretch sent to your email? Click on SUBSCRIBE  to receive email notification when entries are posted on Kelly's Fishbowl

Poetry Challenge #36-In Memory of...Bees

Today as I was walking through the field, I noticed bees drunk with happiness, rolling on the golden yellow dandelions. So many flowers! So much nectar! So many bees!

I was about ten years old when I experienced my first bee sting. I stepped (barefoot) on a bee in the driveway, jumped with the surprise and ouch of the sting on my toe, and my leg swelled up above my knee! I remember earlier bees than that, too: the bees that chased my next door neighbor when she poked a stick into their ground nest, the little boy from down the street who rode his bike through a swarm of bees and ran into our house to get away from them. So many memories, so many stories, all from one word: BEES.

Poetry Challenge #36

In Memory of . . . Bees

Now it’s your turn. What do you think of when you think of bees? Is it an experience you had with them? A lazy, buzzing, summer day? A fascination with the way they live? Write a poem/story about bees. You might try to write a paragraph first, and then cut it the way we did in Challenge #26. Maybe cut it by half the words. Then another half. Add so it makes sense. Play with rhythm and maybe rhyme.

Get buzzzzzzzy!

Set the timer for 7 minutes.

Start writing!

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

Cindy Faughnan and I began this 7-Minute Poetry Challenge more than 800 days ago. We now take turns creating our own prompts to share with you. (This one is Cindy's idea.) 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. Scroll down and click on the comments!

Want the 7-Minute Stretch sent to your email? Click on SUBSCRIBE  to receive email notification when entries are posted on Kelly's Fishbowl

Poetry Challenge #26-Take Away!

I'm a wordy bird! Are you?

Quite often we use too many words to get our point across. We’re going to do some math today and take away 25% of the words used in a poem. But don’t worry…it will be simple. Just do one step at a time!

Poetry Challenge #26

Take Away!

Pick one of your poems. Count the words in the poem. Divide that number by 4 (round up if it’s not even). Take away (delete!) that many words. Reread your poem aloud. How does it sound?

Abracadabra! A poem becomes sharper, stronger, more interesting without so many words. . . And the best part is, if you don't like the way the poem sounds without the words, you can always put them back. Bippity-boppity-boop!

If the thought of removing 25% of your words scares you, check out this example of how Cindy Faughnan's poem changed when she slashed it by 25%:

Here's the Poem Cindy started with entitled 2/24:

“I can’t watch the news.
I see those teens
so earnest, so determined,
so hurt,
and imagine the pain
and grief
of their lives.
There can’t be peace
on earth while
lobbyist make fun
of “white mothers grieving”
Every word is loaded
and shot
with no regard
for stolen innocence.”

It has 50 words. Divide that by 4 and round up should be about 13. Subtract 13 from 50 and you get 37.

50-13=37

2/24 The 37 word version:

“Can’t watch the news.
See those teens
so determined.
Can’t imagine the grief
of their lives.
Can’t be peace
while lobbyists
make fun of
“white mothers grieving”.
Words loaded
and shot
with no regard
for stolen innocence.”

This second version feels stronger, doesn't it? But Cindy didn't stop there. "Can I cut another 25%?" she asked. 37 words, divided by 4 and rounded up to get 10. Subtracted 10 from 37 to get 27.

37-10=27

2/24 The 27 word version:

“Can’t watch
those determined teens.
Can’t imagine the grief.
Can’t be peace
while lobbyists
ridicule
“white mothers grieving”.
Words loaded
and shot.
No regard
for stolen innocence.”

WHOA! What a difference! Now you try it!

Set the timer for 7 minutes.

Select a poem to revise.

Do The Math! 

Take Away 25%

Want the 7-Minute Stretch sent to your email? Click on SUBSCRIBE  to receive email notification when entries are posted on Kelly's Fishbowl

7-Minute Poetry Challenge #21-Inside Out, Upside Down & Backwards

Gotta love DIY videos! And the folks who take the time to find them--like daughter Lexi, who solved one of the great frustrations of my life with the link to one short clip: HOW TO PUT ON A DUVET COVER Thank you Lexi! 

WARNING: Not all DIY tips work (neither do all poetry prompts) . . .

Dang duvet cover won't behave...

That being said, while Lexi and I were step-by-step smoothing, rolling and unrolling our perfectly stuffed duvet, (maybe because my upper half was not fully inside the cover as usual), a 7-minute poetry prompt popped into my noggin. (And, if you have a few moments left after you finish and need a laugh, click on the DIY Projects Gone Wrong link below.) Here Goes.

Poetry Challenge #21

INSIDE OUT, UPSIDE DOWN & BACKWARDS!

Begin by taking a minute to read through the poems you've already written and select one you think is HORRIBLE! or one you are excited to revise.

First: Giving yourself a pat on the back for having written it! 

Now: Mix it up. Pluck a line out of the middle and move it to the beginning; move the last line to the first; the first line to the end, etc. etc. And so forth . . . 

Why? Sometimes a poem is like a duvet cover, you've got to turn it inside out to make it work!

Set the timer for 7 minutes.

Mix It Up, Baby!

Have FUN!

Upside Down, Inside Out & Backwards Playlist: 

1. HOW TO PUT ON A DUVET COVER
2. DYI Projects Gone Wrong
3. Upside Down by Joe Jackson
4. Upside Down Boy You're Turning Me by Diana Ross
5. Shake It Up Baby from Ferris Bueller's Day Off

*Cindy Faughnan and I began this 7-Minute Poetry Challenge at more than 680 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 dang poem. Scroll down and click on the comments!

Want the 7-Minute Stretch sent to your email? Click on SUBSCRIBE  to receive email notification when entries are posted on Kelly's Fishbowl

7-Minute Poetry Challenge #10-And To Think That I Saw It . . .

Kudos Friends for clicking over. If you've been following along, you will notice I have changed the title of this series. It is still a strrrrretch I'm hoping you're up for it! 

Recently, in light of our collective efforts to be more culturally sensitive, this book (which was brought to mind by the title of this prompt) is being banned because a mural in the Dr. Suess Museum depicted a scene from this book has been deemed racist. The mural, or that section of the mural, is being replaced. I am not sure where this leaves this first book by the beloved Dr. Seuss. To read or not to read it, is a question for you to decide. To ban it is shut the door on an important conversation.

 (As Theo is long gone, he can't weigh in on the discussion.)

And still only a 7-minute commitment. I just shortened the title so we could get to the Challenge  faster. Here goes (courtesy of Cindy*) Grab a pen for Big #10!

Poetry Challenge #10

AND TO THINK THAT I SAW IT . . . 

List 10 or more things you saw on the bus or in the car this morning on your way to work or school. Or take a walk and list things you see. Pick 5 of the things and put one on each line. Add detail or metaphor (it looks like a…it is as ___ as a ___).

If you can get a friend to do this with you, put your two poems together when you’re both done. Switch every other line. Then read the poem and see if you want to move some lines around to get it in a better order or change some words to make it rhyme (or not rhyme) or sound better.

And if you have more than one friend do this, even better!

Set the timer for 7 minutes.

Start writing!

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

*Cindy and I began this 7-Minute Poetry Challenge more than 600 days ago. We now take turns creating our own prompts to share with you. If you join us in the 7-Minute Poetry Challenge be sure to let us know by posting the title, a note, or if you want, the whole dang poem, in the comments!

Want the 7-Minute Stretch sent to your email? Click on SUBSCRIBE  to receive email notification when entries are posted on Kelly's Fishbowl