Poetry Challenge #59: Terza Rima
Sometimes You Feel Like a Form…
Forms are like puzzles. You need to fit the right number of syllables or a pattern of rhyme or some other word trick into your poem and still come up with a subject. They are fun to play with—and the results can be surprising!
Poetry Challenge #59
Terza Rima
Today’s form is the Terza Rima which means third rhyme. This form creates three line stanzas with lines of any length where the first and third line rhyme. The second line becomes the rhyme for the next stanza. Keep writing stanzas until you’re done with your poem. The last stanza should be two lines that rhyme.
If you’re better at reading rhyme scheme, it goes like this: ABA BCB CDC DED EE
Here’s an example Cindy created :
I have a hole in my left shoe
it’s growing big and wide
and now and then my toe peeks through.
It’s damp and cold when I’m outside
I cannot wear a sock
I need new shoes; these ones have died.
Rain, snow, and cold air are a shock;
they make me dance, you see.
I cannot ever take a walk.
A shopping trip with Mom would be
the best. I need a guarantee.
Your turn!
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 over 900 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.
Poetry Challenge #58- IN THE DEEP DARK WOODS: A BOO-OLOGISM
Pumpkins, Scarecrows, Black Cats—and things that go bump in the night . . . Halloween’s almost here! Let’s get our BOO on!
Poetry Challenge #58
IN THE DEEP DARK WOODS: A BOO-OLOGISM
Let’s create a BOO-OLOGY (a spooky poem.)
Below is the first line, a Halloween sound list, and just for grins, a joke. Combine them to create your own BOO-OLOGISM.
First Line: IN THE DEEP DARK WOODS . . .
The Joke: Why did the vampires cancel their baseball game?
They couldn't find their bats.
Set the timer for 7 minutes.
Start writing!
Don’t think about it too much; just do it.
Happy BOO-OLOGIZING!
*Cindy Faughnan and I began this 7-Minute Poetry Challenge more than 900 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.
For your reading pleasure!
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Poetry Challenge #56-Kid's Stuff
To say “I’m writing poetry!” can feel pretentious or intimidating. At least it does to me. First thought is, I need to don a beret and feathered quill. Second thought: Who the heck do I think I am trying to write poems?
But after more than 900 days of trying, I’ve learned that my best poems come when I tell myself: “Nobody’s ever going to read it anyway,” and just have fun. Give it a try:
…Max made mischief of one kind or another.
Poetry Challenge #56
Kid’s Stuff
Grab the nearest picture book, turn to the last page, the last words. Use the last line of text as the first line of your poem. And if you’d like, use the accompanying illustration as inspiration. Let the child in you run with it and PLAY!
If you’re at a loss, here’s one of the most famous last picture book line of all, from Maurice Sendak’s Where The Wild Things Are:
. . . and it was still hot
Kid’s Stuff Playlist:
*Cindy Faughnan and I began this 7-Minute Poetry Challenge more than 900 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.
Join the 7-Minute Poetry Challenge. . . If YOU dare. Click on the Fishbowl link and sign up to receive email notifications from Kelly's blog (aka The Fishbowl)!
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Poetry Challenge #54-Alphabet Jam
Sometimes—often—the most interesting things begin with “I Can’t…” That’s exactly what I said when author/teacher/mentor/friend Tim Wynne Jones shared this prompt at a VCFA session a few years back. But, once I committed to giving it a try, it turned out I Could! And best, had fun! And the results were interesting. With hopes you’ll find it the same, here goes:
Poetry Challenge #54
Alphabet Jam
Plant a subject you’d like to explore in your mind. It can be as broad as “Sports” or “Weather;” it can be specific as “My tenth birthday” or “Daisy,” your choice.
Now, beginning with the letter A, work your way through the alphabet assigning one word to each letter in order: A-B-C-D…end with Z. (X is wild, or if you can use a word that begins with the “ex” sound.)
There are 2 rules:
While the sequence you create might be outlandish, it must make sense—i.e. work as a sentence or series of sentences.
You can not insert or delete letters.
Consider the 26 word sequence you created: Did you stick with your initial subject? Did you veer off in a different direction? Did you surprise yourself?
Now for the magic! Keeping the words in alphabetical order, use line breaks and punctuation to shape your Alphabet Jam into a 26 word poem.
Set the timer for 7 minutes.
Start writing!
Don’t think about it too much; just do it.
Tim’s newest book…a must read!
*Cindy Faughnan and I began this 7-Minute Poetry Challenge almost 900 days ago. We now take turns creating our own prompts to share with you.
Join the 7-Minute Poetry Challenge. . . If YOU dare. Click on the Fishbowl link and sign up to receive email notifications from Kelly's blog (aka The Fishbowl)!
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Poetry Challenge #50
“DON’T USE ADJECTIVES AND ADVERBS TO PRETIFY YOUR PROSE!” The warning—BOLD & ALL CAPS—is issued at least once, in ever writing class. So much so, that it’s the title of a Writers’ Digest article expounding the excellence of Raymond Carver via his teacher John Gardner’s leaner-is-neater adverb and adjective-free prose.
If "Ly" were a dog, this is him. Sad.
Following in Carver/Gardner's footsteps has let us to “cast a suspicious eye on these forms of speech because many times they add little to what is already on the page.” As a result those ly-ending adverbs (and adjectives*) we once sprinkled throughout our prose as liberally as we sugared our Lucky Charms have been unnecessarily shunned, ignominiously tossed aside, and relegated extremely disposable.
A sign, at the entrance to the Cooper Hewitt Museum's exhibition “Design Beyond Vision” caught my attention and caused me to wonder: Where have all the adverbs gone? Long time passing . . . What has become of those lowly, loathsome “Ly”s? They are, frankly, lonely.
Here's the juicy sign. What's missing?
Hence today’s battle cry and prompt: Down with Understated. Let’s bravely go where no adverb has gone before…(or at least not for a long, long time.)
Poetry Challenge #50
Ode for Lonely "Ly"
Let’s write an adverb poem. Begin with the simplest sentence: A subject and a verb. For example: Jack ran. Mary ate. Unicorn flew.
Now ask yourself “how?” or “when?” or “Where?” Answer by adding an adverb. Repeat that adverb and ask “how?” Answer with another adverb.
Keep repeating this pattern, asking “how?” or “when?” or “where?” and answering with adverbs, one after the other after the other after the other, until you’ve used all the adverbs you want. Then, bring it to a rousing—or not—finish. As an example, here’s my effort:
“Ly sat lonely
Dejectedly, roundly, slovenly,
Unsoundly, ashamedly, awkwardly, unconsolably
Day after day in the darkest depths of the keyboard, until . . .
Unabashedly, slap-dashishly, left-handishly I asked “how?”
Look at Ly now!”
Set the timer for 7 minutes.
Start writing!
Don’t think about it too much; just do it.
Ode For Lonely "Ly" Playlist:
Link to the article “Don’t Use Adjectives and Adverbs to Prettify Your Prose”
Where Have all the Adverbs Gone by Peter, Paul & Mary
Ode to the Lowly [Ly] by Roy Orbison
*Cindy Faughnan and I began this 7-Minute Poetry Challenge over 850 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.
**To paraphrase McArthur and Arnold: “Adjectives! We’ll be back!”
Poetry Challenge #44-A Neat Idea . . .
Sometimes all you need to write a poem is something to get you started. A number, a color, a word, or a phrase.
Poetry Challenge #44
Here’s a Neat Idea:
For this poem, begin with the phrase “Here’s a neat idea:” and write.
You could be talking to yourself about something you’ve done or that you want to do.
You could be talking to someone else about something you want them to do.
You could be talking about something real or imagined.
Whenever you get stuck, write the phrase again and see where it takes you.
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 at least 850 days ago. We now take turns creating our own prompts to share with you. (This one is Cindy's.) 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 #42: WIZZ! BOOM! BANG! BWEEEEE!
This year's Fourth of July celebration was the longest ever--almost 2 weeks long! Fireworks began popping, smoke bombs frizzing, grills sizzling, ice clinking the last weekend in June and carried on to last night's finale-- WIZZ-BANG-BOOM TAH-DAH! (hence the tardiness of this post.) While Firework memories are still fresh, let's try capturing them:
Poetry Challenge #42:
WIZZ! BOOM! BANG! BANG! BWEEEE!
Make some Fourth of July noise!
Close your eyes and recall all those Fourth of July celebration sounds. Try to describe them with onomatopoeia (sound words like BOOM!) or simile (comparison using like or as: The fireworks were like giant bees buzzing the crowd) or metaphor (comparison not using like or as: The fireworks were thunder). Be poetic! Be loud or quiet! Listen…Hear those Sparklers sizzle?
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 at least 850 days ago. We now take turns creating our own prompts to share with you. (This one is Cindy's.) 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 #39-Kodachrome
When I think back on all the @#$! I learned in college, a disturbing experiment I learned about in PR 101 floats up: Subliminal Advertising. (Okay, yes, maybe it came to mind because I’m feeling a tad guilty and extremely bloated after devouring by the fistful more than my half of the movie popcorn last night.)
As if Psyco wasn't scary enough . . .
Short History Lesson: This idea of Subliminal Advertising came from a 1957 study by James Vicary, a market researcher who inserted the words "Eat Popcorn" and "Drink Coca-Cola" into a movie. “The words appeared for a single frame, allegedly long enough for the subconscious to pick up, but too short for the viewer to be aware of it.
The subliminal ads supposedly created an 18.1% increase in Coke sales and a 57.8% increase in popcorn sales.” As noted in this 2011 article from Business Insider, the results Vicary reported were falsified. But the idea of Subliminal Advertising, that images and words can and do subconsciously influence us, is widely regarded as true. Assuming it is, let the mind-bending commence:
Poetry Challenge #39
Kodachrome
Begin with some Words of Wisdom: select a quotation or adage from a book, the wall, or the Internet—or make up your own. For example:
“The Chief enemy of creativity is good sense.”—Pablo Picasso.
”All cats look grey at night”—Ben Franklin
”The only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking.”—Steve Jobs”
Now, in a blatant effort to subliminally impact readers—and maybe ourselves—let's hide those words of wisdom within the body of the poem. The trick is to insert the kernels of “wisdom” so deftly your reader doesn’t notice them. How?
Take out an unused piece of paper.
Working top to bottom, write the quotation down the center of the paper—one word to a line. As we are not creating an Acrostic poem, vary the position of the word on the lines.
Now write a poem around the words, thus "hiding" your message in a poem.
Set the timer for 7 minutes.
Start writing!
Don’t think about it too much; just do it.
My not-so-subliminal message to YOU!
Kodachrome Playlist:
Cindy Faughnan and I began this 7-Minute Poetry Challenge approximately 26 Months, 2 Weeks, 6 Days, 13 Hours, 33 Minutes and 20 Seconds 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