Poetry Challenge #84: To Be or Not To . . .
I’m no Hamlet—never played one, don’t live in one either. But…I do know the beginning of Prince Hamlet’s Act 3, Scene 1 Soliloquy:
“To Be or Not to Be that is the question.”
Thus primed, prompt on fair Prince/ess:
Poetry Challenge #84
To Be or Not to Bee . . .
“The verb "to be" is one of the shortest and most important—yet oddest—verbs in the English language. It is an irregular verb; indeed, it is the only verb in English that completely changes form in every tense. The verb "to be" is probably the most important verb in English.”—from “Thoughtco.” By Richard Nordquist:
Below is a list of past and present forms of the verb “to be.” And, just for fun, a fuzzy black and yellow buzzy bee. Write a Bee poem using as many forms of the verb “to be” as you can. One way to begin is to write each form of the word be on a line and take it from there.
Past and Present forms of the verb “to be”:
I am I was
You are You were
He/She/It is He/She/It was
We are We were
They are They were
And if you want to try perfect tense: have/has/had been
Be bold! Be silly! Be—gin!
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 8 years 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 in the comments.
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Poetry Challenge #83-Feeling Pet-Ish
Which animals make the best pets? Dogs? Cats? Lizards? . . . Rocks?
. . . If you ask me the answer is Goldfish! Definitely Goldfish! (But it’s not up to me . . . )
Poetry Challenge #83
Pick A Pet
List 5 or 10 or as many as you can in one minute.
Which animals make the worst pets? List for another minute.
What other animals can you think of? Time yourself one more minute.
Write a list poem using animals from your lists.
Write three lines with 7 syllables on each line and finish the poem with a fourth line that has 5 syllables.
If you need an extra syllable, you can add an adjective—a word that describes the animal—or a sound.
Set the timer for 5 minutes.
Start writing!
Don’t think about it too much; just do it.
*Cindy Faughnan and I began this 7-Minute Poetry Challenge 3200-ish 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 in the comments.
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Poetry Challenge #82-Diamond in the Rough
“Square cut or pear shaped, these rocks don’t lose their shape”…take a listen; great lyrics!: https://youtu.be/KsRqhCWYfsQ?t=4
How are poems like diamonds?
Diamonds…gems/rocks/stones— come in many shapes, colors and sizes, and from there are cut, shaped and polished into heart’s desires. Poems begin as a jumble of words and from there are shaped to reflect heart’s desire.
Poetry Challenge #83
Diamond In the Rough
Write a diamond-shaped Diamante about something you value.
A Diamante is a diamond-shaped poem, simple as that.
Diamante poems begin with a one word or syllable line.
Each subsequent line grows longer by one than the previous line. The longest line is the mid-point of the poem.
From there, the lines decrease by one until reaching the last one word line.
The shortest Diamante has three lines of one syllable words.
Here’s a Diamante Frame if you prefer structure.
One
Two words
One
Once you have the words, polish your poem until it shines!
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 3200-ish 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.
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Poetry Challenge #81-I’m Feeling List-Less
According to Psychology Today, Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s “Let me count the ways”…wasn’t just pie-eyed, moonstruck rambling. It was good old-fashioned self care.
Make it stand out
According to Robert R. Kraft, PH.D in
“10 Benefits of Making a List”
Lists “help memory and focus our daily lives.”
HOW?????
“1. Lists document what we ordinarily forget.
2. Help us remember across context.
3. Act as a retrieval cue for other items.
4. The linear layout of a list is friendly to our serial processing.
...and the list goes on!”
List from Life Without Pants blog—add it to your list!
Poetry Challenge #81
Make a List
List making is not a new concept in organizing, in procrastinating, or in poetry.
Soooooo many poems are list poems: The Bill of Rights, Barrett’s “Sonnet 43,” Billy Collins’ “Bread and Knife,” Shel Silverstein’s “Eighteen Flavors” to name a few.
In a list poem, you can list things you like (animals, colors, kinds of cars, playground games), signs of a season, tasks you have to do, items in a category, or what you’re going to do today.
Today, try you pen at a list poem.
Begin with your plans for the day today. Or start with a list inspired by one of the ideas above.
Once you have your list, play with the order.
Choose better words that sound the same (maybe rhyme, or use alliteration).
Can you make the poem sound like it has an ending?
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 3200-ish 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.
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Poetry Challenge #80-Scribbles
Really, would the tike in this pic do a naughty thing like that?
My love of writing can be traced back to when I was two-ish. As the story goes, I used my mom’s black mascara and lipstick to write on the neighbor's car! (And maybe blamed it on my brother… although he says I blamed it on him.) Nevertheless, a scribble is a scribble.
Early Childhood Educator, Anna Reyner, in “The Fine Art of Scribbling” wrote:
“Scribbling is the foundation of artistic development and is intimately linked with language acquisition.”
Rhoda Kellogg, an early champion of scribbling, analyzed over 1 million children’s drawing during a 20 year study. Kellogg concluded that
“Children need plenty of time for free drawing and scribbling to develop the symbols that will later become the basis for all writing and drawing.”
What say we roll back the clock to our pre-school days and scribble. Who knows what it might lead to…
A Nothing Scribble--or not…
Poetry Challenge #80
Scribble Something
Scratch around for something colorful to write with: crayons, markers, colored pencils . . . lipstick—whatever you can find—and a piece of paper. Hold the writing implement in your non-dominant hand, close your eyes, take a deep breath and focus on whatever comes to mind. Then open your eyes and scribble—preferably on the paper.
Try scribbling whatever came to mind. if it was nothing, then scribble nothing. Scribble with 2-year-old abandon for as long as you can—at least 30 seconds.
Now, hold your scribble arm’s length away. While squinting like an artist (a beret might come in handy here), look beyond your scribble to what you drew.
Write a poem about your scribble.
Set the timer for 7 minutes.
Start writing!
Don’t think about it too much; just do it.
If you want to explore scribbles more, check out Diane Alber’s books/website.
*Cindy Faughnan and I began this 7-Minute Poetry Challenge more than 3250 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.
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Poetry Challenge #79-Fibonacci Awakening
Hurrah! Everything is in bloom! Take a close look at the way the leaves on a plant and petals on a flower grow. Notice how they often grow in a pattern: One in the center; next row 2; third row 3; fourth row 5; fifth row 8 and so on. This pattern, which allows each leaf/petal to have maximum exposure to light and moisture while maintaining a tidy spiral pattern, called is the Golden Ratio, is the Fibonacci Sequence in action! Pure poetry, right! Which leads naturally to today’s prompt:
Fibonacci Sequencing Succulent
Poetry Challenge #79
Fibonacci Awakening
Number sequences are fun ways to create a form for a poem in that they pose a puzzle without too many rules.
For this prompt let’s add some geeky science fun to our poetry with Fibonacci.
A Fibonacci sequence begins with 0 and 1. Each number is the sum of the two previous numbers. The third number would be 0+1=1. The fourth number is 1+1=2. And so on.
Write a poem matching the number of syllables or words on each line with the first six numbers in the Fibonacci sequence: 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8.
Set the timer for 7 minutes.
Start writing!
Don’t think about it too much; just do it.
When you finish step outside and find the Fibonacci Busting out all over!
If the Fibonacci has you fired up for More MATH! Here’s a fab Math Challenge game!
*Cindy Faughnan and I began this 7-Minute Poetry Challenge more than 8 years 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 comments or on social @kellybennettbooks
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Poetry Challenge #77-Heave-Ho!
Sing-Alongs are always challenging—and sometimes embarrassing—even for me. (And those of you who know me, know I love to sing—badly.) The worst is when someone sticks a microphone in my face and I don’t know the words. That’s when I resort to the trusty mumble-mumble-murmer-murmer— la-di-dah-daaaaaaaa
My Best Friend’s Wedding Classic!
Songwriters who like audiences who sing-along— pirate ship captives & those wanting tips, for example—make singing along easier by writing song with repeated refrains—the more often repeated the better. Which brings me to today’s prompt.
Poetry Challenge #77
Heave-Ho! Chant-She-Blows!
“The chant poem is about as old as poetry itself,” writes Robert Lee Brewer in his Oct. 23, 2012 post. “Chant poems simply incorporate repetitive lines that form a sort of chant. Each line can repeat [as they do in Blues’ songs], or every other line [as in a Sea Shanty].” Sailors sang shanties as they rowed or heaved on ropes to keep everyone working at the same pace. It’s believed “Shanty” is a morphism of “chanty” meaning both the type of song and a name for the sailor who leads the singing. By way of an example, below is a Chant Poem Cindy created.
“Snow fell this morning, soft and white and cold,
I was thinking of our bench in Central Park today.
I liked it more before I got so old,
I was thinking of our bench in Central Park today.
I left the city a long time ago,
I was thinking of our bench in Central Park today.
Now I hear sounds of birds—the caws of crows,
I was thinking of our bench in Central Park today.”
Follow these three easy steps to create your own Chant Poem—Or “Shanty” if you will!
Find a headline in a newspaper or magazine that you like the sound of. That will be your chant.
Write a four line rhyming poem where the first 2 lines rhyme and the last 2. AABB
Insert the chant between each line of your rhyming poem and you have a chant poem.
“They know a song will help the job along…”
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 3200 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.
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Poetry Prompt #76 Thirsty Thursday
Maybe because there’s a heat wave on—the likes of which I can’t recall.
Maybe because it will soon enough be Thursday and I’m thirsty.
Maybe because water isn’t cutting it, I recollected a play called The Drunkard by William Henry Smith, which brought to mind the song cowboy song Cool, Clear Water, you know the one: “Don’t you listen to him Dan/He’s a devil not a man/and he spreads the burning sand with water/Cool, clear, water….” Thus today’s 7-Minute Poetry Challenge.
Poetry Prompt #76
Thirsty Thursday
Draw inspiration from the title, Thirsty Thursday, write a poem about thirst using as many “th” words as you can throw into it.
Set the timer for 7 minutes.
Start writing!
Don’t think about it too much; just do it.
Here’s to You! & Your 7-Minute Poem!
When you’re finished reward yourself with a nice tall glass of something cool. Cheers!
Thirsty Thursday Playlist:
*Cindy Faughnan and I began this 7-Minute Poetry Challenge more than 8 years 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.