Poetry Challenge #70-Noises On!
For the last poetry challenge we explored the Sound of Silence, this time, let’s crank up the volume by focusing on noise.
City Noises…
Country noises . . .
Kitchen noises: day or night the kitchen never really sleeps…
And my favorite critter noises…
Poetry Challenge #70
Noises On!
Visualize an event, a moment, an incident—either real or imagined. Now, close your eyes and listen to the sound of significant movements and/or actions happening in that moment. What sounds do you hear? Heart beats, water dripping, footsteps, maybe bells . . .
Write a poem using these sounds. Try establishing a rhythm by repeating the sound a few times in each line followed or preceded by what is making the sound. Some hugely successful songs use sounds in this way. For example, in The Trolley Song sung notably by Judy Garland in the movie Meet Me in St. Louis sounds are used to describe the first moment Ester meets John:
“Clang, clang, clang went the trolley
Ding, ding, ding went the bell
Zing, zing, zing went my heart strings
From the moment I saw him I fell
Chug, chug, chug went the motor
Bump, bump, bump went the brake
Thump, thump, thump went my heart strings
When he smiled I could feel the car shake”
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 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 at @kellybennettwrites
Click on Fishbowl link below and sign up to receive email notifications from Kelly's blog (aka The Fishbowl):
SUBSCRIBE TO THE FISHBOWL
Poetry Challenge #69-The Sound of Silence
I’m writing this in the wee small hours of the morning, when, as David Mann wrote, “the whole wide world is fast asleep (sing it Frank).
Schools and businesses are closed. There’s no traffic. The world is silent.
And that got me thinking: What exactly does silence sound like?
Poetry Challenge #69
The Sound of Silence
Write a poem that’s filled with silence. What images make you think of silence? What can you see and not hear?
Try using quiet sounds—s and l and w—for your words so your poem has a quiet sound to it.
Shhhhhhhhhhh. Listen.
Set the timer for 7 minutes.
Start writing!
Don’t think about it too much; just do it.
The Sound of Silence Playlist: Simon & Garfunkle’s Sounds of Silence (Of course!)
*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. (This prompt was 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 in the comments.
Click on Fishbowl link below and sign up to receive email notifications from Kelly's blog (aka The Fishbowl):
SUBSCRIBE TO THE FISHBOWL
Fin Pal asks Norman how to overcome Stage Fright
Hey Norman! I have a question for you . . .
Gavin has some really good questions. Those of you who have read Norman One Amazing Goldfish, know that when it was time for Norman to go up on stage, he got really really nervous. So nervous he shivered and quivered. Has there ever been a time when you were that nervous? Me too!
Ready to read Norman’s answer, Finpals? Scroll down . . .
Glug
Glug
Glug . . .
But first, a finny!
Q: What do goldfish use for money?
A: Sand dollars!
Friends, check out the picture Gavin created for Norman! Fin-o-menal!!!
Do you have a question for Norman the Goldfish- about friends, school, pets, family, life in and outside the fishbowl?
Do you have a finny fish joke to share?
Send Norman a letter!
Don’t forget to order your copy of NOT NORMAN: A GOLDFISH STORY and NORMAN: ONE AMAZING GOLDFISH!!
Poetry Challenge #68-Cup of Kindness
Nanny, my grandmother (born July 6, 1906), and her girlfriends gave each other tea or coffee cups as gifts. None of them had pockets deep enough to buy a whole set of china at one time. Nor did their ilk register for wedding gifts.
Nanny and her friends built their sets of “good dishes” piece by piece as budget allowed. (Nanny is on the right with glasses; one of her prized tea cups on the left.) On birthdays they would either give a cup in the recipient’s chosen pattern, or they would surprise each other with different cups. Nanny called hers “Friendship Cups.”
These cups are a few of Nanny’s remaining Friendship Cups. I display them front and center in my cabinet to remember her—and to remember my friends. You are welcome to use one anytime.
The cups in my cupboard seem empty, they are absolutely not. Each one, still today, is brimming with love and kindness.
This bulletin board kit is from Jannylovecolors.
It’s a bright spring day and “What the World Needs Now” was the last song on my local NPR station WLIW. That song!
What’s better way to germinate love than to fill a cup with kindness.
Poetry Challenge #68
Cup of Kindness
Think back over the past few months and recall a kindness someone gave to you.
What was that kindness? How did it make you feel to receive it?
With that in mind, fill a cup with a kindness of your own. To whom will you pass it?
Title your poem “Cup of Kindness”
Set the timer for 7 minutes.
Start writing!
Don’t think about it too much; just do it.
Nanny’s Cup
This cup is one of few remaining pieces from Nanny’s “good dishes.” The 1989 earthquake sent the rest flying.
*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.
Click on Fishbowl link below and sign up to receive email notifications from Kelly's blog (aka The Fishbowl):
SUBSCRIBE TO THE FISHBOWL
Poetry Challenge #67-Color Your World
Spring is coming to our village…finally! Colorful blossoms are popping up all around. An especially welcome site against the backdrop of winter’s leftover grey.
So, because we can, let’s lean into all that color!
Poetry Challenge #67
Color Your World
If you can, take it outdoors and look around the garden or neighborhood. (Or look around the space you’re in.)
Pick one color that pops out.
List as many things as you can see that are that color. Look again. Find one more.
Pick one or more items on your list and write about it/them. What is it? Where did it come from? Is it useful? Or beautiful? Or…
When you’re finished, try to cut 10 words from your poem. Play with your word choices to add better sounds, rhythm, or rhyme.
Set the timer for 7 minutes.
Start writing!
Don’t think too much, just do it!
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.
Click on Fishbowl link below and sign up to receive email notifications from Kelly's blog (aka The Fishbowl):
SUBSCRIBE TO THE FISHBOWL
Fin Pal asks Norman "Any Siter or Bruthers?”
Goldfish Fact: Goldfish lay eggs. But they also eat their own eggs, and the babies when they hatch. So out of all those eggs, only about 10 will survive—if they are lucky. Goldfish eggs take 8-10 days to hatch.
Norman was one of the lucky ones, wasn’t he? But what about the other eggs?
Scroll down . . .
Glug
Glug
Glug . . .
Before we say glug-glug, check out the fintastic picture Charlotte sent with her letter!
Do you have a question for Norman the Goldfish- about friends, school, pets, family, life in and outside the fishbowl? Send him a letter!
Don’t forget to order your copy of NOT NORMAN: A GOLDFISH STORY and NORMAN: ONE AMAZING GOLDFISH!!
Poetry Challenge #370-Only Takes Two
Everybody’s doing it these days…
Poeming that is. It is April after all. And April is National Poetry Month. But…
But…even before April flowers reared their perky heads, grandboy Aiden’s 1st grade teacher at Osborn Hill Elementary, Mrs. Selter, has her students reading, sharing, and creating poetry. By the first of the month, each of them had published their own poetry collections.
Aiden with his poetry collection
Aiden’s poetry book includes poems written in many forms—and with illustrations!
BTW: April Poetry Month was inaugurated by the Academy of American Poets in 1996. https://libguides.xavier.edu/poetry poster from 2015 bears re-reading!
Mrs Selter had her students explore one form we hadn’t tried before. Inspired by them, Cindy and I gave it ago and were delighted with how fun it was. With his permission, I’m sharing the prompt and Aiden’s poem with you. Get ready to give it a go.
Poetry Challenge #370
Two Words is All it Takes
Some might argue that all it takes is one word to make a poem. If it’s the right word. “Dulcenea” for instance, practically became a whole song in Man Of Lamancha… So did “Kelly” in the sitcom Cheers. But that’s a stretch. Two words however…
Two-Word Poetry is a real thing.
Begin by choosing a theme.
For instance Aiden chose “Dogs”.
That will be the title.
Since these are two-word poems there are 2 ways to go about creating them:
1. Write a list of 5 or 6 words that come to mind when you think of your theme. These might be all nouns or adjectives or verbs.
Next to each word, write a word that modifies/compliments the first word.
OR
2. Write a list of two-word phrases that come to mind when you think of your theme.
And just like that you’ve created not one, but 5 or 6 poems today!
If you are in the mood for more, play! Rearrange your poems into pleasing patterns, or change the order to suggest a story, or escalate in tension. Or make them rhyme—especially if one of the words is orange.
Set the timer for 7 minutes.
Start writing!
Don’t think about it too much; just do it.
Orange treats for the birds!
*Cindy Faughnan and I began this 7-Minute Poetry Challenge about 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.
Click on Fishbowl link below and sign up to receive email notifications from Kelly's blog (aka The Fishbowl):
SUBSCRIBE TO THE FISHBOWL
Poetry Challenge #66-Blank in a Box
Porches all across America are heaped with boxes. Such tempting boxes. (Too tempting for some…) Ever wonder what’s inside those boxes? Let’s find out!
Pawetry Challenge #66
Blank in a Box
Imagine a mysterious box on your doorstep. What’s inside?
For today’s prompt, begin by filling in the blank: I found a ___________ box.
With that as the first line, compose a five-line poem of one syllable words about what’s inside that box.
Challenge yourself by creating a box-shaped concrete poem. For example, 5 lines of 5 three-letter words would look box-like, or vary the length of the words so each line is the same length.
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 about 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.