7-Minute Poetry Challenge Kelly Bennett 7-Minute Poetry Challenge Kelly Bennett

Poetry Challenge #192-Mix-Blend-Whirrrr-Slurp!

It’s National Juice Slushie Day! Yes, it really is a thing, celebrated annually on the 3rd Wednesday in May (May 18, 2021). And why not?

slushie.jpg

What do you get if you put juice and ice in a blender? A Slushie! Orange, cranberry, grape, lemon, lime, the list is open to anything you want to add. Or you could mix them up and see what you get. According to the National Day Calendar, slushies have been around as long as snow!

Royal courts from ages past used to bring down freshly fallen snow from mountain tops and spread crushed berries and mashed fruit on top.

I hear McDonald’s has teamed up with Minute Maid to introduce a watermelon/strawberry slushie this summer. Can you say Brain Freeze?!!!

Poetry Challenge #`192

Mix-Blend-Whirrrr-Slurp!

Pick two (or three if you dare. Come on! You dare!) poems that are close to the same length. Either your own or other poet(s) poems. Now add them to the poem blender, one line at a time from each.

Read over your new poem.

Add more words (berries) if necessary to make the meaning clear. Cut words that are unnecessary. Turn on the blender and shift lines to make it even better.

Then read and enjoy your Poem Slushie aloud!

Set Your Timer for 7 Minutes

Start Writing!

Don’t Think About it, just do it!

candy-slushies.jpg

Cindy Faughnan and I began this 7-Minute Poetry Challenge more than 4 years 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.

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7-Minute Poetry Challenge Kelly Bennett 7-Minute Poetry Challenge Kelly Bennett

Poetry Challenge #174-Stick It To Me

Have you ever taking a bite of fruit only to come away with stick-on-label in your mouth? Tasty, right? Ugh! Fruit, electronics, elbows, signs…you name it, seems a sticker’s stuck to it—today especially—for annoying or not, today, Jan 13th has been designated National Sticker Day.

fruit label.jpg

Along with being the officially recognized day to scrape off labels stuck on shoes, picture frames, do-dads, thing-a-ma-bobs and what-zits, National Sticker Day activities include:  

  1. Get some new stickers

  2. Give some stickers away

  3. Make your own stickers

To that, in celebration of the day, we’re adding this 7-Minute Challenge:

Poetry Challenge #174

Stick It to Me

For this challenge we’re paraphrasing Judy Carnes, the original “Sock it to Me” girl . Rather than racing around chanting Sock-it-to-Me-Sock-it-to-Me-Sock-it-to-Me until something bad happens as she did on the 60s Variety Show Laugh-in, race around collecting sticker slogans to create a Found Poem. (Chanting “Sticker-Me“ while collecting is optional)

Historically speaking, stickers have been pasted on produce as far back as 300 bc. Now everything—apples still included—has some sort of sticker plastered on it, so finding stickers should be easy. You might have a slew of stickers in your own space or bumper. If not… Field Trip Time! Check out passing cars, trucks, electronics, pinterest—or your neighbor’s fridge.

Sticker Day timeline.JPG
Snuck a Snap of the Kid’s Neighbor’s Fridge—Yours to use if you can read it.

Snuck a Snap of the Kid’s Neighbor’s Fridge—Yours to use if you can read it.

To Create Found “Sticker” Poem:

First copy a variety of stickers onto a page. The stickers might have one word or a phrase.

Choose one sticker to be the title of your poem.

Now, arrange and rearrange the remaining sticker slogans into a Found Poem. For purposes of this prompt, try not to add extra words or letters to the poem, break phrases apart, or use only part of a slogan—even to help clarify meaning.

As you play with the words and phrases, pay attention to sounds, patterns, rhythm or meaning.

Set Your Timer for 7 Minutes

Start Writing

Don’t Think Too Much About it; Just stick to it until the timer dings!

And for more fun: How to Make Stickers” at Skip to My Lou—a great DIY with Kids site!

Cindy Faughnan and I began this 7-Minute Poetry Challenge more than 1730 days ago! We now take turns creating our own prompts to share with you. 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): SUBSCRIBE TO THE FISHBOWL


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