Poetry Challenge #212 Mad As a Hatter
Mad as a hatter? Join the crowd for today is officially Mad Hatter’s Day!
Mad Hatters were well-known in the 1800’s. (Lewis Carroll didn’t create them . . . neither did Johnny Depp or Ed Wynn.)
Hatters—the people who made hats—haberdashers—often used mercury in the process. People who came into contact with mercury often ended up with many strange symptoms: shaking, mood swings, unpredictable behavior, and hallucinations. The saying “mad as a hatter” came to describe those strange behaviors. Characters appeared in books—Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland—or in comics illustrating these unpredictable behaviors.
Poetry Challenge #212
Mad As a Hatter
But what if your hat was mad? Why might it be mad? Is it dirty? Wet? Too hot? Tired of sitting on your head?
Write a personification poem from the point of view of a mad hat.
Set Your Timer for 7 Minutes
Start Writing!
Don’t Think About it, just do it!
Cindy Faughnan and I began this 7-Minute Poetry Challenge 1990+ 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.
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All who subscribe, comment or share a poem will be entered in . . .
Poetry Challenge #155-No Rhyme Nor Reason
Today, September 1st is No Rhyme (nor Reason) Day. A day set aside to honor, recognize, pay tribute to “words that do not rhyme with any other words in the English language.” (Why September 1st? no one seems to know.)
Rhymeless words are called refractory rhymes. According to the National Days Calendar, “Poets reason that avoiding these words helps keep their poetry consistent. However, refractory words only interrupt poems where rhyme and reason matter.”
WAH-WAH-WAH! scoff some, fecklessly taking on rhymeless words the way bulls (other than Ferdinand) challenge red sashes by fabricating words ala Lewis Carroll, or using proper names to make the rhyme.
Others get around the pesky rhyme issue by adding a suffix to rhymeless words, such as changing month to month-o, or orange to orangine, orangish, orangey, oranguar, etc. etc. and so forth . . .
Poetry Challenge #155
No Rhyme Nor Reason
Below is a list of rhymeless words, with no reason other than having fun, write a rhyming poem:
Use one or two… or even a few. Long or short, funny or not, we care not a jot—it’s completely up to you!
Set Your Timer for 7 Minutes
Start Writing
Don’t Think Too Much About it; Just do it!
More No Rhyme nor Reason Reading:
National No Rhyme (nor Reason) Day: #NoRhymeNorReasonDay
Cindy Faughnan and I began this 7-Minute Poetry Challenge more than 1580ish days ago! (without a miss!!!) 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. And scroll down for my happy news:
