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

Poetry Challenge #252-There Was a Good Old Cow . . .

A few years back on a tour of Margaret River, Australia’s wine region (near Perth), instead of the expected—kangaroos, wallabies, boomerangs—we stumbled onto painted cows. Everywhere! Along with the cows was some utterly ridiculous Moo-ology. (If you’re curious, I wrote an article about being on the Margaret River Cow Parade entitled “Where’s the Cow, Mate?” for Now! Jakarta Magazine. Moooore on that in the magazine (which I highly recommend!)

For today, because it’s National Cow Appreciation Day, July 13th, here’s some Moo-ology:

MOO-OLOGY FROM MARGARET RIVER

Cow-operation for co-operation
Sh-udder, as in “I sh-udder to think about it.”
Cow-herd, as in “don’t be such a cow-herd, try some more…”
Cow-L-neck, as in “I’m chilly; I think I’ll change into my cow-L-neck sweater.”
Curd-yah, as in “curd-yah please mooove out of the way, I’m trying to snap a picture.”
Let’s moooooooove it!
Better hoof it on out a here. Cheers, Mate!
— MOOOOOVING ON. . .

Poetry Challenge #242

It Was a Good Old Cow . . .

Write an elegy about a cow. An elegy is a poem or song expressing sadness or grief. Write your elegy in three parts.

An elegy is lyrical but does not necessarily rhyme.

Part #1 Express grief

Part #2 Praise for the departed

Part #3 Comfort and support

If you’re at a loss as to how to begin, begin with this snippet of an elegy my mom used to sing to my brother and me on road trips:

It was a good old cow . . .

Set Your Timer for 7 Minutes

Start Writing!

Don’t Think About it, just do it!

And if you’re really keen on cows, this month’s Visual Verse Anthology prompt might really mooove you… But hurry, submissions must be in by July 15th!

Cindy Faughnan and I began this 7-Minute Poetry Challenge 2000+ 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.

Click on Fishbowl link and sign up to receive email notifications from Kelly's blog (aka The Fishbowl):

All who subscribe, comment or share a poem will be entered in . . .


Read More